The strategy video game genre isn't the easiest to get into. While newcomers can just pick up and play a first-person shooter or third-person action game, and even most sports titles have been designed with accessibility in mind, the strategy genre isn't quite as forgiving to new players. Even some of the best strategy games, like the Civilization franchise, still put off new players with their intricate, interwoven systems and mechanics. But that's where Civilization Revolution came in.
Released all the way back in 2008, Civilization Revolution was the first big console debut for the franchise, and it struck the perfect balance between accessibility and maintaining the essence of the Civilization series. And with Civilization 7 now on the horizon, it's the perfect time for a new Civilization Revolution game to come out and ease new players into the series.
A New Civilization Revolution Would Help Introduce New Fans to the Franchise
Just a few weeks ago, Firaxis confirmed that it's started development on Civilization 7, and if it follows the trajectory of the series, then fans can be sure to expect even more complex mechanics and systems. While fans are surely looking forward to diving head-first into these probable improvements, the continued complexity of these systems only serves to make newcomers a little too intimidated to try it out. Civilization certainly isn't the most complex strategy series, but its interwoven systems of economics, military, culture, pantheons, politics, and resource management is enough to confuse even the most avid gamer.
That's where Civilization Revolution rears its head. Designed to be a more streamlined and accessible iteration of the franchise but one that still retains the same feel and high level of strategy, Civilization Revolution absolutely nails its mission statement. Civilization Revolution isn't a stripped-back version of the main series, but more of a concentrated dosage. Players can still choose from a vast selection of world leaders and nations, each with their own unique abilities tied to eras. There are still plenty of units, buildings, and Wonders, and the map sizes are still fairly large. But every element has been simplified to near perfection.
Long-time fans of Civilization will notice some immediate differences between the mainline entries and Civ Rev. For a start, buildings no longer need to be built on surrounding city tiles, instead, they're just built inside the city itself, freeing the map up for more units. Civ Rev doesn't feature any City States either, with every city belonging to a player. Religion and pantheons have also been taken out, and trading with world leaders is fairly barebones. But by removing all the fat, Civilization Revolution manages to deliver a refined and accessible strategy game experience, one which focuses on the core aspects that make the Civilization series so beloved in the first place.
By removing all the complex additional mechanics and systems, Civilization Revolution gets to focus on the series' main form of gameplay: its several types of victory conditions. In Civilization Revolution, players can win either through a technological, economical, cultural, or military victory. While the most recent entries in the series have added a few new victory conditions, Civ Rev keeps things simple, introducing the core concepts of the wider franchise while keeping everything accessible and easy to learn. Before Civilization 7 releases, it would be a smart move to release another Civilization Revolution, as this would be a great way to introduce new fans to the series and prepare them for a fully-fledged Civilization game.
Civilization Revolution is available on PS3 and Xbox 360.