As a dyed-in-the-wool PC gamer, I had a predictable reaction to the announcement that Sid Meier's venerable strategy game series was making its way to the console -- skepticism that the extraordinary strategic depth of the Civilization series could ever be translated to a set-top box. I should really have more faith in Sid and his Firaxis team, though. This isn't a direct port like the PlayStation version of Civilization II. This is a brand new Civ experience designed specifically with consoles in mind. My brief look at Civilization Revolution at E3 made a crusty old PC snob like me feel that there may be something to these new-fangled "console videogames" after all.
The first thing driven home to me during my demonstration at Take 2's E3 booth was that yes, the classic Civilization feeling was definitely in what I was watching onscreen. Players will take one of 16 different civilizations at the beginning of recorded history and guide its development from primitive hunter-gatherers through the discovery of movable type and eventually to the ability to microwave burritos, launch spaceships and nuke the planet back into the Stone Age. While doing this, players will build and improve cities, fend off barbarians, research technology, deploy armies to conquer cities and negotiate with enemy leaders ranging from the larger-than-life Cleopatra to the way-smaller-than-Cleopatra Napoleon Bonaparte.
What hasn't been brought along is a lot of the micromanagement that tends to turn PC Civilization games into epic marathons. There's no pollution, no corruption or anarchy and placement of city improvements and Wonders is automatic. The map is also much smaller. Unlike the far-flung empires of the PC world, four or five cities will be considered a lot of handle in Civilization Revolution. In fact, speed was a high priority for the development team. According to the Firaxis representatives demonstrating the game, the average Civilization Revolution game is clocking in at about three hours.
