Review of Civilization Revolution for the iPod Touch and iPhone
I'll admit I didn't have high hopes for this game. Back in the day, I
was addicted to Civilization I which ran off 3.5 inch floppies for by
386. Since then, my fondness for the Civilization series seemed to be
tested with each release beyond Civilization II. Part of the problem in
my mind was that the game became overly complex and lost much of the
basic fun that I found in early entries in the series. So, it was with
some hesitation that I spent the $4.99 for Civilization Revolution for
the iPod Touch (and iPhone). However, once I got used to the controls
on the iPhone, this has quickly become by far my favorite iPod/iPhone
game yet.
Graphics & Animation
The
graphics for the game are crisp but not overdone. One of the issues I
had with some versions of Civilization was the addition of complicated
graphics and animation sequences that really added nothing to the
gameplay (could be argued they instead distracted from it). The
animations are generally limited to the battle sequences and are
simplistic but do add some level of excitement to the battles.
Controls
The controls take some getting used to. Its not that easy to scroll
around your world using your finger (especially once the screen gets
busy with military units and cities which you may find you
inadvertently move). Keeping track of your cities ends up requiring you
to click into one city and then use the arrow to move to next once you
have a lot of cities. Sometimes this leads you to overlook units
fortified on parts of the screen you have forgotten about. In the end,
I found I adjusted the way I played a bit to a mode that better suited
the limitations of this version and now I can do most everything very
comfortably.
The Bad
Some drawbacks of the game include a bug that causes it to randomly
shut down (usually at the most inopportune moment when you haven't
saved in a while). This bug isn't consistent enough though to become a
huge impediment. Another is the fact that, to me, you cannot seem to
win any attacks on cities until you have tanks and artillery units (or
at least naval support but even then its unlikely). Also, spies are
quite useless because its nearly impossible to not have them captured.
The Good
Some of my favorite aspects were the ability to have cities join your
civilization via the spread of your culture - this assists a lot if you
plan a domination victory but, as mentioned, can't actually defeat a
city early in the game. I also like the ability to find hidden cities
and other items that can give you bonus items, great people and gold.
Overall
However I think the best part of this game is simply the replayability.
Unlike most iPod/iPhone games, you can play this one over and over and
it will continue to be different and interesting. I have already gotten
many hours worth of play out of my $4.99 (which I think is a very
reasonable price for this game). If you liked the Civilization series
in the past or are looking for a good strategy game with plenty of
replay, this game is a good fit.
It sounds like $4.99 is a great value for this version. I have been out of the i world for a year or so since using the first-generation iPhone, but I've been considering a new iPod Touch and this sounds like just the sort of game I'd want to have on it.
Spys are VERY useful for city defenses, will remove your need for tanks and artillery early on too, if they get captured you either just need to hit them again with another spy (unlikely they'll have two spys waiting to intercept) or better yet combine three into a spy ARMY! then use it to take out walls or destory fortification will tip the odds significantly in your favour then