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IGN Review of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
Sid Meier's Civilization is easily one of the biggest games on the PC. We're not just talking about sales numbers or impact or reputation here; the scope of the actual game itself is so much larger than you find in other PC strategy games. When Firaxis decided to pare things down to adapt the game to the console and handheld platforms, we were a bit worried that it would be like trying to condense The Brothers Karamazov down to a 90-minute TV movie. While the developers have had to make some tough choices about what to cut, they've done a remarkable job of retaining some of the complexity and character of Civilization while still fitting the game to the console hardware and audience.
If you're not familiar with the game, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game where players lead an entire civilization from the Bronze Age to the Space Age. Before the game starts, you'll pick which of the 16 civilizations you want to lead, and since each civ has its own unique bonuses, you can tailor the game to the way you want to play. After that, you'll find yourself a single settler and a single warrior unit with no idea of what the rest of the world looks like. You'll need to settle your first city and explore the land around with an eye towards your future expansion. Unfortunately, there are a few other civilizations doing the same thing and you'll eventually find yourself competing for space and resources.
How you handle it depends on the type of empire you're running. If you've built a large production base, you can pump out military units to take away your enemies' lands. If you've developed up a massive trading empire, you can buy off your enemies, or even recruit other civs to do your fighting for you. If you've focused on scientific research, you may be able to count on your superior technology to give you an edge over your rivals. You may even have put all your efforts into building one-of-a-kind wonders and recruiting great artists and thinkers in a bid for cultural supremacy. There's a lot of flexibility in Civilization Revolution and you can explore a wide range of play styles as you reach for one of the game's varied victory conditions.
Civilization Revolution differs from the PC versions of Civ in a number of ways. Most of the negative effects of expansion and the fine-tuning micromanagement have been eliminated so players can focus on the forward progress of their empire. The scale of the game has been compressed as well. The smallish maps in Civilization Revolution mean you'll have early contact with your rivals even more competition for resources. This tends to make games run a little more quickly, and you can generally wrap up a game from start to finish in around three hours.
Based on the same game design as the other console versions, Civilization Revolution makes a relatively smooth transition to the DS. The game can conveniently be played using just six buttons and the D-pad but the limited number of inputs is balanced out by smart use of the stylus. It takes a bit of practice to get used to where all the commands are and how they work in practice, but after an hour or so, you should be running your empire without having to worry too much about the interface.
It's harder to forgive the absence of an in-game Civilopedia. This reference, which is readily available in the PC and other console versions of the game, is sadly missing from much of the DS game so if you find yourself confronting a new unit or having to make a decision about a new building project, you won't always have a clear idea of what the benefits and costs are. The one saving grace is that the game always makes your combat odds very apparent before you launch an attack. The game is also redeemed by the advisors who pop up from time to time to give you very specific (and helpful) advice on what you should be doing next.
The AI in Civilization Revolution certainly covers a wide range, from naive passivity to ruthless aggression. Newcomers will find the Chieftain level to be a nice way to ease into the game without too much pressure. Hardcore Civ fanatics will find that the higher difficulty levels are simply murderous. While it's great to have that variety, Civilization Revolution unfortunately fails to provide any sort of middle ground between the two experiences. Sure, there are multiple difficulty settings here, but the ones in the middle are either much too easy or much too difficult. A lot of the imbalance is due to the attitudes of your rivals rather than your tactics, and you'll find that it's not so much that your enemies are fighting smartly but that they're all fighting you all the time. The AI is particularly quick to launch an all out attack against you if it even gets a whiff that you're approaching a victory objective.
If you should grow bored of defeating (or being defeated by) the AI, the game offers tremendous wireless and Wi-Fi multiplayer support. Getting into and out of games and setting up options and lobbies is remarkably easy and since turns are taken simultaneously, there's not usually a lot of down time during a match. If we were to find fault with the multiplayer, it would be that the game doesn't reveal a civ's bonuses during the initial selection screen and that you can't change city orders while waiting for your opponents after you've finished your turn.
Given that the DS isn't able to render the same graphics that we're seeing on the 360, we're impressed with what the game's artists have done. It's clear that the game isn't even in the same league as many of the better-looking strategy games on the DS; its overall presentation reminds us of the original Civilization for the PC. Still, the map and the various gameplay elements though somewhat cramped are generally easy to read, so you're not likely to get lost or confused while you're playing. The combat animations are well done and add a sense of life to the game but even they fall a bit short of what we've seen in other recent strategy titles on the DS.
