Ancient Cities
So, I think I have enough time to comment on this now. As a disclaimer, I never backed the game but saw it a year ago, read all the stories about the time it’s taking, that the game was empty, the devs not being capable of this challenge and even that it was a scam. I put it off for these reasons, wanting to be sure I wasn’t wasting what is a lot of money for EA, but I do not think this is a scam any more, no. I think the devs have wasted time building a custom game engine and may have overfaced themselves, yes, but the level of detail and the continued work on the game to me shows this is a passion project that they will continue, if slowly.
– Real player with 171.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Historical Survival Games.
The game looks amazing, much better than Dawn of Man (even with my Realistic Stone Age mod ). I will update with a proper review after I will play some more, but so far I can say this (compared to DOM):
- You can choose to start playing from 10,000 BC up to 3500 BC, and the end of the last glacial age is depicted on the overview map, as it shows how snow evolves from one date to another, even from summer to winter (I do not know if anything else changes). In DOM you can only play in 10,000 BC.
– Real player with 46.7 hrs in game
Medieval II: Total War™ Kingdoms
WARNING: ABOUT THE GAME’S DISAPPEARANCE FROM YOUR LIBRARY
The game is not gone from your library, they simply merged it with Medieval II. To find it follow these steps:
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Install Medieval II
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Go to your steam game library
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Right click on Medieval II
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Below the “Play Game” option there should be 4 new options with the Kingdoms campaigns.
And now, after that prologue, LET THE REVIEW BEGIN!
Kingdoms is the expansion pack (yeah, not DLC, for 20 bucks you can buy actual, sturdy, nearly endless content) of Medieval II: Total War.
– Real player with 384.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Historical Medieval Games.
Don’t let my playtime fool you, i’ve played this game for over a decade ever since 2006 and probably sunk thousands of hours into this game on disc. This game features a combination of RTS (while in battles) and TBS (displayed on the campaign map), you move your armies around on a fully 3D map authentic to the terrain of Europe and Asia, Risk style.
There are many troop types from Horse Archers to Knights to Longbowmen even Elephants and Native American braves! this game is a perfect example of a well crafted Total War game. Yes it is old, even on max graphics a graphics snob might brush this game off right away but this game captures the atmosphere, lifestyle, turbulance and religious strife of the Middle Ages wonderfully.
– Real player with 237.0 hrs in game
Imperiums: Greek Wars
So, I have been playing this game for about near 40 hours at the time of this review.
Imperiums, focus' on the Greek Wars time era. And the developers do a very good job in portraying accurate history, in my opinion. The game keeps trying to ‘curb’ you back toward history. However; you can fight against that, and go your own way. However it requires more effort or ‘elbow grease’ to get there. Basically, to ‘go against’ history; the game feels harder! Usually. Usually when trying to go against history. I really like this aspect of the game.
– Real player with 323.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Historical 4X Games.
As a strategy game Imperiums is one of a kind. Designed from scratched with pen and paper by a passionate developer and now released as the second entry in a hopefully long lasting series of strategy games.
Over the years the game is shaped and finetuned by the help of a small, but very dedicated playerbase who can discuss with the developer in forums on Steam and Discord.
Hundreds of players already mentioned their complains and wishes for the game and the developer keeps a list with urgent must have features and nice to have features for the future.
– Real player with 158.9 hrs in game
Old World
Old World is a historical strategy game where you lead your empire through multiple generations, building a grand legacy to last beyond your own years. This is an era of great leaders, from the revered to the feared. Which will you be?
Marry for politics, raise your heirs, and manage your relationship with the families of your kingdom. In the fast and furious world of kings and queens, family matters.
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Each of the 7 kingdoms has four noble families that provide various benefits when put in charge of your cities.
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Manage family ties through events, actions, and marriages to keep them happy and reap additional benefits. Upset them, or make them too powerful, and you risk their ire.
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Maintain a strong family unit, or distract yourself with more illicit adventures.
The world is full of great characters with distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Use them to forge your kingdom, defend your borders, and build ties with other leaders.
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Seek out and recruit famed warriors, philosophers, builders, and more. Have them tutor your children, lead your armies, and further your reign.
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Different personality archetypes allow your court members to perform different tasks in similar roles. Find the right combinations to take full advantage of governors, diplomats, spymasters, and even your spouse.
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Characters develop new personalities and traits over time, growing old, gaining experience, and finally falling ill and passing away, leaving room for the next generation.
Unsettled tribes, barbarian marauders, and remnants of previous cultures are all waiting in the vast unexplored wilderness.
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Discover artifacts and great heroes of the past at ruins scattered across the map.
