This game appealed to me for several reasons. One, I'm studying medieval history, so the time period the game covers was appealing. Second, I love historical role-playing and civilization building, and the game promised to combine the best of both genres in one box.
In the box I found two CDs and a very thin instruction guide/quick start manual (which was quickly lost). I assumed, the full manual would be on one of the two CDs, so I installed the game and started it up.
The first thing I look for in a game is a good tutorial, so that's where I started. The tutorial gives a great introduction to the game, but left some things out that I really wish I had known — things like hiring a master to run your businesses for you (very handy when you've got a bunch of buildings up) and planning your children’s' education and career. But it covered the basics — just plan on playing a throwaway game on "Very Easy" mode to really get a grasp on the game dynamics before you go hard-core.
The game is entertaining, and addictive. You choose your career and try to make money and advance socially while sabotaging your opponents and competition. You can run for office (anything from town servant all the way up to Pope), trade with other citizens, add on to your home and business, and even build new buildings. Micromanaging everything takes a lot of effort, so you will want to hire a master for some of your businesses.
At this point, you can start to get political. Make friends with people, spy on people, smear the reputations of your enemies. Kiss up to the right people and you will get cushy government jobs that pay well for little effort. Declare vendettas on people that you don't like. Just like real life.
The graphics in the game are quite good, though seem a bit dated. They remind me of the graphics in Dungeon Seige, actually. The combat system is a simple point and click interface, but wasn't used that much in the games I played. The sound is also good.
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