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$60 is too much money for this game!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: July 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game should not be in the $60 range. More like the $30-$40 dollar range. I am being generous with the $40! I don't think the graphics are that great, but the game play is fun. It is what it is...A computer game made to run on the PS3. I agree with the other reviews on here. The 4 hour time limit stinks..especially where you have other games out there that have longer gameplay and larger maps. Save your money..wait for the price to come down or buy it used. Nothing special here and I am kind of pissed they delayed the release...as there was nothing to ooo or aaaa about in terms of QA or last minute coding additions.

Civilization:Revolution - not for fans of the PC version

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: August 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I guess I should have read reviews on this product before purchasing it. Any assumption I made that any company that would place such a well known product on the market would take advantage of the power of the Playstation 3, and live up to the reputation of Sid Meier, the game I have played on a PC or MAC for the last decade, was completely and totally wrong. As it regards game play, it is way too easy to win compared to the PC version, and represented no challenge whatsoever.

I think the most annoying part of the game are the Advisers - they chirp with this shrill high-pitched garble. I mentioned this to my friends and colleagues... and those who like the game mention that they still have to turn the sound down, or just off.

The expectations represented by the franchise, the power of the PS3, the lame gameplay, the cartoonish characterurization (as in characature, not character), the incredibly annoying "speech", represent one of my greatest disappointments I have experienced in a game in many many years.

Fun, but not as deep as other Civ games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I think of this game as "Civ Light". It lacks much of the depth of other Civ games, and seems designed to be easier and faster to play. Some examples: the map is very small, and you have no control over the map size or type. You no longer build roads square by square, but instead create them instantly (for large amounts of money) and only between cities. There are no railroads (roads now act much like railroads).

In terms of gameplay, because the map is so small, it tends to feel very crowded -- you'll run into multiple civilizations early on, not too far from where your own settlers begin. Often the whole map will have only one major continent. As a result, it's pretty much a scramble to grab as much of this meager territory as you can early in the game. Then, once you develop a single tank army (by building and combining three tanks), you can pretty much take any city with it, and just walk around the map mopping up. So there is definitely a difficult mid-game phase where you risk losing cities to attacks or culture, but after that there's a pretty long clean-up phase where your win is inevitable.

It's still fun, but as a more shallow game, the fun is likely to wear off a lot sooner than it would with the older, deeper versions of Civ. Still, even a shallow Civ is better than no Civ, so I'm happy to see that it's come to new game systems.

Great game for all ages

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Like many of the reviewers, I too have played Civ games for a long time. I am not disappointed though. To me, it seems that the endless amounts of staring at the computer screen while my units move or take several turns to do what I've told them to do is now finally gone. This new era of "simplified" Civ actually means a cleaner visual with nice vignettes, decisions that are more instinctual, plenty of teachable moments with my children about how civilizations are born and ruled, and the best part about it is that I don't have to spend 6 months to conquer the world. I could do it in one day. The sheer volume of hours that I've spent in past Civ games watching units and workers just move around the screen could all have been used for some greater good if I'd had access to this newer, faster version. Thanks Sid!

Would be great, but ends before you can finish a game!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 28
Date: July 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This would be a great game, it's a lot of fun to play, except for one HUGE problem. The game just ends, before you can actually finish a game. You will be playing a fun game, then out of the blue you will get a message saying the game will end in 5 turns, and then it ends. It's like playing a NASCAR race game for a 20 lap race, and then after 17 laps the game just says 'sorry, the game is over, you were in 3rd place on lap 17, you will never know how you would have finished'.

And even if you manage to reach a victory condition, the game just ends. You can not finish advancing the civilization.

So until they fix this huge bug and allow you to play as long as you want (and many others have brought this up) the game is totally worthless. And this is really annoying as the game would be great otherwise.

CIV4 fan Disappointed with Revolution

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: July 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was very excited to see the CIV game for PS3. I would really prefer to have the games I play start to convert over to a platform like PS3. Tired of spending $3k every few years for a new PC.

Regarding the game, I was really excited as I stated previously about getting the game. However, the game play to me was very difficult to manage. I am sure some of the issues are with my lack of knowledge on how to work the game on a PS3 as I am new to this platform (bought it for blueray movies for themost part).

I could not find an auto explore function to work. I found it very tedious to have to explicity move my boats and explores around manually. I would prefer that they auto explore while I focus on building and organizing troops.

Secondly I could stack trooops into armies (3 troops = 1 army) but I could not create large stacks of armies and have them attack as a single unit. I had to manaully launch each group one at a time.

The image presentation although clean and crisp was a bit to cartoonish for me. I was expecting something more along the lines of Command and Concur I guess.

The over all game play was a struggle for me, maybe if I could find and read an indepth howto guide I could enjoy this game a lot more. The little book they sent with the game barely had the basics covered.

So I think this is a $19.95 value game selling for $60. I hope the issues are with me and that over time I will learn how to play the game on the PS3 better.

