by Josh Jackson E3 2016: Back Stabbings Abound In ‘Civilization 6’

Even if you’re not a PC gamer, chances are you’re familiar with the legendary Civilization franchise, the turn based strategy series that asks players to take their own set of people and lead them from humble tribes to world superpowers over the course of centuries. After five other games and seemingly countless expansions and spinoffs, how do you improve such an established series when the sixth entry rolls around? At 2K’s E3 showing of Sid Meier’s latest, potential world builders will have to sleep with one eye open as long as their neighboring countries have anything to say about it.

As expected, would-be leaders will once again create a nation from ancient times until the modern era and beyond, all while negotiating with neighboring countries for resources in the hopes of benefiting both. New features include being able to build individual districts within your nation, with each bringing various levels of prosperity to your people. The video features everything from military bases to festival grounds and everything in between, ensuring your people are happy, prosperous and protected at the same time.

Then again, you aren’t the only country vying for power, so as your advancements begin to eclipse your neighbors, they might begin to have negative feelings towards your growing strength. So before you can think about launching rocket into space, you’ll have to keep an eye out for any potential attackers who could burn it all to the ground. Keeping the somewhat cartoony tone of the previous entries, the video we were shown explains this conflict by having Cleopatra attack the player’s modernized superpower and attempting to destroy its key districts. By investing enough resource into their defenses, the player’s country was able to retaliate with attacks by land, sea and on foot, leveling the opponent’s key districts while receiving minimal damage themselves. From there, we would have the option to destroy their country, or assimilate it as part of our own, which could prove useful when it comes to rebuilding the damaged areas from the battle and expanding their might at the same time. It’s these kind of decisions that will separate powerful leaders from temporary lands who will be forgotten by history.

Git gud.

All in all, Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 looks as in depth and rewarding as ever, with new mechanics that will surely keep longtime players on their toes. Civ players, what do you think of the new features so far? Let us know in the comments!

The world will be yours to control when Civilization 6 launches for Windows, OS X and Linux on October 21.