Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

"An excellent game, with a remarkable, exciting design!"

Many computer players have seen the masterpieces of Sid Meier's Civilization series. And on the SNES and PS1, console gamers managed to play a port of Civ 1 and 2 (respectively), but they never seemed to totally grab console gaming's attention. Now, the gauntlet is thrown: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is now in stores in American stores, packed with exciting, epic games that span all of history. There is an organic feel to this game, moreso than the original Civilization series. By this, everything is intertwined. Every action is critical and manifests an appropriate reaction. Falter too many times and you might find your civilization conquered before you finish reading this review.

Speaking of conquering, the AI in this game is extremely aggressive, and not just militarily, but economic, scientific, and cultural aggression as well. A good army is not an option in this game--you will indeed need to create a decent defense force at the least in order to survive the moderate and harder difficulty levels.

Graphics: 7/10

Let's be honest. What you see in the image section is what you get if you play it. The graphics aren't exactly on par with most DS games, but some of the backgrounds are quite nice. In fact, it appears the leader backgrounds are just about the same as the ones in Civilization 4, just faded a little. While the land does not feel as alive as Civilization 4, it is relatively pleasant to view. The caricatures for the leaders are cartoonish at best.

Sound/Music: 8/10

When you get this game, make sure you keep ambient sound on. When on the main map, you will find a pleasant breezy, ocean-side sound, with the chirping of birds in the distance. I find it particularly relaxing. Considering how vigorous the gameplay works, having a relaxing sound in the backdrop is good to keep one calm, cool, and collected, perfect for maintaining a good game without getting overloaded from stimulation. Other sounds on this game make for an exuberant, fitting setting. The various fanfares resonate according to the particular era your current civilization exists in, and the "simlish" of the civilization leaders sounds similar (although not exactly, of course) to languages of what they sound like. That said, however, there is not much music to speak of--most of it is ambient background.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is easily one of the crown jewels of the game. Civilization Revolution for the DS does indeed deliver the "Just... One... More... Turn!! I gotta see what (insert civ here) does" gusto that the original PC series began. With every move a critical factor, who wouldn't want to see what happens next immediately after your move? Was it a good move or a bad move? And after that, you will want to act on what happens--the cycle continues. Before you know it, the game is over, with you winning or not. Just about every detail to this game is a joy to play, no tedious maintenance issues like cleaning up pollution or keeping citizens extra-happy. Difficulty is nicely spread, from Chieftian (the easiest), Warlord (second easiest), King (moderate), Emperor (second hardest), and Deity (hardest). Deity is indeed challenging enough for even the most seasoned Civilization veterans, whilst chieftian is easy enough for any Civilization neophyte to learn the game without much problem.

Each civilization of the fourteen available is unique, with their own nation "powers" which activate in certain points ingame, according to your technology base. Each nation starts with a very potent bonus, and an extra bonus in the ancient era. Come a few techs later into the medieval era, a new nation power activates, and so on with the industrial and then modern eras. Some nation powers are the same, but most are distinct and carry a special strategy to them.

There are three basic resources: Food, Production, and Commerce. One tile typically only offers 1-2 units of one of these types, but might offer more with various civilization, improvement, wonder, and rare resource benefits. Food allows your civilization to grow, production allows your civilization to build military units, world wonders (which there can only be one of, typically involving a race to see who can build it the quickest), and improvements, which are like wonders, but do not add to a cultural win and can be built in each city (with some exceptions).

There are three derived resources: Gold, Science, and Culture. Gold and Science derive themselves from Commerce, which you can designate as gold or science at your discretion. Gold allows you to rush buy things, procure economic milestones (like obtaining the 100 Gold gives you a free settler), or pay off that stingy, but violent neighbor who seeks to ravage your countryside. Science allows you to discover new technologies, and there are nice perks to discovering new technologies FIRST. Culture derives itself from various wonders, improvements, and great people. High culture income in a city expands a city's borders and procure great people. Should your borders override a rival city's, you might be able to wrest control of that particular city without lifting a spear to take it, an effective city "flip."

Each game pits you against four other civilizations, drawn randomly. Certain combinations are more scientific oriented, some are more cultural oriented, and some are more conquest oriented.

With this, you will find these "orientations" to be the way to win. There are four victory types in this game: Domination, by taking four rival capitals; Economic, by achieving 8 economic milestones (roughly 100,000 gold) and building the World Bank wonder; Scientific, by researching the necessary technologies to Space Flight and building a space station to land on Alpha Centauri quicker than your opponents; and Cultural, by obtaining a combination of 20 great people, wonders, and city flips.

There are also an inordinate number (maximum 6) of "artifacts" dotted around the world, which offer it's discoverer an incredible boost, which easily competes with the various civilization bonuses and wonders. Another feature to "rev" your thirst for exploration is that if you move a unit onto an approximately four tile terrain set, such as a grassland, desert, forest, sea, mountain (which only air units can traverse), with no undiscovered part of it, and first before another civilization, you get the joy of naming the natural wonder and a nice gold stipend (which varies according to your current nation's status).

Control: 8/10

The controls are quite intuitive, allowing you to choose whether you want to play solely by stylus or buttons, or at your discretion, use a mix of both. The problem here is that the stylus style is a tad sensitive, so touch it lightly once you get the game and play it.

Multiplayer: 9/10

This game supports ad-hoc and wi-fi gaming, so you could very well play with two to four players from another location off in the distance or in your own home. At the moment of writing this review, the time to get a game started via wi-fi is not long at all, indicating a relatively healthy multiplayer base. Also, out of sync errors are common, but do not amount to anything, and fix themselves quickly, even with a poor connection.

While in a multiplayer game, you can choose to have a timer, be it fast, slow, or a healthy medium. The fast pace might be a little disorienting for beginners, but it can make for some exciting games. The normal pace offers much time in the first half of the game and it feels faster in the last half. The slow pace might be a bit of a drag for seasoned players, but can allow you to choose from your options carefully with a lower chance of error. You can also set a handicap if you so desire, offering a balance, should a novice feel the need to have a crutch to keep them afloat against a potential good player out in the wi-fi or ad-hoc atmosphere.

This game also allows you to play a "Game of the Week," where Firaxis and 2K games create a seemingly random map to play, but remains the same for a whole week and for anyone who plays it, allowing you to compare your results with your friends, offering a different style of multiplayer gaming. The game of the week is replaced each Sunday.

Replayability: 10/10

And here is the other crown jewel to this game. There are endless possibilities. No map is the same, except for the game of the week, and that's only for a week. The number of permutations of map, rival civilization constituents, rare resource distribution, artifact distribution, civilization choice, etc. are nigh endless. The games themselves take two to three hours to complete. However, Firaxis and 2K Games were nice enough to also add some scenarios (read: modified random maps) to offer different kinds of games, like one offering a lack of barbarians in one, a starting gold of 1,000 in another, and a game with lower victory conditions in yet another.

Some issues:
*Some starting nation powers oddly don't express themselves, but this is relatively rare.
*Only so many save slots!

Final Recommendation: 9/10

This game is well worth the buy. This game shines in just about every aspect, albeit not the flashiest game in the DS pool. Just remember this isn't Civilization 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or so on. This is Civilization Revolution, with it's own unique flair and pizzazz.

And best of all, it is portable! It's civ on the go! It is perfect for long airplane or car rides.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/21/08

Game Release: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (US, 07/08/08)