Settlers: Heritage of Kings
It’s good to be the king. But it sucks to be a serf!
Tags: Settlers: Heritage of Kings Categories: PC Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Apr 20th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Settlers: Heritage of Kings (title page) | 1-6 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Strategy | Yes | ||
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Usually, real-time strategy games are deep in strategy, light on story; but that’s not the case with Heritage of Kings: The Settlers. Instead, what plays out is an epic, RPG-worthy storyline in which the strategic battles are simply a type of battle system, just the way a tactical, turn-based, or action battle system might be in other titles. This comes as a welcome respite from typical real-time strategy offerings which, while challenging and fun, are nowhere near as engaging as their RPG cousins.
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The story of Heritage of Kings: The Settlers begins with young Dario, a man destined to be king but out of power; when King Modred begins to attack Dario’s idyllic village, however, that begins to change as Dario is drawn from defending and rebuilding his hometown, to coming into direct conflict with the forces of evil King Modred. Of course, there is the typical resource mining, technology researching and city building that accompanies all real-time strategy games, but in Heritage of Kings, the system is very easy to understand, since there’s a basic unit type for each type of task.
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You begin, of course, with a handful of serfs, who help with such menial labor as rebuilding the town, building new buildings and mining the resources you need for such tasks. After that, you come into some spearmen, archers and swordsmen who also play key roles. And as you advance in the game and have access to greater technology, you eventually garner access to – wait for it – 70 professions! Talk about deep strategy, Heritage of Kings has it in spades! Combine that with 60 building types and – most importantly – 20 missions to complete before you wear out the single-player offline experience, and you have depth to spare in more ways than one!
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Graphically, Heritage of Kings: The Settlers is impressive – as well it should be. The game is powered by the cutting edge RenderWare engine by Criterion, which enables not only great textures and a wonderfully-alive 3D world that has weather and season changes that actually affect game play. For example, units travel at more of a plod on snow-covered ground than on open fields; rivers and other bodies of water freeze and create battlefields where an unbridgeable gulf once existed. It’s a dynamic world, full of wildlife, creating a deeper sense of immersion than is found in most RTS titles. Of course, long-time RTS vet Bruce Milligan was called in to help out on the title, and considering his name has been attached to some of the top-selling RTS titles of all time, it should be no surprise that the game is top-notch.
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There is an online gameplay mode that enables up to six players via LAN or Internet connection; the only real problem here is that the game disses dialup gamers, supporting broadband users only. That’s too bad, although a game that looks this good and brings this many elements to the table probably requires more bandwidth than the average, dialup-friendly game. Still, for those of us without broadband access in our area of the world, it’s an frustrating oversight.
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If there’s any main weakness to Heritage of Kings: The Settlers, it’s the really bargain-basement voice acting and sub-par script-writing featured in the game. Rather than go for subtlety, every aspect of characterization and voice-acting goes for the most over-the-top, cliché-ridden, stereotypical take out there. You have drunken Irish, war-mongering Europeans and painfully-stupid serfs. Lately, I’ve had a chance to play Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, which is a prime example of top-notch voice acting and writing, performances and characters rich in subtlety and meaning, and once you’ve played a game like that, it’s hard to stomach such over-obvious exaggerations as are found in Heritage of Kings: The Settlers.
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Still, that’s really the only weakness in a game full of strengths, and ultimately isn’t terribly distracting. In the final analysis, Heritage of Kings: The Settlers is the class act of any PC RTS title released this year; if the weak points had been stronger, it could have merited an even more impressive score, but as is stands, the game, while still good, falls just short of greatness.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ 70 professions, 60 building types and 20 missions; it’s deep! + Great mix of RPG storytelling, RTS battle systems and city-building simulations, in a way that works. + Wonderful graphics, courtesy of Criterion’s RenderWare engine. |
7.9 |
| What Doesn't | |
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— Voice acting that is just a shade shy of completely atrocious; over the top and cliché-ridden. — Writing that is simplistic and too tied to stereotypes; no subtlety. — Online mode is broadband-only. |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Although marred by poor writing and terrible voice acting, Heritage of Kings: The Settlers is the class act of PC RTS titles so far in 2005, delivering excellent graphics, top-notch game play that mixes three genres, and incredible depth. | |
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Tags: Settlers: Heritage of Kings
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Apr 20th, 2005 and is filed under PC Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
