Zeus: Master of Olympus

                      Reviewed by Sue

I've got really hooked on strategy games like Caesar, Cultures and
Pharaoh. Some of them have grabbed me more than others but Zeus is
the most enjoyable one that I've played so far.

At first look, Zeus is similar to the other games in this genre.
You're in change of a fledgling city and have to guide its
inhabitants into the future. You have to organise their food
supply, entertainment, health and safety, and all their other
needs. This is financed by taxes and exports and any items you
can't supply for your people must be imported.

Needless to say the whole game takes place in the days when
worship of various gods was a large part of Greek life. In Zeus
the gods take on material form, as do various heroes such as
Hercules and Theseus who are needed to destroy certain creatures
like Cerberus and the Minotaur.

But, let's look at the basics. The game can be played in sandbox
mode and there are various tutorials which cover different aspects
of the game. But the main part of the game is built around a
series of seven scenarios, called adventures, which are comprised
of chapters, maybe half a dozen in each, making around 40
chapters in all to play. Each of these covers a different time in
Greek history, historically possible or not, such as the rise of
Athens and the Labours of Hercules. The episodes get more
challenging as you work your way through the game but there are
several difficulty levels too and I found that I still thoroughly
enjoyed myself playing on the lowest level which took on average
an hour for each episode.

Each chapter starts off gently with an empty landscape apart from
a road which your settlers arrive along and you just start
building, hopefully with a plan in mind. In each case you'll have
certain criteria to fill to go to the next section such as getting
the population up to 1000, supplying 10 pieces of sculpture for
your home city, building a sanctuary to one of the gods and
killing a particular monster. You'll find that during the course
of one chapter you'll govern more than one city, though they will
be connected in one way or another eg one is a vassal of the
other.  You might play two chapters in one city, then start
another one, then return to the first. It's very well worked out
and doesn't seem disjointed though it might sound it.

Trading plays a large part in the game, as does the relationship
between your city and other Greek cities and some further afield.
Different events will raise or lower your standing with them. For
instance, if an ally asks you for food and you provide it in time,
other cities will think more highly of you. If you win some of the
games, again, you go up in their estimation. But fail to help an
ally or need cash or other help yourself and you won't be as
popular. Sometimes you'll be asked for something which you
couldn't possibly supply at that stage of the game such as troops
when you're just starting to build your city. People can be very
difficult sometimes!


And the gods can be fickle. Mythology plays a large part in the
game and sanctuaries will have to be built in most cities.
Different gods confer different advantages when worshipped and
it's important to weigh these up if you're not instructed to build
a particular one. Dionysius, for instance, will provide wine if
there's a shortage and Athena will do the same for olive oil while
also, coincidentally, making your soldiers better in battle.
Hermes was my favourite though, because not only does he speed up
all the traders and delivery men, but he will also answer some of
the requests made to you for help from other cities.

Apollo is quite handy too as he will kill any monsters such as the
Calydonian Boar, the Minotaur and Cerberus which attack your city
at periodic intervals. Otherwise you will have to build one of the
special hero halls. These also need special criteria to be met
before the hero will enter the city.

Building sanctuaries is very much like building mastabas and
pyramids in Pharaoh. The more artisans the better, and at least in
Zeus artisans JUST work on the sanctuaries, they don't beetle off
to work on farms at certain times of the year. If you have high
unemployment, it's worth bumping up the number of artisans guilds
to speed up the building rate.

There are some real improvements over Pharaoh and Caesar.  Workers
travel where needed so you don't have to build houses near your
industries or farms. If people are needed, they come from the
general labour pool. I also liked the fact that prosperity isn't
such a frustrating factor to get right. Appeal is the closest
similar factor and this is easily increased by building parks and
columns which are available quite cheaply.

Thank goodness for Impressions who continue to pump out high
quality strategy games. Zeus is the most entertaining so far and I
would highly recommend it. And when I've finished it, there's an
add-on, Poseidon, to look out for! Yippee!



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