14 DAY TRIAL // 2K Games and Valve have announced that the upcoming turn-based strategy title Civilization V will come packaged with the Steamworks package, complete with features like automatic updating, Steam-based Achievements, easy delivery of downloadable content and better multiplayer matchmaking. The presence of Steamworks means the game will likely only be delivered digitally through Valve’s system, as was Modern Warfare 2 during last year.
Firaxis and 2K Games also announced that they plan to offer a Digital Deluxe Edition of the game via Steam. The special package will include the soundtrack of the upcoming strategy title, a video feature called “Behind the Scenes at Firaxis with Civilization V,” which details how the game was created and what the main influences behind it were, and exclusive new in-game content. Digital Deluxe Edition owners will be the only ones to have access to the Babylonian civilization and their well-known ruler, Nebuchadnezzar II.
Those who choose to preorder Civilization V in any version on Steam will also get access to the Cradle of Civilization Map Pack: Mesopotamia, which adds a new map that covers the area between the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. The experience offered will be more focused than playing on the full map of the globe and players will be able to meet new cultures and make fresh conquests.
Civilization V is set to arrive in the fall of this year and make quite a few significant changes over the previous installments. For the first time, the game will have a rule of one military unit per square and new independent city states will change the dynamics of diplomacy and conflict between empires. Firaxis is also promising a more capable Artificial Intelligence opponent.
Those who cannot wait for the launch of the new title can go to Steam and pick up the complete Civilization IV package for a low price.