At the end of the day, Rising Tide accomplishes precisely what it needed to for the Civilization franchise: it provides a good reason for those players who drifted away to potentially jump back into Beyond Earth, and it provides a timely injection of new content for those players who needed something more to continue sticking around. There are still...


Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide
2015 2K Games79Good
Playtime
ModerateTypically 20 hours
Playable on
Game modes
Details
- Launch
- October 8, 2015
- Developer
- Firaxis Games
- Publisher
- 2K Games
- Themes
Overview

After the first wave of great colony ships departed Earth, the jubilation of humanity was short-lived. Those left behind fell into a violent struggle over the quickly-diminishing resources on their barren home world. From this tumultuous time, four new factions arose. These newcomers were grounded not in the idealism of their predecessors, but on opportunism, resilience, ruthlessness, and above all a commitment to their own survival. Now, many decades after their first landfall on a new planet, the proud survivors of the first expeditions beyond Earth look up to see the skies darkened by a new breed of pioneers. Beyond Earth extended the Civilization franchise from its historical setting into the possible futures of science fiction. Rising Tide extends Beyond Earth to new frontiers on the planet’s surface and beneath its seas, adding even more choices and diplomatic options as you continue to build “just one more turn” toward a new vision for the future of humanity.
Screenshots
Reception
- Metacritic79from 40 reviews
- OpenCritic80from 25 reviews
It's a hard balance to strike, thematic purity with mechanical accessibility, and for what it's worth I think Rising Tide does the best that any game could hope to do with those two opposing forces as stated goals.
Given the cost of this expansion I find it hard to recommend. £24.99 is simply too much to ask for the changes and I can't, in any good faith, recommend that. The highest praise I can offer Rising Tide is that it's finally moving Beyond Earth in the right direction. The inevitable Game of the Year Edition (maybe after more patches and another expansion)...
It's not often that I stare at a game's menu screen for a few moments just because it looks so good. That's exactly what I caught myself doing the first time I loaded up Civilization: Beyond Earth with the Rising Tide expansion installed.
A useful expansion that unlike most doesn't ignore the failings of the original, although even with the improvements Beyond Earth still isn't as engrossing as the real Civilization.



