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1. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution DS Review
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Dec 25 2008

   As a casual Civilization player on the PC, I came into the console-based Civilization Revolution believing that a slightly scaled-back version of the empire-building game, adapted to a controller -- and my couch -- would be precisely what I was looking for.
   
   If you're new to Civ's turn-based world, the abundance of information at the beginning of a game can be daunting -- and even more so for your chosen civilization's different opening gambits. Revolution does a great job of appropriate hand-holding, with its array of cartoon advisers which contains a wealth of strategic and operational knowledge, accessible at any time. So, when your first Settler unit establishes the capital city in the opening turns, you'll be in good shape for the Manifest Destiny that's to follow.
   
   Navigating and exploring the world map is remarkably adapted to analog sticks: Selecting units, cities, or even multiple units within cities is fast and easy, as is moving units to new positions or issuing build orders. The right stick serves as the unit-selection tool, while the left stick controls movements. If you have multiple military units within a city (or as passengers on a naval craft), you can select and command individual units with the D-pad.
   
   Those two issues -- parsing information and executing orders -- are the core of Civ, and Revolution nails both. The more colorful and caricatured look of the cities and characters also is better suited to the television-viewing crowd, and the music and sound effects -- though intermittent and poorly balanced at times -- are classic Civilization elements. Megalomaniacs-in-training should feel quite comfortable here.
   
   But I still wasn't sold on the cuts that Revolution chose to make for console newcomers. The scenarios are entertaining, but I still would've liked some more options for terrain variance and map size, instead of predetermined continent layouts on a smaller-though-proportional map. Though the average game may not be long enough to accommodate 'em, naval and aerial combat omit fun units like aircraft carriers and helicopter gunships. The diplomacy mechanics took a minor hit, too, with the lack of defensive alliances among the warmongering world leaders -- which is pretty important when most heads of state in Civilization don't hesitate to declare war on you within three turns of first contact. This is a problem in itself on higher difficulties, because trying to fight three different wars on three fronts eats up valuable resources and time. Because games in Revolution end fairly quickly, you need to decide whether to pursue an economic, cultural, or military victory as soon as possible -- lest Gandhi or Montezuma draw you into a financial quagmire while Napoleon's cathedrals convert your own cities to Frenchies.
   
   But Revolution's greatest omission is testament to just how addicting the game is. It's disappointing not having the option to play "one more turn..." after a victory condition is achieved and continuing to build (or rebuild) your empire. Yes, I may have lost the space race to Catherine the Great, but my battleship fleet is itching for a little payback from a dustup 600 years ago. You want to keep playing it well past the completion of any objectives or reasonable bed time -- that's Civilization's hallmark, and Revolution cultivates this same addiction.
   
   
   Review: 9
   
   For the fans of the console version; The DS Version lacks the helpful Civilopedia, which educates players on much of the game's minutiae. But the easy interface works pretty well on the DS touch screen, keeping the game's less-intimidating spirit alive even in miniature format. The biggest compromise is with the overall map -- you'll struggle to get a sense of the layout of the world scrolling across the DS' tiny screen, making it more challenging to strategize accordingly.

   
   

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