The dawn of Civilization
It’s a well-known fact that I prefer games that are easy - with a modicum of challenge yet playable to the end with a low death/repetition factor. Sadly, most games don’t fit into this category. There are exceptions. Bioshock, Battlefield: Bad Company, Medal of Honor: Airborne - titles that allow for multiple strategies in achieving objectives, i.e., games that permit me to play like a wussy. I’d much rather sneak around, avoiding confrontation.
I have always shied away from trying the Civilization series of games. The apparent complexity of the gameplay is a little daunting. I have precious little extra brainpower to expend, and if a playing a game is as much work as a real job - and I’m not getting paid for it - then why play?
Even if I were in the mood to apply my considerable cognitive prowess, other elements discouraged me: The game is turn-based (as a rule I find turn-based gameplay stilted and boring), representational (huge men towering above a tiny city represent an entire army, as opposed to real-time games in which an army of men represent an actual army) and the well-known fact that the Civilization games are scarily addictive.
Recently the first console adaptation, “Civilization: Revolution” appeared. Secretly I’ve always wanted to get into the game (he doth protest too much) and since the prevailing opinion is that the console game is much simpler than the PC version i saw a unique opportunity to introduce myself to the series.
Though a little confused at first, I quickly glommed on to the machinations of building a society from the ground up. (It didn’t hurt that every few seconds a huge person slid onto the screen telling me what to do next.) Once I had a solid grasp of it all, I proceeded to lead a British nation to world domination with ease. What a feeling!
And then I looked at the clock. 3:15 AM. I had started playing around 10:30 PM and I figured that an hour, maybe 90 minutes or so had passed. That was when I realized that, against my better judgment, I was hooked. Despite the late hour I was burning to give it another go, maybe as the Egyptians or the Greeks. I dearly wanted to ascend a civilization to the Space Age, but the idea of facing a workday with no sleep at all motivated me, reluctantly, to power down the PS3.
The next night I began my empire-building earlier, around 9 PM. After launching an American space station in the direction of Alpha Centauri, I once again looked at the clock. 3:30 AM.
I subsequently installed Civilization IV on my PC. Surely now I’d be able to enjoy the more-complex progenitor of my new addiction. Instantly I discovered that the variety of units, buildings and other elements in the PC version to be comparatively immense. A few minutes into the tutorial I quit the game. Not because of the apparent complexity, but because I knew that had I continued, not only would I have missed an entire night’s sleep, but I probably would have called in sick to work to keep playing.
Let this serve as a warning to you. No matter how much Cleopatra pisses you off with her unstoppable advance of technology, you must turn the console OFF. Trust me.
