In Civilization we lead our faction from the cradle of humanity, in Revival we build our empire on the ruins of the past instead.
It’s a decades-old running gag. In the Civilization series, the peaceable Gandhi, of all people, is one of the faction leaders who are particularly reckless with nuclear weapons in the modern era. Now even in Civ such an approach rarely leads to complete nuclear apocalypse.
But what if it does? Civiliaztion will probably never answer that question satisfactorily. But fortunately, there are droves of developers out there who find inspiration in this bedrock of global strategy and come up with their very own ideas.
This is what happened with Revival: Recolonization. A new 4X strategy game in which the world has already ended once. So it’s showing the second flowering of humanity rising up to let new empires grow again from the ruins.
Well, I wonder if this time it will turn out better? At least Gandhi is staying out of world affairs in this game.
The wasteland need not be barren
If we believe the prequel to Revival, then Gandhi, at least officially, doesn’t have that much to do with the apocalypse in this world. For the people themselves are not to blame for the end of the world – or at least only indirectly. The catastrophe was brought about by an overpowering AI called All-Mind.
As in Terminator or I, Robot, a hyperintelligent AI always finds a reason to declare war on humanity. So too in Revival, where the All-Mind recognised humanity as weak and inferior. Reason enough to wipe out their civilisation. Not only with the help of killing machines, but also zombies and global terraforming.
Since nuclear contamination is not the only reason for the devastation of the planet, Revival also presents itself much more lively than one might be used to. There are more facets here than brown wasteland or bright green lakes.
Producer Vasiliy Tedeev tells us in the interview that the world of Revival is supposed to feel logical on the one hand and seem almost miraculous on the other. Instead of a bleak apocalypse, the aim was to create a lively setting in which there are still lots of colours to be seen.
What makes Revival: Recolonization special?
The setting of course sets Revival apart from genre competitors like Civilization, Old World or Humankind. But in terms of gameplay, the developers have not rested on merely transferring the proven 4X concept to a world full of ruins.
Revival, for example, has its very own approach to faction selection. Instead of a nation, we choose a so-called emissary. These are people who lived a thousand years ago and still knew the world as it once was. In the planned Early Access, only one emissary is planned so far, but more are to be added later. Each emissary has an influence on how we deal with our resources.
This sounds like almost no variety at all. But the faction is not only decided by the leader. The first task in a new round of Revival is to find a clan to lead as an emissary. Each clan belongs to one of the five tribes, which in turn all have individual characteristics.
The Cultists of Eternal Ice, for example, prefer icy landscapes and are fierce warriors, while the Ash Commissaries live in the desert and specialise in trade.
In particular, we should know the climate zones and landscapes of the planet well. Firstly, they influence the well-being of our faction, and secondly, emissaries can change the landscape with edicts.
If, for example, an enemy army is on its way to our capital, there are more options than just launching a counterattack, calling allies or begging for peace (haha, as if).
An emissary can turn the temperate hinterland into an icy landscape with an edict. This slows down armies and weakens archers or rifles. At the same time, rivers freeze and can be passed. So we have to weigh carefully which edict really helps us at the moment and which doesn’t.
For whom is Revival Recolonization suitable
Despite its special features, Revival remains deep in its soul a fairly classic 4X strategy game in which fans of Civilization will immediately feel at home. The initial phase in particular does not differ greatly from the great role models, which also include Endless Legend and Alpha Centauri.
Your newly taken over clan initially lives in a few simple wooden huts and concentrates on growth. Even the weapons are more reminiscent of the early days, but that’s what Albert Einstein predicted anyway. By accumulating resources, spreading across the map and incorporating other clans, your own faction grows.
In the process, we pass through a total of four different eras. In the course, the technological standard changes. Simple huts become large cities and even futuristic metropolises. Instead of arches, at some point we let tanks drive up. There is a special feature here, however, because in Revival we can design units very freely.
We can equip riflemen with different ammunition or decide which weapon war elephants carry on their backs. In general, army composition is supposed to be even more important than in the typical 4X strategy game. This is where special abilities such as shields come into play, which push opponents back a few squares. Among other things, this should prevent us from simply waltzing across the map with high-tech armies, because even underdeveloped forces become dangerous if they pursue a good concept.
At least that’s what producer Tedeev says.
When will this come out?
(On the Steam page of Revival): Recolonization it’s hard to tell at first glance, but the game will first enter an Early Access phase before its full-fledged release. It already has several playable alpha phases behind it. Currently, the team plans to start Early Access towards the end of 2022. It remains to be seen how long they will stick with it.
At the moment, the team has reached a point where the game is basically considered fully functional. Most of the work still needs to be put into localisation and especially AI. So far, the behaviour of the computer opponents has been somewhat neglected, as features were simply missing. With the revision of the edicts, the AI should now become clever enough to present us with an appealing challenge.
Well, is that such a good idea given the starting position of Revival?
Editorial conclusion
After Old World and especially Humankind offered two more than worthwhile alternatives to Civilization as recently as 2021, I’m currently up for an excursion into a completely different scenario than historical human history. On paper, Revival already sounds very exciting. I especially like how I can change the world with the edicts and that this game gives me the opportunity to revise my units much more deeply.
Behind all this is the great goal that each round should be much more different from the previous one. A noble goal indeed! Why there will only be one emissary for the Early Access release, however, is still not entirely clear to me. In general, as with most 4X games, we have to wait and see what the AI does.
And I don’t just mean the deadly killer AI that still causes trouble in the world of Revival. I mean, of course, the computer-controlled enemies. This has to sit if Revival is to be really fun. Not to mention whether it knows how to motivate in the long run and whether the apocalypse will keep me playing as many rounds late into the night as the steadily progressing human history.
