Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Adam Hanson
I will be the first to admit that when I tried to play Civilization on the original Playstation I did not enjoy the game. Still ten years and two consoles later I figured it was time to give the series another shot. What I found was a game that was vastly improved in every way. While many series improve when they make the jump to a more powerful console few show the level of improvement exhibited by Civilization Revolution.
Civiliazation Revolution is developed by Firaxis the same people that game us the PSP hit Pirates!. Like Pirates! the game uses real world history and open ended gameplay to create a unique experience. The game is deep and complex and strategic and it comes together nicely.
The premise of Civilization Revolution (referred to from here on as “Civ Rev”) is simple and epic at the same time. The player plays as one of 16 historical civilizations and must become the greatest nation on the planet. This can be done in four different ways. The first method is to simply conquer every other nation by waging war against them. The second way to win is by advancing science and launching a mission to Alpha Centauri. The third victory method is by obtaining wealth and constructing the world bank. The final path to success involves building your nation’s culture and establishing the united nations. With 16 unique civilizations and 4 paths to victory Civilization presents players with 64 possible ways of playing the game. While some players may be distracted long before they achieve every kind of victory with every nation the wealth of gameplay options should be enough to insure that most gamers will feel the purchase price is justified.
When it comes to gameplay there are two main components. War activities and non war activities. Non war activities include advancing science or culture and trading with other nations. While it is possible to play though the game without attacking a single enemy city most players will probably go to war at least once.
If the player chooses to try and coexist peacefully they can win by advancing technology or culture. Once new science can be researched at a time and the research will go more quickly if more cities have their populations working on science. Culture is achieved by building certain wonders like the Shakespeare Theater or by recruiting great people into the nation. Great people show up once certain technologies are discovered or when cities generate enough culture. Once settled a great person can either give a bonus over time such as increasing science production by 50 percent or they can give a one time bonus such as finishing the building that is currently being produced in a city. The player can choose to trade science and great people with other nations. By doing this the player can gain new sciences without having to study the prequisite sciences.
If peaceful coexistence fails or if the player is just feeling aggressive the player can opt to go to war. Wars can be declared by trespassing on another nation’s territory or by declaring war during a conversation. Sometimes the player is given the option of demanding money or technology as part of an agreement not to go to war. If such a treaty is made the player is not allowed to break it for a number of turns (the number is stated in the treaty). Once the player is in a war another nation may offer a gift of money or technology in the hope of achieving peace or they may demand a gift and offer peace as payment for that gift. Civilizations are more likely to offer a gift if the player has stronger military units.
In Civ Rev the player is given access to a large number of military units. These units range from knights and archers to tanks and planes. New military units are gained by learning new technologies. Once the player builds units they can attack enemy units and cities or used for fortify the player’s own cities. By defeating opponents units level up and gain bonuses to attack, defense, movement, and other attributes. Three units of the same type can also be combined to make armies which are are much more powerful than individual units.
The gameplay does have a few flaws. There is no ability to make a custom map and each game has 5 nations (including the player) no more no less. Perhaps the biggest flaw of the game is the fact that the game has a turn limit which effectively makes it a timed game. While some players may accept this I am one of those who believes that putting in a time limit is the single worst thing a developer can do to a game. Still while the game does have it’s flaws they don’t stop the overall experience from being fun and even the time limit is reasonable enough that any player should be able to finish the game in the number of turns allotted.
The graphics of Civ Rev take an approach that is not as realistic as Uncharted and not as cartoony as Ratchet and Clank. The graphics are bright and fairly detailed but many in game objects are too small to get a good look at them. The sound is nothing spectacular. Most things sound like one would imagine them to. The characters speak in a gibberish that is reminiscent of Star Fox and some people may find it annoying. Still I find that having any voice acting (even if the voice does not form any actual words) is better than just having text menus at least for this particular game.
In the end I would say that Civilization Revolution is not for everybody. It’s not fast paced, it does not have a strong story, and there are more technically proficient games out there when it comes to graphics and sound. Still the game is good and while it may not be the most stunning game out there is is by no means ugly. If the game were a girl I would describe her as not unattractive but having an amazing personality but since it is a video game I would describe it as. . . .
a 4 out of 5.