The sound in Civilization Revolution helps to redeem the overall presentation a bit. The overall music works well to support the mood of the game and the unit effects, though a bit thin, reinforce the action nicely. It's true that the movement sounds like someone walking around on a bed of crackers but it's still a nice bit of feedback. The rival leaders really steal the show here with some truly hilarious, heavily accented Sim-like gibberish.
©2008-08-07, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
If you're not familiar with the game, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game where players lead an entire civilization from the Bronze Age to the Space Age. Before the game starts, you'll pick which of the 16 civilizations you want to lead, and since each civ has its own unique bonuses, you can tailor the game to the way you want to play. After that, you'll find yourself a single settler and a single warrior unit with no idea of what the rest of the world looks like. You'll need to settle your first city and explore the land around with an eye towards your future expansion. Unfortunately, there are a few other civilizations doing the same thing and you'll eventually find yourself competing for space and resources.
How you handle it depends on the type of empire you're running. If you've built a large production base, you can pump out military units to take away your enemies' lands. If you've developed up a massive trading empire, you can buy off your enemies, or even recruit other civs to do your fighting for you. If you've focused on scientific research, you may be able to count on your superior technology to give you an edge over your rivals. You may even have put all your efforts into building one-of-a-kind wonders and recruiting great artists and thinkers in a bid for cultural supremacy. There's a lot of flexibility in Civilization Revolution and you can explore a wide range of play styles as you reach for one of the game's varied victory conditions.
Civilization Revolution differs from the PC versions of Civ in a number of ways. Most of the negative effects of expansion and the fine-tuning micromanagement have been eliminated so players can focus on the forward progress of their empire. The scale of the game has been compressed as well. The smallish maps in Civilization Revolution mean you'll have early contact with your rivals even more competition for resources. This tends to make games run a little more quickly, and you can generally wrap up a game from start to finish in around three hours.
Based on the same game design as the other console versions, Civilization Revolution makes a relatively smooth transition to the DS. The game can conveniently be played using just six buttons and the D-pad but the limited number of inputs is balanced out by smart use of the stylus. It takes a bit of practice to get used to where all the commands are and how they work in practice, but after an hour or so, you should be running your empire without having to worry too much about the interface.
It's harder to forgive the absence of an in-game Civilopedia. This reference, which is readily available in the PC and other console versions of the game, is sadly missing from much of the DS game so if you find yourself confronting a new unit or having to make a decision about a new building project, you won't always have a clear idea of what the benefits and costs are. The one saving grace is that the game always makes your combat odds very apparent before you launch an attack. The game is also redeemed by the advisors who pop up from time to time to give you very specific (and helpful) advice on what you should be doing next.
The AI in Civilization Revolution certainly covers a wide range, from naive passivity to ruthless aggression. Newcomers will find the Chieftain level to be a nice way to ease into the game without too much pressure. Hardcore Civ fanatics will find that the higher difficulty levels are simply murderous. While it's great to have that variety, Civilization Revolution unfortunately fails to provide any sort of middle ground between the two experiences. Sure, there are multiple difficulty settings here, but the ones in the middle are either much too easy or much too difficult. A lot of the imbalance is due to the attitudes of your rivals rather than your tactics, and you'll find that it's not so much that your enemies are fighting smartly but that they're all fighting you all the time. The AI is particularly quick to launch an all out attack against you if it even gets a whiff that you're approaching a victory objective.
If you should grow bored of defeating (or being defeated by) the AI, the game offers tremendous wireless and Wi-Fi multiplayer support. Getting into and out of games and setting up options and lobbies is remarkably easy and since turns are taken simultaneously, there's not usually a lot of down time during a match. If we were to find fault with the multiplayer, it would be that the game doesn't reveal a civ's bonuses during the initial selection screen and that you can't change city orders while waiting for your opponents after you've finished your turn.
Given that the DS isn't able to render the same graphics that we're seeing on the 360, we're impressed with what the game's artists have done. It's clear that the game isn't even in the same league as many of the better-looking strategy games on the DS; its overall presentation reminds us of the original Civilization for the PC. Still, the map and the various gameplay elements though somewhat cramped are generally easy to read, so you're not likely to get lost or confused while you're playing. The combat animations are well done and add a sense of life to the game but even they fall a bit short of what we've seen in other recent strategy titles on the DS.
The sound in Civilization Revolution helps to redeem the overall presentation a bit. The overall music works well to support the mood of the game and the unit effects, though a bit thin, reinforce the action nicely. It's true that the movement sounds like someone walking around on a bed of crackers but it's still a nice bit of feedback. The rival leaders really steal the show here with some truly hilarious, heavily accented Sim-like gibberish.
©2008-08-07, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved