I'm a huge fan of the Civ series and nearly wet my pants with excitement upon hearing that Civ was coming to the console… er, again (have CivII on psx). I eagerly anticipated some Civ-esque length battles and micro managing every detail of every city and it's drones… bwahahaha! Even “hands-on” previews couldn't deter me from getting this game.
Sometimes blind faith can equal stupidly spending some hard earned cash on something as fun as having a dirty wet rag thrown in your face. This game felt more like a prequel to the Civ series than an extension of it. The core elements are there but gone is the “just-one-more-turn” factor. It seems to have been designed for people who can't sit still for long periods of time as victory comes pretty quick – even on the harder modes. I've played this game for a total of 9 hours over 3 days (trying to drag out some campaigns), and now I feel like shelving it. Some casual gamers or newbies to Civ may enjoy it longer than I, but I wished now I had waited for the demo on PSN.