Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom

"Good City-Builder"

Veterans of the city-building series will really feel right at home in Emperor. Not a whole lot has changed during the past few years of city-building game development, so it all fits like an old pair of shoes. The concept is simple really—lay out your roads, set up your industries, protect your city, and watch it all bustle. What has changed is the setting. We have picked up our bags and left the Mediterranean completely, and now find ourselves in ancient China. This change in location offers a new look, but it's not all eye candy. Many aspects of the Chinese culture have been implemented in the game in some form or another.

The overall scope of the game is very ambitious. The seven campaigns—each correlating to a dynasty—span over 3,000 years (from 2100 BCE to the Invasion of Genghis Kahn's hordes in the early 13th century), and consist of over 40 missions.

One complaint of mine is with the distribution system Emperor employs, and frankly, it's not new—we've been using the same one for 10 years! I thought people used to walk down to their market to pick up food for their family. Since when does all food become delivered to the citizens? I don't think Pizza Hut was around at this time, and the people certainly won't get their food within 30 minutes. 10 years have passed now, and it's time to rethink this system. Get these lazy citizens to walk down to the market and buy some food, pottery, etc.

The combat system still doesn't impress me. We haven't seen much of a change in the past 10 years, and it's overdue for a complete overhaul. I'm not quite sure just how to describe the current system—it's just not impressive. I think it's time for the folks at Impressions and Breakaway Games to install Age of Empires II and study it. Their combat system, while not perfect, is very easy to use and it works. Now that we have siege equipment (catapult), it's definitely time to change.

Aspects of the Chinese culture are found throughout the game. The architecture, feng shui, various religions, etc all add to making this game feel like you're in ancient China. It's all been done very well, might I add. The Chinese zodiac really doesn't seem to add a whole lot to the game. You really have to have a good memory to remember what does what and when (it's all a bit confusing).

Finally, we have multiplayer. While I've yet to fully delve into the multiplayer games, it does look very good. You are able to compete against one another, or you can work together towards a common goal, like building the Great Wall of China. If you're working competitively, you can send spies to sabotage something, or gather map information about the other city. Your spies can be captured, so you'll have to be careful.

Simulation gamers should like the game overall as I did, but it's obvious the game needs to be worked on in some areas. Instead of fixing the major problems, new things get added to the game to help overshadow the problems.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/05