Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom

Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom is the last installment of the original tetralogy (quadrilogy? idk...) of the four great city building games, laid down by Impressive Games' Caesar III and evolved further in Pharaoh (+ Cleopatra) and Zeus (+ Poseidon). Some would also include the first two Caesar games, but I insist that those two were different from Caesar III, which gave a push to the three other games afterwards. For those unfamiliar with this genre: the game revolves around building a city set in Ancient Chinese epochs, on an isometric map, by putting rectangular-shaped buildings connected via roads. The player is given a task to fulfill, which is based upon populating their city with people, providing for their needs via production of food and goods, and then engaging in diplomacy, trade and warfare - all within a limited amount of time. Furthermore, there are campaign goals, like building monuments and stocking goods. The game features such unique elements as Feng Shui (auspicious city design), blessings by divinities of four religions of ancient China in exchange for goods offerings, and collecting exotic animals for your palace. To enjoy the game properly, I recommend looking for and installing a high-resolution widescreen mod or playing the game in a window. Aside from these graphics restrictions, there are hardly any issues. Minor features, like beautiful soundtrack and detailed 2D graphics only add to the game's value. Hence I give this game 5/5

I found the demo in a cd attached to a magazine in 2003. The game is beautiful, but please add the italian language.

... culminating in this title, at least in 2-D. I could sit here for ages wishing a new Impressions title -for example Konstantinoupolis in the medieval era -but it's surely a fading dream, never to become a reality. RoMK is just marvellous, however and I still own the original hardcopy which is whipped out now and again. Experience hundreds of hours of quality entertainment for a few coins.

Nostalgic and no problem with the game so far. It's like Zeus with some more complexity to it. The functions ,however ,are confusing. If you don't know how to play the game , you must read the tutorial message through and through.

If you like other games in the series you'll like this one. I still prefer Zeus cause of the story and gameplay, but this is still fun. Haven't played Pharoah though. pros: Good missions and lengthy story. Expanded combat system. This is probably the feature that stands out to me from the rest of the series. More unit types, formations, attack styles. Although I can't really say how much it helps in battles its cool they included it. Gorgeous art and detail +/- animal menagerie - It's kind of cool I guess? Sounds more interesting than it is: the functionality is just extremely limited. It allows you to collect exotic animals to keep or trade them with other cities. cons: - Continues the walker system: if a person doesn't walk by a building at just the right time it deteriorates. Which forces you to build your city a certain way: its just something you always have to be mindful of. For example if the walker is a firefighter and deals with a quick fire then decides to take a quick break afterwards now all your buildings are at a much greater risk because of the time it takes to return to normal. - Some monument projects are so large they're bigger than the screen, which can make you feel like you have no idea where you're placing it. - Regional map is low res