Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth: Rising Tide [PC Game Expansion]

I liked Beyond Earth well enough when I first got it. However I will admit that unlike Civ V, my interest waned quicker than expected. Each leader in Civ V presents a very unique play style. I did not feel the leaders in Beyond Earth were as unique.

Look. Cities in the sea!

Now, while the leaders are still rather boring, lacking the unique units or buildings of Civ V... the game is now far more interesting.

4.5 out of 5 stars

There are more than just a few cosmetic changes to the games mechanics.

I've only played one game with the expansion, and I know for a fact that I've not delved nearly deep enough into the game.

The old trait system - gone. Now there are loads of options.

Lets start by covering what I have seen that is new.

- Ocean Outposts that grow into floating cities. They can move. This is just cool.
- A brand new diplomacy system. 'Capital' is a new currency that you can use to trade for favors, get in return for favors, generate from buildings, and use to improve your Personality Traits.
- New units. Not a ton, but some.
- Affinities can now be mixed. Part Harmony and Part Supremacy is possible now.
- New unit upgrades. With the mixing of Affinities there comes new upgrades for your units. 
- Artifacts. There are new things that can be discovered in ruins and alien nets and in crashed pods. You can collect them, break them down, or save them to combine into new wonders.

Yeah, there are more units and they are better organized.

- New leaders. One is an Australian dude who is good with Ocean colonies. And there are a few others.
- New biomes. Including a biome that has giant mushrooms and other plant things.

In short the game got a major overhaul and has at last become the game it should have been when it first came out.

I'm enjoying my current play through. I expect I'll start up a game right when this one ends. On a higher difficulty of course. 

This was a short and sweet review, but it was always meant to be. The game is better, more fun, and more flexible. Replayability is improved, and for a 4X game that is very important.

Now there are artifacts.