I have played most of the Settlers games, either demo or full version, but for me this is the one to get.
Visuals are great, the micromanagement aspect is well done and very intricate, and even on Easy this game will give you a hard time!
The not so good is the AI, basically it just spams soldiers and then whacks you, meaning you really need to concentrate and work to win. The other big issue I have is the occasional lack of space, and the difficulty of clearing land.
For anyone using AMD Dual Graphics enabled laptops, this game won't load, so if you purchase it, make sure you have a second system without the AMD Dual Graphics system (the APU + discrete graphics).
I played this when I was little, so my evaluation of the gameplay is not going to be precise or explanatory but I enjoyed the game nevertheless. Brings back memories that I spammed pioneers and really didn't care about the opponent and my people, leading them to protest and for the opponent to conquer me. Along with Settlers 2, I think Settlers 4 forms the vanguard for presenting the Settlers series.
Settlers 1, and Settlers 2 were games about building and managing a settlement. The bulk of the game-play was about careful placement of buildings and road-networks to make an efficient and effective village. The military strength was essentially the end-result of having a strong economy. The game was about village design and economic management. The combat was only a part of the gameplay.
On the other hand, in Settlers 3 and Settlers 4, the player is given individual control over a range of different military unit. It plays more like Warcraft than Settlers 2. The road-network side of the game is completely removed, and the military side is now all-important; but it still takes a long time to set up your buildings.
I can see how that might seem appealing, but I did not enjoy it. It means that you can spend hours designing and building your village with a strong economy, and then get steamrolled in a couple of minutes by a surprise wave of 100 soldiers. The two sides of the game, military and building, clash with each other rather than complement each other.
If I wanted to play a game about unit management, I'd play Warcraft. If I wanted to play a game about efficient village design with some combat I'd play Widelands (which is a game based on Settlers 2). I don't think Settlers 4 does either well, nor does it blend them well.
Aside from gameplay; the main menus are not well desigend. There are lots of colourful pictures on buttons, but no descriptions. Also, the opening levels are not a good introduction to the game. You really can't just launch into the game on the first map without either doing a tutorial, or playing an earlier settlers game.
Note:
I've seen a some 'reviews' saying that the game doesn't work on Windows 10. Please remember that "the game doesn't work" is *not a review*. If the game doesn't work, send a message to GOG technical support to either get it fixed or refunded. Don't post a review of the game, because you haven't even played the game.
One of my favorites since The Settlers 3. This one didn't work in Windows 10 though. Found a working around in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvzfGtodbVE
Happy gaming!
I found that the only two problems with the original settlers IV was the lack of both custom and campaign maps, and the sometimes too easily beatable AI.
Both of these have been overcome in the Gold Edition. The two expansions brings a massive 50 custom maps topped with 28 campaign maps divided upon the four races. The AI is a lot more harder than on the original settlers. It's likely that you'll get beaten by the new easy AI on occasions where you wouldn't have got beaten by the old normal AI. This is especially true if you even slightly mess up you economy or don't get your soldier production up early enough.
All in all it's a great game which sucks you in for several hours. You can easily play a few hour map without ever thinking about anything else than the game on hand.
The musics are beyond great and even if you're a new player the graphics shouldn't be a problem, as playing the game on close up (where the graphics doesn't look so good) is not only impractical but virtually impossible.
I can definitely recommend this game. Worth every penny!
