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But for those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Zeus is a classic management game. You have to develop your city while balancing out a host of seemingly irreconcilable factors. You have to have enough food to feed your people, enough people to man in your workshops, enough improvements to keep your people happy and a healthy enough commerce to keep your treasury afloat. And since all of these factors (and hundreds of others) are interconnected, an improvement in one area will have an effect on other areas. If you do well, your city thrives, if not, well, you can figure that out. The real-time plate-spinning act that arises out of these games is addictive.
Now Zeus comes onto the scene, with an impressive legacy behind it. The Caesar and Pharaoh games took the SimCity model and added a whole new dimension to it. But since some gamers find the city builders a little heavy on the management, Impressions is trying to ease the burden on the player without sacrificing depth. Since we've already covered the concept of gods in an earlier preview (see below), we'll focus a little more on the improvements that have been made over the Pharaoh model.
First and most obviously, the civic summary reports have been attached to the building creation tabs. Now instead of having to go to a whole other place to see your city reports, you can access all the relevant data from the main game window. When you click on your housing tab, for instance, you can see available housing, immigration and population statistics. There are also overlays that can be accessed here so you can see, for instance, the risk of fire or disease right on the main game map. This simplification does have one notable drawback though -- instead of being able to select structures to build with a single click, now you've got to click the tab and then click the structure you want to build.
The individual missions are a little shorter as well. New players can get through an average mission in a little under an hour. Even without a manual or walkthrough I managed to breeze through a handful of missions in just a couple of hours. Zeus also makes it a lot easier to recover from horrible mismanagement. I still remember one particular level in Pharaoh where I had screwed up beyond all hope of recovery. Being stubborn, though, I decided to keep banging my head against the wall trying desperately to bring my economy back into the black. End result? I wasted two hours trying to recover my former glory. While I've yet to get into any really awful situations in Zeus, it does seem a little easier to get back on track. And the fact that your city persists from mission to mission will go a long way to speeding up the game, too.
The micro-management has been tuned down a bit as well. While there are some anal-retentive types out there that love nothing more than finding the exact equilibrium for all the distinct yet interrelated facets of their city, the rest of us could give a crap. City management is fun and all, but you know what else is fun? Fun. That's fun. It seems that the Impressions team feels the same way, because they've managed to streamline some of the more hateful management aspects of the game. For one thing, the roles of architect post and fire station have been combined into one structure -- the Maintenance Shed.
But just because things are a little easier in that regard doesn't mean that there aren't a ton of different buildings to choose from. The houses, roads, fountains, lodges and farms are still here. Now you'll also be responsible for creating Amphitheaters to stage plays (and Drama Schools to provide actors). Gymnasiums will provide contestants for your Stadiums (stadia if you're nocens -- look it up). And while you still have to wrestle with the headache of providing Granaries and Storehouses for the goods you produce, the distribution of goods has changed. You'll have to build a large Agora (marketplace) and fill it with the necessary stalls (food, fleeces, oils, wines, etc.) Hero Halls will allow you to recruit heroes to deal with monster attacks or perform quests.
As in the previous games, the real military challenge in Zeus has little to do with your abilities as a field general. Military power in Zeus is founded on your ability to create an army, not necessarily on your ability to lead it. And in keeping with historical accuracy, the army in Zeus is very closely integrated into the general society. Not to give you guys a history lesson or anything, but Greek city-states relied on a citizen militia organized by property class. The strength of your army therefore is proportional to your city's size and wealth. Once you've got a decent fighting force, you'll be able to take the field against your neighbors. And in Zeus conquering a rival results in a tribute. It's possible to conquer the same neighbor (or he you) several times without destroying the city.
And the interaction you have with your neighbors is much more sophisticated than in the previous games. You can interact with them on a much more intimate level (no, not that intimate). You can offer or request money or goods or military force from your neighbors. Very often you'll receive a gift from your trading partners and if you run out of money, they'll be kind enough to offer you a substantial financial gift. This is yet another way that the team is trying to make Zeus more approachable.
If the game seems to bring the bar down a bit for less experienced gamers, that shouldn't necessarily imply that the challenge level has been reduced. Zeus still has the frustratingly difficult qualities that made Caesar and Pharaoh both hits. Now it's just a little easier to cruise around the interface and a lot easier to stage a comeback after you're run your city into the ground. Having been a fan of the previous games, I'm curious to see how the final version plays. I'm even more curious to see where the series goes now that the trilogy has been completed.
-- Stephen Butts
July 20, 2000
This isn't so much an info update as it is a content update. Why? Because we've got screens of the game now, and we thought we'd put them in the preview to go along with all of the great hinkfo. So read on through and learn about the next city building/strategy game to come from the same people that brought us Pharaoh and Caesar III.
