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Civilization's allure has always been its broad strategy elements. Apart from declaring war and obliterating you opponent like most other strategy games, a match in Civilization can be won by three additional methods. You can advance technology and win the space race, building the World Bank using your huge gold reserves or become the cultural leader of the world with tourist attractions and a prestigious population. A successful civilisation is competent in all four areas although will specialises in one.

Single player comprises of three modes. A randomly generated map with regular rules, a Weekly Map downloaded from the Internet or one of 10 scenarios. The scenarios mix up particular rules and parameters to create focuses on military battles, exploring and searching for hidden relics, strong economy and so forth. Scenario maps are also randomly generated each time you play them, which adds a lot of diversity to them and your strategies. More often than not the same scenario can play out radically different each time.

The game contains 2-4 player multi-pack local and online play with options for handicap and limited turn time. Playing online I was unable to play even a single matchmaking game, so you might want to fill up your friends list and organise online games outside matchmaking. It is releaving to know that the AI is competent enough to provide the player a challenge that flexes their strategy skill, since the multiplayer won't be used too often.

Being new to Civilization I cannot detail how this one compares to its brethren. I was able to extract a tremendous amount of satisfaction from the Nintendo DS version despite what ever it lacked. As the only portable Civilization you might want to strongly consider it, plus the ability to save at any time during your turn compliments that uniqueness.

A game of Civilization begins by choosing which civilisation you will play as. Each is headed by a historical figure and each has their own unique benefit for the current technological period. Taking the game in turns you move around your units and manage settlement resources one at a time on a tile based backdrop.

Economics, population, diplomacy, culture, government, war, technology, construction, borders, discovery and many more are elements that are always present, but sometimes the key to victory. Terrain on which a city is settled will effect trade, food and production which then determines how the settlement will develop. It could grow into a factory for military units or a cultural and tourist centre, an economic powerhouse, research facility plus what ever else you may need.

Each strategy is the backbone for each other strategy, for example technology alone is a route to victory. Although it is also key to improved weapons of war, living off the land and learning about currency, government, religion and more. All of which are necessary to succeed in the other three victory conditions. Science itself benefits from proper military defences, a culture that invites renowned scientists to take residence and strong economics for rapid building.

You need not use just the one strategy to win either. It does not matter which way you ultimately intend to win as there are always choices. You may take any enemy's settlement by using military force (with spies, siege weapons, nukes, bombers, etcetera), convert the settlement by having superior living standards or send in a Great Person to persuade the populous. You can also bribe another civilization to attack them, which will weaken one or more of these areas to increase your own chances of occupation. The beauty of the game is that when played well, you will be utilising all these methods depending on circumstance.

The expense of all this freedom is the game becomes extremely frustrating and time consuming to learn. Which is a big problem for anyone who is not already familiar with the series. The tutorial is just the easiest difficulty and it utilises basic pop-up messages that only materialize when it is relevant to the player's action. Using this method it is possible to miss important information for units and manoeuvres you may not perform, especially if you play the difficulty once (it is very dull) and move onto one of the other five difficulty levels. Civilization is the smallest of gaming niches and this weighs heavily on the game.

On the Nintendo DS Civilization employs a minimalist approach towards both audio and visuals. At all times it remains functional but still manages to simultaneously look and sound dreadful. Further more the touch screen which should have increased control efficiency and usability is merely an afterthought. The game was clearly targeted at the old-school crowd who enjoy traditional controls, which is nice, but absolutely no excuse to handicap the touch screen. You will be double tapping almost every icon, accidently moving units instead of combining them or settling them and other avoidable nonsense unless you use the face buttons.

On the plus side the battle animations when military units are used look nice and the very basic replay at the end of a match is satisfying to watch as your borders slowly expand. The Weekly Map download should also become a fan favourite, as it is the only mode that isn't randomly generated. Each Sunday a new scenario which has had proper quality testing will make its way out to enthusiasts everywhere.

Civilization on the Nintendo DS is fantastic and I blew hours and hours without regret while reviewing it. Even with the tutorial messages however the series remains one of the smallest niches in our industry. Civilization Revolution is highly recommended, but only to those with extensive patience or are existing Civilization fans. The broad scope of strategies available, randomly generated maps and healthy AI gives this game tremendous replay value.

Platform reviewed: Nintendo DS

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