Solid Strategy Game
Though Sid Meyer's Civilization Revolution may start a tad slower than most other strategy games, there's a lot to love here if you give it a few hours. Exploring your new world can be tedious in the beginning, but once you have looked around a bit, the pace picks up quickly.
To be honest, I'd never played any of the Civ games before this one, but that doesn't affect the gameplay at all. The controls are streamlined, accessible and easy to understand, and the options are abundant enough to keep you playing for hours. It's easy enough to beat one run-through in an afternoon, but to fully experience this package, chocked full of interesting and varied lands to explore, several play modes, and different difficulties to do it with, you will need a lot more time.
If you're looking for the cream of the console-strategy-game crop, look no further.