The Settlers® 2: Gold Edition

Short and sweet: I really enjoyed this for the first several hours tackling the first few levels. But the game is SUPER slow. I like building up cities and I really enjoy building and simulation games. I had never played this as a child, and felt it might be fun to try. In one of the levels, I organized poorly and after playing for maybe 6-8 hours, realized I had to restart. This is where things got super tedious, and I just had to put it down, realizing how many hours were disappearing on honestly, same old same old same old. Not bad, but not great. Though, I would probably reserve my money for a game that I didn't need to spend half the time trying to come up with something I could do in the hours between getting from point A to point B.

As for me this game is first of new quality in Settlers series and it's closer to Settlers III than to Settlers I. I bought the game in one of cheap series for some nice price and I loved this game, still do :-) Graphic in game is made well and after all those years still looks nice. Maybe it's not so nice looking like in later S III but I like it. Same thing with game mechanics. Sounds effects are also great, soundtrack is little worse. What best in Settlers games was not graphic or animations (but they are strong point of game too) but complexity if economic model from game. There were other strategic sims, which in perhaps economy were more 'realistic' but Set II show that5 thic can be also not only realistic but pleasant and playable. You gather raw materials by hands of laborers which need specific buildings to work. Theese materials are then processed to another bulding which makes more complex items from theese materials - food, tools, weapons etc. The only 'glitch' in game is combat (unfortunately not fixed too much in Settlers III). Lack of any tactic, just sent soldier to fight and count on luck. This game was if I remember correctly first this kind of economic sims I bought, ealier played Civ 2, but it's not the same. Game for sure isn't outdated to much, still pleyable with joy, worth spending few bucks.

This game represents something that is unlike a lot of modern titles. Without cheats things happen relatively slowly. There is a certain charm in playing a game where you have to wait for things to happen. Just see what all the people are doing in their life. This experience can be comparable to meditation: you just get satisfaction on things not getting at your face all the time, not having to be trigger happy all the time. It is ok to get bored. And then come back again, because the game has pretty 2D pixel art and remains unique. There is still a small active community around this game: Return to the Roots "Siedler 2.5" provides online multiplayer experience. And there is still some modding happening at times (there is a 2022 new Rusty Polar texture pack to replace Greenland, Wasteland and Winter World). The old game also has all the old stuff such as FANpaign missions. As it is the game isn't perfect, but RttR folks are looking into ways to improve the experience, and they're also working on bringing the campaign back. Putting more effort to bringing new missions might bring more life to the community in the years to come!

It was one of the very first games I ever played, so I have a fair bit of nostalgia. I recently replayed it, and for the first time beat the base campaign on my own. The gameplay doesn't have as much depth as more modern titles, however, it's very well designed and all systems run smoothly together, giving it a certain minimalistic fun. Additionally to that, I think the old pixel graphics and the music are wonderful and have a lot of charme. It can get repetitive after a while though, so if you don't find joy in that, the late game or the addon might be unappealing. And I wish not just the Romans would have gotten a campaign, but the other 3 cultures (Vikings, Nubians, Japanese) as well.

Comparison: I played settlers part 1, 2 and 3. I prefer this 2nd part, because it is an optimized and extended version of the 1st part. The 3rd part is another type of game, because it has no fixed path system and a direct battle/soldiers command system. I prefer the indirect battle/soldiers system of the 2nd part.