City Builders are one of gaming’s most beloved and enduring genres on the PC platform. They offer one of the most comprehensive and freeform ways for players to simultaneously channel their inner creativity, perfectionism, and maybe even a little OCD. Of course, it’s all in good fun. The DRM-free digital distributor, GOG.com has recently released three classic games that have gradually become incredibly hard to find over the years.
The highlight of the offerings is Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, a 3,000-year journey through ancient China. Building your metropolis begins on a single road as your struggle to balance the constant influx of new citizens with acquiring and consuming resources while maintaining order and sanitation. As your city progresses, you will discover new technologies and raise armies to conquer your enemies’ lands.
Emperor’s game systems are chocked full of so many little details that can alter the course of your city’s fortunes, but everything is designed in a way that’s streamlined for easy learning. I got some hands-on time with the game, and I can’t tell you how many times I started and restarted the tutorial. I admit to being a n00b in the ways of most city builders (outside of Age of Empires II), but I was amazed how instantly my mistakes could be corrected with simple tweaks.
I never felt frustrated in messing up with Emperor, as the game teaches you how to play in a very hands-off manner, letting you explore its every nook and cranny and learn its every facet by making mistakes. This is something of a rarity today, as many games prefer to give you the answer right off the bat.
Caesar 1 and 2’s inclusion into the GOG catalog serve to complete a collection that had already been started. Caesar 3 and 4 have been available for purchase for some time, but GOG aims to show players just how the series has progressed from its humble origins when the original game released all the way back in 1993. If you can get past its ancient visuals and lack of direction, there’s a very deep game waiting to be unearthed here.
Yes, Caesar is not the easiest game to dive into as you are met with only a plot of land and a toolbar at the bottom of your screen when you first boot into the game. It takes a little patience, a little digging, and maybe even a wiki or YouTube playthrough, but once you get the hang of what the game wants you to do, things naturally begin to fall into place.
Whereas Emperor’s focal point for your city’s beginnings is its roads, the Caesar games rely on water sources to get the ball rolling. As you lay down your houses next to a Reservoir, they begin to grow. When you start connecting Aqueducts, your options for creativity begin to open up as you start to define the shape of your city. Eventually, you will need to create a road system to allow your citizen efficient access to amenities as well as the military forces that you will eventually create. Naturally, the road network only adds another layer of freeform design to the systems of Caesar, and everything just continues to evolve from there.
So there you have it, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, Caesar, and Caesar II are some of the latest additions to GOG.com’s impressive classic games catalog. Naturally, these games have been optimized to work on modern operating systems, and as a Windows 10 user, I can safely say that their technical performance is flawless. If you are in the market for a new (old) City Builder or if you’re looking to replay a classic, $5.99 for each game is a bargain.
