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Inside Mac Games has posted a new review of Aspyr Media's recently released Mac version of Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings. The expansion "takes players from founding the first Pantheon of the Gods and spreading religion across the world, to deploying spies in enemy cities to steal information and technology, and much more."

Here's an excerpt:

When I began my new civilization I immediately started down the path of the religious victory. Like any other way of winning in the game you have to balance your choice with other aspects of your civilization, otherwise you’ll be trampled by your competition. Religion is no different. If you divide your focus in the wrong fashion your surrounding foes might beat you to the post. As soon as the game starts you begin with a new form of currency called 'Faith' to spend on your empire. At the start you have none, with an income of +1 per turn. This limitation is also combined with the restriction to only spend the currency on religious goods such as Cathedral buildings and Missionary units. However, if you choose to establish and develop a religion, you can eventually spend this faith on military units and other items as well.

Aspyr Media

Civilization V: Gods & Kings

IMG Review: Civ V Gods & Kings

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Ubisoft's Babel Rising is now available for pre-order from Macgamestore.com. The next-gen version of the iPhone action title puts players in the role of a god attempting to prevent humans from building the tower of Babel by any godly means necessary. Their divine arsenal includes bolts of lightning, massive earthquakes, and gigantic floods.

Babel Rising lets you play as a God and use your powers to prevent humans from building the tower of Babel. Hurl bolts of lightning, cause massive earthquakes, or unleash gigantic floods upon the Babylonians.

This next-gen version of the successful and critically acclaimed iPhone game adds a new depth to its gameplay with 3D.

Features:

Prevent the Rise of Babylon:
Prevent humans from building 3 different towers of Babel throughout different historic eras, in 15 single-player missions across 4 game modes.
Babylon Will Perish:
Thwart a wide variety of Babylonians united in their desire to build the tower, always looking for the quickest path to the top. Workers carry stones, priests protect workers from spells, and siege towers help them access upper levels faster.
You are in Control of the Elements:
Unleash devastating elemental attacks based on fire, water, earth and air, each with a unique effect depending on the target. Throw fireballs, release tornadoes, rain meteors, and much more. As you progress, your powers become deadlier and more powerful than ever.
Battle with or Against Friends:
Enjoy competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes.

Requirements:

• Intel Mac
  
• Mac OS X 10.7.4 or later
  
• Intel Core 2 Duo or later
  
• 4 GB RAM

Babel Rising

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In a new developer blog post Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Sigaty revealed that several upcoming online feature initially revealed for the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty expansion, Heart of the Swarm, will also be available for Wings of Liberty owners. Some of the new features include clans, global play, resume from replay, and multiplayer replay viewing.

In our last blog post, we outlined several upcoming online features we’re working on, including clans and groups, global play, resume from replay, multiplayer replay viewing, unranked matchmaking, and language packs. Since then, we’ve seen some speculation on whether the features would be exclusive to Heart of the Swarm or available to Wings of Liberty players. We want to clarify that all of these features will be available to BOTH Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm owners. You will not be required to purchase Heart of the Swarm to get the benefits of these features.

Our hope of course, is that you’ll want to join us in Heart of the Swarm to continue the epic campaign, and use the newest units coming in the expansion. We got lots of great feedback from the multiplayer sneak peek at the Major League Gaming Spring Championship a few weeks ago and look forward to starting the beta test to collect even more of your thoughts.

Heart Of The Swarm Feature Blog

Blizzard Entertainment

StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

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Buy StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

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Battlefront.com has released some new information about the upcoming Combat Mission: Fortress Italy World War II strategy title. The update includes a new "Table of Organization and Equipment," as well as a collection of new screenshots.

The first in a "new family" of Combat Mission titles, CM:FI will focus on the Allied struggle to defeat Italy during World War II. The stand alone game will give players the chance to play as the American, Italian, and German forces in three unique campaigns. CM:FI will also feature a variety of new equipment and vehicles, and will be the first Combat Mission game to utilize the features of CMx2 engine Version 2.0.

Fortress Italy is a new "family" of Combat Mission games covering the Allied struggle to knock Italy out of the Second World War. This initial release deals explicitly with the battle for Sicily and sets the groundwork for future additions to simulate the hard fighting in the rugged terrain of "Europe's underbelly" up until the war's end in 1945.

The combat forces immediately available to players include the full range of historically available American, Italian, and German forces which fought in Sicily. In addition to the completely new Italian forces, both the American and German organizations differ significantly from those familiar to Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy players. Some of the highlights are elite formations such as:

• Italian Bersaglieri
  
• American Rangers
  
• German Herman Göring Division

Of course, the time frame and units involved require equipment new to the Combat Mission series. A full list is available on the new Fortress Italy website, however here are some particularly fun gadgets to play with:

• R-35 Light Tank
  
• Semovente 90/53
  
• Panzer Mk III
  
• Grille
  
• M3 GMC Halftrack
  
• T30 HMC Halftrack

Players get to dive in and try these forces out in three (!!!) campaigns, one from the perspective of each national force (USA, Germany, Italy), a host of new stand alone battles, and of course the automatically generated QuickBattles. It won't take long for Normandy players to feel how different this time period and setting is from what they are used to. And the Italian forces are very interesting indeed! Squads the size of Platoons, almost no radios at all, few antitank weapons, proportionally few support weapons, and relatively light armored vehicles present even the best CM player with a lot of new challenges.

Combat Mission Fortress Italy: Table Of Organization & Equipment

Combat Mission Fortress Italy: Screenshots

Combat Mission: Fortress Italy

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