Civilization: Beyond Earth reaches for the stars on October 24

By Will Fulton July 3, 2014

civilization beyond earth takes flight october 24 key art — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Stock up on Tang and freeze-dried ice cream: Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth launches globally for Windows PC on October 24. Fans who pre-order the game will receive the bonus Exoplanets Map Pack at launch, which includes six maps inspired by real exoplanets.

This latest entry in the venerable strategy series extends your manifest destiny into the stars, projecting into human civilization’s future as exoplanet colonists. Built on the engine of Civilization V, Beyond Earth serves as a spiritual sequel to the 1999 classic Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. Rather than representing historical nations like in previous Civ games, players choose one of three affinities to be a guiding ethos for their colony.

Will you choose the path of Harmony to peacefully become one with the alien ecosystem? Or will you maintain the traditional values of Earth with Purity? Perhaps instead you’ll pursue a Kurzweilian dream of becoming one with your machines in Supremacy, rendering the past and the environment irrelevant. Excitingly, the affinity system promises to fuel conflicts and alliances between competing colonies with ideology rather than proximity, as has generally been the case in previous Civ games.

You can pre-order Civilization: Beyond Earth and the Exoplanets Map Pack now for $50 from participating retailers. October 24 brings the game to Windows PCs, with Mac and Linux to follow soon thereafter.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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