-- IGN Staff
July 17, 2000
I had a chance to sit down with Sierra today and got a closer look at their upcoming addition to their empire building series, Zeus. The game has come a long way since E3 and we managed to talk the crew into unveiling a few of the tastier secrets about which gods and heroes will be included in the game, which new features we can expect to see and why the game should be a lot easier for beginning players to approach. Here's what we've got so far...
Let's start with the gods. Unlike Pharaoh, in which the gods were immensely powerful incorporeal entities that would punish you and reward you on a whim, the Greek gods of Zeus are a lot more hands-on. At certain intervals during the game, the gods themselves will enter your city in a human form and plead with you to build monuments to them. In order to convince you that this is a smart thing to do, the gods will offer different benefits based on their particular sphere of influence. This changes the game in a major way. Instead of spending your time trying to avoid punishment, you'll spend your time trying to decide which patron gods will be the most helpful for your city at any given time. Before you start getting ideas of building a whole hill full of temples, keep in mind that the game will only allow you to honor four gods in any one city at the same time. Not that having multiple gods is always the best idea. While I played along with the Sierra crew, I saw several battles between various competing deities open up in the streets of my once beautiful city. While it may sound entertaining, it's not the best thing for your people or any of the structures in the area of the battles. And while Zeus' gods aren't as willing to look for trouble as those of Pharaoh, they can still get pretty peeved. The folks over a Sierra are still being fairly tight-lipped about all of the game's holy details, but we were able to squeeze out this quick list of gods and a few of the bonuses (and nightmares) that they'll be able to offer.
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Zeus: King of the gods, and a guy that'll you'll probably want to be as nice as possible to. If you appease him (one of his temples keeps him happy by sacrificing a steady stream of sheep), he'll sanctify nearby buildings, keeping them safe from harm. If you get on his bad side, Zeus can send the Hydra against your city.
Posiedon: Brother of Zeus and king over all the seas. He was also the god of earthquakes, something you might be unfortunate enough to discover if you push the old man of the sea too far. Posideon also controls the Kraken, a horrible critter that he can use to help your army or he can send against your cities. Play nice.
Hades: Another one of Zeus' brothers, Hades had dominion over the Earth and the wealth found beneath it. Keep him happy and he'll bestow his blessing on your silver miners, helping them in their wealth generating tasks. Piss him off and you'll be looking down the jaws of Cerberus.
Demeter: The goddess of the harvest and one of the more important gods if you've got hungry mouths to feed. Demeter can help your cause by turning previously unfruitful soil into meadowland (all farms must be placed on meadow). She's also tight with the Cyclops who will vengefully attack any city she's displeased with.
Athena: The goddess of wisdom and skill in warfare, Athena was a big winner with the citizens of Ancient Greek communities. We didn't get a look at her good side, but we did find out that she's got command of the Minotaur for those she doesn't care for. The Minotaur is huge and wanders the streets of your city hacking any citizen he finds into small parts. Needless to say this is bad for immigration.
Artemis: The goddess of the hunt is a great choice for those who can't decide between guns or butter. She can go with your hunters on their daily runs and help them bring back huge hauls and she is sometimes willing to offer the services of her Amazons for an upcoming battle. If you make her mad though, you'll get to see the bad side of nature in the form of the Caledonian Boar. Where's Ted Nugent when you need him?
Apollo: Artemis' brother Apollo is the god of light and another really helpful fellow to have around. We saw him wandering around a city while he was happy, but unfortunately never got a chance to figure out exactly what he was doing. Figuring out what happens when he's upset wasn't too difficult though. The Medusa he sent along not only turned my villagers to stone, she also wrecked a few buildings as well.
Ares: The god of war can actually be really nice to have around if you've got some troubles with your neighbors or you have dreams of conquest. If you start worshiping him, Ares will enter into battle along with a horde of his troops when you need him. On the down side, he's got access to a mighty dragon that he'll use to plow through your city if he's mad.
Hephaestus: As the god of the forge, Hephaestus has a good bit of experience with fire. If you're nice, he'll pass along his knowledge by protecting your city from unwanted conflagrations. Look for the giant mechanical man Talos and lava flows if you feel like you've just got to pick on him.
Aphrodite: The goddess of beauty was yet another diety that we didn't get to gauge the benefits for. If you make her mad though, she'll send Hector to come and take on the people of your city.
Hermes: The messenger of the gods was also the god of merchants and thieves. We assume then, that his benefits have something to do with your city's trade (okay, we don't actually know for sure yet). If you make him angry, he'll send along the Scylla to lay some mayhem on your helpless cities.
