The Settlers 4 Review

As for the new units, I guess I should also mention the gardener, who can take care about plants and land. The territory taken up by the Dark Tribe becomes useless for people, and the gardeners' role would be to revitalize this barren ground.

Quality graphics have always been a trademark of the serial. And in this sequel Blue Byte team have really outdone themselves. Both buildings and units are highly detailed; you'll even be able to recognize what tools the workers are carrying. The terrain is full of life: deer, foxes, and rabbits will roam the woods; the trees will bend in the wind... The authors of the serial always stuck to the cartoonish appearance and complete lack of violence; still this doesn't mean that the game was meant for kids. The lively and motley surroundings are here just to make the game more enjoyable. The game engine supports resolutions up to 1280x1024, and 3D acceleration. The greatest treat is the possibility to freely zoom in on the map. This feature is practically useless, but it definitely improves the overall impression.

The perfect music and sound effects are the next best things. They make this game really a pleasurable experience. If you fell tense for some reason, you can just start this game and relax. I guarantee it will relax you even more that a good game of golf (especially if you don't like playing golf - ahh, shut up Bunny - Ed.).

Computer is a worthy adversary. It usually has a head start, so you won't stand a chance if you attack it at once. This doesn't mean it will remain idle: it will expand its territory, build up and wait for the right moment to conquer your little realm. You can choose if you want to play on the easy or normal level. Still, they obviously named these levels of difficulty the way they did only to prevent you from giving it up just like that. There are a lot of missions, and it will take you quite some time to see the end sequence. This shouldn't discourage you, however. Everything looks so nice and becoming that it won't be too hard even if you have to play the same map several times in a row.

Multiplayer mode supports up to eight players per game over LAN or internet, and Blue Byte decided to run score tables on its servers. The Voice chat option should replace the classical form of player communication, which hasn't been excluded either, as it may still prove useful for people with slower connections. The multiplayer mode also features a special unit not appearing in the campaigns - the Saboteur. He is highly efficient against enemy structures, but also very vulnerable.

All these words of praise leave some room for criticism. Some flaws keep reappearing ever since the first Settlers, and it doesn't seem that the authors have any intentions to rectify them. Mission goals still come down to destroying your enemy. Even though the developers did try to introduce somewhat more original assignments, these were on the lines of destroy building - rescue hostages - conquer a location - annihilate enemy. The terrains are lively, but they basically all look the same. I know that green is good for your eyes, but some missions could have taken place in a desert or on snow. Another less than stimulating aspect of the game is the fact that all buildings and technologies are available for use from the very start, which is a step back from Settlers II.

Even if we take in account all I said in the previous passage, Settlers IV is certainly the best representative of its series and genre. Its charm will surely attract even the players, which are not too keen on strategies. Unfortunately, only the most persistent of them will spend enough time and nerves on it to finish all the campaigns. So, there is room for improvements, yet something had to be left for the fifth part anyway...