CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION (X360)
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Publisher: 2K Games.
Developer: Firaxis. Released: June 2008 (Europe). Genre: Turn-based Strategy. Other versions: PS3. Posted 16th May 2013. By Shane Battams © 2013 |
Perhaps one of the most notoriously difficult genres to execute on consoles, strategy games have found success rare outside of the PC. The mouse-and-keyboard controls are difficult to translate on a control pad, consoles seem to lack the specs required to power these mammoth games and there just seems to be a general lack of care: more often than not, console owners are shafted with lazy, shoddy ports of these great games. Civilization Revolution is different, in that it’s built from the ground-up only for consoles. Even Sid Meier himself showed giddy enthusiasm for the project, implying that a lot of care was taken. And quite frankly, it’s one of the best attempts to bring strategy to the console market.
The baseline elements of Revolution follow the turn-based 4X template of the series, albeit simplified. You can win one of four ways: through either a technological, economic, culture or domination victory. The first three relate to resource management while the last requires you to use brute force to take over other cities. Meanwhile, a myriad of factors can affect your games. From the get-go, the Civilization you choose can impact which direction you take, with 16 different ones in all each with special bonuses both immediately and over a period of time as you play. The French, for example, begin with a Cathedral which encourages you to aim for a Cultural victory. As the maps are randomly generated, even the terrain can affect how you play. You can adjust your settlers in order to accommodate different strategies, water-covered areas are good for developing technology while mountainous sections provide speedier production.
This dour mistress tells you where you can stick your resources
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S.S. Steadysphere, shortly after leading TPE to global domination
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Games start once you place your settlers. From there, you can either shift your workers to prioritise production, food to grow your population or money. Production resources can be used to build combat units, buildings and Wonders, both of which can bring permanent benefits such as increased money and culture, though Wonders can be nulled by discoveries by other Civilizations. Organising a military force is simple, with groups of three allowing for an upgraded army to be formed. This brings increased power, and achieving victories multiple times also upgrades the unit. Combat can be irritating at times though, as clearly overpowered forces fail to engage the enemy at all. Great Persons, ranging from Agamemnon to Florence Nightingale, appear with high-culture and bring benefits such as double money. However only one can be settled in each city, and should the same type appear and you have no other cities to place them in, you can bring immediate benefits such as completing a building production.
It’s easy to see that Revolution is built for consoles. Menus are clear and simple, meaning it’s easy to decipher the mechanics of the game. Meanwhile, a huge Civiliopedia offers expansion for those who seek it. Selecting units is a breeze here, as the right analogue stick is used to highlight a unit and the left then to move it. The four different routes to victory are clearly highlighted with icons, meaning they’re easy to follow. The five difficulty levels are well paced: Chieftain (the lowest) reduces interaction with other Civilizations and allows you to get to grips with the fundamentals of the game, while Deity forces you to be tactical and adapt to not only the environment, but also the strengths weaknesses of both your own and opposing civilizations. It lacks some of the series’ more complex features, but this difficulty definitely presents an equal challenge. Despite a simplified approach, Revolution finds a great balance between depth and accessibility.
And it will keep you busy for the long-term. Games often take a long while to complete, and testing out each Civilization will take a ton of time. Perhaps in an effort to reduce the lengthy marathon sessions of its PC predecessors, a time limit can come into force and those with the most points will automatically win, though games can still last multiple hours depending on how you approach each conflict. There’s also a Scenario mode, which gives you 10 special missions with variants such as increased barbarian activity or a naval-focused map. These can be fun to toy around with once or twice, though a dedicated campaign mode would have been nice. Those willing to brave the stormy seas of competition can delve into the competitive multiplayer, which allows you to play games similar to the campaign mode in free-for-all or team modes. It certainly makes for a fun challenge when facing others online, but these games require a significant amount of extra time, lasting even longer than single-player games do. Those lacking patience may be turned off by this.
It’s easy to see that Revolution is built for consoles. Menus are clear and simple, meaning it’s easy to decipher the mechanics of the game. Meanwhile, a huge Civiliopedia offers expansion for those who seek it. Selecting units is a breeze here, as the right analogue stick is used to highlight a unit and the left then to move it. The four different routes to victory are clearly highlighted with icons, meaning they’re easy to follow. The five difficulty levels are well paced: Chieftain (the lowest) reduces interaction with other Civilizations and allows you to get to grips with the fundamentals of the game, while Deity forces you to be tactical and adapt to not only the environment, but also the strengths weaknesses of both your own and opposing civilizations. It lacks some of the series’ more complex features, but this difficulty definitely presents an equal challenge. Despite a simplified approach, Revolution finds a great balance between depth and accessibility.
And it will keep you busy for the long-term. Games often take a long while to complete, and testing out each Civilization will take a ton of time. Perhaps in an effort to reduce the lengthy marathon sessions of its PC predecessors, a time limit can come into force and those with the most points will automatically win, though games can still last multiple hours depending on how you approach each conflict. There’s also a Scenario mode, which gives you 10 special missions with variants such as increased barbarian activity or a naval-focused map. These can be fun to toy around with once or twice, though a dedicated campaign mode would have been nice. Those willing to brave the stormy seas of competition can delve into the competitive multiplayer, which allows you to play games similar to the campaign mode in free-for-all or team modes. It certainly makes for a fun challenge when facing others online, but these games require a significant amount of extra time, lasting even longer than single-player games do. Those lacking patience may be turned off by this.
Pirates! Sid Meier's Pirates! That was a good 'un
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Building your own Dubai, complete with island Golf course
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One of the major issues of console strategy games are the graphics, which are often drab and watered-down. But because Revolution is built for consoles, the visuals here are completely solid. As mentioned before, the clean look of the menus enhances the gameplay, but also makes it easier to shift through all of the text, as much of the game requires reading due to the lack of spoken dialogue. Gameplay looks decent enough, though much of the environment and models don’t push the polygon count. It is redeemed by detailed models of opposing leaders and a brighter colour palette. The game can also get bogged down by pauses and frame-rate issues, especially during combat. Audio is okay enough, but not too appealing. While the music scores are good and the sound effects do what’s required of them, characters in the game speak in some kind of weird gibberish, which can become a tad irritating. Rival civilizations come with their own unique jingles, and these can be repetitive as they demand resources off you every few turns.
Civilization Revolution should be admired for the simple fact that it is a strategy game that doesn’t sacrifice any quality in transition to the console market. It may lack some of the finer elements of the series, but there is still an incredible amount of strategic depth to explore. Not only are there multiple paths to victory, but aspects such as which Civilization you use and the map the game generates alter how you approach each game. And the controls – a regular cause of headaches during console strategy games – are great here. Perhaps with a better sense of production and some dedicated campaign modes the game could’ve scored even higher, but despite these issues, there’s definitely some great fun to be had here.
Civilization Revolution should be admired for the simple fact that it is a strategy game that doesn’t sacrifice any quality in transition to the console market. It may lack some of the finer elements of the series, but there is still an incredible amount of strategic depth to explore. Not only are there multiple paths to victory, but aspects such as which Civilization you use and the map the game generates alter how you approach each game. And the controls – a regular cause of headaches during console strategy games – are great here. Perhaps with a better sense of production and some dedicated campaign modes the game could’ve scored even higher, but despite these issues, there’s definitely some great fun to be had here.
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VERDICT
Visual: 7/10
Audio: 6/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 9/10 OVERALL: 8/10 |