Settlers, The - Rise of an Empire

While its predecessor Heritage of Kings: The Settlers turned the series into a RTS, The Settlers: Rise of an Empire returns to the roots of the series and adds some 1701 A.D. on top. This means that the gameplay has been somewhat simplified and the city building part is again the center of attention.

Due to the simplification key elements of the original game have been adjusted. So when you build a building you no longer need a construction worker and some settlers to bring the resources to the building lo. Instead the resources are immediately removed from your account and the future owner of the house takes his trolley and builds his home himself. Each building has several upgrade stages which allows more people to work there and so speed up the production.

The production cycle itself also has undergone a significant change. Back in the days the harvester put his harvested good in front of his house and other settlers took it to the producer. Now the harvester brings his materials to the warehouse and the producer gets it from there. To speed up the process a little, you can build streets again but they aren't a necessity anymore.

Instead other goods like food have become a necessity for every settler and the higher your knight and castle advance in rank, the more demanding your settlers get. Soon they won't settle for food but also demand clothing.

Also the military part has been tuned down, too the few units you can build still behave and are controlled like in any other RTS. You also have a hero in every mission which has special abilities like healing sick settlers.