Developer: Firaxis

Publisher: 2K Games

Release Date: July 8, 2008

Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: E10+

Official Web site

0:00 Believe it or not, I have never played a single Civilization game. I've heard this one is a bit simpler and tuned for a console gamer's sensibilities, though, so away we go.

0:01 The little disc tray icon on the Xbox Dashboard abbreviates the name as "Civilization Revolut'n," which I find completely hilarious for some reason. Probably lack of sleep.

0:02 A primitive person in a loincloth draws the 2K/Firaxis logos in ash on a cave wall. He draws a woman; then he becomes Caesar, pumping his fists to a crowd of cheering Romans. The ancient man continues to draw as the camera cuts to a knight in a hall and horsemen riding through fire. A man with a gold ring gestures towards the sea, over a map with dragons. In the distance, a green land. A scientist discusses a new spaceship, while a general clenches a fist. A politician makes a decision and the shuttle lifts off to a massive space station. Back in pre-history, the caveman walks out to a fireside gathering outside his mountain cave. The music swells. Pretty touching, for a game intro...

0:05 I could probably spend the whole hour reading the Civopedia, which describes types of governments, land, military units, resources, rewards, leaders, etc. I hope I'll learn as I go.

0:07 I jump in to play now and can choose from a variety of leaders throughout the world and history -- Caesar, Cleopatra, Ghandi, Alexander the Great, Bismarck, Mao, etc. I choose Random and leave my fate up to, uh, fate. I get Caesar. "Great people such as Plato will increase your culture," says the loading screen. Well, duh!

0:08 "My liege, we stand at the beginning of a new age." No longer nomadic, our people live in a city now. "We must make our city strong and prosperous" and then settle across the land. Then we can create armies to defend ourselves and defeat our foes. Will we be warlike or peaceful? Will we stay put, or expand into space? "My liege, our people await your orders." THE POWER!

0:10 A tweed-jacketed professor comes on to tell me how to play. He speaks in that Simlish gibberish I find so annoying. My first city is Rome ... the citizens are already hunting and gathering.

0:11 "Each turn represents up to 100 years of historical time." Wow. Those are some time compressions, there!

0:12 My Warriors venture out into the fog of the unknown lands and find Brennos of the Mighty Barbarians. "Your finely tempered blades will be no match for my magic amulet and serious negative attitude." Heh.

0:14 I send my front flank of Warriors in to attack the barbarians. The attackers rank a "2" because they're civilized, while the unorganized barbarians are only a ".5." A thrilling, tiny battle animation takes place and I'm victorious, though one of my three Warriors goes down. I took 30 gold pieces from him. Shiny! The villagers tell me about a castle to the south, across the water.

0:17 The controls are a little annoying, until I figure out that my units are selected automatically, in order. Not a fan of the way the camera moves with the cursor, and of the relatively small demarcation between turns.

0:18 Seems it's time to research technology. I can choose between the Alphabet, Bronze Working, Horseback Riding or Pottery. Wait, I don't have an Alphabet yet? That seems ... important. Also, an Alphabet leads directly to a Code of Laws, which seems, um, kind of important. It'll be ready in seven turns. Now that's service!

0:21 I decide to heal my Warrior and another replacement Warrior just runs up from the middle of the river. So far, I'm liking the streamlined interface -- seems to require a minimum of micromanagement. I get prompted for everything important.

0:22 I stumble upon a friendly village to the southeast. In exchange for domesticated animals, they give us a Spy. Wait, who does that Spy work for? I'm right to be suspicious of a Spy that's a gift from another country, right?

0:25 The quick-moving spy stumbles on an angry village. "We barbarians laugh at your excessive height and need for 'culture.' Soon you will feel the sting of our pointy blowguns." The text is accompanied by a dancing animation of a savage African warrior with a blowgun and war paint. Cute, in a kind of offensive way.