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Experience over 3,000 unique events inspired by history and mythology.
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Contact with foreign dignitaries triggers event chains, stories, and courtroom drama.
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Pursue ambitions and legacies related to conquest, development, faith, and more.
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Historically inspired scenarios, weekly challenge games, and a choice between randomly generated and handcrafted maps to explore. Lead Carthage to victory as Hannibal in the Punic Wars, hold your own against Barbarian Hordes, or compete against other players in tackling fictional scenarios.
Why do things the way they’ve always been done? Old World brings a new take to key elements of the 4X strategy genre:
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Go beyond the traditional resources. Buildings are made of wood and stone, not “industry.” Population doesn’t grow off “food” alone.
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Orders are a resource shared across your realm. Instead of moving every unit once per turn, each unit can be moved multiple times until fatigued or Orders are depleted.
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Technological advancement is not predetermined. Randomization helps keep technology trees feeling fresh with each new playthrough.
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Quality of life improvements, such as the ability to undo mistaken commands and nested tooltips, ensure you’re always making informed decisions.
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Play with friends in countless multiplayer modes — from hotseat, to asynchronous, to cloud play.
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Mods further open up infinite options for new worlds, empires, and dynasties — inspired by our real world, and by works of fiction as well.
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
This is my favorite game since it came out, and my favorite version of Civ (I know Civ 1 through 5)
I won’t go into what Civ is specifically about. You should know.
Nor will I compare to other Civ games. It has been done.
This versions' depth is impressive, and the playability is… at least a few lifetimes.
Graphics are normal, but totally irrelevant!
The 4X strategy design and many (but not too many) balanced options make it something that will always be enjoyable.
Spock will still read your Scientific discoveries out loud! :P
– Real player with 1974.8 hrs in game
I’ll start by saying that this is not a game for casuals, if you want to have a game that is incredibly compelling and complex and rewarding to learn, this is your game. While Civ 3 remains a complete mystery to me, I can say I have played all the others, and this one is by far the best I’ve played. You might say “what about Civ 5?”, but I highly prefer it to Civ 5 for several reasons (unit stacking Figure out how to use collateral damage people, tech/espionage/culture slider, much more micromanagable empire, better system for unit and city maintenance, far superior espionage system, more interesting promotion dynamics with military units, unrestricted leaders, non gimmicky leader traits, non gimmicky religions, far superior map options, way less annoying barbarians, way less buggy multiplayer, etc etc etc…)
– Real player with 1765.2 hrs in game
Orbi Universo
It’s Democracy meets Civilization.
Still a work-in-progress, and from a part-time indie dev, but what you see here shows promise.
If you’re a Civ/Paradox/Democracy fan, it’s an easy recommendation.
If you’re not too sure about it, grab it on sale, or wait until they finish all the ages that make the core gameplay.
Pros:
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Less intimidating upfront than Democracy, you start from humble begginings.
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You can start at any place in the globe
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Many different paths to take your civilization through
– Real player with 81.2 hrs in game
This game is unique. Maybe not much replayability, but there definitely is some. In the bronze age I had a shining civilization, the entire Iron Age was a time of unparalleled ascension, but I quickly over expanded and then the disruption caused by the immense amount of minorities quickly destroyed my stability. I kept undermining the power of the clergy in order to stop them from toppling my republic, which caused the number of heathens and heretics to rise to such a point as to ruin my stability even further. There was this entire collapse scenario very reminiscent of the fall of the Roman Republic, culminating in a coup d’etat by the military which led to a quickly fragmenting military dictatorship that saw a snowball of decline that just kept rolling and rolling.
– Real player with 36.9 hrs in game
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization
8/10
Maybe the best version of Civ IV.
In 1994 I got and played the hell out the DOS original. It had all the classic gameplay of a Sid Meier title. You got to replay an exciting and interesting period of history and it was fun. But the graphics and the interface were bad, even by 1994 standards. You put pixled figures up against a brown picture map of a town. The graphics of units were barely the level of the original Civ.
Unlike many Sid games of the era, which Steam just launches in DosBox, this was fully ported over into the Civ IV platform. Graphics are way better, with animated units and combat, terrain and resources are clearer. And yet the core of the game remains the same. Locate a colony, expand it, exploit the resources, and battle your rivals. And of course you have to prepare for Independence from your mother country. The interesting victory challenge of the game can throw some players. Many are just thrilled to be producing and selling loads of Rum and Silver and forget, while these and other usual things (population, cities, etc.) can boost your final score, the end game is enough muskets, cannons, and ships to win independence. You are playing to be Washington or Bolivar, not to establish Canada!
