The biggest release of the week is undoubtely Civilization Revolution 2 ($4.99), both in overall depth/scope as well as price. We’re still working on our review of the game, but in the meantime, if you’re wondering whether or not Civ Rev 2 is worth the fifteen bucks, the thread in our forums is filled with some great first impressions from our community.

In particular, dannythefool answers questions many forum posters and front page commenters have been having about the game. As he describes it, “It’s basically Civ Rev 1 with more polish." The UI has been improved and generally streamlined, although he does mention a couple negatives such as the AI not being any smarter, and there still being no multiplayer or cloud saves. Graphics have been substantially improved though, with increased attention to detail everywhere in the game.

…gameplay is more or less the same as Civ Rev 1. All the Civ Rev particularities are still there, you still form armies, you still build roads between cities in one action, caravans are still there, artifacts are still scattered around the map, and so on. If you’ve played Civ Rev then you will feel at home in Civ Rev 2. If you hated Civ Rev 1, you’ll hate Civ Rev 2, it’ll just look prettier while you hate it.

Meanwhile, Piph offers a new player’s perspective, feeling very confused with the goal of the game, and actually ends up having a lot of the same issues/concerns I did when I played the original Civ Rev:

So, as a new player, I have to admit I feel more than a little lost. I understand the controls and how to build units or buildings, and I’m researching new technologies and whatnot for sure, but I guess I feel a little… Bored? Aimless?

Everyone immediately offers peace, so it feels like any attempts at combat are completely voluntary. I’ve yet to be attacked or feel threatened, let alone encouraged, to actually do anything.

Thankfully, dannythefool responds which a post that really encapsulates what the Civ Rev games are all about for new players:

That’s kind of what 4X games are like. You explore, you eventually build a settler and found a new city, you eventually build an army and fight someone else. That’s the genre in a nutshell. Civ Rev is no different.

There’s some hidden depth. E.g. as techs unlock more buildings and units, you can get a tremendous advantage by building the right things at the right time, or by micro-managing your production, or by “discovering" the right ancient artifact at the right time, and so on. On lower difficulty you don’t need that advantage, so that’ll always feel a little less complex just because you might not notice and because you generally need to do less things to be able to win.

Dannythefool enjoys learning playing the advantages in these games, as each leader has its own little bonus. Additionally, and I agree here, he really enjoys watching your tiny little starting settlement turn in to a huge powerful nation. That evolution is ultra cool.

As mentioned, we’ll have our full review up as soon as we can properly put the game through its paces, but in the meantime, our forums are a great place to be.