http://gamesdomain.yahoo.com/pc/immortal_cities_children_of_the_nile/review/54160
For those who were curious to see Pharaoh Chick’s review of Children of the Nile - GamesDomain (Yahoo) has finally posted it.
A fair and accurate review, imo. I was in the beta, but haven’t purchased the release version yet. I’m assuming not a lot changed in between the two, and if not the review is right on the money.
Fair review overall, judging by my limited play time so far (I’ve only just finished the three tutorials). Some points I disagree with, though.
The comment “There are some minor twists, but this is really an amalgam of things you’ve seen in other games” sounds more disparaging than the game deserves. So combining Sim City, Pharao, and Majesty is no big deal? I’d certainly disagree there. Exactly how many Majesty clones have we seen? Right.
I don’t see how the 3d engine is less detailed than the previous 2d engines – I was amazed at the visual detail when I zoomed in close on the various shops and found accurate tools and products standing there!
Also, one point I would have mentioned is the total abstraction of military campaigns – your soldiers go away and then return, that’s all. I hope that local raiders will get some real simulated combat, at least?
Well, the raiders do fight with any city guards that are in the area - not other soldiers, AFAIK. Generally just some flailing and grunting, but this is all the combat you’ll see beyond your nobles sticking spears in crocodiles or sandal makers killing the odd cow.
Troy
Sandal makers kill cows!? Okay, Chick, what’s up with that score. That’s got to be a 100% right there!
They gotta get the leather somewhere. Follow one around for a while. If there are cows or gazelles in the area, they’ll knock one down and start taking leather.
Troy
Ah, thanks for linking that, Reed! I know it had been pushed back in the queue because of the holiday releases, so I forgot to keep an eye out for it.
I didn’t mean it to be disparaging. But to my mind, Children of the Nile isn’t terribly unique. It’s cut from the same cloth as a hundred other city builder. I love the way it flows, and it feels a lot smoother than many city builders, but the fact of the matter is it’s very much like Tropico. In a good way!
Yeah, it does look pretty good, doesn’t it? I don’t recall offhand, but it seemed like when a household bought matts, for instance, you could zoom in and see a stack of matts on their porch. I don’t think that held true in all instances, but I really did like how much detail they were able to achieve with the 3D engine.
I hope it does well for Tilted Mill. This is a crowded holiday season and I’d hate to see such a well-made city builder get lost in the shuffle.
-Tom