Dionysus: Last, but certainly not least is Dionysus, the god of wine. When this fat waddling god appears in your city, you'd do well to keep out of his way. The maenads (drunken women) follow in his wake tearing any citizens they encounter to pieces. We're not sure of his benefits, but assume he helps your wine production in some fashion.
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Hercules: The king of all heroes, Hercules is the one to call if you've got some really bad monster problems on your hands. In Zeus, Hercules' speciality is taking care of the Hydra and of Cerberus.
Perseus: Anyone who caught Clash of the Titans one of the 4 billion times that it ran on network TV will already know that Perseus is the hero to take care of the Medusa and the Kraken. Who said TV rots your brain?
Odysseus: As if wandering around the islands for a decade wasn't bad enough, now Odysseus is stuck in a PC game. Use this old-timer if you've got trouble with the Cyclops or Scylla. For more info, pick up a copy of The Odyssey by Homer.
Theseus: One of the more popular heroes with shoe salesmen, Theseus went on to slay the Minotaur later in his career. In Zeus, he's also used to stop the Caledonian Boar.
Jason: Not so good at picking women, but a real adventurer's adventurer. Jason is the hero to grab when you're having problems with Talos or the dragon.
Achilles: Finally there's Achilles, a Trojan War hero who'll help you out if you're being menaced by Hector. For some reason he's also able to run off the maenads.
-- Trent C. Ward
May 11, 2000
E3 2000 Update
Anyone who knows city building sims is already familiar with Impressions' long running City Building Series. More than ten years ago the company released Caesar, a Roman-era god game that gave SimCity fans a new set of buildings to play with and since then the company has never looked back. After taking us through three different iterations of Caesar, the company shifted their attention to Ancient Egypt in Pharaoh another city building sim with loads of attention paid to the funerary obsessions that drove the ancient kings to create massive monuments to the gods. Now the company is, "completing the triumvirate of the most important ancient civilizations of our time," with Zeus, a new sim based on the trials and tribulations of life in the mythical Greece of Homer's Odyssey and Ovid's Metamorphosis. While we don't agree with the company on the number of important ancient civs (we hear the Chinese, Assyrians and Persians all managed to do pretty well for themselves), we are pretty excited about this latest addition to one of our favorite strategy series of all time.
When we talked to Impressions games brand manager Alex Rodberg at the big show this morning, he told us of Impressions' three new goals they hope to accomplish with Zeus. "First, we want to finish off the last of the three major civilizations. We've already done the Romans and the Egyptians, so the Greeks just seemed to be the next progression. Secondly, we wanted to make it more accessible to new users. And lastly, we wanted to break it into smaller, more digestible chunks so it doesn't take six hours to finish one scenario." Now Impressions is using a system that's more objective based in a single city, so you can finish a single objective in less than an hour and feel like you've accomplished something without sitting in front of the computer all day.
While there's no doubt that the interface and basic ideas will seem familiar to fans of the series, Zeus promises to be more than just another set of graphics for the company's Caesar 3 engine. This time around the company is planning to have players focus more on the events that unfold in the world around them than on the complexities of city management. In Zeus, the gods will actually walk among the human populace of your - cities causing trouble and creating adventures wherever they go. Smart leaders will learn to use their political savvy to set warring gods against each other rather than have them rampage through the city itself. If things get really hairy, you'll be able to call in heroes like Perseus or Hercules to help you fight of monsters or complete various heroic tasks.
Even if you succeed with the gods, you'll have to contend with the more mundane threat of the warlike city states that are your neighbors. Once again, your political talents will come into play as you decide whether or not to attack a weak city-state or to hold back your armies in order to earn their trust and affection. If things get too hard in the original city (the curse of a god will make you want to move) or if you find yourself needing resources that aren't locally available, you'll be able to branch out and create new colony cities off of your original site. As the game wears on, you will protect your small collection of villagers from gods, monsters and warriors as they grow to become a thriving metropolis.
Before you building fans get too concerned, rest assured that despite Zeus' change in focus, city construction will still play a major role in the game. So far we've managed to catch glimpses of the Stadium, which will enable you to train athletes and throw your own Olympics, and huge monuments that must be painstakingly constructed a piece at a time. All of these edifices are far more impressive than even those of Pharaoh thanks to an improved graphics engine that shows detail and movement better than ever before. City managers will also be happy to know that the crew at Impressions have added updated walker AI so that your citizens will behave more like you imagine they should. Finally, the team has designed the game to consist of several one-hour missions that tie together into a larger adventure so that you'll be able to sit down and have a short play session without ruining your chances of seeing the end of the game.
Zeus is still a long way from release, but it's looking pretty good so far and thanks to the fact that it's being designed by the same folks who did Caesar 3 and Pharaoh, progress is moving along pretty rapidly. Look for more information on this Fall release from IGNPC as it becomes available.
-- Trent C. Ward
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