by K.S. Carter

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2008

Have you ever fantasized about being a powerful pharaoh, standing at the side of your throne room and overseeing the construction of one of the greatest civilizations on earth? Feeling the hot Egyptian sun soaking into your skin as your witness the consolidation of your power in the erection of mighty obelisks and pyramids? Well, this game won't even close to satisfying that fantasy. Though the soundtrack manages to capture a ghost of the essence of Egypt, the game does not deliver the satisfaction of conquest or empire-building that the title suggests.

For an experienced gamer used to thrilling game play and graphics, Empire of the Gods will disappoint. This game seems more like an electronic version of a card game. The graphics are cartoon-ish at best. The interface is not intuitive, and it took two rounds of reading the instructions and failing the first level to figure out the object of the game, and how to play. There is no big pay-off for accomplishing the objectives set out in the game, other than the gradual construction of a town in the center of the screen. If you like to watch paint dry or grass growing, then it might keep your attention.

After about half an hour of play, the game became monotonous. The action is the same round after round, but with slightly more challenging objectives. There is some strategy involved in the game play, but it is so repetitive that after awhile you might start to wonder why you're still playing. There is no clear end objective other than to finish the series of levels. The message of the game seems to be, "the game is here, so play" and that is about the only reason to play. If this game were offered in an environment where the player had little opportunity for entertainment, say in an airplane or train, then it might be a fun alternative to watching the clouds go by.

This game seems like it may be geared for younger players. This might be a fun strategy game for grade-schoolers studying asset-allocation or Egypt. Third through fifth graders might find this game a satisfying way to spend a school day. But they probably would not run to play it after school. This game rates 2 out of 5. It is far from the worse game ever, but just does not compete with today's more exciting games.

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