Few series hit a seventh installment. Fewer still make it to number seven and bring something new and compelling to the table. The Settlers: Rise of an Empire hopes to do just that. Much of what has made the series great comes faithfully intact, but there's enough new content to make this continuing game empire worth keeping an eye on.
The Settlers isn't a real-time strategy game in the traditional sense; instead of raising massive armies to clash against your enemies, your goal lies in building a realistic, living medieval municipality. Akin to a Stronghold or Caesar game, The Settlers focuses on simulation over action. Starting with a small castle and storehouse, it's up to you to construct a thriving city that fulfills the various needs of its citizens.
When starting a city, you have a choice among a few different environments. We mostly examined a previously built establishment in Central Europe, but other locations include Northern Europe, such as colder regions of Sweden and Norway, as well as the arid North African desert. Climate plays an important role in how you raise your city since it affects the availability of natural resources. Residing in Northern Europe makes farming difficult due to cold weather, while the deserts of Africa aren't conducive to harvesting timber.
Wood and stone are your primary resources, necessary for building key structures. Once you've established a basic colony, you can begin collecting food and mining gold. Cutting down trees in the surrounding environment nets you wood, while stone can be taken from quarries. Gold requires extraction from mines. Food is the only resource with multiple means of collection including farming, cattle, fishing, and even hunting. Special buildings such as a miner’s hut and woodcutter’s lodge boost your resource collection abilities.
As your city grows, you gain access to a wider range of structures and items; of course, this also comes with an increase in population and pressing needs. For example, demand may require you to build a butcher shop or bakery to process additional food. New needs will arise as well, such as those for clothing or soap. More complex are needs for entertainment or cleaning, which require special buildings or the creation of a particular infrastructure. When the going gets tough, you can always call upon one of the game's six heroes to lend their skills in temporarily addressing a need for entertainment or food or even healing.
Constructing new buildings or upgrading existing structures will help you provide for your citizens. Each building can be upgraded to a maximum of three levels, with each successive level bestowing new features and an enhanced appearance. A huge number of structures are promised ranging from simple storehouses to steamy bathhouses to grand theaters.
While you'll never have the opportunity to rampage against an opponent, you will have to defend your city from marauding enemies. Military is only used for defense in The Settlers, never offensively in the campaign. Building a siege workshop and barracks allows you to create defensive weaponry and draft soldiers to defend your city. In the city we played with, we closed the city gates sent archers to line the stone walls in order to defend it from oncoming attacks. After a short confrontation the enemy fled the scene, leaving their siege weapons behind. You'll be able to capture abandoned enemy weapons and use them, as we did in the demonstration.
