Fans of Sid Meier’s Civilization series, prepare to be blown away. Maybe literally if you happen to be standing too close to the rocket jets as they launch.

Today a trailer was made public for what appears to be the latest in the game series, that takes the well-established game mechanics of the series… and then sets them on strange alien worlds. That’s right, Civilization is going into space with Civilization: Beyond Earth.

The trailer itself is beautifully done and visually seems set in a not too distant future where mankind leaves the homeworld to seek new, uninhabited worlds to settle and develop further. Given that civilizations in this game start from the end point of the last game technologically (with rockets), the tech tree in this new game are taken from various sources of science fiction with such things as bio-genetics and cybernetics (yes!) being available in a ‘tech web’ system that guarantees no two civilizations will develop the same way. Ideologies also play a part in the game, affecting the development bonuses and appearances of units and buildings for the civilization that chooses them.

The game will release in the US, UK and Australia sometime during the third quarter of this year, so keep your eyes peeled for more news and information on the horizon. It’s sure to be one hell of a journey once we finally get into this game and launch our rockets to the wide reaches of outer space…