Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution...

[phoenix1967]

Holy crap is this game addictive!

Last night I played my first full game using the "Game of the Week" option. I played as Spain at the Chieftain difficulty level (a.k.a. Easy). It was a good way to get familiar with the full game mechanics, but it was laughably easy to win.

This is where things started to get ugly. I decided to try the Mongol empire on the "King" difficulty since Chieftain was such a pushover, skipping Warlord entirely. Big mistake on my part. I got my butt kicked 2 or 3 times before I wised up and decided to take it down a notch back to the Warlord level. And even the 1st attempt there I had no real plan so I got pushed out of my territory by Egypt too far to be able to come back, and with Caesar already having bombers and cannons in the Roman Civ, I bailed out again.

Now I'm about halfway through the latest attempt (made it to the Industrial Age) and feel comfortable with the flow of the game more than I did previously. My Mongol Civ took out the Japan Civ early on, and I've been battling to hang on to 5 cities while getting attacked from every direction by the India (Ghandi...you motherf***ing warmonger!) and Arab Civs. China got the best board position on the map (isolated), and they were the 1st to develop Steam Power (which I fortunately just got by getting an important person in my capital city), so if I'm going to attempt a domination victory with my Genghis Khan, they're probably going to be the last civ to fall. And there's NO WAY I'm trading tech with any of these bastards! At this point, my production has me generating at least 1 military unit per turn in my capital (usually it takes 3-5), and building roads to my cities has been a MAJOR factor in my succeeding to this point. Next I have to start building up my navy now that I have the steam power, so I can possibly flank the Arab Civ to get some relief for my cities. 

Damn you Sid Meier!

Needless to say, I highly recommend it!

Anyone else pick this one up?

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I do enjoy remembering to eat and sleep SOME of the time. I try to stay away from Civ games for that reason.

[Barracuda]

I downloaded and played the demo this morning. Simply amazing! I have been a Civilization fan since Civ II on the PC. Now I just have to convince the wife into letting me spend $50 buying a game. 

[phoenix1967]

^Maybe trade in some stuff?  Glad you like the demo.

Read a little more of the manual, I guess you move through the Ages (Ancient, Midieval, Industrial and Modern) based on how many Technologies you've acquired. Hopefully, knowing this bit of info, it will help me on subsequent sessions.

[s1lence]

Civ games have always hooked me in. I picked this up for the 360, I haven't opened it yet though because I know I won't be able to put it down.

[phoenix1967]

^And you would be right. I also recommend getting the strategy guide for this one because it's PACKED with info and tips for playing.

[Barracuda]

Well I traded in some old games yesterday and got myself a copy. Played a few rounds on chieften to get familiar with the controls. After destroying everyone on chieften I got my ass handed to me on Warlord. I'll be playing this game for a long time. 

[phoenix1967]

At least you went incrementally. I got too cocky and went from Chieftain to King and got destroyed!

Recently, I was able to win on Warlord with Mongols (Military Domination win) and with the Zulu (Cultural win).

[phoenix1967]

Only in this game can the following happen...

As Genghis Khan, I'm at war with Ghandi and the Arab nation. Ghandi asks for peace. After what seems like about a hundred turns of battling both the Indian nation and Arab nation, I figure ok so I can build up some tech and/or buildings.

Then I use the diplomacy menu to bribe Ghandi to attack the Arabs for the paltry sum of 100 gold for 5 turns.

Gotta love a game where you can bribe Ghandi to go to war...

[imfromwisconsin]

I so need to get this game.  Like.  NOW.

[phoenix1967]

^Go get it!

Or at least DL the demo from XBox Live to start getting familiar with it.

[phoenix1967]

Last night I used England to get my first win on King difficulty. Won it on the very last turn.

The game mentioned that there were only 5 turns remaining (and it ended at 2096AD), and the last turns saw Greece going for the Tech victory. His space station was built up and on the last turn it took off for Alpha Centauri. However, apparently I got the win (domination, but without conquering all capitals) because he didn't "reach" Alpha Centauri. Phew! Close one.

[imfromwisconsin]

I downloaded the demo on PS3 and I've played it like 20 times already...LOL.  Good game, keeps me interested; reminds me of how I used to play sim city years ago!

[phoenix1967]

^Cool.

Now it's time to pick up a copy.

[phoenix1967]

I beat it on King again the other day with Russia.

I took out the Zulu early with a rushed army (and their capital was empty), so I got an extra city to build on. Later in the game, I was in the tech lead when Greece ended up catching up (somehow) and then surpassed me. At that time I realized the likelihood of the tech victory I wanted was starting to wane. Rather than deal with another war with Greece (who's borders were extended significantly due to their courthouse), and since I was already at war with France, I decided to get my spies involved and steal as many Great Persons as I could so I could go after a cultural victory. 1/2 price spies in the Modern era as the Russian Civ really worked out well.

I ended up taking 1 from Greece (Einstein) and 3 or 4 from Napoleon (and when I found out he was out of Great Persons I decided to demolish the Cathedral in Paris...ha!). Using spies is much fun!

Then, I just started churning out wonders until I had enough of them to be able to build the U.N.. Alexander never declared war (probably because of democracy),  nor did he attempt to nuke one of my cities, and my cultural victory held up.