This game was my introduction to the city-building genre, and it also helped in developing my interest in classical antiquity. Fast forward decades later, and this game is still fun to play, but there are some irritating factors that one should know about before diving in. Pros: + Province management is hands down the best feature in this game, as you are allowed to place your roads, walls, and cohort forts as you see fit. You also have to pay attention to barbarian villages, as they can rise up and send armies to burn down your infrastructure and sack your city. You have to carefully study the province map to plan out your attack and defense strategies. You also need to think about which new province to govern, as a province that has multiple Romanized neighbors means fewer hostile borders. + The Emperor himself is an interesting element in this game, as he's extremely irritable and demands much. You can pay bribes to appease him, but that can potentially backfire as well if you're not careful. + You pay yourself a salary, and you can take the profits to future missions. Cons: - Battles are extremely cumbersome. Imagine a very primitive Total War with 1995 graphics. I recommend auto-calculating. - City building gets repetitive once you figure it out. - There are some annoying bugs that limit your city design strategies, such as service buildings no longer dispatching workers, businesses nosediving in profit, and towns and trade posts suddenly claiming that they don't have road access. I suspect the game has hidden limits, as these problems don't appear until you hit about 14-15k in population. Not a big deal in the main campaign, but once you're Emperor and aspire for the "Ultimate Challenge", these bugs become a major nuisance. Overall, this is worth playing if you're a fan of Roman history. I hope this game gets a remake, as a game that combines Caesar II's provincial mode with Caesar III's city-building experience would be amazing.
I remember buying this game from the $5 bargain bin at Toys R Us in the 90s, but I was too young to understand how to play Conqueror. Fast forward 30+ years later, and I think that it definitely stands the test of time despite its ancient graphics and clunky controls. Pros: - This game is a cool synthesis of different genres, combining RPG, FPS, RTS, and city building elements into one game. - This game has two different paths, and they're both equally fun. One is focused on conquest of England, leading up to an epic showdown with King William the Conqueror in his throne room. The other is about slaying the Dragon, and it involves a lot of questing and talking to NPCs. - Castle assaults and jousting are my two favorite modes in this game. - The courtship with the ladies and the banter with knights in the Tavern are fun and well-written. - You can choose to start with a pre-generated character or create your own. But the cool thing about character creation is that you are given dilemmas in your childhood that will potentially affect your stats and starting equipment. There are some tough choices to be made and there's a lot of variety. CONS: - This game will likely not work at first. You need to make some modifications in the configuration file. I was able to google a solution. - This game's economics are not intuitive. I had to read a walkthrough to understand which buildings and hirelings generate more revenue. - The pointer for the overland map is wonky, making travel across large distances frustrating. - Switching between your knight and your army is also a pain. You can attach your knight to your army to make travel easier, but you can't come close to castles with an army without instigating a feudal war. This is a big deal because tournaments are only held at castles belonging to powerful overlords. Overall, this is worth picking up if you're a fan of 90s RPGs.
