I've never really gotten into any of the previous 'Civilization' games. (Gasp!)

For me, it was always a case of too much attention to detail that took too long to get any meaningful results. If, like me, your gaming attention span is measured in ten's of minutes, and not hours, then you'll know what I mean.

'Civilization Revolution', however, is of a different breed entirely. Much has been said about the slimmed-down nature of it and hardcore fans of the series might find this version of their favourite PC strategy game to border upon sacrilege.

However, if you're willing to give it a try, you might find that 'Revolution' is quite possibly the best strategy game to hit the current generation of consoles.

'Revolution's' appeal lies exactly in that which would irritate hardcore fans of the series: its simplicity.

Instead of bogging the player down in minute details, it opts to give console gamers a strategy game that is extremely easy to pick up and get into. And, after all, that is what you want on a console in the absence of a mouse.

This brings us to another thing that developer Firaxis Games managed to keep simple: the controls. You'll spend about 90 percent of your game using three buttons and the two joysticks. That's it.

What's more, 'Revolution' doesn't offer much in the way of frustration to play — the game intuitively selects that which you need to do next and displays the appropriate buttons in clear sight. In fact, it grabs you by the nose and leads you at a brisk pace.

This would have been extremely irritating if it wasn't for the fact that it forced you to think fairly quickly, which works well for console gaming. This is especially highlighted during multiplayer games where matches can quickly turn into adrenaline infused brawls.

However, it also means that the game is often over just when you're getting into it. On the easiest setting, a game will typically take you between one and two hours, depending on how much you try to slow it down. Still, it's a far cry from the "normal" eight or more hour battles of the PC versions.

Graphically, 'Revolution' is a pleasure to look at. As colourful as can be, it's very immersive. All the eye candy does, however, cause the game to briefly stutter at times in between tasks. It's not enough to pop an artery over, but it can be quite irritating.

As far as the sound department goes, things are quite respectable, despite the limited soundtrack, with the 'Sims'-like voices of your advisors making up for the lack of vibes.

'Civilization Revolution' aims to keep it simple and to do what a console game should: get the basics right, while making it easy to jump in and get going. In this, it succeeds with ease. To hardcore fans of the series this might be missing the point, but as a strategy game on a console, it simply works, and works well.