tried the demo, but just can't get into it. maybe i'm just too hardcore for this - like what ign is saying.. gimme more Civ IV

the_answer

I played the crap out of the demo and will be picking up the full version. I also lost some sleep on the PC version of the games in the past 15+ years, but I think the console version is awesome.
Of course its not going to be the same as the PC version, does anyone really expect it to be? They both have their own flavor of the game and they are both great.

Its big enough of a game to put some serious time into, but not so big that I have to dedicate the next year of my life to beat it.

Capp

A lot of people are calling this "Civ dumbed down" which is a very inaccurate and misguiding thought. If anything it's Civilization with the fat and burnt, inedible bits cut off it.

A lot of game concepts make a lot more sense and it really gets back to the essence of Civ which I feel Civ 4 deviated a lot from.

If you go into the game expecting Sim City: World Edition like Civ 4 was you'll probably be disappointed

Burguois

Isn't Civ 4 the game that Orson Scott Card had to deliberately uninstall off his PC because he said like, 20 books never got written because e was so addicted?

Sullyville

@InvaderPhlegm:

Wow, didn't realize that the demo had online multiplayer. Ugh, just deleted it too.

natureboy46

Always wanted to play a Civ game but never got around to it (not a big fan of PC gaming - Football Manager being the exception). Downloaded the demo on PSN and simply loved it.

Sure the game might seem watered down for hardcore Civ players but for regular folks there is plenty of depth there. My only decision is to see if the DS version has all of the features of the PS3 version - seems the perfect game for the subway.

natureboy46

@elementary:

I play Civ 4 a lot and Civ Rev is still fun. It isn't as complex, in some cases that's a good thing, but it still is fun as hell.

I just wish the entire series would fix combat. I'm not asking for Total War combat, but I'm sick of archers killing my tanks.

LORDofDANCE

I never could get into the Civ games but I really enjoyed Civ Rev.

I'm not too sure many Civ Rev players are going to graduate to Civ 4. I tried playing Civ 4 and it just wasn't fun. I much prefer Civ Rev.

RonCey

@elementary: You'll love this game. After finishing GTA IV, I jumped right into this demo looking for something different. To date I have downloaded this demo on both the 360 and the PS3 and have logged more hours into playing it (the demo) than any other game that I have purchased all year (GTA4 and MGS4 being the exceptions). It helped a lot that the multi-player, online mode is also included in the demo, so I could get a lot of play against human opponents.

But the game is rock solid and fun as all get out. At first it is a bit daunting because of all you have to learn to give it a play. But the tutorial walks you past that bit, after which is on to pure gaming bliss afterward.

I hope that helps.

InvaderPhlegm

@Pombar: Reviving an dead franchise through a currently strong one isn't a bad way to go about it at all.

What? How does that make any sense regarding Civ games? I don't follow you.

Candlejack

I haven't even downloaded the demo for this yet. I got a feeling it will feel too watered down after playing Alpha Centauri and its Expansion.

greeble

Civ 4 is one of my favorite games, and that's sort of why I don't like this reiteration of the series.

NoahIdea

I played the demo once and thought it moved too quickly for a Civ game. But it certainly had charm, and if I didn't have other stuff on my list before it, I would certainly pick it up.

ratzofftoya

@elementary: i hate CIV cause i feel like it eats a way at my life and as if im in a black hole....

Civ REV on the other hand I find fun and entertaining and really has a rewarding experience i give it a 9.5

phantam

@NitrousO: You're getting Civ Colonization instead, which is a much better idea than Civ 5 anyway. Reviving an dead franchise through a currently strong one isn't a bad way to go about it at all.

Pombar

@elementary: To answer your question, yes. Yes it is.

AndrewG009

I've never played a Civ game but I really loved the demo for this so I might have to give the series a try.

DocBacca

@shaselai: I think you're better off with Civ4.

slomo788

I played through the demo on XBL, then again and after I think my 7th or 8th runthrough I knew I had to own the game. I like Civ, but this gives me the same feeling while sitting on the couch. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it feels pretty close.

AndrewG009

just picked it up, loving it. i like the pace of the game as well as the controls, very nice job IMHO.

themissing

I picked it up during lunch... I can't wait to get home... the demo was addicting as hell; I played through it 5 times.

