Zeus Review: Master of Olympus

I met Greek mythology and history from my school years. Stories about Tesya, Jason and Hercules were regularly reread. I admired Athens and Sparta. Later, I really learned about the dark side of Greece, but this is a completely different story. I learned about the game uniting Greek mythology and urban planning simulator from the magazine, but did not attach much importance. Only when the Immersion Games Games fell into my hands, did I realize that Zeus: Master of Olympus is the development of Pharaoh ideas.

That we should build a city

If you compare the game with the Pharaoh, I would call Master of Olympus modest and compact. There are fewer types of buildings (both production and service), fewer resources and goods, even cards have a modest size.

The basis of the game remained unchanged. We are building residential, production and maintenance buildings. We organize a logistics system for goods and services. We trade with other cities for profit, but there are differences of changing gameplay.

Players are still placing residential areas, but now there are two species for citizens and aristocrats. Citizens do most of the work in the city. For a comfortable life, there are enough simple goods and a small amount of cultural structures, sometimes a park of another. Aristocrats are more capricious. They demand for their mansions of areas with high attractiveness, so in addition to money for placing a mansion, they take another part of the goods. It is also difficult to develop mansions. They need luxury goods and all types of cultural structures nearby. In return, aristocrats pay large taxes, but most importantly they become the main armed forces in the city. Which we will talk about later.

Around residential buildings we build various city services, tax collectors, firefighters (combined with architects), clinic, and if we need guards posts. Do not forget about the leisure of our citizens. Cultural structures convey Greek motifs: from platforms for philosophers to stadiums.

Unforgettable about the supply of our residents with the necessary goods. Instead of a modest bazaar, players must build a sales area of ​​the Agora, on which individual stores are located for each type of product. At the same time, warehouses and barns should be somewhat closer to markets than in the PHAROH. Production buildings do not require foremen, which means that there is no need to build slums in the immediate vicinity of production. The main thing is to tie with roads and ensure labor. Now there is no need to put food in warehouses for sending on request, it is enough to have barns and food supply of any kind. All these changes were beneficial to the game. The lack of constant need to deal with minor problems made the game much more comfortable.

By the way about food. The climate https://miamijackpotscasino.co.uk/ of Greece is less impudent, so there are no problems with water, but we are also inaccessible to the pouring meadows of the Nile. We have to count on hunting, fishing and of course agriculture in meadows. Due to the mountainous landscape of Greece, fertile land can be too narrow for farms. But you can plant separate olive trees, grape vines or release the goats and sheep.

The trading system has changed. Instead of sales from warehouses, it is necessary to build separate factories or ports for the city with which the player wants to trade. The attitude of the leaders of other cities affects the volume, you can correct or worsen them by fulfilling or a faulting tasks (mainly about the delivery of goods, but there are others). We are no longer a part of a major ancient empire. Under our leadership there will be a policy and a maximum of several colonies, over which we are completely powerful. Which immediately simplifies the game. There is no single rating and requests, which means there are no penalties in the form of a punitive army of a disgruntled lord.

Applied mythology

In other studio games, a divine influence despite its own, sometimes a significant effect was indirect. In Zeus, the gods are present in the flesh (literally walk Veste with the inhabitants). The total number of deities in an accessible pantheon has increased, but not all of them will be available immediately. For each city there is a set of gods of patrons and those who hate the city. Hostile gods bring down a variety of punishment depending on specialization. In order for the gods to pay attention to the city. As in previous games, monuments require resources, special workers and time to milking. But unlike the same Pharaoh, the temple plays a functional role. Depending on the devoted to God, the temple gives several different bonuses, resources, troops of various blessings giving bonus to buildings, peacefulness of other deities, and if it is additionally praying, using cattle or food as an offer, you can get a special effect. Also, an avatar of God appears in this building.

Supernatural is not limited to the gods. Monsters can come to us. In the game, a real bestiary creature of the creatures of ready to destroy the rebuilt settlement. Sometimes you can cope with them an army or a bastard deity punishes them with its strength, but a more reliable decision is the call of the hero. To call the hero, it is necessary to first build a residence, and secondly to complete the task in it issued. Usually this is the availability of certain goods, the achievement of certain city indicators or the arrangement of the territory around the residence. After some time, the hero will come to the city for the murder of a mythological fauna.

When one war ends, another begins

The problems are not limited to the Divine enemies. After all, we have neighbors, and ancient Greece is known not only with philosophy, but also by constant wars of policies with each other. There is no permanent army in Master of Olympus in the city, the troops consist of the militia. To collect the army, it is not required to build individual forts and recruiters, the ruler’s palace is enough. The opportunity to respond almost immediately to the attackers, allows you to feel more confident. However, it is not always necessary to fight. Before the attack, the enemy can be bribed by a relatively small amount (ironically, that grateful residents will reward you for this monument of victory). If the player decides to defend his city, then the troops can manually control or turn on the automatic regime and then the computer will gain and arrange the units itself. It must be remembered when the soldiers are called up, we take them from our own labor. Therefore, a small supply of free workers need so that the sectors of the city are not badly affected.

The troops lost the opportunity to gain experience or lose morality, but their management has improved much, it is especially useful to allocate a classic frame. The main types of troops are also three, the first of which are militias. Universal infantry is relatively weak in close combat and a little stronger in the far. They are recruited from ordinary hard workers and do not require weapons, but cannot leave the city. Aristocrats form the units of the Hoplites and riders, which are the main force of the policy. For their set, accordingly, developed mansions and the presence of horses and weapons in storage are required. Some temples provide their troops, performing more auxiliary role. Temple troops, although strong, are small, but do not require resources.

You can dial the fleet presented by triremes used for both war and transportation. For protection, you can use fortifications, rather for your own reassurance than for real benefits.

Our city is not a whipping boy and other cities can attack. Another city for capture or raid is given through the global card. With a successful attempt to capture, the enemy city will become our vassal and will pay tribute to resources and money. Sometimes an enemy city should be loosened before capture. For this, raids are needed. They are much simpler and not only weaken the power of enemy cities, but also bring resources as trophies. The amount depends on the type of soldiers sent.

On a difficult matter of protecting your city or the attack of a stranger, you can encourage allies or vassals. But they should be a good relationship with them otherwise.

Halop on Hellas

Unlike a single, large Pharaoh campaign. Zeus is divided into several small. In each of them, players take a new city that is developed during six to ten missions periodically distracting from the colony. This ensures a sense of progression: it is pleasant to see how a small village turns into a regional center of power. Unlike Pharaoh where the difficulty from the middle of the game begins to jump, it is done more and more. The plot of the campaign is associated with the myths of ancient Greece. The player will have to participate in divine showdowns and help the heroes in achieving their goals.

The game was published by Poseidon, which brought new scenarios dedicated to Atlantis, new buildings and goods and replacing cultural buildings with scientific.

From a bright color palette Pharaoh Zeus is less contrasting flowers. Even music sets up in a more measured and meditative way. Unlike the full life and bustle of the Pharaoh music, Zeus compositions are set in a more calm and smooth way, changing only when they attack the city. The entry to almost every mossi is served in a frivolous form with a considerable share of humor.

In Zeus: Master of Olympus, the player does not need to monitor many parameters and dive into their micro-management, as in the previous parts. The game still challenges the goals. This game is ideal for entering the genre in general and Impression Games games in particular.