Civilization Revolution (Multi Format)

1996 was the year insomnia gripped me, I had removed everything from my diet that would have created it, coffee, tea, sugary foods but still it persisted; there was very little stress in my life even - No the answer was obvious and it lay in a large cardboard box... Civilization 2 had been released!

After the galleons had long since faded from the inside of my retina I thought it would be safe to venture back into 'normal' gaming. Little did I know that Sid Meier had one more dastardly plan under his sleeve, the quite brilliant Civilization revolution. Sleep would never be the same again.

This iteration of the Civilization series, has departed from its PC roots and instead opted for a more 'Console friendly' path, with the game being released on both the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the Nintendo DS. This may initially cause concern amongst gamers, however those fears are immediately dispelled.

The main reason for this is the extremely intuitive control scheme, with the majority of options being controlled by the shoulder buttons. This proves to be a master stroke as once your settlers have created several cities (Guestopia and Guestropolis in my case!) it offers easy navigation across all your kingdom, making the turn based gameplay into a surprisingly quicker experience.


The game though doesn't overly hold the gamers hand before playing, maybe in a nod of respect to the hardened Civilization players, and rather than the mandatory tutorial a science type character pops up offering you a tutorial, which when opted for will fully detail unit types and their various strengths and weaknesses, as well as offering advice when a new experience is made available to the gamer, such as building a 'wonder' for your citizens.

This was extremely refreshing as the game didn't patronise the gamer, and rather allowed them to opt for assistance as and when they needed it, but moreover allowed the gamer to digest the game's 'ethos' and strategy before moving on within the game.

The only slight quibble with the tutorial, was that although it described the unit types it was at times unclear how you actually create a unit, making a read of the instruction manual a vital companion to the gamers' initial steps within the game.


Civilization has always been a 'thinker' and even the most hardened Civilization fans, for which there are hundreds, will say that it has never been a 'looker'. This has dramatically changed for this incantation.

The graphics are vibrant, rich and a delight to behold, with the world and in game terrain being beautifully drawn with a cartoonish brush. This extends to the in game characters - tribes people, Barbarians, World leaders; each has a wonderfully characateuristic quality, where they will visually show their disapproval or support for your decisions.

This cartoonish style also extends to the unit types, with each unit such as pike men being unique, and furthermore when the unit is upgraded this is reflected visually, allowing the gamer to feel a greater sense of attachment to their units, through their personality and individuality.

'But what about the gameplay? Civilization is nothing without gameplay!' you cry, and this sentiment is fully correct, and is in part why I chose to talk about the gamplay last. The fact is that regardless of all these new graphical touches, new bells and whistles that have been mention above.. this is still an authentic Civilization game, and at the core of it beats the same heart that was in Civilization 2.

The game gives the user command of a huge cultural list (16 in total) ranging from Cleopatra's Egyptian Empire through to Abraham Lincoln's good old USA. These aren't just purely cosmetic differences, far from it, and instead each civilization offers strengths and weaknesses whether it be Ghandi's diplomacy skills or Julius Caesar's military might.

Once the decision has been made the gamer must set out to achieve success for their blossoming Civilization, and success can be achieved in 4 differing ways economic, cultural, technology and domination, with each option having specific criteria to achieve success.


The only slight criticism of this is that due to the map being quite small, yet still having 5 different Civilizations; it means that war is inevitably on the cards and it is at times extremely difficult to keep things peaceful!

This often results in games being won by domination, and when playing I couldn't escape the feeling that it was all to easy to win in this way. This may be Sid Meier's attempt to cater for a console market which is perceived to want instant action, but the continual interruption irritated, especially when your sole intention was to be peaceful.

It is worth persevering with the winning goals other than domination, as from a curiosity point alone it allows you to see your research reach its true potential.

Overall Civilization Revolution is a brilliant re - imagining for the series, which does its up most to cater for Old and new fans of the game alike. The game is also extremely good value coupling together free play, scenarios not to mention the online multi player. Whether or not this version will make it to the PC is another matter, but console fans can rejoice in having a thoroughly deep and absorbing strategy title to play. It seems my insomnia is set to start all over again!