Herocraft has released an update to their Revival game for mobile handsets, and I had some time to get to know the S60v3 version. It is available today for $5.80, available for S60v3 handsets for $15.95 and if you’re addicted to Civilization on your PC (like I am) then I really think you’ll get into Revival on your mobile handset. The application is simple, with decent graphics and only slightly annoying music. The game is designed for portrait mode, and unless you’re going to use a bluetooth keyboard, you can’t really switch to landscape and continue playing, as the game makes use of the numeric keypad.
Revival comes with a great little tutorial that helps explain why and how to do things in the game. It’s really rather complex, and I highly suggest going through the tutorial, especially if you’ve not played Civilization on your PC before. The tutorial has a bit of reading, but it’s setup like a conversation between you and your teacher, and the dialog is humorous, so it’s not bad to skim through at all.
Once you learn how to play Revival, it’s very easy to get lost in it. The graphics are nothing stellar, but it makes up for that in gameplay. You are required to build your city up, and slowly progress through the history books in terms of the types of units you are able to ‘train’ and the buildings you build. One thing that I really enjoy about Revival is that every time you play the game, it’s a different experience. Enemies act differently, the map changes, etc. It’s like getting a whole new game.
Revival on S60v3 offers the ability to save your game at any point, which is a must for this type of turn-based strategy game. I will warn you, this is not the type of game you can simply pick up and get right into. The beginning rounds are completely uneventful, mainly consisting of your main character walking around ‘exploring’ and your city building and training new buildings and units. However, once you’ve played for a bit, the excitement begins and you’ll be hooked.
You can purchase a full license of the game here (it’s only $5.80), but I was able to get 3 license codes from HeroCraft to give away to readers. To be eligible for the drawing, leave a comment on this post stating whether you prefer intensive games like this, or more casual ‘pick up and play’ games on your mobile. The contest will be closed as of 4:00 PM CST on Wednesday, January 30th, and I will randomly choose three commenters who will be notified via email.
