The Settlers® 2: Gold Edition

I remember playing this game back when it was first released, and for some odd reason forgot to play it again... talk about nostalgia! This is the 3rd best in the series of "The Settlers" games, with "The Settlers II: Anniversary edition" beating it due to cute animations, and far better graphics! Still feels and plays a lot like the original, and to this day I love to play the campaign missions over and over, on both GOG and Ubisoft versions! Experienced players who own both (like I do) know what I am talking about... (wink!) If only the developers would have kept the other "The Settlers" games like this one...

This games it one of the best ever made! With this low price you have an excellent bargain. No illegal downloads are necessary anymore thank you GOG.

No, no, no. Not the game, the review. I was going to go for a loooong review about how intelligently intuitive the economic system is, how easy it is to simply pick up and play, how you can spend hours just having your camera zoomed in on a settler standing around and seeing all the little things he does to keep himself entertained, how the developers have achieved timeless graphics that truly show why style should always come before pixels. I was going to have all of that at length in the review, but I decided to get in a little bit of play on this game first... Sleep now, still going to be zombie at work tomorrow... If this game has a major flaw it's this; The sun always sets at the wrong end when you finally decide to notice the world around you after booting this up on the evening.

The Settlers II is one of those brilliant little strategy games that mixes a bit of economics, a bit of combat, and a whole lot of watching cute little men stroll around the screen hitting things with various implements of destruction. The problem is, despite very pleasing economic models and visual delivery, there really isn't enough to do to make long-term world-building very satisfying.

I first played Settlers 1 on the Amiga. It was a great game. And I have played every Settlers up to 4 except Settlers 2. So when I came across it on GOG I was delighted. For an old dos based game it is not too bad. I see all the elements of later Settlers games in this. I am not a fan of DOS in any way. DOS is clunky and has always had issues regarding games. But having said that this is a piece of Settlers/Blue Byte history that I must have missed. It plays as well as a dos game can in a DOSBox environment I suppose. It is a tad slow compared to the Amiga Settlers 1 and later Settlers Windows versions. And the graphics are basic. But still, I am having fun with this game. Nostalgia? Maybe. Easy to please? Sure. I appreciate it on it's merits as an old DOS game. This is not a fast action packed game, but for me it is charming none the less.