So many people raved about this game I felt sure I was in for a treat. Alas whatever goodness there might be is buried under heaps of tedium. You walk everywhere, through window dressing screens with hard to find exits, and it takes forever. Fast travel would have been nice. The puzzles are either simple or maddeningly arbitrary. Three hours wandering around part 1 and I am done. Sorry.
Road building, laying out your resources and industries, was the aspect of The Settlers that I missed in the later games. This edition has the roads and the ever patient carriers, so you can construct the perfect supply chains. I love that you can zoom in and just enjoy your minions at work. But for me this edition was buggy and always crashed, locking up my computer. I tried all the trouble shooting from GOG and elsewhere. Nothing worked. Maybe if I get a new machine of graphics card I will try again.
I was primed to love this game so my disappointment was even greater. I hoped it would be the evolution simulator it promised but instead it was a mediocre creature builder. Fundamental decisions you made about your creature's morphology (body plan) could be overturned between levels. Basically you earn points to buy upgrades. In the main screen the creatures all behave the same. Sing the same songs, do the same dances. The distinctions are minor and arbitrary. There is never a sense of there being an ecosystem. And then a giant monster appears..... Not worth full price by any stretch.
