The Xbox 360, a console heavily focused on first person shooters with a nasty tendency to randomly blow itself up, doesn’t offer much variety or -and that’s beside some truly excellent Live Arcade offerings- much for the action-fearing gamers. Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution is thus both refreshing and a truly unique offering. Interestingly it also happens to be a historically important release, as it is the first time ever a Civilization game that wont be played on a computer.

What’s more, Civ Revolution is a fantastic game that actually works on the Xbox 360 in a way the joypad wielding crowds will definitely appreciate. It might not be on par with Civilization IV on the PC, but, still, this is the best strategy game to ever grace a console. If you are already familiar with the series, imagine a condensed, faster, slightly more combat oriented, less complex, easier to get into Civ with fantastic graphics and you should have a pretty precise idea of what Revolution feels like. If you haven’t tried Civilization before, well, prepare to be blown away. This will be the most rewarding game you’ll have played in ages.

Oh, and beyond the excellent single-player options, Revolution comes with a full-blown online multiplayer mode, where players can battle in teams, head-to-head or in frenetic free-for-all matches. In addition, auto-matching, adjustable rules, leaderboards, achievements, extra content and a variety of Xbox Live goodies make online play the best in the series.