Watch 7 Minutes Of Civilization: Beyond Earth's Rising Tide
Seven minutes of gameplay
A rising tide lifts all boats, it's said, and there's some hope that the watery Rising Tide expansion will lift all of Civilization: Beyond Earth's [official site] systems and not simply provide a new shimmering surface for the same old ideas. Find out whether that seems likely via a video demonstrating some of the oceanic mechanics below.
The video clicks through a slew of new systems from the game, including biomes that have specific benefits and disadvantages, new alien enemies, a new playable race in Al Falah, and artifacts that can be excavated to unlock new buildings, wonders and technologies. It's only seven minutes of a game with campaigns that take hours, so it skims over the details even as it mentions exciting additions - for example, that diplomacy is meant to play a bigger role in the expansion than it did in the base game.
I'm hopeful. Beyond Earth seemed to disappoint everyone, in part because people hoped it would be Alpha Centauri's glorious second coming and in part because it seemed to do little to alter the underlying Civilization formula despite its new sci-fi setting. But Civilization games traditionally get better with their expansions, and Rising Tide looks to, oh no, I'm going to say - push the boat out.
Just watch the video - and then read Alec's interview with the designers for more.
