|
Published
by Ubisoft
Developed by Blue Byte
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £29.99
The
Settlers: Heritage of Kings, an introduction.
The
Settlers has long been a favourite amongst RTS gamers. Unlike
most RTS games, The Settlers has always been a different
story from the usual fast mouse moving, hotkey mastering
experiences of other titles in the genre. In fact one of
the most alluring aspects of The Settlers series is that
you can create your own community and sit back and watch
it develop. Whilst this is certainly true of the first two
games in the series it's noticeable that the third and fourth
games began to lose this quality and if anything were less
appealing games.
What's
the game about?
The
game is essentially the story of Dario and his quest to
take his rightful place as the King of the Old Empire. Dario
only learns that he is the rightful heir from his mother
as she is near to death. On hearing the news Dario decides
to claim what is rightly his and throughout the course of
the campaign you'll see this quest unravel. Naturally Dario
has enemies but there are also hero units/characters that
will assist him throughout his quest. The game's campaign
feels more like a standard RTS campaign than one from a
Settlers game but nevertheless it's quite enjoyable. Along
with the campaign you'll also have a collection of single
player maps that allows for skirmish games. You'll also
be able to play over a LAN or on the Internet. Game modes
include Conquest, Technology Race and Point Game where you
have to amass the highest score in a one hour game.
What's
good about the game?
Essentially
The Settlers: Heritage of Kings is a solid RTS that whilst
it doesn't do anything particularly original is still a
good game. The game is still heavy on resource management
and fairly light on combat which is something that's always
been the case with The Settlers series. For a 3D RTS the
game looks quite impressive too and the various animations
in the game have all been nicely done. The difficult task
with trying to find positives with the game though is that
virtually everything that's good about the game has been
done many times before. There's not a lot here that's unique
to the Heritage of Kings or The Settlers series in general.
Suffice to say that it's a well rounded RTS game.
What's
not so good about the game?
The
biggest complaint with Heritage of Kings is that it has
lost a lot of what made the series so popular. In all honesty
it doesn't have that unique Settlers feeling to it anymore
and the game plays like a more traditional RTS as a result.
Whilst the basic ingredients that made up The Settlers series
are all here it just doesn't feel right. In fact it reminded
me more of Knights and Merchants than any of The Settlers
games for some reason. When it comes to combat you'll notice
that the enemy AI isn't the best in the genre and experienced
RTS players won't find the game that difficult in this respect.
The developers were obviously influenced by other RTS games
and the appearance of hero units and the nature of the camera
control feel like they have been taken straight from a Blizzard
title. There is nothing particularly bad about this but
The Settlers and The Settlers II had so much charm and individuality
about them that it's very sad to see the series has lost
it's identity and become like other RTS games in more ways
than it should have.
How
does it look?
The
Settlers series is well know for its cutesy appearance and
almost cartoon like characters. This fifth title in the
series though turns away from all this and goes for a more
realistic look to both the various structures within the
game and the units. Whilst this will enable the game to
appeal to those who disliked the previous look of The Settlers
games it also runs the risk of upsetting long standing fans
of the series. Personally I wish the previous look had been
retained for the game but I have to admit the graphics certainly
look good and as a 3D RTS it certainly stands up well against
other games in the genre.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
For
the most part Heritage of Kings is fine for deaf gamers.
The game's Prologue, which acts as a tutorial, is subtitled
so you will be able to learn the basics of the game. Most
of the cutscenes are subtitled but the introduction movie
to the campaign isn't for some reason. Cutscenes are shown
in a letterbox format with the text appearing in the lower
border. Comments that your units make when you issue orders
to them are not subtitled. Throughout the game there are
various verbal notifications which are not subtitled. However
for most things an icon will appear on the left side of
the screen and putting your mouse cursor over these icons
will reveal a text message that will give you the gist of
what the verbal notification was about. Mission goals and
objectives are shown in text and can be recalled at any
time during a mission which is handy.
Final
thoughts.
I
would have loved for Heritage of Kings to have simply been
a graphically superior remake of The Settlers II. For me
that would have made for a game that would have allowed
me to play for hours on end. As the game stands it's difficult
to get excited about but that's not to say it's not enjoyable.
Those of you looking for a good RTS where combat doesn't
play such a major role will be happy with Heritage of Kings.
Those looking for a game where combat is paramount or indeed
a game that harks back to the earlier games in the series
will be disappointed though.
Overall
Game Rating: 7.0/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
The Settlers return once more
but a lot of the series' appeal seems to be missing. Heritage
of Kings is a good RTS but it doesn't offer anything that
we haven't seen before. Some areas of the game aren't subtitled
but there's no real cause for concern for deaf gamers.
|