Sphinx

this game rocks hands down anyone you ask its not as deep as civ on PC, but thats the point its a console game 2-3 hour matches are fine for a console... who wants a 24-48 hour map on a console rts lol

phantam

Every friend I've talked to thats played the demo wants to get the full version.

belo

Although at this point it may be impossible, but I'd like to hear a judgment on this game based on its own merits rather than as a comparison to its robust PC predecessor.

In other words, is this game any good to those who have not played the PC version?

elementary

Mr. Aaron Greenberg would say "Hopefully, CivRev players will graduate to Civilization IV".
I still think that if you wanna play a quick game of Civ4, it's there, you can always play a Small Quick map, raiding the land. And if you get Beyond the Sword, you will even be able to use Advanced Start.

salaminizer

I'd like to point out that the Civ board game game out way before the original PC game.

wezelboy

@shaselai: was developed for consoles... see Lot Krotan's post for PC games :D

Daemonstalker

I played the demo for this I got off PSN, for someone like myself who has never really got in to the Civ series I found myself replaying the demo more often then not.

PumpkinPieman

Never was a fan of the series, a bit slow for me.

DigiMish

I played the hell out of the demo and thought it was going to be an XBL game. Imagine my surprise when I went to download the full game and I realized I'd have to wait.

Ah well, I'll grab it. I had fun.

Eville1

Where is Civ V?! D:<

NitrousO

because the PC already has real Civ games...

Lot Krotan

anyone know why this isn't on the pC?

shaselai

@Skywarpgold said what I was gonna say.

SouthernerCalifornian

from the comments, it sounds like they succeeded in their goal, to turn non-PC-Civ players into Civ Rev fans. Civ Rev sounds like a parallel console branch, rather than a sequel or port, which is fine; those of us elitist hardcore PC Civers can just ignore it :)

moo422

I've been playing this for a few weeks now, and I have to say I've reeeeally been enjoying it.

The games are just the right length. The comment about the camera problems are spot on, but I have to go further than that - from time to time, the game will misbehave; it'll just cease to be responsive. Visually it can be brought to its knees, from time to time, on the PS3.

Also, there are some really frustrating bits.

1) Launching spaceship bits passes through a loading screen. Those screens are cute the first time you see them, but they feel nothing but lazy later on, and serve only to make you feel like you've been taken out of the game.

2) Civilopedia has an AWFUL UI. It also passes through a loading screen, which makes you feel like you've been punished for looking; once it does so, it's ugly and fairly useless to navigate, tacked on as an afterthought. It's not designed for browseability, or for with any particular use case in mind. Which is a shame, because there's a huge amount of content there that you're just *never* going to bother to look at. I want my "IN GAME CIVREV CIVILOPEDIAXB" tee shirt, because this is crap.

3) Visual stuttering and lagging. I've got bugger all on screen, and it's great that you've cranked up the resolution to 1080p (especially since text legibility matters so much). And everything is beautifully readable, but I'd rather have less visual effecting and more stuff on screen. The game engine just needs to do better at rendering the world. This is worst when moving from unit to unit, or city to city - something you'll do literall all the time.

4) Occasional freezes for up to 10 minutes. This is the frustrating one. Put down the controller and walk away from it, because it eventually comes back; but it's frustrating that sometimes, just as a unit is about to attack, or be attacked, on the way to seeing the battle (and having the world flung around to that point of view, with all of the visual stuttering from point 3, something goes wrong. You won't see that battle take place, and you're not going to be doing anything but looking at some random corner of the map for 10 minutes while nothing happens, anywhere. You can use start and pause menus, but you can't do anything else. Good thing you've got in-game XMB.

There are rough edges. There are quality issues. And what worries me about the comment that they won't be adding trophies isn't that there won't be trophies - it's the idea that they might not have *buildable product* anymore, and therefore won't be correcting these bugs.

CivRev needs patching, at least on the PS3. It's a good game, and it's fun, but when the bugs happen to you, oh is it frustrating.

gblock

Wow, did IGN play the game? You CAN micromanage your workers...it's called the CUSTOM setting. That was in the freakin' demo!

Skywarpgold

@the_answer: "maybe i'm just too hardcore" lol...mmm k.

themissing

@gblock: odd, I've played for a few days now on XB and haven't experienced any of the freezing or loading screens you talk of, so if you have a choice, XB would be the way to go and wait for a patch on if you have PS3.

