Sid Meier’s
Civilization is considered to be one of the finest civilization sims in the
history of video games. Perhaps the big question would be if the vaunted PC
title could translate to the next-gen console and still remain as inviting and
entertaining.
The answer
comes in the form of Civilization Revolution, a title with intuitive controls
that puts the emphasis on the gameplay and delivers a wholly satisfying
experience … well, with a few minor exceptions.
Let’s get the
flaws out of the way first. Because the game has five difficulty levels, you can
play on the easiest level which gives you sort of a guide. You may choose that
and then almost immediately regret the decision. Why? The professor you get
speaks gibberish and the tonal quality is annoying – far worse than anything
spouted in a game of The Sims.
Other than
that, though, 2K Games and Firaxis have crafted an experience that takes the
premise of the game and translates it well to the PS3. For those who have never
played a Civ game, the basic premise is that you take on a civilization back in
the Stone Age and through shrewd building, you work it up through the Medieval
Age to Industrial Age and finally to the Space Age.
If anything,
the Civ game has simplified the whole process to a point where this game –
rebuilt from the ground up for the next-gen consoles – is accessible to just
about any age level.
There are
several ways to play. Multiplayer has player matches, a ranked match, LAN party
and Friends options. The single player is rather robust as well with a play now
mode, a Game of the Week (download a Firaxis map), play a set-condition scenario
or leap into the open-world campaign. In the latter, you pick a civilization
(from one of the 16 available – more on that in a moment), and then unveil your
surroundings from the fog of war (a grayed-out mist that permeates the area and
once you venture into it, it clears and you can see what lays around you). The
game is turn-based so every time you research something, it will have a turn
amount tagged onto it. For example, if you play as the Aztecs and decide to
research Stonehenge, that will take 14 turns but will benefit your society’s
growth.
Deciding which
civilization to start as also comes with bonuses. Each civ has a figurehead,
such as Mao Tse-Tung, Catherine the Great, Alexander, Cleopatra or Abraham
Lincoln. If you chose Lincoln, you would, at the Stone Age level, get a 2%
interest on gold reserves. At the Medieval Age, you get rush units at one-half
price; the Industrial Age gleans +1 food from the plains; in the Modern Age,
factories triple production. For special units, you get the Sherman tank, the
Flying Fortress and the Mustang fighter plane.
Those who had
played a Civ title on the PC can tell you how the campaigns could last for weeks
on end as you built your society, dealt with other nations through either
diplomatic or military means and generally second-guessed each decision made.
With the PS3 version, those campaigns do not last as long. That is not to say
you don’t get satisfaction from the game, but things seem to happen a little
quicker. Micro-managing has also been removed. That is either an advancement of
the AI or Firaxis’ way of merely making the game accessible to more players who
don’t wish to spend hours fiddling with every aspect of the government.
Now the disk 2K
sent along did not have instructions, but that was not a problem. The control
scheme was simple to understand and that which was not intuitive was explained
on the screen with prompts.
The maps are
randomly generated, giving the game a lot of replay value. As for the graphics
themselves, they were bright and colorful with solid animations. The
aforementioned professor voices were annoying, but the rest of the soundtrack
was Ok.
Civilization
Revolution basically does well what many games have tried – to bring the civ-building
genre successfully to a next-gen console. The game does not feel as deep as the
PC cousin, but is just as satisfying and just as entertaining.
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Gameplay: 8.8
The controls are easy to understand and the game has a very nice flow to it. The
winning objectives have been boiled down to the essentials – domination,
technology, economic and cultural – and the entire game has been designed for
not only the next-gen systems, but to be accessible to everyone.
Graphics: 8.7
The animations are very nicely handled, and the progression of the civilization
is well done. The game is lush and bright.
Sound: 7.4
A decent musical soundtrack, nice narrative, but the professor’s babble could
have been toned down.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 9.0
A civ game on a next-gen system? You bet and Firaxis pulled it off very well.
Multiplayer: 8.8
Robust and entertaining.
Overall: 8.7
The game is a familiar one and while the next-gen iteration does not seem to
have the depth of the PC counterpart, what has been accomplished here is
remarkable. It plays very well on the PS3 with intuitive controls, solid
graphics, and streamlined game mechanics that ensure entertainment value. Kudos
to Firaxis for a job very well done.
