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Since its launch, 4X game Millennia has been hard at work attempting to come back from a rocky launch that saw it receive a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam. Now in much better health, it’s proving itself a worthy competitor to big hitters like Civilization 6, Ara History Histold, or Age of Wonders 4. Its next DLC, Atomic Ambitions, looks set to continue its rise, with a nuclear-themed bunch of new ages, options, and gameplay mechanics.
While atomic energy and nukes already exist in the base game for Millennia, this DLC will expand upon cracking the atom in a number of ways. The first is via a peaceful age called the Age of Atom, where uranium is exploited to power your civilization and expand your reach across the world. Similar to other ages in this 4X game, it represents a slightly fantastical, alt-history vision of the past, full of retro-futuristic technology that can go wrong at a moment’s notice.
Despite this being a non-violent age, plenty of threats can pile up during the Age of Atom. First is the ever-present problem of nuclear fallout, as your fission reactors can run too hot, causing leakage and laying waste to large areas of the map. Even if you manage to navigate the age successfully, you’ll find your future affected by increasing nuclear waste issues. Only by weaning yourself away from the exploitation of uranium can you ensure a safe future, otherwise you might end up recreating Mad Max.
That is exactly what another age will do, if you let it. The Age of Wasteland represents a world where nuclear fire has overtaken the planet after a spot of mutually-assured destruction. Instead of lush forests and wide plains, the wasteland will be all that awaits you. However, there’s still hope, as you can plant the seeds of a new civilization that will rise from the ashes of those that have gone before. This end-game age will result in victory if you can scavenge enough scrap to rebuild while repopulating the world, but it’ll be a tough journey to get there.
Millennia Atomic Ambitions will launch on Tuesday November 12. If you’d like to learn more, head over to Steam to get further details about this upcoming nuclear addition.
Should you find the 12th too long to wait, head over to our guides to the best strategy games and the best grand strategy games you can play in 2024 for all the cerebral goodness you’ll ever need.
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