8 /10 1 Votes
7/10 VideoGamer Series The Settlers | 4.5/5 GOG Initial release date September 2006 Genre Real-time strategy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer Developers Blue Byte, Funatics Development Similar The Settlers games, Blue Byte games, Real-time strategy games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition (original German title: Die Siedler II: Die nächste Generation) is a remake of the classic real-time strategy game The Settlers II. It was announced in July 2006. The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition features up-to-date 3D graphics and new gameplay additions. The game has been released in Germany in September 2006 and in the UK in October 2006. An English-language version is also available in various other regions, including Scandinavia, Asia and Canada. The game was initially released in the United States as a GameStop exclusive and retail copies eventually became rare. The game has since been given a digital re-release on sites such as GOG.com
Summary
As in the original version, players have to establish a running economy in a fictitious world set around the 5th century BC. The building of a good road layout is essential to the gameplay. The transport system has to be optimized in order to guarantee the most efficient transportation of goods along their production chains. The soldiers who are basically the end product of this economy, are mostly controlled in an indirect way, similar to the flow of economic goods. The main gameplay enhancement over the classic game is much easier upgrading of soldiers in their barracks.
Three of the original types of population (Romans, Nubians and Chinese) are included in the single player campaign, with ten missions as well as numerous additional maps. There is a map editor and the game can also import maps from the original game. Multiplayer mode with a matchmaking Internet lobby is available.
A Vikings add-on is available for the German, Czech, Polish and Russian versions of the game. There even is a fan made translation of this add-on.
In 2007 Ubisoft released a Nintendo DS title, The Settlers, which in Europe uses the same cover artwork. Early press materials suggested that the title would be a direct port of the MS-DOS original but instead the game is a rebuild of the game mechanics from The Settlers II.