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Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution

by 2K Games, 2008, $59.99, $29.99 (Nintedo DS).

The latest installment in the popular Civilization PC series, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution was designed for next-generation consoles. CivRev, as it’s known, tasks the player to lead a civilization from prehistory to the space age. Rather than featuring actual historical events, CivRev presents more of a “history’s all-stars,” with key landmarks and personalities interspersed throughout.

A player chooses one of 16 great historical cultures, each represented by an iconic figure (e.g., the French led by Napoléon, America led by Abraham Lincoln or Mongolia led by Genghis Khan). Each culture offers a variety of unit types, enabling players to customize military forces to their unique strengths.

Victory depends on whether you want your civilization to be known throughout history as a culture of peace or tyranny. There are four possible outcomes: Cultural victory requires creation of 20 national wonders and the United Nations; victory by domination is achieved by capturing enemy capitals; economic victory by amassing wealth and establishing a World Bank; technological victory by launching a spaceship.

While the lack of actual historical events and timelines may seem a bit odd, it actually adds an element of surprise and strategy to the gameplay.

 

Originally published in the October 2008 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here