Firstly, this game is AMAZING! Living each day is a special privilege as you battle to survive through the worst nightmares of Tim Burton and prehistoric man. Just when you have got your base camp in some form of order (a la minecraft) BAM! You're dead! Was it the hounds chasing you in the middle of the night? Was it the giant tree that grabbed you as you searched for firewood? Was it gradually starving during the harsh winter? No, this time it was when your nightmares became flesh and made a snack out of you. This game is harsh, this game is dark and this game with make you scream when you realize you forgot to chop enough wood to make a fire that night. You don't get a safety net for stupid mistakes. If you are the kind of person who reloads after every mistake, this game is not for you. This game is about learning from your mistakes the harsh way, but to use that knowledge to do better next time. If you can't get past day 4, start learning what you did wrong. If you are finding it too easy at day 100, try out Adventure mode or leave your current world for the next, harsher one. Enjoy :P
I love this game. First got it when I was 11 (I'm 24) in some bargain bin and I love this game. I would still own it now if it hadn't been lent to a certain someone... Reason why you should buy it? If you love Civ games, Alpha Centauri, etc, you will love this. Reason why it will stand out from Civ style games? Because it's so DIFFERENT. Not just the theme but the whole premise. This is not just a new world themed civ game. You start off as a small colony ship and aim to claim the land for the crown. Four factions (Spanish, French, English, and Dutch) aim to lie, threaten and bombard each other and the natives to turn this lonely colony into a nation in its own right. With each other, natives, pirates and the royal taxes to juggle you fight to survive and, when the taxes get to much, REVOLUTION!!! This final phase of the game is what it's all about. The bigger you are, the larger the king has been building his forces to keep you in line. But it's either that or kiss his pinky ring every time he issues another tax hike... It has founding fathers to help you grow, a money grabbing king and his hated taxes "kiss the pinky ring", pirates plundering your trade route back to the new world, natives to either kill (like barbarians on civ) or trade and ally with AND SO MUCH MORE. In Civ, a citizen is a generic drone, easily swapped from laborer to scientist. Well in the new world it's got more flavour than that. Cram hardened criminals onto your ships to bulk out your population quickly or start handing over cash to fur trappers, politicians and others to tempt them to brave the wild Atlantic. Breed your horses and sell for buck, become a weapons merchant, crush a few native civilizations, the options are HUGE. So huge in fact it may take a while to get to grips with it but once you do you will wonder why Civ games never had so much character as this. Now... off to buy it :P
