Civilization Revolution (PS3) A masterpiece and a very addictive gem!
Well, like any Civilization game you must pick a ruler to dominate the world. I started off with Lincoln on Chieftain Mode which is basically a tutorial from the start. It is very helpful and doesn't annoy as getting acclimated to the controls are a must so I took all the lessons I could learn. You start off with your first city (mine was Washington) but, you can also customize your next city name or choose what the AI picked. It really doesn't matter unless you really want to name your city whatever you want. As with all games you build barracks for the military, temple for religion/culture, settlers, workers (already given) etc.... alot of the micromanagement has been removed which makes the experience that much more entertaining as alot of things really take care of themselves. I gotta tell ya this game moves fast!!
It didn't take long for my culture to spread (and it will quickly) for the other cities to fall in love with my empire and they will join without a fight. If culture doesn't work you can always use military might and in the Chieftain Difficulty you'll have a tank ready to go before they evolve into a threat of any kind (ie; a group of warriors VS. one tank= no contest) you'll be taking over cities left and right.
What's cool is the cartoony characters really add something whimsical about the whole thing. It fits so to speak. Having your advisors pop in to tell you how well you are doing or basically chastise you for trying to go to war with a civilization that did absolutely nothing to start conflict ( I found that if you have Democracy this will happen every time but, try Communism heh no stopping you then. All in all the characters are very helpful and even evolve as time goes on.
What I like as well is you can group military units into groups of 3 which I find to be helpful as well. It'll sure to be a key to your military victory should you choose that path (and let's face it I LOVED grouping 3 battleships to destroy one little pathetic crusier from the opposing forces)
I enjoyed watching my cities grow and you can actually see what's in them right on the screen. Did you build the Hanging Gardens? you'll see it if you choose the city in which it was built as well as your granary, aqueduct, etc....there is also a THRONE ROOM where different civilization give you gifts such as oh, 12 dancing bears, 10 bakers, 14 jugglers (ex:) and you can view them at your leisure. It is pretty amusing but, doesn't add much to the game.
The game loves war. No defensive pacts can be made BUT you can buy another civilization to attack another meaning you ask how they feel about say Genghis Khan and they give you a price choose this option and they will attack. It doesn't take much to piss these leaders off. Refuse even the slightest thing and they'll say basically "okay, I'll hold off for now" do it again and WAR! they keep coming too so it is best to have a GREAT military to defend your cities.
You can win the game in many ways from DOMINATION, TECHNICAL, SPACE RACE, CULTURE, and once you do it in any fashion GAME OVER. That's right there is NO -wait..just one more turn- and that was reason enough for not giving this game a perfect score. Had it had this feature I would have given it a 10. I figured a way to extend the game somewhat and that is to save before a CULTURE victory. You just save and then build the thing that gives you the CULTURE or TECHNOLOGY victory and win the game. Go back and load the game but, this time don't build the very thing that ends the game just focus on something else like say the SPACE RACE. I couldn't get around DOMINATION because then the game gives you a set amount of turns and once you're locked in to that it's pretty much over and you may have to start a new game. Oh well I tried....
For me it's a bad thing/good thing that the games end quickly. For one I don't have to stay up until the dawn trying to optimize my empire because it doesn't take but a few turns on easy mode (Chieftain) or medium (Warlord) haven't tried the other difficulty setting yet but, if Warlord is any indication I'm in trouble because the game can kick your @$$ which is a good thing because you get your money's worth. Especially with online multiplayer and scenarios that are in there (won't spoil those at all)
If you love strategy this game is for you. I have been in love with this series since it first started and I DO NOT regret this purchase the only regret I have is there is not enough hours in my life to dedicate myself completely to this game. So, I say RUN don't WALK to your nearest game outlet and ask for Civilization Revolution (PS3) you won't regret it.
I regret this is not my best review of a game because I am exhausted but, could not wait to inform you of how great this game is. In a couple of hours I'll have been up for 24hrs so, if you have the game I hope you enjoy it and if you don't have the game all I can say is Sid Meier has done it again: created a true gaming masterpiece.
Lastly, I am pushing for a SEQUEL to this game. There is so much more they can do. Such as -wait...just one more turn?!-
End?!