BY THE year 2070, my conquest of the world was complete. The Aztechs were my allies and the Russians were nothing but an annoyance.
Civilization Revolution reinterprets the rules of conquests. The turn-based strategy game allows players to pick a culture, each with its own benefits and after hours of manoeuvring and strategising, you can possibly go from being a small village to a space-voyaging nation.
The problem with such games is that they work better on the PC platform with a keyboard that affords more complex controls. Instead, developer Firaxis has removed the more intricate aspects of the game and focused on overall goals, which makes the game better suited for the console platform. For instance, victory is now dependent on four conditions - domination, cultural, economical and technological.
Players need to contend with population and cultural growth by building temples and schools but not worry about other details such as health care and food supply. This approach gives players more time to focus on the bigger picture - do you want to win based on amassing a technological advantage or score by being a cultural and economic hub?
The core strategy of the game is doing a balancing act: You do not want to dedicate all your energies to becoming the economic superpower only to be left with catapults to defend your cities.
Despite the rather cartoon-like graphics and gibberish in-game speak, the overall presentation is sharp, with distinguishable characteristics among the 16 cultures. The one drawback is the console controller which is really limited in its use. Once you get to the point of having army units spread out across the globe or have many cities to control, you end up having to cycle through them all just to hit upon the one you want to control.
However, for those who yearn to rule the world without having to worry about the nitty gritty such as finding food to feed the troops or the ecological fallout of using nuclear weapons, this game rules supreme.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 3 September 2008.
