So. Well, this is the first review I've written here, so I'll try to make it a half-decent one.
Civilisation Revolution, or 'CivRev' as I'll be calling it from now on because I don't have the effort to type it all out again, is a turn-based god sim game made by Sid Meier. It is the first Civilisation in the series to only be available on consoles. As a result, the game is very different from its predecessors.
Ok. I won't dance around it by saying 'simplified' or any other words like that: the game has been dumbed down. The first piece of evidence I noticed of this wasn't one that needed me to pull out my Sherlock Holmes hat, but I did anyway because I enjoy wearing it. In CivRev, workers are noticeably absent. In the earlier games in the series, you were able to make a small workforce and tell them to build a road, or to irrigate this/that/the other, or to build a mine, among other things. Now roads can be built instantly, irrigation comes with a technology, and mines are built from your cities. Personally, I enjoyed having workers. It made you feel more like a God in a God game, instructing them to work in the back-breaking sun. Without them, the game feels emptier. You feel more like a governer, and you can no longer take out your frustration at the Mongols (I mean, come on. How are they so far ahead?) by leaving them next to a volcano and laughing as it erupts.
Another feature that has been dumbed down a bit is the techonology tree, an integral part of every Civ game. There are less techonologies and in the first game I played, I noticed that I had rocketed through the stone age and was promptly in the Medieval era in about the time it would take me on Civ III to teach my lowly citizens how to dress themselves in the morning. Adding on to the smaller tech tree is the lower number of great Wonders. Yes, they have some new ones, but where are the ones I knew and whored out in the previous games? This leads me on to another small peeve. The Manhattan Project wonder used to allow everyone to build nukes, assuming they had the correct resources. Now, you can only have one, and that belongs to whoever builds that wonder first. That means that it is very hard to have a strong military in the modern era, because by doing that you often neglect technology a bit, so in a multiplayer game, or at a high difficulty level, you will find that your armies have been reduced to a cloud of meaty smoke.
However, I feel the gameplay has been improved in some areas. It generally feels more relaxed and accepting, and (dare I say) just more fun. The graphics seem to be more cartoony, and your advisors will seem annoyed when another advisors barges in front of them to tell you of a new matter that requires your attention. I recall actually laughing when Napoleon was shoved to the ground by my scientific advisor.
Combat has been partially revamped as well. Whereas before you needed a string of improbable circumstances to get an army, now it is as simple as just having three of the same unit on the same square. This means that you can really have strength in numbers, rather than having to rely on attrition - which really only worked for a few battles as your units were worn down and killed. You are also able to see how the battle is going in more obvious detail, as the camera zooms down to the battlefield and you can see your troops getting killed (there are three troops per land unit, two per air unit and one per naval unit). There is also an option to retreat from a losing attack, and once your unit or army has won enough battles you can customise it, with bonuses ranging from an extra movement space each turn and having an attack bonus against cities.
There are also Great People. Once you complete a wonder, pass an economic milestone, research a technology or if your civilisation just rocks especially hard, one may turn up. You can settle them in a city for a permanent bonus to that city, or use their power for a one-time effect. Some types are more helpful than others, but they are all quite useful in the end.
I would reccommend this game to people that like God games. It isn't as intricate as others, but in the end, when you buy a game, you buy it so you can have some fun. And I find that this game is very fun indeed.
Civilisation Revolution, or 'CivRev' as I'll be calling it from now on because I don't have the effort to type it all out again, is a turn-based god sim game made by Sid Meier. It is the first Civilisation in the series to only be available on consoles. As a result, the game is very different from its predecessors.
Ok. I won't dance around it by saying 'simplified' or any other words like that: the game has been dumbed down. The first piece of evidence I noticed of this wasn't one that needed me to pull out my Sherlock Holmes hat, but I did anyway because I enjoy wearing it. In CivRev, workers are noticeably absent. In the earlier games in the series, you were able to make a small workforce and tell them to build a road, or to irrigate this/that/the other, or to build a mine, among other things. Now roads can be built instantly, irrigation comes with a technology, and mines are built from your cities. Personally, I enjoyed having workers. It made you feel more like a God in a God game, instructing them to work in the back-breaking sun. Without them, the game feels emptier. You feel more like a governer, and you can no longer take out your frustration at the Mongols (I mean, come on. How are they so far ahead?) by leaving them next to a volcano and laughing as it erupts.
Another feature that has been dumbed down a bit is the techonology tree, an integral part of every Civ game. There are less techonologies and in the first game I played, I noticed that I had rocketed through the stone age and was promptly in the Medieval era in about the time it would take me on Civ III to teach my lowly citizens how to dress themselves in the morning. Adding on to the smaller tech tree is the lower number of great Wonders. Yes, they have some new ones, but where are the ones I knew and whored out in the previous games? This leads me on to another small peeve. The Manhattan Project wonder used to allow everyone to build nukes, assuming they had the correct resources. Now, you can only have one, and that belongs to whoever builds that wonder first. That means that it is very hard to have a strong military in the modern era, because by doing that you often neglect technology a bit, so in a multiplayer game, or at a high difficulty level, you will find that your armies have been reduced to a cloud of meaty smoke.
However, I feel the gameplay has been improved in some areas. It generally feels more relaxed and accepting, and (dare I say) just more fun. The graphics seem to be more cartoony, and your advisors will seem annoyed when another advisors barges in front of them to tell you of a new matter that requires your attention. I recall actually laughing when Napoleon was shoved to the ground by my scientific advisor.
Combat has been partially revamped as well. Whereas before you needed a string of improbable circumstances to get an army, now it is as simple as just having three of the same unit on the same square. This means that you can really have strength in numbers, rather than having to rely on attrition - which really only worked for a few battles as your units were worn down and killed. You are also able to see how the battle is going in more obvious detail, as the camera zooms down to the battlefield and you can see your troops getting killed (there are three troops per land unit, two per air unit and one per naval unit). There is also an option to retreat from a losing attack, and once your unit or army has won enough battles you can customise it, with bonuses ranging from an extra movement space each turn and having an attack bonus against cities.
There are also Great People. Once you complete a wonder, pass an economic milestone, research a technology or if your civilisation just rocks especially hard, one may turn up. You can settle them in a city for a permanent bonus to that city, or use their power for a one-time effect. Some types are more helpful than others, but they are all quite useful in the end.
I would reccommend this game to people that like God games. It isn't as intricate as others, but in the end, when you buy a game, you buy it so you can have some fun. And I find that this game is very fun indeed.
