A First "CivRev" Preview from "E3"

[DanQ]

A two-page preview of Civilization: Revolution has been published on IGN. Written by the network's Steve Butts, he reports from the restructured and by invitation-only E3.

Summary of new information:

smaller scale than PC version: goal is to create a version of [the game] that can be played start to finish in a matter of a few hours

Each of the 16 civilizations have a unique look and unique abilities through not only colour but also architectural style and unit dressing

unique abilities of each civilization are going to be more significant and specific to each civilization, e.g. Egyptians get trade bonuses for building cities in the desert

victory conditions noted are military conquest, space race that focuses more on building a large ship to maximize your victory points than the upcoming Beyond the Sword expansion for Civilization IV and culture victory based on converting enemy cities and gaining a huge roster of Great People

three different types of barbarians -- one from cold, temperate and warm climates -- will have their own unique look and specific units

[N]o anarchy, and no worrying over the placement of specific improvements around your cities as in current Civ titles

advisers last seen in Civilization II are back with at least one new twist: will... point to specific areas of the map when they have comments to make about threats or opportunities you're facing

gauge rival reaction in diplomacy before taking action, relative to their power in each individual game

spy units can steal Great People from other players

as units win and upgrade, their visual appearance will change so you can see at a glance just what each unit is capable of

merge three units of the same type into a single army that functions as a super unit: three times the health and all its units benefit from each promotion that any of the constituent units possessed

rare Elite unit status will automatically upgrade every time you research an appropriate technology

trophy room present is similar to throne room of Civ titles past, but more animated

leader boards and matchmaking for general games to track progress against other players


CivRev will be released on the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 in Spring 2008. It will come to the Nintendo Wii that fall.

[anandus]

And the new screenshots can be seen here (Dutch site, though).

[Will9]

I think CivR may work out. DS release sounds nice (if it isn't dumbed down completly like AoE was). Hopfully you can choose to play a longer game.