Civilization Revolution
Pocket world conquest!
By Matt Kelly
I think I mentioned in the review of Civ Rev for consoles that I'm a long term victim of it's life destructive effects. The sheer scope of the franchise is pretty much unmatched anywhere, and it's turn by turn system has you just taking one more little turn for about three hours after you said you'd stop playing. And now it's on the go in your pocket. Maybe this will bring about the plague of 'just one more bus stop' syndrome until you hit the end of the line while conquering the world...
A quick refresh if you don't know Civilization, the game is played across 5000 years of human civilization, as you take your single settler, build a city, and forge an empire the spans the globe. Throughout the game you'll expand your nation with additional cities, research technologies for more advanced improvements and units, negotiate with fellow nations, and of course, go to war. There are a set of huge objectives, such as being the first to Alpha Centuri (a science victory), destroying or conquering every other civ in the world (domination) along with several others.
You've got a choice of 16 civilizations built around different play styles. Each has a set of bonus' which focus on a particular way of playing, such as an expansionist fast growing faction, or quick researching and so on. When the game kicks off you've got your initial settler to establish a city with along with a single warrior. The great thing about Civ Rev is like the rest of them, the world is randomly generated. Typically all the start locations are pretty balanced, but you'll have no idea what the world looks like beyond your own tiny point of view. The maps are a heck of a load smaller than their PC counter parts, which suits the hand held nature well. Between that and the play style of the AI, you'll find most matches will be over in three hours (as opposed to the PC where it can range anywhere from 6 hours to several days). Most of the time AI is quite willing to go to war with you over pretty trivial things. Like the console version of Civ Rev, it is the games saving grace. While a lot of elements have been stripped from the PC version for it's console/DS debut, it's the slightly hectic pace that keeps the game fresh and exciting.
Between clever UI layout, good use of the D-Pad and touch screen, Civ Rev manages to keep the menu monotony to a minimum. It's still there, but for the most part it's a pleasant enough experience without dragging down the game. However the game does have a few issues with balancing, difficulty, and presentation. Balancing wise the game does a decent job at keeping things fair, but you'll find a few factions that have borderline transparent bonus'. You can still expect them to be useful, but these somewhat more obscure ones tend to dictate your gameplay rather than the reverse if you want to make any major use of them. The difficulty levels suffer from the 'too easy, too hard' syndrome. Hardcore Civ nuts will be jumping up to the mid range difficulties quite quickly, but will find going up to the top tiers almost murderous with little chance to learn the tactics.
Finally presentation wise, it really isn't the best looking or sounding strategy game out there on NDS. It's forgivable given the massive open ended nature of the game, but if you're expecting candy for anything else but your strategy brain, prepare for some disappointment. Clarity of what you're looking at has definitely been the top priority with Civ Rev, as you'll find the tile based world layout is little more than that. You have your tile, it's type, and any resources or structures that may be sitting on it and that's about it. While there's no doubt the DS could have powered something a tad shiner to look at, it's probably doing the game a favor with it's complex gameplay. Small screens typically don't lend themselves well to overly complex information, and at least with Civ Rev you'll be able to see everything clearly. Battles, while a tad tacky, certainly do liven up the game. Sound wise,it does lean a little on the low-fi side but with a bit of music to make up in atmosphere.
However the biggest omission of all is the Civlopedia, the quick reference book found in every other version of Civ, full of unit, structure, faction, and gameplay concept information. This made it into the console version of Civ Rev but for some reason Firaxis decided to nix it for the DS port. Not that one is any less complex than the other. While this is partially made up by some very direct and pointful advice from your team of Sim-like-talking advisers, it's a damn shame for anyone who really loves the nitty gritty tactics of Civ.
Summary:
While yes, Civ Rev is stripped down from it's PC counterparts (think somewhere in between Civ 2 and Civ 3 and then a little taken away from both), it's quick play nature allows for that. If you're wanting a hardcore Civ fix that will last for days, stick with the PC versions, but if you want something that isn't going to tie you up for days on end but still have that addictive nature, Civ Rev is for you.
Gameplay - 8.3
While a few balancing issues are in there, Civ is addictive as ever with it's open ended gameplay.
Graphics - 7.0
Clean to look at and do the job, but no real eye candy to be seen.
Sound - 7.0
While it doesn't suffer too much from 'stock audio', chances are your headphones will be running into your iPod rather than your DS. Music does bring some atmosphere however.
Replay - 9.0
Epic amounts of replay in fact. With multiple victories, different Civ bonus' to master and the random nature of the worlds, Civ still can lay claim to the slogan of 'no two games will be the same'
Overall - 8.0
Civ Rev is the quick version of the full Civ experience. It's equally as enjoyable if that's what you want, and if you like it there is a lot of game time to be had in it.
Submitted by Robtot
08/09/2008
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