The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (Deluxe Gold Edition) is a real-time strategy and city building game that came out in 2010 (though it doesn't look five years old). There are several game modes: campaign, skirmish and online modes. The goal of the game is to build a thriving economy and to win the map by getting enough Victory Point, which can be earned through many different methods. You are also able to edit your castle and the maps.
I personally really enjoy this game, despite it having received fairly mixed reviews. One reason I believe I can enjoy it is because I haven't played previous Settlers games so I don't feel the need to compare to them. The graphics are amazing, the music is beautiful, the AI (computer run) characters function really well and I have yet to have any problems with the game.
The amount of detail that went into the game are amazing. All your citizens look different. You have chubby and short and lean and tall, guys and gals... Each worker worker looks different so the farmer looks different from the flour maker who looks different from the bread maker. The creators could have so easily just used plain default people who all looked identical but instead they all have these tiny little personalities you can see if you zoom in to watch.
The environment is stunning as well. The leaves on the small bushes are detailed; there are flowers and butterflies in the grasses. I could stare at the water indefinitely. You can also have it cycling through day and night and have different weathers (the rain sounds amazing).
Some people complain about the 'replay ability' of this game, but I believe that it is just the nature of the beast with these types of games. Not only that, I believe that this game has better replay value than some other games of a similar genre. There are many maps and many AI to choose from. You are also able to win each map in a huge number of different ways. You can use trading or religion/science or pure military power. There are special criteria on each map as well that you can try to meet to win. On top of all of that, you are able to edit these maps (to a lesser degree). Any of the maps can be changed by editing how resources are in each sector as well as what criteria are available to winning.
There are only a few things that I would change about the game. The first is that it has to be played through Uplay. I recently purchased this game for my computer (the original being on Mr's computer) and I had to spend a good amount of time figuring out how to get Uplay to stop crashing so I could play my game.
Another is that this game constantly requires being connected to the internet. If your internet hiccups and cuts out for even a few seconds, your game instantly pauses and all you can do is save. You can only continue actual play once you have connected again to the internet. I understand that this mechanism is to help prevent illegally playing or to keep people from cheating in someway. However, the only people who are affected by this are the people who legally play the game. Everyone else will just find a way to change the game so that it is no longer doing that check.
The final, and smaller issue that I have, it always asks if I want to post my accomplishments on facebook. It could be a fun option for those who are interested and have connected to facebook, but if you don't connect to facebook, it shouldn't keep asking.
Overall, I would recommend this game to any one who was interested in this style of game.
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