It took Ubisoft 12 years to get this series going again and it feels a bit weird seeing Ubisoft making this happen as the series was one of the most popular city builders in the world. The last Settlers that was released was in 2011 and it was an online version that was playable in a browser. The Settlers: New Allies has the responsibility to launch this series in a new era, will it succeed? Let’s find out.
The Settlers: New Allies is a game you would expect from The Settlers series. It’s still your big city-builder where you have to keep an overview of all of your production lines. Keeping this overview is still an important part of the game, however, Ubisoft has decided to make The Settlers a little more in check with the real-time strategy section. You are still able to build production lines and keep an eye out for problems or errors in your lines, but now you’re also being forced to keep an eye out for enemy units that can make your economy less qualitative. The biggest goal here is to make different product lines that will build up your basic resources that can be brought to different installations that will automatically re-shape these resources into basic materials that can be used to produce other expert materials. When every puzzle piece falls into the right places, it’s an amazing feeling to view the flow of your economy.
“You’ll have to have a serious plan to make a good functional economy production line.”
The game means business when it talks about the best city builder in the world. You’ll have to have a serious plan to make a good functional economy production line. The transport of all your resources towards the different buildings is the most important thing you can work out. You’ll have to have an idea of how your road network will function because it’s the most important thing that can influence the flow of your economy. You can build different roads to transport the goods with, but you’ll have to keep in mind that different roads have different qualities. You start off with an easy-and-simple sand road that can connect your different industries with each other. However, while you progress, you’ll be able to upgrade your sandy roads for a more studier road, namely the brick road. When you have the brick road, you’ll be able to make donkey wagons that’ll speed up the transportation of your goods.
Just like the older Settlers, there’s also a central storage place where all of your goods can be collected. In other words, you have the choice to build a transportation system that links the goods with the preferred industry or you can choose to transport the goods to a central storage system that can act as the main heart of your industry. This is the kind of city building you’d like to see and The Settlers definitely gives you that fix.
“It’s a slow race to become the winner, so you’ll have plenty of time to figure out a war plan.”
However, it is not all about gathering resources in this new Settlers game. The last Tech Trees you unlock will focus mainly on war and research. In other words, you’ll also have to focus on getting your troops ready that can defend your economy or even conquer your neighbors. It’s a slow race to become the winner, so you’ll have plenty of time to figure out a war plan.
The Settlers offers a main campaign and other play modes such as Skirmish. The campaign teaches you the different mechanics of the game, how to use the different tech trees, and the win conditions, and… Skirmish mode takes the battle to a whole other level where you’ll be fighting off NPCs before you gain access to the other enemies. These NPCs will block the way toward the enemies and they will also have unique resources that can help you win your battles.
“Claiming territory is a slow process and will force you to think outside of the box.”
How does a game progress? Well, you start off with your settlement, and around your settlement are a couple of Hexagons that can be used to expand your territory. These Hexagons can be expanded by an important unit that’s called the Engineer. This unit can build and claim territory for you. Once a territory is claimed, you’ll be able to use these new Hexagons to use it as you, please. Claiming territory is a slow process and will force you to think outside of the box. It’s all about making choices to build that strong economic empire you’ve always wanted.
War is also an important part of the game… You’ll be able to produce different troops that can help battle your enemies. You have archers, ritualists, and knights, … Most of the troops are straightforward, except for the ritualists. The ritualists can inspire your troops to do more damage or they can heal any suffering soldier within the army. Just like any tactical game, you can group up certain troops with each other, to form a unit. Forming these units will make it easier to command your troops to victory.
“It’s obvious they chose a certain quality over quantity.”
The game offers a couple of tribes to choose from: Maru, Jorn, and Elari. It’s important to know that every tribe has a specific background story, special bonuses to buff your production process, and certain qualities. For example, some tribes will be able to gather more resources from specific nodes, and some units have special abilities to make the hunting a lot smoother, … In other words, every tribe has its advantages over the other culture. Some differences are also purely aesthetic. Whatever it is you want to play, you’ll find a tribe that suits you best. It’s only a shame that there are only 3 tribes and not more… This is especially a bummer if you know that the game has been delayed several times. It’s obvious they chose a certain quality over quantity.
Technical speaking, the game looks very good on PC. The visual aspects are the best aspect the game can offer. It’s a very nice cartoony style with an expanded choice of vibrant colors and details. When I talk about details, I’m talking about DETAILS and there are a lot of them. These tiny little screenplays across the screen are just a delight to look at and it makes the immersion so much better. For example, Farmers spread seeds and take a nap before they harvest, claiming territory with poles, … The animation of the game is just in sync with what’s actually supposed to happen. You can trade along the sea and get your goods delivered at the harbor, but these resources aren’t even usable until they’re actually in your storage. In other words, you see what’s happening in the background and it’s a lot of enjoyment seeing all of these little animations.
Conclusion:
The Settlers: New Allies tries to re-invent the popular series that made itself big in the early days. However, I do feel like the game could use a lot more expansions or add-ons to truly live up to its potential. It’s a great city builder when it comes to the main mechanics of the game but I’m a bit disappointed with the lack of content. Hopefully, the game would get another chance to shine when it’s a bit “fuller” and a little more optimized. It’s a slow city builder so the action on the battlefield is limited, this may be great for one game but boring for the other. If you like rushed strategy games like C&C, AOE, Total Annihilation, … this game might be a bit too slow. If you’re looking for a strategy game that can fill a couple of hours, you might want to try this.
7/10
Tested on PC
