The next game in the highly successful Civilization franchise from Firaxis and 2K Games has been announced this morning. Exclusive details and interviews with Sid Meier, Jon Shafer, and other Civilization alumni will appear in the next issue of GamePro. And yes, the game is hex-based this time.
Civilization V announced, on next <em>GamePro</em> cover

Following the news that Sid Meier's Facebook game, Civilization Network, will move into a Beta phase this June, 2K Games and Firaxis has confirmed rumors and announced the next "full" sequel in the Civilization franchise. Civilization V has been designed to reinvigorate the classic turn-based strategy genre with a brand new engine built that includes an entirely new combat system, and deeper diplomatic interactions. Beyond the official announcement, further details on the game, including interviews with Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games, and Civ V project lead Jon Shafer will appear in the April issue of GamePro. The magazine begins shipping to subscribers this week, and will be on U.S. newsstands on March 9. The cover image, seen here, is an original rendering of George Washington, who appears in the game along with an assortment of new world leaders that have not appeared in the franchise before.

From the press release:

Civilization V takes this definitive strategy game series in new directions with the introduction of hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire. The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience that brings players closer to the Civ experience than ever, featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time. Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before. The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield. In addition to the new gameplay features debuting in Civilization V, an extensive suite of community, modding and multiplayer elements will also make an appearance.

“Each new version of Civilization presents exciting challenges for our team,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. “Thankfully, ideas on how to bring new and fun experiences to Civ players never seem to stop flowing. From fully animated leaders and realistic landscapes, new combat tactics, expanded diplomacy and shared mods, we’re excited for players to see the new vision our team at Firaxis has brought to the series.”

No release date has been announced yet.

A lot of gamers have the perception that the Civilization games are too hardcore, too vast in scope and required skills. I understand the feeling, because even though I consider myself a fairly savvy PC gamer, Civilization IV still manages to intimidate me when I try to take full control over the minutia of directing a nation -- I mostly get along by automating a lot of the smaller decisions while I focus on the big picture. I'm all for micromanaging to an extent, but at some point I need to delegate responsibilities, as any good dictator would.

Enter Civilization V, which developer Firaxis aims to make the most approachable entry in the venerable PC franchise yet. While it won't be as simple as the critically acclaimed Civilization: Revolution -- a game that watered down the series to its bare essentials, which worked well for the platforms it released on -- it does take strides to make this the Civ that caters to both hardcore and newcomer alike. Civ5 also makes small but significant changes to the core gameplay, and adds awesome support for mods. This alone will have Civ players eagerly shelling out cash for what will largely appear a rehash to the uninitiated.

Wondering what the die-hards are excited about? Here are five ways Civ5 will change the game from past versions, as well as make it easier than ever to get into.

Hexagons are the New Squares

Editor's Note: As several people have pointed out in the comments, I was incorrect in my assertion that hexagons give more options, as squares in past Civ games actually gave players eight ways to move. I apologize for the confusion, as I have myself spent many, many hours with Civ IV, but just had a lapse in my memory when it came time to write the article. What Hexagons do for Civ V is give players a clearer understanding of where they can move, and where they can be potentially attacked from, as players can now see very clearly where each space makes contact with another. Thanks for helping point out the error!

Civilization has always been a turn-based game in which you moved units on a giant board of squares. Civ5 is going to change all that by ditching the confinement of squares for the liberation of six-sided hexagons. The hope is that the additional directional possibilities will give units more natural movements on the board, as well as more places for the player to move them to. Players in combat will now have more avenues for attacking and defending, while players just trying to get from A to B can now make their units take the shortest route possible, rather than an awkward jaunt that makes their units move like robots.

Revolutionary Warfare

In past Civ games players would mass units on a single space, creating what's often referred to as "stacks of doom" -- essentially overwhelming armies that would walk all over any opposing force. In Civ5, however, you can't have more than one unit per hexagon. No longer can players amass deceptively large armies in a small area, making it so players will not only have a better idea of what they're facing in a fight, but also a clearer understanding of when another nation is moving a serious force their way while proclaiming peaceful intent.

Combat in the demo showed that the new emphasis is on deployment, with key melee fighters being placed up front, while archers -- who can now fire over units in front of them -- provided support from the rear. It's no real-time strategy game, and math equations still largely determine whether you'll win or lose in a fight, but the new emphasis on maneuvering forces -- as well as the game's decreased army sizes, making each unit more valuable -- are welcome changes that not only look to make each fight more significant, but also make combat more approachable for new players.

For Love of Country... err, City

Previously players would create a ton of cities in order to grab up all the important land around them, placing "stacks of doom" within the cities for defense. Civ5 does away not only with the stacks, but also with traditional city combat. Cities now defend themselves, with their HP based on their total populations. This means that players now have to focus on placing their armies in a formation that better defends the territory around the city (ideally keeping enemies from ever reaching a town to begin with), as well as build fewer cities overall so that the few they have can expand enough to reach large population levels. To help with this players can spend their gold to absorb new pieces of land around the city, making land-grabbing more an exercise of healthy empire building than an exercise in who can spam cities and create some sort of prehistoric urban sprawl.

The word "city" will also become increasingly important in Civ5 thanks to the addition of city-states. These small, single-city nations are available for players to take by force if they wish, but can also be dealt with through diplomacy. Diplomatic relationships with city-states can result in additional armed forces in times of need, and can also help stem the growth of an opposing nation that borders the small state. The hope is that dealing with city-states will not only add depth to diplomatic relations, but also force the player to think about when to go to war in order to defend their foreign interests (like when a friendly city-state is attacked by another empire).

Mods for All

For all but the most hardcore PC gamers, mods -- player-created additions to a game -- are often a foreign concept. Firaxis wants everyone to participate in the mod aspect of of Civ5, though, and is not only including what it touts as the most user-friendly world creator yet, but also an in-game browser for mods. Through the mod browser in Civ5 players will be able to create, share, browse, and download player creations within the game. The hope is that by removing the additional roadblocks -- i.e. knowing where to find fan-sites that have mods to download -- new and previously mod-averse players alike will become more active members of the online community.

Confidants Give Confidence

Between the return of Advisers from Civilization III (and more recently Revolution), as well as the new notification system, players will have plenty of help when dealing with pressing decisions. Advisers give tips when dealing with foreign nations or on the direction you're taking your own nation, while the notifications that pop up on the right side of the screen make sure the player is aware of anything that might need their attention from turn to turn. Have a worker who has gone idle for a prolonged period of time? The notifications will let you know. Empire-building is a big venture, but now plenty of help is available to those who aren't ready to be a supreme, all-knowing leader. Don't worry -- everyone needs a little help to unleash their inner Genghis Khan.

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