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Very Fun & Streamlined... As They Intended

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 36 / 39
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Please take the 1-star review with a grain of salt.

Sure this isn't as complex as the standard PC-based games. However everyone who is even considering buying this game already knows that. Civ Rev is intended to be a scaled-back version of the PC games that gives console players the taste of strategy that is lacking from console games without burdening them with the massive time investment which those games require.

In Revolution you can gain a victory on the same day that you start playing if you play aggressively, and that's not really such a bad thing. Then turn around play as 1 of the many other great historic leaders. If you want a greater challenge, there are difficulty settings and the highest level is far from easy.

In short, the game is fun, looks good and has enough strategy to make it a thinking game without forcing you to clear your weekend plans entirely. Perhaps this was their way of dipping their toes in the console pool and if this game takes off there just may be more complex offerings in the future that are more in line with the PC versions. Until then, have fun and don't go to a Bruce Willis movie expecting it to be Citizen Cane, which is what the 1-star reviewer has essentially done.

Civilization LITE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 17 / 34
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Hopefully someone out there will give a much better review than I am prepared to at the moment, but I did want to put this up as a warning to anyone considering purchasing this game who may be a fan of the Civilization franchise.
The new revisioned Revolution robs the game of so much of what I enjoy in each subsequent Civilization release, by scaling back on the leaders you, technologies, units, buildings, religions, civs, and many other features that you can choose. Less detail is put into building your culture, gold, and happiness as well. The new Revolution streamlines the game for a new audience that may not have enjoyed the detail that went into successfuly navigating through any of the trials and tribulations of the preceding Civilization games.
In articles and adds I had read before the game launched, much was made about the reboot, making use of the next generation gaming possibilities. It may have done so by opening itself up to better online play, but certainly not in the presentation. Sure maybe the graphics and sound are a slight step up from previous versions, but to say they are utilizing the possibilities of PS3 is absurd. The world leader animation looks sticky at times and their detail is nothing to rave about. The in game sound is crisp, but there is nothing exciting about hearing your advisors and other leaders mumble gibberish in fake exotic tongues.
Maybe the new style Firaxis is banking on will reach a new audience, but if they continue to go this direction with the franchise... they've lost me.

Streamlined, fun version, not for supergeeks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 16
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is not for super civ heads. Civ is extrodinarily complicated and takes months to learn and play well. The average console player simply doesn't have the attention span. This is a great way to play a quick, turn based mental exercise and a great change of pace from all the shooters. Ignore the civheads reviews, of course they are not going to like it.

Missing one thing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing Civilization since 1992 when it was available on my high school server for students to play during free time in our computer classes. We knew this new version of the game would be lacking a few things when we read the previews. There is one thing I was not aware would be missing when I purchased the game. The special victories (cultural, domination, economic, technology) have been available in the series for a while now. However, there has always been the ability to uncheck or disable these victories and continue game play. I was VERY disappointed to find that after only four hours of game play that I could not go on any further. This makes it very difficult to make it as far as discovering flight let alone participate in a space race. The lack of all other features is acceptible to me since I get the chance to play Civilization in HD widescreen for the first time (and with a joystick). It's just the fact that I am unable to play the game all the way to when I say I'm done that drives me to give my favorite game ever only four stars out of five. This will be the biggest flaw to be cautious of for long time fans of the game.

P.S. If I am wrong about this flaw and there is a way to turn off these special victories, somebody please let me know!

Really Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I did the same thing that I'm sure alot of first time Civ players did with this one...went home, played for 4 hours, finished my first run through. Now while I may have had a slight pang of disappointment when all was said and done...it was only because I didn't get all the nice rendered cutscenes i was expecting after having DOMINATED planet Earth. Other than that...I had a blast playing this game! Did I mention I played it for 4 hours straight? Gotta be something to this game if a I can turn it on and not stop playing all the way through like that. I'm hoping that maybe it was just the difficulty setting that didn't allow for longer gameplay and more bells and whistles as far as cutcenes and all of that. If not...oh well...this game is still a great way to kill some time on a slow night.

For the record...I really did love this game. It's fun, it's simple to play and understand...it's everything a GAME should be.

Have fun everyone.

Disappointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: July 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing civilization for as long as I can remember. This is my first console version. I'm pretty disappointed with it. The graphics are cool and such, but the games are so fast. There's no marathon settings where the years crawl by. Instead, at about a half hour in its already the middle ages. Additionally, there are few option to toggle on and off. The advisors interrupt incessantly, you don't control the workers, there are significantly fewer military unit options, and the maps are much smaller. For a game that is constantly putting out better versions and award winning expansions, I really expected alot more. For being the most expensive civilization game i've ever purchased, its definately the least impressive.

Fun game, PS3 version not well supported

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 23 / 29
Date: July 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I first heard about Civ for the console, I was a bit leery of the result. Console ports of strategy games are pretty much unheard of, and with good reason: it is not easy to do them well. Overall, they did a pretty good job with the game. It is MUCH simpler than civ4, but the ways they streamlined it make sense. Food is now used only to grow, so you don't have to worry about starvation. Workers are gone as well, and once you have the tech to gain an advantage from a certain resource, you gain the benefits immediately.

Another interesting change is military units. The benefits are much more noticeable (veteran if 50% now) and people tend to have less units total (combining them into armies). Overall, I think the game is well done and a good contribution to the Civ universe.

The reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 4 is that I STRONGLY recommend against getting the PS3 version if you have a choice. 2K shuffled off multiplayer responsibilities to Gamespy again which means bugs/problems are frequent. Dropped connections are frequent in multiplayer games. Also, Gamespy is apparently doing all the leaderboard stuff as well and so if you play a Game of the Week game (an interesting idea), it is very random as to whether your score will upload. It is very vexing to play a game from start to finish and then find out that your score did not upload.

Also of note with the PS3 version is that 2k games has announced they will not ever support trophies for Civilization Revolution. This is despite the fact that Sony announced trophies 18 months before they released and the toolkit a while before Civ Rev hit the shelves. Instead they will be doing only Downloadable Content additions which add simple things like wonders, and you have to pay for these updates. The achievement system for the 360 is extremely well designed, if you have a choice.. wait for that. Also, the install base is higher on the 360 so in 3-6 months it will be much easier to find a multiplayer game on the 360 than the ps3.

So in conclusion, this is a fun game. It has some issues. Some civs (hi Rome!) are way too strong given the new mechanics, but they should be ironed out eventually. What will not be ironed out is that the PS3 support is rather poor. I usually prefer ps3 games, but I would recommend this on the 360 or on the handheld (PSP?) before the PS3 given the lackluster support the PS3 version is receiving.

$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.

Too short and fast.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: July 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I liked the streamlined interface, but they took too much out. Also the game doesn't last long enough and is a bit too easy. I'll return this and go back to my good old PC based Civ 3.

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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