Set aside everything you know and love about Civilization — like the strategic turn-based gameplay or control over vast expanses of land, population, and materiel — and prepare for a whole new way to experience Sid Meier's world. Civilization Online promises to let players assume the role of a single human operating within a massively-multiplayer, real-time universe. The Civ elements come in the form of the multiple epochs of development in which you can live out your adventure and the four civilizations available at launch. There will moreover be opportunities to participate in resource-gathering, Wonder-building, state-ruling, and other familiar aspects of the game.

Unfortunately, publisher 2K Games says there are no plans for a North American release and South Korea is so far the only announced market for this new game. Additionally, Sid Meier's own dev studio of Firaxis Games won't be helming the project, which is being developed by a little-known outfit called XL Games. Still, if Koreans find themselves falling in love with this reinterpretation of the Civilization universe, there's every reason to believe that others will get the chance to play it too. Check out the trailer below for a taste of this CryEngine 3-powered PC MMO.