Ask hardcore strategy game fans to name a single ‘desert island’ game, and it is likely to come from the Civilization franchise by designer Sid Meiers. Whether the game would be Civilization II or Civilization IV is open for debate … and believe me, there has been PLENTY of debate on that subject through the years! Now, the next chapter in this classic franchise has been announced, and is coming to the PC this fall!

From the Take 2 Interactive Press Release:

“Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise has been recognized as one of the greatest PC game franchises of all time with millions of units sold worldwide,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Civilization V takes the franchise further by offering players a more immersive experience with deeper strategies; heightened tactical combat; vast, realistic landscapes to explore, battle over and claim as their own; and an in-game community hub where Civ fans can share content and compete against each other without leaving the game. This marks a new era that will forever change the franchise responsible for sleep deprivation and reduced productivity for nearly two decades.”

“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.”

The official site is here, and here is a screen showing how the game has moved to a hexagonal grid system … and looks to push some awesome graphical details!

I actually came late to the Civilization franchise: Civilization IV was released in late 2005, and after months of listening to Andrew Bub at GamerDad shout from the rooftops for months about how great it was, I bit the bullet in spring 2006 and the next few months were somewhat of a gaming blur. I was quickly hooked, and reviewed the Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansions.

I still have Civilization IV Complete (including the main game, those two expansions and the later Colonization expansion) installed on my PC, and seem to find time for a quick scenario every month or so. So it might be easy to predict that I am terribly excited and definitely plan to get this on day of release. No word yet on whether there will be a Mac port like there was for Civilization IV.

Any other strategy gamers out there excited for this?
Source: 2kGames