Firaxis Games' new "Civilization: Beyond Earth Rising Tide" expansion features ocean waters for battle, new factions and major diplomacy changes. The game's new PC expansion will be available by autumn this year.
"Beyond Earth Rising Tide" is the latest PC expansion of the hit original '90s game "Civilization." The newest expansion brings major changes in terms of diplomacy, factions and battle setup, as it is introduces vast ocean waters. Its major highlight is the aquatic terrain that allows players to battle in a new gaming arena, Polygon reported. Contrasted with a land terrain, it will be difficult to extract resources with ocean waters. However, the new expansion allows gamers to grow cities and expand their territories, although significantly different with the previous versions. With water, players can either purchase new city hexes or move the entire city for expansion.
As for civilizations, "Water gameplay is not better or worse, it's just different," lead game producer Andrew Frederiksen explained. "Your water city is going to have a harder time getting food but you'll have an easier time getting culture and energy. You can balance it out."
Another major feature for the expansion is diplomacy. According to reports, it is the game's attempt to solve one of the series' problematic systems. Gamers can interact more and create diplomatic relations with Al opponents. "Diplomacy with the new system is an integral part of the game. It's not something you can choose to get in or not get in. Even if you want to play that peaceful game, and just stay friends with everyone, and build your warp gate and get your affinity victory, you still had to have military units to defend, you still had to be prepared for what could happen," Frederiksen told Game Spot.
As for civilizations, Venture Beat reported that four new factions will be included in the latest expansion. Previously announced are two of the four factions. They are Al Falah from the Middle East and an addition is Duncan Hughes, a leader of the North Sea Alliance that conquers countries in United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Their factions are swift and have increased levels of defense. The remaining factions, however, will be announced soon.
The "Rising Tide" PC expansion of "Civilization: Beyond Earth" will be available on Windows PC, Mac and Linux. It is scheduled for launch this coming fall while an official release date has yet to be released soon.
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