Dawn of Man

I was glued to my PC for week, and could not stop playing this under the rader, historical city building gem. Not only did I enjoy the gameplay, but I found this game very educational. You progress thousands of years through the different ages of man. Paleothithic, Mesothithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Stone, Bronze, Iron etc, and as your progress through time, starting as hunters and gatherers hunting animals, fishing, picking berries and fruits, and then through the domestication of animals and the argriculture or crops. The technology tree unlocks new ways of making clothes, weapons, tools, mining natural resources, methods how to store, cook and preserve food, various buildings, etc. I enjoyed the military element too. Several times a year, bandits will try to attack your settlement. You must provide the appropriate amour and weapons to your folk, and build various military structures e.g. towers, archer platforms, fortified walls and gates. The more advanced you become, the more your enemy becomes also. You can trade with with visiting merchants (Remember, no money in those days!) The seasons and weather cycle, thus creating a challenging envionment. Its a really fun game, lots to do, very addictive I got at least 40/45 hours from this game. Its better than Banished.....

The setting of the game is fascinating: The game uses a good depth of this era, I like the balance of quantity and quality here of buildings, animals, agriculture and technologies. I played now on hardcore and although it is not easy, it is not frustrating hard or unfair. The hardcore mode seems realistic to me. I also like the speed of the game. You need to repeat some actions before you can evolve, but once reached a high knowledge, you have some management problems to solve and they are fun. But at that point the building mode can be criticized. Sometimes there are threats, that can shake up your plans, but it makes a beady game. I have not discovered any bugs. So 5 Stars from me.

The game itself is excellent, however, there are missing basic features. For example, you can not change the volume of the game when you are inside a played game. Once you start playing, you have no access to option and you can not do change to volume or graphic. You can not even load a game, you must exit your game and only then you can load a previous game.

I would have loved to recommend this game but there are simply too many negative issues. Its the game mechanics that need work. AI pathing is horrible. Watching your hunters chase a single deer for an entire season across the entire map ignoring all other wildlife and hazards is frusterating. Because you can't control them directly you don't have a lot much choice but watch. Watching your group starve while the full storage building 1 square beside them is unused. If they fixed some of the major issues and expanded the tech tree / progress concept it could be a good game.

the game deserves more credit then many give it, when compared to games like banished it give a similar experience but with a depth that placement of your village effects your access to future development as well as the threat of enemy encroachment. the game is honestly as deep or deeper then some of the other similar games.