Hours of Fun for my Family!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

We started playing Civ on the Playstation 1 version and never got into playing on the computer. With that as a reference, we love the new Civ. Some of the stream lined items are great... Roads are quick and easy, ships come with crew which can explore, bonuses are awesome. These items take some of the redundancy away. The city graphics are nice as well as the terrain. Ease of movement, and easy access to city screens and diplomacy are also very appreciated. And we get to play on our High Def TV while in the comfort of our living room.

I have read a lot about length of play. My husband has put 6 hours into his Chieftain (easiest level) game and I have already played for an hour. Perhaps we are more thorough than some, but this is not a two hour game for us. Could we have finished faster, sure, but that just takes the fun out. It is also addicting, times just flies by during play. We could easily sit all night and play. The randomness of the game is great for replaying. No two games are the same.

The game is not perfect (what game is?). Some cons we have found are: The map could be bigger, or a choice given on size. Some of the wonders are scaled back a bit too much. There is a glitch in the civopedia with graphics overlapping text, very minor issue. The people speaking gibberish is a bit silly. An option to turn off advisors would be nice, we scaled the their volume down. There is no feature to see the full map.

Overall, I would recommend this game to new players of civ and occasional players like us. As some have said, this may not be a great game for hard core computer players. Keep an open mind with the game and you will have a good time!

Flawed but still engrossing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

There is no getting away from the fact this version of Civilization is dumbed down compared with the great games from its heritage. It also has plenty of flaws including its control system, overall depth and graphical performance (jerkiness and slow scrolling speeds). Having said that, I'm totally hooked. Strategy games are my favorite genre and in the absence of any decent strategy games so far for the PS3, this is a breath of fresh air from all the racing games and first-person shooters that otherwise dominate on the platform. For anyone looking for something different on the PS3 and can accept the games minor annoyances, take a look. If you are a die-hard civilization fan then you might find this a little difficult to swallow - maybe stick to the PC versions.

Unleash the Dogs of Gaming...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: July 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Unlike the vast majority of reviewers posting here, I've never played any of the previous Civ games on the PC. Yep, I'm a Civirgin, and one of the people that Civ Rev was designed for - the uninitiated console gamer. And as a fan of turn-based strategy games, let me say that this game is a highly addictive funnel which will suck away hours of your life as you battle and build your mighty empire.

Playing one of 16 civilizations, you'll be tossed onto a randomly generated map with four other leaders where you found your capital city and begin your quest for victory. Winning is possible in four different categories: Domination, Technology, Economic, or Cultural. Upon founding your city, your workers will start to harvest the raw materials to begin producing units and buildings. Units are mostly military in nature, and designed for offensive or defensive purposes, depending on what sort of victory you're going for. Buildings are used to enhance your city and push it in one of several directions, making it a production or cultural powerhouse that also reaps gold or scientific knowledge to advance your technology.

Which brings us to the Tech Tree, obviously important for a technological victory, but vitally important for the others as well. Initially your starting civ will have the ability to learn only four technologies - Alphabet, Bronze Working, Horseback Riding, or Pottery. An advisor instructs you as to the benefits and uses of each technology, letting you know if it's primarily for cultural, scientific or military use. Learning a tech unlocks further techs, taking you from archers and warriors to modern infantry, tanks, battle ships and bombers. The handy Tech Tree - showing all techs and what is needed to unlock them - is available to view at any time, so you can plot what to research on your road to glory. Being the first to research a tech before other civs usually offers a bonus, such as a free unit or city enhancement.

The game then becomes a balancing act. Focus too much on one area, such as military production at the expense of culture, and watch as your cities begin to "flip" to civs with higher culture. Focus too much on infastructure without building defense and your neighbors will roll over you. In essence, this forces you to really think about what your next move should be and deepens the game play. Which, of course, leads to a "just one more turn" approach that has you playing long after you originally planned on quitting. And that's just Single Player mode. Toss in playing against real people over the 'net or a LAN hook-up and, well, kiss your free time goodbye...

All in all, if you enjoy strategy games, you should really enjoy this outing. Kudos to the folks that put this together for dipping their toe into the console market. And as someone untainted by experience with previous PC versions, I have no disillusions over what "could've" or "should've" been and just enjoy it for what it is.

Civ streamlined

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: July 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I can't stop playing this game. I am an old Civ fan since the first version so I was excited about how this would be on a console. I am very happy with the result.

I've read other reviews that are knocking the game's short length and lack of options, but I think those people are missing the point of this game. This is not Civ for the PC. This is as close to pick-up-and-play Civ as you can get and still retain the deep level strategy aspect of it.

Some would argue that since it has been scaled down that it loses its deep strategy. I disagree. After all, chess is a game with only 64 square and 16 pieces but unlimited depth of strategy.

The graphics are more than good enough for a game like this. With this being a turn-based strategy I wasn't expecting much, so I actually think the animations are just overkill.

I do have some gripes. I would have liked the world to be bigger. I like the exploration aspect of the game and with its limited size, you've seen everything in the first hour or so. Also, I expected a greater variation of units, helicopters, jet planes, APCs, snipers, etc.

Give the demo a try, you may like it. If not, try to see past your personal preferences and don't knock it for being what it is.

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