@elementary: I've never played a Civ game in my life, so here goes: this is just the type of strategy that I like. Kind of like AOE2, which I used to play hours on end.
You have the fun cartoony visuals, and lots of difficulty settings (5!) so that anyone that fancies a quick round of World domination can go at it. The original Civ games on PC have always intimidated me and seemed too hard on micromanagement, which really puts me off.
The controls are ok, but sometimes I just wish that there was a button just to pass through an entire turn so that I don't have to go through every single one of my units just to gather up some cash or build an army (or is there? I haven't found a way yet).
But yeah, sometimes the AI can crash a bit, especially on boats, so that they can't find their path, when the most obvious way is obstructed, and sometimes you want to have a bit more control over the way your city expands to a certain direction, if your aiming for specific goals. And the diplomacy system is weirdly context-sensitive, too, in that I can't always purpose a strategy that I wish, but have to pick one that the game lets me.
Still, overall, it's the best console strategy game that I've laid my hands on, and most likely will keep me busy for the summer, even when I really thought I was not going to like it.

PixelPeZ

@gblock: I played the demo more than 4 times and never had any of those problems. Yet, I do agree that the Civilopedia UI is trash. The loading is fine with me, it's called patience.

Cennus

The debate over playing CIV4 over CIV:REV is irrelevant if you're a fan of the series. Play both, enjoy both -- each have their strong points.

In CIV4 I'd add captions around my nation saying things like, "1st Royal Army". Now in CIV:REV it does that for me in a streamlined method sorta like CIV:3 in the way armies work in groups unlike CIV:4. CIV:4 has the coolest player made mod Rhye's and Fall of Civilization while CIV:REV has barbarians that make funny conversations with you.

CIV fans will pick both up. Newbs will play CIV:REV and if they like they like it I hope they try every CIV from the past which each one has interesting and unique playing elements.

I played CIV:REV and I give it two thumbs up that are both sore.

RYAMATSU

The biggest question wasn't asked: did they use Leonard Nimoy?

Shin-san

CIV 4 IS TEH BETTER!!111!!!1!1!!!!

Foreign-Contaminant

@wezelboy: You may like to point that out, but you'd be wrong. While true there is a board game called Advanced Civilization that did serve as inspiration for Sid Meier when creating the first Civ game; they're hardly the same game. And there IS a Sid Meier's Civilization board game which came out in 2002, a good 11 years AFTER the first computer game.

AoE

I really liked the demo. It's like Heroes of Might and Magic meets... well.. Civilization. Definitely going to pick it up when I'm not broke.

cio

Is it $60 good?

dubz

@Molbork: I should learn to read better....
Even saw the comment of lame PC to consoles port statement, but it didn't trigger...>< /sigh long day

Molbork

@Mike Fahey: Why is this considered the first on consoles?

I've read this multiple times and being a Civ fanatic since day one, I know Civ1 was released on the SNES. Just curious as to why it is ignored.

Sadly though I just got back from the store and didn't go through with my CivRev reservation and decided to cancel it and get R&C3 for my shiny new PS3. After spending 6+ hours on Civ:BtS yesterday, it just doesn't seem right to drop 60 bucks on it at the moment.

Molbork

@dubz: Depends...if you have the chance to play Civ4 then I'm sorry it's not because with Civ4, at a much lower price, you get sooooo much more game. Not to mention BtS and Warlords which must be dirt cheap by now, too.

CivRev is a good game but at the end of the day it remains Civ4's little brother. Not the retarded little brother, but the little brother.

Candlejack

I wanna know if the DS version is any good? Sure I can play Civ 4 on the PC - but its a lot easier to take a DS on the airplane than a laptop (especially considering battery life) and I can think of nothing better at eating away a long flight than civ. :)

MysteryMachine

@dubz:

yeah it is, if you're into this type of games

the phrase "one more turn" sums it up well. bleary eyes at work the next day because you just had to wipe out those pesky spaniards

Pete193

i've been playing the carp out of the Demo. i'm getting it when payday rolls around.

Yoshep

I'm hoping my copy gets here today... you never know with 'next-day' shipping.

I have the Civ4 Gold edition (which comes with Warlords), but I'm looking forward to this.

I just wish they included the usual map options - in my opinion, that is a serious misstep. I understand the streamlining, but adding the custom maps really wouldn't have been too hard or changed too much. Sigh.

sir_carrot

Seriously. This has got to stop. This is NOT the first Civ game on a console. There was a Civilization game back on the SNES.