0:26 With another step, the spy also stumbles upon a new continent and finds Genghis Khan who ... offers to be my friend? Really? GENGHIS KHAN WANTS TO BE FRIENDS???? My military advisor says we can take them, so why not ... let's attack the peaceful Mongols (a phrase I never thought I'd type). "Your foolish attacks will be crushed by the might of our armies." If you say so...

0:28 Playing around in the menus, I accidentally offer peace with the Mongols. Let's undo that. Yep. War it is!

0:29 I spend some gold to hurry the production of Warriors (I'm gonna need 'em for Genghis) and use some resources on city-expanding settlers. The game lets me tune my citizens towards food, resources, etc. quite easily.

0:31 The second set of barbarians goes down just as easily as the first one. They have been working on "strange seagoing craft" and mention the same freaking castle I already knew about.

0:32 Meanwhile, my spy has advanced into a Mongol city. I sabotage their warrior production to prepare for the impending battles. Oh, and I have a galley now. The 'pedia tells me the ship has to stick to coasts and has a militia crew. I like the straightforward explanations ... this is all surprisingly easy to grasp so far. The game does a great job of explaining what's going on.

0:35 Three Warriors become an army, which is three times as powerful. I get my third micro-achievement for five Gamerscore points. Why do they even bother, at that level?

0:36 I made it to the mysterious castle, where I find some Knights Templar, a highly disciplined military order that just up and decides to join me. I move the ship away, then realize that the Knights can't get off the island without it. D'oh!

0:38 My first group of warriors takes on the mysterious Mongol village of Karakorum. They have "2.5" defense to my unit's "2" attack. I take out one defender, but my warriors are destroyed. Sad ... but I got some useful info out of the battle.

0:41 The Knights Templar take out two sets of Karakorum defenders quite easily. These mythical knights are quite powerful, unsurprisingly.

0:43 My shiny new settlers found the city of "Kyle Land," expanding my food production.

0:44 Three victories for the Knights means an upgrade. Now they can heal anywhere. Sa-weet.

0:45 Capturing the Mongolian capital gets me only five gold pieces? What a gyp! The barbarians had more! Mr. Khan offers his near-defeated hand in peace yet again. My advisors give conflicting thoughts this time. I go with the peace faction. "We welcome a new era of peace and prosperity between our nations." Words I never thought I'd hear Genghis Kahn say, but whatever.

0:47 Two more victories over other civilizations will bring about a "Domination Victory," apparently. Wait, does that mean I win if I just take two more capital cities. That seems ... short. If that's the case, though, I'd better rush my warriors to build an army as fast as possible.

0:49 Moving diagonally seems the way to go. Cutting out those corners saves hundreds of years of travel! Literally!

0:50 Mr. Tweed Jacket explains that I can win by capturing all enemy cities, launching a space mission to Alpha Centauri, building the World Bank, or acquiring 20 Wonders. Right now that military option is looking by far the easiest. That's Rome for ya...

0:52 I got an Alphabet! On to Bronze Working and its wonderful Archers.

0:55 Khan speeds ahead my Bronze Working in exchange for 20 gold. Sweet! I can build Archers and Barracks and the Colossus of Rhodes. Whoo! "Our people are proud but ignorant. You must seek knowledge elsewhere," says Khan. At least they know their strengths. I go into Iron Working, since I seem fated to go for the Domination win.

0:57 The sultan of Zanzibar sent me a Caravan of Exotic Gifts, including amazing magicians and nubile dancers. As Mel Brooks might say, "It's good to be the King."

0:58 My Knights overrun some Barbarians without a fight, and I get some Horsemen for my troubles. My army's getting pretty big here!

1:01 A couple friendly villages each give me a spy. My boat drops off my second army in the shadowy south. The map is spreading out before me now. Less and less of that annoying fog.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.

Why? I love the streamlined interface and simple-to-grasp gameplay. I also like the variety of ways to win. Seems like there'll be a lot of variety to the gameplay.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.

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