Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom is the latest entry in the long running City
Building series from Impressions. I’ve reviewed a few of the predecessors
already, and my high opinion of them remains for this newest foray into ancient
history. This is, quite simply, the best there is in the genre. Admittedly,
there are not that many competitors (no, Trailer Park Tycoon does not count) but
that does nothing to change the fact that Emperor is an educational, engaging
title. However, can there ever be too much of a good thing? That really is the
fundamental question, because while Emperor has a few significant additions,
there is no reinventing the wheel here. If you’ve played any of the previous
titles in the series, you know exactly what to expect.
Emperor follows the same design as its predecessors, only this time in Ancient
China. You are tasked with building the ultimate ancient metropolis by doing
everything from providing housing and setting up trade routes to providing
entertainment and keeping your citizens’ bellies full. Your cities grow and
develop by attracting new settlers with job opportunities. Once you have them
in the city, you get them to stay by keeping their needs met and beautifying
their surroundings. Conversely, they will leave if you fail to keep them
working or other factors such as crime drive them out. The entire endeavor is
one big balancing act, as limited funds or a drastic design change in your city
can set off a chain reaction and have your citizens fleeing.
Another goal is to increase the quality of your housing from common to elite.
For this task you will have to provide the residents with goods in the market
square. The most basic of these is food. You must make sure you have enough of
it and that there is variety. Providing your citizens with rice alone will not
get the lower echelons moving on up. A varied diet of rice, fish, and bean curd
will—yummy. Your citizens will also desire certain amenities such as silk and
lacquerware. The real challenge is in setting up these industries to provide
your city with a steady flow of goods. For instance, if you want to provide
your markets with silk, you will need to plant mulberry trees, from which silk
worms will be brought to a silkworm shed. The raw silk is then brought to a
weaver, who provides the finished product to your warehouse. As fans of the
series know, roadblocks are a great way to make sure your workers are not
wandering where they are not needed. Emperor makes this even easier with the
inclusion of residential walls. You can surround your residential areas with
these in order to keep the appropriate workers in or out. You simply customize
who can or cannot enter by clicking on the gates that will appear when the wall
extends over a road.
Of course, for all of this building you will need money. This is derived
principally from taxes, so obviously a higher population will be more profitable
and thus lead to greater expansion. High taxes will have a negative effect on
your overall popularity, but this can be offset through many different venues
such as entertainment or religion. Herbalists and acupuncturists keep the city
hygiene up, while watchtowers provide security from bandits and other vagrants.
Taxes are not the only source of income. Money can also be gained through trade
with other cities. In many missions, you will have access to both your city map
and a larger map of surrounding China. Other cities will be available in order
to set up trade routes, through which particularly desirable items such as
spices and jade can be bartered. Your citizens will eventually desire goods you
may not be able to produce, so keeping trade relations open is extremely
important in some missions. When diplomacy goes sour, and it will, you will
sometimes find yourself at war, and for that, steel can be made into weapons for
your army. The last campaign, which has you defending against the Mongolian
hordes, is particularly rife with conflict.
If you’ve played any of the other City Building games, however, you already know
the above. Since the majority of the game’s mechanics are identical, any
strategies you’ve developed are likely to work. The attraction of Emperor is of
course in the source material, and Impressions has done a fine job incorporating
it into the game, both visually and functionally. The campaign takes place over
more than 3,000 years of Chinese history, covering every important aspect from
its unification to the Mongol invasions. The monuments—buildings which require
an enormous amount of materials and time to construct—include the Great Wall
itself. Religion is handled as in Zeus, but instead of building temples to
various gods, you must establish shrines to the Ancestral, Daoist, Buddhist, and
Confucian spiritual beliefs. Each confers unique bonuses to your city, and with
the proper amount of homage, Chinese historical and mythological Heroes will
roam your city and bless it—or they can call upon natural disasters if they feel
they are neglected. Believe me—you do not want to be on the receiving end of a
Confucian earthquake.
Another particularly neat aspect of Chinese culture that is represented is the
Zodiac calendar. Each year is represented by one of twelve different animals.
At the start of each game you choose which Zodiac animal you’d like to be
represented by. Each animal gives special benefits to the city if you hold a
New Year’s festival during that year—complete with a dragon-led parade.
The concept of Feng Shui is also included. This is the belief that there is
energy in the landscape, and if you are in harmony with it, only good things can
happen, and vice versa. Some followers of Feng Shui incorporate it into every
aspect of their lives. I’ve already managed to arrange my computer desk so that
I’m in harmony with financial success—I’m still waiting. Nevertheless, when
playing Emperor you must try and build the right structures on the right
landscape. The game helps you out by showing you a colored “footprint” on the
map before you place a structure. Green means that they are in perfect harmony,
while yellow means that residents in these buildings will be less happy and
shrines will have less of an effect.
Thankfully, players will be in perfect harmony with the game’s interface, which
is very streamlined. All pertinent information is rarely more than two clicks
away. Your city’s eleven ministries, covering entertainment, defense, religion
etc. each has their own screen to keep you up-to-date. By far the most useful
interface feature in this series have always been the overlays, which allow you
to quickly assess everything from religion and medical coverage to happiness and
water access.
Besides a very lengthy campaign, the game also comes with a free build mode.
You can choose from a variety of historical locations to build your city, or
have a map randomly generated. New to the series is a multiplayer mode. You
simply log on to the game’s internet lobby and can host or join a game. During
multiplayer games, each player build cities as in the single player mode, but
can be cooperative to achieve mission goals, or compete to see who can achieve
them the fastest. Getting a game up and running is a very easy process,
providing there are players. As with every nice game, the lobbies are not
exactly flooding with people. When you do get a game set up, it is surprisingly
different way to play. It is certainly a welcome inclusion.
Visually, Emperor is decent. While the Chinese architecture and landscaping is
beautifully represented—replete with rock gardens, cherry blossoms, and Chinese
sculptures—this is the same 2D engine we’ve seen on numerous occasions, and it
is showing its age. In terms or sound, Impressions has never been guilty of not
making the source material come alive, and Emperor is no exception. I raved
about Zeus’ soothing music, and Emperor’s Chinese melodies are equally
absorbing. As always, clicking on your city’s civilians will garner humorous
and informative quips, lending to the strong atmosphere.
Emperor is for two different types of people—newcomers who want a challenging
city building game, and fans of the series who can’t get enough. Those who have
grown tired of the formula may want to try the demo to see if the appeal of
ancient Chinese history and culture brings you back for more. Nevertheless, it
is my prediction that this will be the last in the series to use this engine. I
can just imagine what can be done with a powerful 3D engine in the hands of
Impressions’ talented designers—day and night cycles, more tactical battles etc.
No matter what cosmetic changes are made, however, Impressions love of culture
is sure to remain intact.
If you like to comment on this review, please post a message at the forum.
Reviewed by Anthony Micari.
