by Andrew Fink

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2008

Game Review: Empire of the Gods
Developer: Lonely Troops
Overall rating: 3/5

The Lowdown: A puzzle game set in ancient Egypt where you must amass enough resources to construct massive wonders. While the game is presented well, the game play itself is lacking. While creative and original, the puzzles never vary in their essential form. What is fresh and fun for the first two levels eventually loses its luster later on.

Game play (3/5): You play as a ruler of ancient Egypt building the greatest civilization of all time. Using your four resources (power, wealth, life, and faith) and different cards which manipulate those resources, you have to fill specific quotas of each resource in a limited number of turns. The basic cards allow you to turn one unit of a resource into two units of another. The goal is to move the units around to fill each quota, while not running out of key cards or turns. In addition, you can use special cards to perform mightier acts, but they also cost more. There is also a fifth resource, fame, which you can use to improve your character between levels, as well as buy special cards that give large amounts of resources. The game's difficulty is scaled by decreasing the number of cards you have, increasing the quotas, or decreasing the turn limit, however the puzzle's essential format never changes, and even though the puzzle concept is original, it can grow old quickly. This alone can make the game tiresome after a while.

Graphics (4/5): The graphic effects are nice, and well presented. Each level contains scenes of ancient Egypt that are well rendered, and change as you slowly amass resources on your way to the final wonder. Each card also has unique animations showing resources flowing from one type to another. Not astounding graphics, but pleasing to the eye, and not obnoxious.

Sound (4/5): Similar to the graphics, the audio isn't fantastic, but it does help create an overall ambiance without detracting from the game or becoming too irritating. The music is mellow enough that you don't have to notice it every five minutes and the sound effects are subtle, and well implemented.

Fun Factor (2/5): Overall, the presentation and construction of Empire of the Gods is excellent, but the core game play needs some work. The puzzle isn't bad, but it doesn't vary itself enough to favor replay. The developers had a good, solid puzzle, but they didn't go to the effort of making it thoroughly enjoyable over multiple repetitions of play. Overall, if it sounds like a puzzle you'd enjoy playing, give Empire of the Gods a shot, but if not, try something with a bit more diversity of game play.

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