|
1215111677|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
 David Marseilles
The long-awaited (by WiiHD) DS Fanboy review of Civilization Revolution is here. If you are a current Civilization fan wondering if the DS version still has something for you, this may be the best review to help you answer that question, given the reviewer history with the game. Alisha Karabinus cares about Civ, and the DS. So 5 days before Civilization Revolution DS launches in the U.S., get the full skinny. She's good about responding to questions too, so feel free to put them in the comments. As such, the DS Fanboy review is our featured review in Today's Civ Rev TMI.
WiiHD's preferred review. Best combination of DS and Civilization experience. Read the whole thing.
this score would have been a hair lower for the pervasive interface issues. However, the problems, which are easily skippable (just annoying) aren't enough to outweigh the amount of gameplay packed into even a reduced Civilization.
The stylus works more than passably well here as soon as you figure out the peculiar dragging controls used to manage units. The menus are a lot simpler; a few points, a few clicks, and your cities are under control.
But a lot of that control is taken away from you. No longer will you build roads tile-by-tile; drop some gold and it'll happen automatically, but beware: long roads will cost you.
Civ Rev is littered with repetitive dialogue, irritating pop-up-style information screens, and empty screens that serve only to make you tap the screen or hit the A button. Luckily, there's no long, drawn-out dialogue, but as it is, there's a whole lot of extra clicking going on.
Good Context. If you're choosing between a portable and console version, this is the review to compare against the DS version. IGN's DS review is still pending as of the time of this posting.
Civ Rev is not just a straight port of prior Civilization games. Rather, it is a ground-up rebuild of the basic Civ idea, crafted with consoles in mind. Attention has been carefully paid to pacing, ease of use, and fun, and developer Firaxis has shied away from some of the heavy lifting required of PC Civ players. The result is a stripped-down turn-based strategy game that serves as both a great introduction to the genre for the uninitiated and a satisfying console experience for practiced PC players who want a (relatively) quick console fix.
First, Civilization Revolution games are typically much shorter than PC Civ games…. Also, maps are preset and randomized, which means you have no control over how the land looks or how big the playfield is. And the entire experience has been stripped of much of the complexity that may turn off some gamers – your population won't die of starvation, city management is more hands-off and there are fewer conditions for victory.
The diplomacy screen, like most useful functions in Civ Rev, can be accessed with a single button press… Barring few initial hiccups getting connected during our tests, we found Civ Rev online to be lag-free and smooth.
We like that kotaku doesn't give a numerical score. Often arbitrary, scores sometimes distract from the review writing, and kotaku writes well. Take a good look at this one.
Successfully porting the Civilization experience from the PC to consoles was always going to be an exercise in compromise. … For the most part, they've made the right calls. Sure, the game can be too short, and too small, and in some cases a little rough, but what Firaxis needed to do if this game was to ultimately succeed was take that core Civilization experience – the discovery, the advancement, the combat, the diplomacy – and ensure that even a streamlined version of the game still had you up at 3 in the morning, telling yourself you'll just have "one more turn". Which it does.
Wisely, 2K decided against simply mapping keyboard commands to the control pad. Instead, the game's menu and command system have been completely overhauled, and while it'll take a few hours for Civ veterans to come to grips with it, it suits the simplified, pared-down tone of the game well.
Some minor, yet necessary elements of the game seem to have been overlooked during the overhaul, such as the ability to auto-assign building orders in a city (meaning an endless crawl through build screens at the beginning of each turn towards the end of a game).
To break it down, here's some of what we've learned. Unlike what IGN DS indicated earlier, we know stylus control is well-implemented for DS, if you desire to use it. We know the 360 online is mostly smooth from people's demo experiences, however there have also been reports on the 2k forums of the PS3 demo freezing during online play. Hopefully nothing that will affect the full version or the DS game. Worker management is very different—you now pay to build roads. City management is simplified and less important, as your citizens can't starve. Remember that the DS version has no Voicechat, and we're still waiting to hear about how Friend Codes have been implemented. Are they necessary? Can you play random people? Any text communication options? We'll let you know.
    
Permalink
Nintendo Wii DS videogame video games play strategy fps rpg shooter console gaming Conduit Call of Duty Activision EA ubisoft racing action adventure halo gta arcade mario zelda metroid pacman
Similar Posts
|
|
|
then ya they are one of the problems plaiging the Wii system
Cheaters plagued online games by...
(by David Marseilles 1259463691|%O ago,
posts: 10)
There's been no review of MW: Reflex here.
As to the weight I give to some of the most basic...
(by David Marseilles 1259462792|%O ago,
posts: 2)
Your site however small still comes up in searches for CODMWR reviews. And since you appear to be...
(by TM BadDaddy1 (guest) 1259453703|%O ago,
posts: 10)
Besides the lobby system, Mwii is the best FPS for the Wii and has a intimate online community...
(by Slaught3r 1259441036|%O ago,
posts: 2)
This is not a review. It contains nothing that makes it look like a review. It contains 3...
(by David Marseilles 1259435378|%O ago,
posts: 10)
|
|
