By Jake Doolin
It seems like Earth can no longer contain the Civ games, as it was announced today that the next installment in the classic series is heading to space. Civilization: Beyond Earth is headed to PC, Mac, and Lynux this Fall. Developed by Firaxis, the game is looking to take cues from the studios past sci-fi series XCOM. Like XCOM, pre-game preparation is vital, Beyond Earth designer Anton Strenger was quoted as saying:
"When you start a game of Civ: Beyond Earth, your choices start before turn zero. You're composing your spacecraft on your expedition to this new alien planet."
Besides the spacecraft, players will chose colonists, cargo and other basic tools of survival that will impact the rest of the game. A big change from the classic Civ format is the different faction in Beyond Earth. Instead of controlling famous figures from history, Beyond Earth has factions like American Reclamation Corporation or Panasian Cooperative. These factions will have different personalities that will differentiate them from one another.
"You might have an aggressive personality and they have a specific trait, but it's going to vary greatly, because depending what they start out with, those loadouts are gonna mean that you're gonna get a different experience each time," said producer Dennis Shirk.
Unfortunately players will not have the ability to play as an alien race, instead aliens have been placed in the Barbarians positions from the last few Civ games. Even so all this news points to a unique step in the Civ series.
Source: Kotaku
Image: Kotaku