– Real player with 361.9 hrs in game
Civilization IV: Colonization is one of the most (if not the most) unique 4x turn-based strategy games I’ve ever played! Instead of playing as the ruler of your nation, you’re playing as a viceroy for your nation. While the King rules over his country in Europe, he entrusts you with colonizing and managing the new world (either the Americas or a random map) competing with 3 other European powers (though there are mods out there that add more). When you settle, the Natives will either be your trading partners (selling goods to the King will result in getting permanent taxes) or your enemies depending on which ones you run into and how you treat them.
– Real player with 309.3 hrs in game
Sid Meier’s Civilization® IV
Diary Entry 1- Heliopolis is under siege by Rome. I’ve been unable to send reinforcements because Caeser is moving his troops around my territory, destroying farms, mines and villages. I can’t spread too thin in fear of my other cities being attacked.
So 5 handfuls of Heavy machine Gunners have been defending the city from catapult bombardments and grenadier attacks.
And now, he seems to have set his sights upon the neighbouring city of Memphis.
Diary Entry 2 - I’ve reached out to the Malinese and Isabella of Spain, and both have declared war on Ceaser. They are on the opposite side of him to me. So while they cannot directly help my cities, they will put pressure on the Western side. So hopefully I can repel the siege and push to his cities. I have a troop of tanks coming in from the Northeast, and a regiment of Marines coming in from the southeast.
– Real player with 661.1 hrs in game
Once upon a time, I tried Civilization V. I discovered it was buggy. What I did play was really fun though. So my in-laws bought me Civilization III, which was really fun. I then saw that Civilization IV was on sale, along with the expansions, so I bought the main game and a couple of the expansions. I am currently enjoying the happily ever after.
This is one of the most addictive games I have ever played. My husband and I are enjoying a hotseat match in which I am sure will end in a bloodbath. In Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword I am preparing to conquer the world with my mighty Celtic army. Civilization IV is an awesome strategy game in which almost anything is possible. There are so many different leaders to choose, and many different ways to beat the game. Sure, you could do a military victory, but you can also win diplomatically, artistically, and financially. There is also the Space Race…
– Real player with 86.8 hrs in game
Aggressors: Ancient Rome
This review is actually a Thank you letter to the developer for making this game.
For unbiased reviews skip this one.
I think it was 25 years ago that most of my school holiday time was used to do what I really like. Gaming. But I did not had my first PC yet, so gaming was spending one day in the city to collect all kind of painting materials and paperboards to create the ultimate game myself.
The Civilization boardgame, HeroQuest boardgame and some rare tabletop games I owned served as an example. But mine had a bigger boards, more options, more counters and features, more of everything actually.
– Real player with 562.4 hrs in game
Aggressors - Ancient Rome
This obscure historical game is turn based strategy / tactics to dominate the world starting in 280 BC by default, but adustable from 1000 BC to 500 AD. It is single player and is my personal choice for game of the year. I have played it for over 480 hours in the past 60 days. It is published by Slitherine and available through them, on Steam and GOG.
Where I am coming from
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I am the curator of Strategic Win https://store.steampowered.com/curator/9074928/ and have reviewed 142 games there in the past 2 years. I bought this game from Matrix games.
– Real player with 521.5 hrs in game
Europa Universalis IV
I’m a divorced woman of color. Recently, my ex got our son Larry a video game called Europa Universalis for his 14th birthday. It seemed good for him, because it takes place in the distant past and he’s always been interested in history, so it seemed like a nice enough game, no graphic violence or anything, at least until I sat down and watched him play at it. I don’t know what sorts of racists made this game, but it’s basically a colonialism and genocide justification simulator. If you want to survive, you need to have access to money and soldiers, and the most (only) reliable way to ensure you have enough is to attack and conquer your weaker neighbors. If you don’t, you can be sure someone else will eventually come attack and conquer you.
– Real player with 4558.6 hrs in game
So EU4 was a good game. Then they released the 450+ ‘bug fixes’. The entire game outside Europe has now been put back behind a new paywall unless you have the paradise DLC as it is now impossible to develop your provinces to spawn institutions as army tradition gives you impossibly high dev costs. I played one game and when I needed to dev an institution from a 1/1/1 grasslands province and starting cost is 120. That is only with 33 army tradition giving a 150% penalty. This was a custom nation and I had -20% dev cost. Good job paradox forcing everyone to buy your shittiest dlc in order to use any of the other DLC’s you have paid for. The game is now broken outside of Europe without the paradise dlc. You make me sick Paradox!
– Real player with 1819.5 hrs in game