Dresarius

I love it, its very fun. I played the hell out of the demo adn just picked up the game around noon today, and launched the spaceship at 3pm! yay! I like the game a lot, it runs waaay quicker then the computer Civ games, i don't see it eating 18 hour chunks of my day like the Civs do on the pc =D Oh and i for one think Alpha Centauri and the Xpack kicked a whole lot of ass and would love to see a sequel or remake of it =D
I mean you do send the ship to Alpha Centauri in every game. =D

oddgit

@wezelboy: The pc game and the board game are unrelated as well. Though they share a common theme - guide your civlization through the ages - their game mechanics have nothing in common.

So the statement and even a rather fine board game under the series' belt is false. The board game is not part of the Civilization series/franchise.

little_dragon

@pisseddog: PS3 is 1080p (non-upscaled, native res) and laggy. 360 full of 13 year olds screaming U S4NK MY B4TT13SH1P! ;)

gblock

Weird, that so many Civ fans like this game. I played through the demo on both X360 and PS3 and found it to be incredibly boring and annoying. I'm not one of those Civ fans that plays it daily for 6-8 hours (and there are a lot of those guys), but I do go on mini marathons every few months. I've played every version of the series and find Civ 4: Beyond the Sword to be best of the series. And I'm definitely not one of those guys that reminisces about how great the older versions were (although I think some of the older game mechanics would be fun in the current gen, like sacking a capital splitting a civilization)

I had a hard time even connecting this game to the series other than some basic concepts. I'm trying to figure out why I'm missing out on the fun here. Are they trying to appeal to people that like anime-style RPG console games?

r1chard

@Dresarius: Ok. First Civ game on a console that doesn't suck.

gblock

So....PS3 or Xbox?

pisseddog

One thing that bothers me is people get attacked for saying "This is a butchered console version," but these same people attacking would go BALLISTIC if someone took a 'simple' game like Halo or whatever, and made it extremely realistic and 'hardcore.'

Durandal

I've said it once, I'll say it again...

"CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE NAPOLEON IS COOKING?"

Eltigro

Not sure if this question has been asked yet, but, for Civ Rev...A new game, start to "finish" takes about how long? How many hours approximately?

awwyeadatsright

@awwyeadatsright: depending on difficulty, I'd say 1,5-2,5h

PixelPeZ

Why does no one have this in stock?!

EskimoDave

For me, this is in my top 3 360 games (with PGR4 and Halo3). Its one of those rare games that didnt get brought (or rented), completed and sold. Im sure i'll have this in my collection and i'll be playing it still in a years time, it really is that good. Far better than GTA:IV in my opinion.

Theres a couple of annoyances, but they are mostly caused by the fact part of me wants more of a middle ground between the PC version, and the console version. The problem would then be that creating a middle ground would ruin the whole intention of this game, which is to allow you to have a good quick online game of Civ in one session.

Mr_Ed

@Yoshep: Those dang carp are hard to get out of the demo, a little too slippery if you ask me. I gave up.

mrghost

@Candlejack: I think he mean reviving Colonization through Civilization.

As far as a game goes I like it very much but I still preffer Civ IV. I probably would like it better if there were a bit more options to choose from i.e. bigger map, some scenarion, and one or 2 mods.
And I'm still waiting for a decent return of palace/trophy room for first 2 games.

julians

I've never played a game like this. Can you save a multiplayer game in progress and come back to it later. I'm hoping to play this with my girlfriend and she can handle an hour of gaming at a time, tops.

xxeyes

Been playing the game for a little while now... it's obviously less granular and "dry" than Civilization 4, but it's pretty cool so far. I was always more of an "Age of Empires" guy than a "Civ" guy, so perhaps that's why I find it to be slightly more fun than the PC/MAC version of Civ 4.

I have yet to crack the surface beyond a game or two, but one thing is for sure: I am really enjoying the "unit upgrades" and the MUCH easier/quicker to interpret battle odds when fighting begins between units...

Doug

I just picked up the Nintendo DS version. It took some time getting used to the interface (which is a bit more cramped than the Xbox 360 version), but I definitely came around. Is it worth 60 bucks? If you can run Civ 4, I'm not sure. But is it worth 30 on a portable system? Yes.

ediblemike