So what's missing?

[Scrybe]

I'm really undecided about getting this game. I've probably spent a year's worth of free time with Civ 4, and I'm not sure what the benefit of Revolution is.

So... for those of you who have played Civ 4 a lot and now own Revolution, can you tell me what's the thing or things that Revolution does NOT have? Or tell me what Rev has that Civ 4 doesn't that makes it worth buying. I've read several reviews and they are all very general and non-specific, saying that it's simpler, less complexity, etc. What does that mean? Fewer resources? Fewer option in diplomacy? Fewer options in city planing? And what is the gestalten effect of the simplicity? Does it provide a different enough experience (in a good way) to warrant buying Civ again?

 

[bonafide11]

Umm, just play the demo and you can figure out the differences and then decide if you like it or not. That's what demos are for.

 

[ydejin]

I'd say one of the main pluses is that its quicker. If you want to play a short but complete game of Civ, CivRev works well. Timewise you can sort of do the same thing in Civ4 by playing a 2-player game on a duel map, or maybe a 4-player game on small map starting in the industrial age, but CivRev is designed from the ground up to give 3-4 hour games, whereas Civ4 games typically take me 16+ hours (I know some people are faster, but I like to micromanage).

Also since XBox Live is setup to find opponents quickly and easily, you will probably be able to get a pickup game of CivRev going much easier than Civ4.

Finally as far as plusses go, you can play Civilization from the couch on a large TV (on XBox and PS3) or on the go (on DS).

As far as minuses go, it really is a simpler model. The resources don't matter all that much (they aren't necessary to build particular units and aren't important for happiness or health). All they do is provide production, trade, or (in a few cases) culture bonuses. There are fewer technologies and fewer units. Some interesting tactical considerations are eliminated, for example, CivRev has Cruisers, Battleships, and Subs, but no Carriers. On the other hand if you've got friends who you want to get into Civ but they're overwhelmed with Civ4, CivRev is a good introduction to the series. Personally I'm expecting an uptick of Civ4 players coming in after they try playing CivRev, decide they really like it even though maybe they tried Civ4 once and found it too complex and take another look at the Civ series.

 

[Scrybe]

Cool, thanks. That's just the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

 

[exclamatio]

aye civ rev is really the "arcade" version of civilization and it plays beautifully

there is enough micromanagement to make it important but not too much so ur sat there doing nothing while people make their turns, it is very well balanced

the civ unique bonuses are subtle yet effective and used right do their job

the overall feel and polish of the game is great, i have played civ since Civ 1 on my amiga 1200 many years ago and i love this version and am enjoying it more than any other

 

[AbbieRevo]

plus if you get the DS version you can play it on the train, or the bus, or a plane, or the bathroom, or anywhere...

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

I got it mainly so I could play multiplayer in a timely fashion.

Will it replace Civ4 for me? Definitly not.
Is it a fun experiance? Definitly. Being able to have a Civ experiance in one sitting is just awesome.

 

[XxtraLarGe]

Here's the one thing missing from the DS version: A Hot Seat game! In fact, I'd bet that was probably the largest oversight in the gameplay, since my co-worker got the game too, and would like to play against her husband on their PS3.

 

[shadowplay]

Aircraft carriers, jet fighters were the two biggest omissions as far as units go.

 

[bonafide11]

Well I'll keep pointing out this omission since everyone else seems too focused on the maps, units, civs, techs, etc. to notice the gameplay differences... There is no way to stack your units, meaning during war you have to individually move each single unit, which really slows down the game and negates the game's concept as a faster paced game for the consoles. Please fix this Firaxis!

Why doesn't anyone else care about this?? It's the biggest drawback in the game!

 

[Blue Eagle44]

what I find neat about this game it does what it does extremely well, the devs made clever decisions in keeping enough depth for quicker paced games, but choosing maps etc would of been a big plus.

 

[Blue Eagle44]

what I find neat about this game it does what it does extremely well, the devs made clever decisions in keeping enough depth for quicker paced games, but choosing maps etc would of been a big plus.

 

[shadowplay]

bonafide, there's a lot of problems with the game scattered across about 20 different threads here. Lots of people don't like the fact there's no way to move stacks.

btw, has anyone noticed all the unique units seem to have the same stats as the unit they replace? They seem to only gain benefits from the civilization bonuses by era, for example, the reason the impi warrior's move 2 turns is because of their ancient age +1 warrior movement bonus, and not because the impi itself has a higher movement stat.

 

[ydejin]

Well I'll keep pointing out this omission since everyone else seems too focused on the maps, units, civs, techs, etc. to notice the gameplay differences... There is no way to stack your units, meaning during war you have to individually move each single unit, which really slows down the game and negates the game's concept as a faster paced game for the consoles. Please fix this Firaxis!

Why doesn't anyone else care about this?? It's the biggest drawback in the game!

bonafide have you tried using a Rally Point? I haven't experimented with them, but they might help you move groups of units faster. You can select a specific destination as a Rally Point by clicking the left stick on a map square. Then when you have a unit activitated, you can instruct it to go to your predefined rally point by left-clicking the stick on it. Sounds like you could use this to tell a group of units to go to a location simply by selecting the target location and then clicking on each of the units.

You can read more about Rally Points in the Civilopedia under the "Units" entry.

 

[Blue Eagle44]

I agree with the stack thing but I don't find it a big hinderence,in no way is this game a perfect console iteration, yes there is plenty of room for improvement but for a first civ on current gen console, it could of been alot worst.