Game : Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

Game Info :
Release Date: 7/8/2008
Platforms:
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis
Gamesite: Click here
Genres: Simulator, Strategy
ESRB: RP

Game Review :

By: Andy Eddy - "Vidgames"
July 8th, 2008

When it comes to game designers’ accomplishments, Sid Meier is among the top in his craft—and, in fact, was the second to be named to the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 1999 (after Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto). At this year’s Game Developer’s Conference, Meier was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for his stellar career milestones.

Without a doubt, the biggest of those accomplishments was the creation of the Civilization series, beginning with the initial release in the early ’90s. Since then, the game industry has gone through a lot of changes—most notably, with incredible leaps in the hardware arena—and through that the Civ concept has endured and grown. The latest in the historical-strategy franchise, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, continues that improvement by maintaining the tight gameplay, but coupling it with a solid presentation via the “next-gen” hardware to make it even more enjoyable to play.



CivRev, as we’ll call it from here on, still follows the same basic premise set down in the premier release: You need to take a civilization at the start of history and guide its growth through the Eras to become a world leader. In a nutshell, you wander the globe to gradually increase your civ’s settlement size and interact with other civs, either through trade and technology sharing or through military encounters destined to forcibly acquire others’ lands. It plays like a board game—in fact, was originally modeled after a board game—and you can finish a match in a matter of hours, but the console foundation enables it to be a richer, highly animated experience with enlivened gameplay. Best of all, it’s an incredibly replayable title, with the starting scenarios randomized, so you never end up in the same situation twice.



2K Games admits that CivRev has had its presentation taken to almost cartoon-like levels in hopes of enticing younger players and those not normally into console games to try it out. However, the animated characters, who speak in Sims-like gibberish, don’t dumb down or dilute the Civilization concept, but rather helps make it more…well, for lack of a better term, cute. And that’s not a bad “cute,” but an entertaining “cute.” The first time you see an “advisor” come onscreen to blabber some blather at you (with captions giving you the real info that’s being passed on), you’ll probably smile. Then when one advisor rudely interrupts another to deliver a message, you’ll likely laugh out loud at the flailing, face-making and mock outrage. Yeah, cute…

The main single-player game starts you off with the selection of your civ leader from a group of 16 well-known historical figures. These range from Caesar (Rome) or Cleopatra (Egypt), to Genghis Khan (Mongolia) or Elizabeth (England)—or you can have it randomize the civ you’re going to found. Each leader has built-in benefits, such as China’s Mao Tse-Tung, who starts with the knowledge of Writing, as well as other aids through each of the Eras.

From there, it’s simply a matter of strolling around to get the literal lay of the land, in search of regions you can colonize, as well as other civs to affiliate with or try to take over. If you encounter a small barbarian village, you can run out its occupants with your military units, taking some gold as a reward for your victory. As units gain more victories, they get enhancements and special skills that make them (and, ultimately, you) even more powerful. And your civ hopefully grows its borders and holdings, gradually building population and placing more buildings that add benefits. In addition to unit and area growth, there’s diplomacy with other civs, which can bring mutual benefit through sharing or to put you at odds with a grumpy neighbor.

The “tech tree” is the way for you to tailor your civ’s path through history, such as via a more militaristic evolution or through more scientific advancements. For example, if you start with Bronze Working, you can progress through that “branch” to later develop Currency, engage in Banking and start The Corporation; but if you begin with Alphabet, you get to progress with Religion and the Printing Press, which leads to Mass Media and Globalization. These all shape your civ’s focuses through history. The game ends when a civ achieves the victory conditions in one of four areas: Cultural, Domination, Economic or Technology.

It’s an intricate game, though the five difficulty levels (from Chieftain, which offers lots of Advisor help, to Deity, for an extremely tough battle) give you room to test your skills and get the help you need. There’s plenty of playability for all experience levels, and CivRev makes it very comfy to learn your way up. If there’s anything you don’t understand, the comprehensive Civilopedia spells out nearly every single element of the game.



In addition to the main single-player game, 2K Games offers a series of Play Scenarios, which are pre-defined challenges with already established civs. It’s sort of like picking up in the middle of a save game—or, if you’re a chess player, something like the “Checkmate in XX moves” puzzles. You need to take the civ you’re given in the situation that’s provided, and then achieve the desired victory.

There will also be a Game of the Week, which, as the name implies, is slated to provide a different scenario each week. You play it by yourself to completion, but at the end you’ll have the opportunity to compare your results with the rest of the CivRev community for who’s come up with the best “solution.”

And finally there’ll be many variations of multiplayer action via Xbox Live, from head-to-head competition to team battles to “free for all” fights, as well as System Link competition. There’s so much gameplay packed into the title.

The interface is incredibly easy, with little you have to memorize or guess about, as most button press options are spelled out on every screen. If you’ve never played Civ, you’ll be up to speed in no time. If you have played Civ in the past, you’ll find the console version to be friendly in its controls, though perhaps a bit limiting in your ability to manage (or micromanage) all aspects of your civ. Again, it’s a situation where the console version is meant to cater to an audience that might be more “twitch” oriented and with a shorter attention span, so it’s not a big stretch to understand that the game makers sought to reduce some of the complexity in favor of making it more entertaining throughout. It’s not Civ Lite, but more like 2K Games offering you its version that could be called My First Civ.

It’s possible that the veterans and purists will find it too facile, but I believe it’s a good blend of the original Civ structure with a higher degree of accessibility for those who might not have played it before. I think any time you can bring a classic game forward—a nice evolution that still holds the appeal of the original, while taking advantage of the hardware benefits—that’s a positive.

Where CivRev loses some points is with its graphics. Often, if you’re in the later stages of a game and moving a unit across a long distance, you get a large amount of jerkiness in the screen, as the unit hits sharp turns in its path. It’s sort of like what you’d get if a human opponent moved a piece across a large distance on a giant hex board, though doing a game like this on a console is supposed to reduce that kind of situation. Unit movement could have been much smoother.

Also, as much fun as the advisors are, it’s not too long before you’ll probably get the letdown of repetition. It’s not as bad as you get in some games, but the novelty does wear off (even if it’s fun the first couple of times you play it). The upside is, as you become more of a CivRev expert, you can lessen the volume of some audio effects, if it becomes that bothersome, and probably won’t pay much attention to the peripheral graphics.



However, other effects are slick. If you do something that the people in a town appreciate, sometimes you’ll get an onscreen fireworks display and hear cheering, as if the city was celebrating your leadership. The music is really nicely done and doesn’t grate on your ears across a long play session, as it can be in some strategy games.

As I’ve said before, I’ve been in the game industry a long time, yet never really took the time to play a Civ game before this, but CivRev is showing me in quantity what I’ve missed. And, in fact, my immersion in the gameplay experience is a good part of why this review is going up a bit later than planned. I often had a tough time pulling myself away from the playing to write this up. That might have slowed up the posting of the review, but it’s ultimately a tribute to the game’s attraction. Frankly, I’m looking forward to getting a final copy of the game and, after next week’s E3 show is finished, spending some time playing it just for fun. Isn’t that how a good game is suppose to make you feel?

Taken From :http://reviews.teamxbox.com

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Trailer PS3 Xbox 360