The release of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is so close. Just over a month separates us from being able to settle a new planet and decide how humanity should push forward. Like Civ games before it, we know that Beyond Earth will let the player build fantastic Wonders, but since the game takes place in the future, how do we know what these Wonders look like?
What We Know About Affinities And Victory Conditions In Beyond Earth
Fortunately, the people behind Well of Souls have put together a veritable smorgasbord of Beyond Earth information, including what we know about the game's Wonders. The folks over at Firaxis have been kind enough to broadcast live gameplay every week, showing us a bit more each time, and this eagle-eyed website has been kind enough to jot down everything they reveal for posterity.
Some of the Wonders in Beyond Earth are very similar to ones found in Civilization V and should be pretty familiar for existing Civ fans. The Gene Vault is a building that keeps genetic information brought over from Earth safe and secure in this hostile environment. It provides a civ-wide growth bonus and a flat food bonus in the city where it was constructed, kind of like a combination of Civ V's Temple of Artemis and Hanging Gardens. Further, the Memetwork's flat percentage increase to Culture works just as well as the Sistine Chapel in Civ V.
The Newest Beyond Earth Livestream From Firaxis Shows Off Mid-Game Tech Choices
Beyond that, there are several Wonders that help support new game mechanics introduced in Beyond Earth. For example, the Stellar Codex lets players construct orbital units faster and extends the area in which the player can launch them. Another new Wonder, the Human Hive, was mentioned during Firaxis' stream on espionage. It cuts a city's Intrigue level by four, which could be a life saver for a city with five levels of Intrigue.
There are also at least four Planetary Wonders, Wonders that aren't constructed in a city and actually take up one of the player's workable tiles. Because of this, it has to be defended independently from the city itself. Presumably, these Planetary Wonders can be built by multiple players at once, as they make up four out of the five victory conditions. Purity and Supremacy players need to construct a Warp Gate between the new planet and Earth while Harmony players are working to construct the Mind Flower. For players pursuing the mysterious Contact victory, the Decode Signal Project will be necessary.
These Planetary Wonders change how a game of Civ is won, requiring not only the construction of a Wonder but its defense over a period of several turns. Players will better than ever be able to actively prevent a competitor from winning by attacking their Planetary Wonder before they have a chance to complete their task.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth will be available October 24 for PC.
