Going 'Beyond Earth'
Our planet isn't in very good shape. The good news, according to "Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth" (2K Games, PC, $49.99), is that we'll be able to hang around for another 500 years or so. The bad news: After that, we'd better start looking for a new home. It's not the freshest sci-fi premise — "Interstellar" has essentially the same setup — but it gives Meier and his Firaxis Games studio a chance to expand the beloved Civilization franchise to entirely new worlds. It's a mostly successful transplant, although its scope could be even more cosmic. All this new technology is a bit overwhelming, and if you're not a science fiction fan you may be baffled by such terms as nanorobotics and geoscaping. But "Beyond Earth" provides a helpful quest structure that lets you focus on short-term goals while you figure out what it will take to conquer the planet.
Associated Press
