Have you ever really wanted to conquer the world, but just didn’t have the time?  Well now there’s an answer.  Civilization: Revolution (Civ Rev) from the mind of Sid Meier has everything you need to dominate the world all wrapped up in a tidy little box.  You’ll use everything from irrigation to Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (also known as nukes) to build one little city in to an empire.

Civ Rev is Sid Meier’s first foray in to the console market.  He’s been putting out Real Time Strategy (RTS) or turn based strategy games for your PC since 1991, but now with the help of 2K Games he’s made the leap to an XBox360, PS3, or Nintendo DS near you.  There are now 4 different Civilizations games and the idea behind all of them is to become the ruler of the world.  In Civ Rev you can do that in one of four ways.  You can dominate the world militarily, become the envy of the world by advancing in culture, bankrupt the world by becoming so wealthy you can do as you wish, or use technology to advance your empire beyond earthly limits.

To begin every round you must select your leader.  You have many leaders to choose ranging from Gandhi to Caesar, Napoleon to Abraham Lincoln.  Every leader has it’s strength and weaknesses, so it helps to know what kind of victory you’re looking to accomplish before you start.  One important note here, any given round can last many hours.  You’ll start at the stone age and depending on how good you are (or aren’t) you could finish in the Space Age.  I’ve seen this last four hours routinely.  There are ways to shorten that, there’s even a lightning round setting, but don’t go in to this game thinking your round will go quickly.  More than likely it won’t.  The good news it that the game let’s you save at almost any time and it gives you 10 saves to use so you can go back and forth at will.

So you’ve chosen a game type and a leader, now you’re ready to start the game.  The world opens up, and there in front of you is the entirety of your empire.  Five or six people scurrying around looking for a good place to settle down and call home.  This is a VERY important decision in the life of your civilization.  You want to look for plenty of food, plenty of resources, and a defend-able position… just to name a few factors.  Often the game puts you in a good starting square, but it’s worth looking around to see your options.  Don’t look for too long though, there are four competing civilizations that will be growing with every turn regardless of whether yours is or not.   Find your spot, settle in and get to work.

Pretty quickly after creating your settlement you’ll get your first set of warriors.  Shortly there after you’ll start researching technologies.  Eventually you can create armies, build structures, and in a short time create a sprawling city filled with activity.  Branch out and send settlers to other areas of the map.  Eventually the other civilizations will start encroaching on your space, or you on theirs.  Battles will be fought, like it or not.  Cities will flourish or fall.  You will leave an indelible mark on this virtual world, or you will fall to the wayside and fail.  It’s all in your hands.

One of the other nice things about this title is that no matter what, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Sure, the rise and fall of an entire civilization is totally up to you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be dramatic.  The game is presented with a sense of humor.  Even when you’re being threatened by hostile enemies, the language is such that you can just chuckle it off.  A lot of other RTS games present your challenges with a sort of dire, do or die, mentality.  Civ Rev on the other hand just puts the information out there in a semi-comical, even cartoony manner for you to digest and respond to.

Multiplayer leaves a bit to be desired in Civ Rev.  Playing head to head can be fun and challenging.  But add a third party and things get awkward fast.  Particularly if you have a group of two or three buddies you wanna spend a few hours playing with.  The three of you will start a round, but the first person to loose is just out of luck.  They have to sit and wait, potentially HOURS, while the other two finish the fight.  I’m sure there is a time and place for that kind of gaming, but in my world it’s fairly rare.

So who should invest in this game and why?  People like me, that’s who.  Someone who is new to the RTS world and wants a full experience without the melodrama that can accompany taking over the world.  It’s a great gateway game to a whole new type of game that a lot of console gamers have yet to try.  2k Games has already released several downloadable content packs at the time of this publishing and is doing a good job of keeping the game relevant.  If you’re looking for something new and different that still offers a challenge then this game is definitely worth a look-see.  And for those on the fence, XBoxLive offers a demo version free for download on the marketplace.  Try before you buy.

Buy it now or Trade for it on Goozex

- David Hayes