A great addition to any strategy-lover, but with a few flaws.
In this game, you are one of the European countries that send over their settlers during the 1500's, (think Christopher Columbus). You pick from Ottoman, Spanish, English, Dutch, French, German, Russian, and Portuguese. Each country has special advantages then the other, offering for customized gameplay. For example, the Ottomans gain free settlers from their Town base. The Spanish gain more assistance from their home city. Each country also has its own special units.
From the beginning, I absolutely fell in love with the war system. When you select a large group of troops, they automatically assemble themselves in the best way. Artillery is placed in the back, while cavalry is placed in the front, putting the infantry in the middle. It just looked plain cool, and it was a great addition to the game. When you go to war with another enemy, I love to watch the battles. Realistic physics actually show the arrow or bullet implant into the figure, not just hit the air beside it. I can tell they put a lot of work into this.
I was also impressed by the physic mechanisms in this game. For example, when you cut down a tree and it lands on your house, It actually lands on the house and maybe rolls over, not just goes through the houes. And when you are attacking another enemy's buildings, the parts of the building slowly fall apart, then ending in a realistic landown of the structure.
In the beginning, things tend to run slow because of the low amount of units and structures. There are various styles of play, and picking what you do effects everything else.
There are three types of resources in the game: Wood, Food, and Coin. You will need all three in order for your colony to survive. They can be obtained by many forces. You can chop down trees for wood, hunt down animals for food, and mine silver or gold mines for coin. You can also build your own structures that generate it, like a Plantation or a Mill.
There are various game modes, including Skirmish Battles, Campaign, and Multiplayer. Skirmish battles offer you to go to a variety of battles using your custom settings and fight the way you like. In a campaign, you follow a certain storyline regarding your character. And in Multiplayer, technically that's an online skirmish.
During the game, there is five ages. Discovery, Colonial, Fortress, Industrial, and Imperial. Each age brings new upgrades and units to be discovered. Once you reach the Fortress Age, you can send a wagon from your home city to build a mighty fort, perfect for protecting weak areas of your colony. However to progress, you need the required resources to do so.
You win the game by conquering the other enemy colonies. You may fight at sea with naval units, also incorporating realistic physics in the breakdown of the ships. The naval units may carry your units to other areas, for quick and easy travel. Once you destroy all the enemy's home towns, you have won.
Last to say, this game is well worth 30 dollars and itself can be educational with incorporating endless hours of fun gameplay.