The highly anticipated next installment to this popular franchise, [I]Sid Meier?s Civilization IV[/I] is available for purchase in stores tomorrow.
[I]Civ IV[/I] will take the series into new territories with its beautifully detailed, living 3D world, new ways to play and win, tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy to use mod capabilities and a slew of multiplayer modes and options.
“With more than six million units sold, the [I]Sid Meier’s Civilization[/I] franchise is recognized as one of the greatest PC game franchises of all-time,” said Christoph Hartmann, Managing Director of 2K Games. “[I]Sid Meier’s Civilization IV[/I] expands on the popular gameplay in the [I]Civilization[/I] series with new features including religion, some of history’s most influential people and for the first time in the [I]Civilization[/I] series, a full 3D engine.”
“Each new [I]Civilization[/I] is a major undertaking,” added Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games. “Creating [I]Civilization IV[/I] was a monumental task, but everyone at Firaxis was determined to create the best Civ experience yet, and I think we succeeded. Fans will absolutely love this game and folks new to the series won’t be able to resist.”
The press release listed these key features:
Faster-Paced Fun – Gameplay has been streamlined for a tighter, faster, and more compelling experience.
Greater Accessibility and Ease of Play – An easy-to-use interface will be immediately familiar to RTS and action game players, and newcomers to the series will be able to jump in and play.
Tech Tree – Flexible Tech tree allows players more strategic choices for developing their civilizations along unique paths.
Grow Bigger Empires – More Civilizations, Units, and Improvements to enhance and grow your empire.
Multiplayer – LAN, Internet, Play-By-Email, and Hotseat offer players all-new strategies and ways to play when competing or cooperating with live opponents.
Team Play – Whether playing multiplayer or single player, team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances that result in shared wonder effects, visibility, unit trading, and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.
Beautiful 3D world ? [I]Sid Meier’s Civilization IV[/I] comes to life with a beautiful 3D world, dozens of fully animated units (including culturally unique units), and totally customizable armies. Cities and wonders will appear on the map. Wonder movies are back!
Mods and Community Tools – Designed from the ground up for modability, the game contains a powerful map editor with XML and Python support.
Choose Your Leader – Most Civilizations now have two leaders from which to choose, with each Leader having traits that provide various bonuses to the player.
Civics – With the discovery of new techs, civic options can become available. Freedom of speech or slavery? Hereditary rule or open elections? This creates endless government choices and possibilities!
Religion – Now there are seven religions in the game that are unlocked through researching. When unlocked, the religion spreads through a player’s empire allowing them to use the religion to help manage happiness, gain gold and create Great Prophets.
Great People – As the player uses specialists they gain Great People points in the city that is utilizing the specialists. Great People include the Artist, Tycoon, Prophet, Engineer, & Scientist. They can be used to get free techs, start Golden Ages, or join a city to increase its output.
Promotions – Each unit has a promotion path that emphasizes specific unit traits. Promotions include bonuses to Attack/Defend on specific terrains/features, movement bonuses, sight/visibility bonuses, and increased withdrawal chances.
In-Game Cinematics ? [I]Sid Meier’s Civilization IV[/I] has over 40 in-game cinematics.
