Civilization: Conquests enters golden age

Sid Meier's Civilization franchise entered another golden age today when Civilization III: Conquests was sent to manufacturing. The expansion pack for the bestselling Civilization III title offers up a wide pantheon of new features, including eight new civilizations, such as the Sumerians and Mayans, and new government types like fascism, feudalism, and imperialism. Conquests also offers up new units, unit abilities resources, terrain types, disasters, unit attributes, diplomatic options, attack types, technologies, and wonders of the world. The technical side also of the game was also reworked, with improved AI and two new levels of difficulty: "Demigod" and "Sid."

Conquests' biggest new feature is its historical single-player campaign, which recreates the eight major conflicts, including the battle for Mesopotamia, the Maya/Inca wars, the civil wars of pre-Tokugawa Shogunate Japan, and the small spat known as World War II.

Published by Atari and developed by Meier's Firaxis games, Conquests is the second expansion for Civilization III after the Play the World multiplayer pack, and will include all the features and content of the previous add-on.

Civilization III: Conquests is rated 'E' for everyone, and retails for $29.99.