The last person to walk into the middle of a field in China, plant a flagpole and declare: 'I will build a great city here,' was probably subjected to eight months of intensive anti-bourgeois conditioning and Maoist revolutionary indoctrination. But it was not always so.
In fact, it was precisely this kind of urban entrepreneurship that elevated China, the Middle Kingdom in question, to the position of the pre-eminent power on the Asian continent. And it’s from this humble starting point that you must construct a series of sprawling, thriving conurbations in this, the latest city-building extravaganza from the people who brought us Zeus and Caesar.
Emperor Rise Of The Middle Kingdom free download - Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends demo, Rise of Nations Trial Version, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom Bonus Campaign pack,. By Sierra Entertainment This is a bonus campaign pack for the retail version of Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom. The pack consists of three missions set after the Three Kingdoms period.
Peacenik
As anyone familiar with said predecessors will tell you, this particular dynasty of townplanning behemoths is at the intricate end of the God game spectrum. You are charged with constructing and running a city, while at the same time conducting diplomacy, trade and espionage with neighbours. It's an RTS with virtually no combat. Something like a hugely complex, though pacified version of Age Of Empires.
The game spans 3,000 years from around 2000BC to 1000AD in China, tracking its emergence as a powerful empire. A typical mission starts with you the master of nothing more than a plot of unclaimed land. From here, you must erect the buildings and create the conditions necessary to entice legions of settlers to flock to your new town to live, work and pay you taxes.
This process generally begins with the humble road. Next to this you will then set up some housing space. Wells for water, lookout towers for safety and hunters’ lodges and fishing huts will soon follow, as will a mill and a market place to process and distribute the foodstuffs you are rapidly gathering. From here you go on to setting up farms, warehouses, workshops, schools, shrines, and finally great monuments such as wondrous temples and expansive palaces.
But getting from a bunch of humble hovels to a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis of princely pagodas is no walk in the park. In fact it’s a painstaking though thoroughly absorbing process that will steal hours from under your very nose.
Attempting the tutorials gives you an idea of what you’re up against, as these elaborate and extensive training missions take longer to complete than some entire games. Sure, those familiar with the other games in the series will be able to wing it and skip them, but for anyone new to the whole thing, there's no other way than to bite the bullet and learn the hard way.
Fortune Cookies
There are many factors at play in your metropolis, including everything from the influence religions and differing seasonal crop types on your people, to thevariety of food available. Residents get pissed off if their neighbourhood is too close to busy markets or warehouses, and watchtowers have to be maintained to prevent fires or civil unrest. And that's just the tip of a Titanic-sinker of an iceberg.
The Middle Kingdom Of Egypt
This being feudal China and all. superstition and magic play a large role in events. Before you construct a building you have to consider feng shui and check to see if it will be in 'harmony’ with its surroundings. Wandering mythical heroes can be enticed into your city to spread prosperity and aid with its defence should you offer them enough gifts. And you even have to keep an eye on the Chinese Zodiac to see when you are due a year of good fortune.All the buildings are nicely drawn, and the animations are full of character. It’s easy to whittle away the time waiting for your emissary to return from a far off land by watching peddlers flogging their wares, fishermen struggling to land their catches and farmers sowing and harvesting their crops as they come into season. It’s not going to give your graphics card any problems, but it does the job well enough.
Love Thy Neighbour
It’s not only your own, precious city that you have to worry about out here in China’s vast hinterland, as a click of a mouse takes you to a map of Asia where neighbouring cities are shown.
The first thing you’ll want to do, naturally enough, is invade the damn things, but pretty soon you realise that not only is putting together an army easier said than done, but there are other, more fruitful ways to interact with them. Try trading, for example. You could buy in the wheat that is not sustainable in the harsh desert clime of your own town, or import the expensive jade that your artisans need to craft into trinkets to satisfy the elaborate tastes of your more affluent residents.
The Middle Kingdom Blog
Your military options are limited, and the combat system is pretty facile. The saving grace is that military matters are only a sideshow here, and the economic and town-planning strategies at the heart of the game more than make up for the lack of military tactics.
With seven historical campaigns containing almost 50 missions, Emperor boasts more longevity than the Great Wall itself. And that's not mentioning the skirmish mode and the all-new multiplayer mode allowing up to eight players to attempt to out-build each other. So if you're a builder, not a fighter, and you’ve got a spare couple of weeks, then this is one of the best God games we’ve seen in a long while.