Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution is the fifth installment of the Civilization series, and the first of the series to release exclusively for the consoles. Along with being the first of the Civilization games to release on consoles, this is also the first Civilization game since Civilization I to be programmed by Sid Meier. This installment of the series keeps the addictive gameplay that Civilization is revered for alive, as well as the deep involvement in creating your own civilization.

Graphics

Civilization looks great on the 360 and PS3, partially due to the new cartoony look. The world reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy; you can see the curved horizon, and when you roam around the world with the cursor it moves a bit. The human characters have quite a bulky look, but it works due to the cartoonish world. There are plenty of vibrant colors, and all of the building models and environments look great. Everything is very easy to recognize, and there seems to be detail put into every model.

I like the stylistic choice for this game; it makes it very approachable and friendly. It also adds a bit of humor into everything, and exaggerates everything in the world. It really fits in with the style of the game, and allows for the play to feel more laid back. I also feel that when games aren’t going for realism, they can focus more on other aspects of the game. The focus here isn’t on making the game look great, it’s making the game play great. Granted, they have achieved both goals here.

Here’s the Xbox 360 version, showing off the vibrant colors, curved horizon line, distinctive building models, and cartoony characters.

Sound

Civilization has great ambient noise. During battles, the sounds fit in and make sense. Tanks sound like tanks, rifles sound like rifles, and airplanes sound like airplanes. None of the sounds are out of place, and everything sounds very crisp and clean. My only complaint as far as sound goes is when the advisors or any other NPCs speak to you. Every time they pop onto the screen (which is quite often), they speak in gibberish, and usually don’t stop until you’re done reading what they say. This isn’t a horrible problem, though, because the NPCs can be muted. Other than the advisors, the sound here is great. There are fun little tunes that play when speaking to other World Leaders, as well as when important events happen such as a declaration of war, or when a World Wonder is build. So the sound here is nice, and adds to the gameplay.

Talking privledges: DENIED. Sorry, Braveheart.

Gameplay

The gameplay is smooth most of the time in Civilization. However, when a character is coming to the front of the screen to talk, there can be a bit of slowdown. The camera always runs smoothly in game, but sometimes during battles the camera will do some odd things, like get too close, but battles only last about 30 seconds anyways, so it’s not a big problem. Before it’s your turn to make a move, the camera always moves you to where something is going on, whether it’s the completion of a building being built, a battle, or troops moving. That’s nice, so you always know what’s going on, but it can be a slight annoyance when you know something you need to do; in order to make a move yourself the camera has to make all of its moves first, and then you can choose to make moves. This isn’t a problem in the beginning of the game, but it can be annoying once you have more cities or are in a war, because the camera also moves and shows you when foreign troops near your territory are moving. All in all, the gameplay is great. There are some annoyances, but the game is so addicting it almost doesn’t matter anyways.

Control

The controls are fantastic in Civilization, from the menus to the button layout on the controller. The navigation is very simple, and makes it easy for first time Civilization players to understand. Pressing the right bumper brings up the Diplomacy panel, which is easy to navigate and looks nice. Another neat addition is the Civilopedia, which can be accessed at any time by pressing the Y button. This includes information on all of the World Leaders, World Wonders, Great People, and just about anything else included in the game. This Civilopedia is also very easy to navigate, using an x/y axis with categories on the x-axis and subjects within the category on the y-axis. Basically every menu is very clean and easy to control, which encourages the exploration of what they have to offer.

This simple button layout also makes micromanaging troops and cities a breeze. Each button controls a task for the troops, and navigating is simply done with the left analog stick. For new players who may forget what the buttons do, there is always a menu on the bottom of the screen that shows what the buttons do and the troop’s stats. The city screen is also very self-explanatory, and if you’re confused the advisors are always there to spout gibberish and tips at you. Basically, this game is very user friendly for new players to the Civilization series, but familiar enough to please returning players. The controls are really one of the shining stars of this game.

Micromanaging at its best; you build that Archer, Thebes!

How it Stacks Up

Civilization Revolution does a great job of breathing new life into the series. I’ve always known Civilization to be rather difficult, and this game lives up to that reputation. On the lower difficulties, winning a game can be a walk in the park, but when playing on the harder difficulties, you really have to use a lot of strategy. My one complaint is that the AI can be very aggressive. No matter what it seems you will always end up in a war with another country. The AI just does not stop demanding money, technology, and cities, or whatever else they want. If you try to say no, or offer them anything less, it’s war time. So other than the overly aggressive and greedy AI, this game is fantastic.

As far as console games go, I would say that this is one of the finest Strategy games available, and should be added to anyone’s library if they’re looking for a challenge that will keep them coming back for more. Each playthrough takes about four hours, and I warn you, you won’t want to stop until that playthrough is over.

ONLY 720 gold out of my 790 gold? Don’t trust him, Genghis is just going to declare war again after those four turns anyway, unless he asks for my remaining 70 gold for four more turns of peace.

Last Words

This game looks great, sounds good, runs solidly, controls gracefully, and leaves you begging for more. Be warned, you’ll be beat up and betrayed, and as a result you’re going to be thinking about the perfect strategy in your sleep.

Here are my overall ratings for Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution:

Napoleon has said it all. Be sure you join the Revolution!