14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Firaxis has announced the first expansion for last year's science fiction turn-based strategy game Civilization: Beyond Earth, called Rising Tide.
The sci-fi spin-off to the popular Civilization series put an interesting twist on the classic gameplay of the historical strategy title, but it received widespread criticism for not pushing the envelope enough.
Although it followed mankind's brave first steps into outer space, and featured alien fauna, giant worms, krakens, cybernetically enhanced humans and mutations, it just didn't go far enough, content to merely offer the same mechanics in the series with a different skin.
Fans of the classic Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri demanded more depth, and it seems that the developers have no choice but to oblige.
There certainly was enough potential for the game to take an audacious step beyond the historical constraints of the main series, and now Firaxis aims to deliver just that, following man's descent beneath the waves, and the encounters with the monster lurking in the oceans.
A vast array of improvements
The Rising Tide expansion will allow users to explore the vast oceans of alien planets, and even erect their settlements right on the water. Aquatic gameplay will bring with it not only a change of scenery but also brand new resources to harvest, aliens to deal with, and a slew of naval units to play with.
The developer is also looking to expand and refine some of the existing core mechanics of the game, adding four new factions you can play as, hybrid Affinities, an overhauled diplomacy system, and some new types of planets to explore.
Gamers will be able to alter the diplomatic landscape by upgrading traits, changing diplomatic relationships, and using their political capital to leverage various benefits, with dynamic events that will constantly change the nature of the struggle on the alien world.
Firaxis has been paying attention to fan feedback, and the majority of the features coming in the Rising Tide expansion are based on the valuable contributions of the devoted community playing Civilization: Beyond Earth.
Rising Tide, Civilization: Beyond Earth's first expansion, is set for release on Windows PC, sometime this fall.
