They are essentially the same game except where Civ Rev is focused on Earth and using historic civilizations, Starships Unlimited is set in a fictional universe and utilizes a variety of alien races along with humanity. The only differences outside of the content though, were that Starships was far more detailed and more in depth in regards to communications and developing relationships because the different races actually played differently.

In Civ Rev, each of the civilizations have specialized attributes that take effect with each step into the next era. These can be anything from ½ price on roads, +1 movement for riflemen, and so forth. On top of that, civilizations always start with some sort of advantage be it already having an Ancient Wonder built or knowledge of a certain technology like Code of Laws or Navigation. Even with all this individuality, essentially every civilization's artificial intelligence (AI) plays the same. They rarely if ever play into their strengths and end up being a jack of all trades with advances in their military, science, productions, etc. I can understand when you have scenarios that force you to win under specific circumstances, in most matches the computer works towards winning in all four ways when only one will suffice. What I would rather see are civilizations that utilize their expertise to attain victory. Some of the more bloodthirsty rulers should be focused on building a strong military and achieving a Domination Victory while others who are more suited for cultural advances should make Cultural Victory their prime objective; the same goes for a Space Race&Economic Victory.

Part of categorizing the various civilizations and their leaders helps to work towards uniting under one banner. It doesn’t make sense to have to build a United Nations wonder to achieve a Cultural Victory since you essentially force the remaining civilizations to join the organization. When I used the humans in Starships Unlimited, I can remember researching a Federation so that as my relations improved with the more peaceful species in the universe; I could offer them the opportunity to join me. As such I would be conquering the universe incorporating my new allies’ planets, fleets, and resources into my own. Upon encountering the more war-oriented races, there are no negotiations so I have to rely on my big guns to turn their armadas into floating debris before I invade their home planets.

The point is, no matter what I use I should have the opportunity to unite with civilizations rather than simply competing against them. What makes it deeper is the objective. If it’s clear that I’m going after a Scientific Victory by reaching Alpha Centauri first, I should be able to negotiate with other civilizations that are also into furthering their people through scientific discoveries. Together we can trade technologies back and forth until we ultimately join under my banner.

Of course for all this to work, the communication has to be far more robust. The way you interact with other leaders is so limited compared to the computer's capability. But even that’s not saying very much. If I’m looking to trade technologies, all I can do is buy and sell and the computer automatically sets the prices based on how much gold I and the AI have in our respective treasuries. Communicating for the sake of negotiations should have so many more options to it. Rather than simply buy and sell, I should have the option to put together various packages for trade. Perhaps I want 2 higher level technologies from the Egyptians, I should be able to present multiple offers like 3 medium level techs or 1 medium level tech and a specified amount of gold, or 1 low level tech and a great person. Regardless, there should be the option to negotiate.

Beyond trading when you’re on good terms, you should have options when you’re speaking with leaders that you are on less than respectable terms with. I’m sick of people threatening me all the time and making demands particularly when I wipe the floor with their armies. I think if you demonstrate the power of your units either by conquering a city or putting down an all out attack by one of your enemies, you should have the ability to demand something of your opponents in order to put a cease to hostilities. As such they either decide to accept and sign a peace treaty or reject and have me blow them to oblivion.

Whether Civ Rev is the start of a whole new branch in the Civilization series or just a tiny blip along the way to a true sequel to Civilization, I don’t know. I’d love to see a Civ Rev sequel because I think this is a really great console strategy game. If Firaxis does decide to make it, I think they really need to bolster communication between the player and the computer controlled civilizations. This second offering wouldn’t even need to be something all that different because a lot of what I wish was there already exists. It's the things that only the computer can do that I’m still trying to understand. Giving players the ability to go beyond simple buying/selling and allowing players to negotiate with all their resources would really add depth to the strategy.