Zeus: Master of Olympus Review

I mentioned Greek mythology more than once. Each city has its patron Gods, and as Gods are like men, and keep quarreling, you are sure to make some enemies among them soon. Building enormous shrines will attract the immortals to your side. Shrines are the size of pyramids in Pharaoh, and play the role of wonders from Civilization. Depending on your choice of Gods, you'll receive different bonuses: Dionysus' vineyards will flourish even on barren wastelands, Ares and his dragon will help your military conquests, and Aphrodite will turn you city into paradise on earth. And, if they are happy with you, the Gods may walk the streets of your town, blessing your citizens. On the other hand, the Gods who do not like you will try to make your rule as grueling as possible. Poseidon would shut all water trade routes and sabotage fishing, and some Gods may even descend to earth and demolish anything in their path. You will get to meet half-gods, both heroes from Homer's epics, and monsters from traditional mythology. Heroes are there only to fight monsters and as entire Greece needs them you will have to fulfill their requirements in order for them to appear. They will ask for a certain quantity of wine, horses or armor, and once you give them what they asked for, they will come and vanquish the creature that couldn't be killed by a mere mortal. This element makes the game more dynamic than its somewhat monotonous predecessors.

The game dynamics are the best improvement in the game. Structures are being built faster, and require fewer resources. The seven campaigns (or adventures as the authors named them) follow lives of certain heroes or deal with historical periods. Each campaign consists out of five to eight very interesting missions (45 altogether). This is where Zeus introduces something new: instead of starting from scratch each time, you'll continue to develop the city you left at the end of the last segment. This also means that you'll have a lot of trouble later, if you manage to mess up something in the very beginning, but it gives you the feeling of active involvement in city growth. This continuity and the background story make Zeus far more appealing than any other sim. game up till now.

Diplomacy has also been improved. Depending on your reputation allied cities will treat you differently; friendly countries will send you resources and military support. Enemy cities will pose threat and try to extort money. And the game will not end even if the enemy succeeds in capturing your city; you will remain the mayor, only now you'll have to serve your new masters. What's more, if you do not succeed in negotiating to your terms, you can always capture an enemy city and make them serve you. You won't have to do anything about the battle itself, you only have to raise an army and set it on its way. If you succeed, the conquered city will lie at your feet. You will also be able to build colonies. Some missions will require you to build a colony that would provide your city with exotic merchandise. After you fulfill your mission, you go back to controlling your main city, and the computer will take over the control of the new colony.

All in all, I have no serious objections to any segment of the game, and thus I do not expect anything to get better in the potential sequel. However, the guys from Impressions have solved the combat sequences relatively clumsily as usual. Pharaoh featured three types of army, and Zeus takes a step backwards to give us only two - Hoplites and Cavalry. Cavalry is stronger, faster and more efficient, so there is no real need to combine the two types. And, as there are few formations and possible tactics, we can say that this is the worst element of the game. So, I guess this is the only segment that has room for improvement.

There is no multiplayer mode. This is typical for sim. games, but if we only remember the first settlers and the possibility to play in hot-seat mode, it remains unclear why this is so.

In order to make up for the lack of multiplayer mode and increase replay value, the authors decided to introduce open play game mode. This mode has no quests or conventional ending; it will just let you play with your city on a map abundant with resources.

Impressions did another great job. Zeus opens the sim. genre to wider audiences. Old Greeks and their Myths served this purpose well...