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Book Review
by Mary Kay
Radnich
PHARAOH
Build a Kingdom. Rule the Nile.
Live Forever.
I am not much of a game player. I can’t handle
much more than a game or two of "Go Fish" with my
daughter. I like thinking games, and my favorite all-time game is
Password, so if you know what that is, you are, like me, showing
your "maturity."
Computer games and simulation games are
completely new to me. Last summer, I was shopping with my family
at a large computer store and spotted "PHARAOH," a part
of the city-building series by Impressions Games and Sierra
Studios. Of course, I was inspired by the opportunity to
"build a kingdom, rule the Nile" and so we not only
purchased the game, but also the official expansion sequel,
CLEOPATRA.
We came home, loaded up the game and my husband
played. I kept my distance. My 4th grader played. I
kept my distance. My best friend from high school, Sherra, came
for a visit and she played. (She is a real game player, as she
knows how to play bridge and has won at MYST.) I saw more of the
back of her head than her face on that visit – we could barely
pry her away from the computer. She loved the game so much that
when she returned to her town, she went out and bought her own
game.
Meanwhile, this winter I decided that it was
time to overcome my ‘game-o-phobia’ and try this Pharaoh. And
I was pleasantly surprised.
I started by reading the instruction manual
while waiting one Saturday morning at a swim meet. That gave me a
good overview of the game, even if I couldn’t remember all of
the details. Then, my daughter showed me how to start and helped
me boot it up, etc. (She loves to show mommy what to do.) We opted
for the easiest level of difficulty.
The opening graphics and animations of the game
are great. It was reminiscent of the animations in the movie,
Prince of Egypt. You are treated to a very nice tour of the
creators’ vision of ancient Egypt, and are greeted by the
Pharaoh. You have the opportunity to pick your family name when
you begin the game. Everyone must start at the beginning, the
earliest dynasty and progress through the various dynasties by
accomplishing your mission, as defined at the beginning of that
dynasty. You get to build houses, roads, and water wells, attract
wanderers who come to settle in your village, you can build
temples and construct granaries. After successfully accomplishing
my first challenge, I thought, this isn’t so tough…
 As
you progress through the dynasties, you are challenged with more
events and people to take care of and provide for. You must have
enough money in your treasury to build and even to tear something
down. The ancient gods of course, must be appeased, with temples,
shrines and festivals. Intruding marauders may come and attack you
and the Nile will flood and affect your village. Fire stations and
architect’s posts are also necessary to maintain your buildings,
granaries and mining operations. You, the ruler of your kingdom,
must consider all of these conditions and their
inter-relationships, as you grow your empire. Will you be
successful or not?
The graphics in Pharaoh are great. I found
myself absorbed by the graphics and the music, wondering how my
gold mines were doing and hmmm… should I build Bast another
temple to curry her favor? Oh, yes, I need some more workers and a
way for feeding those workers (granaries and hunting lodges). And
don’t forget to entertain your villagers! They need juggler’s
schools and booths for performing.
I will say that after a few days on the second
level, I was wondering, what more do I have to do to get through
this level?? I upped the difficulty level, which caused some of my
buildings to burn or collapse, however, I was able to continue
providing for my people. I discovered that, at the beginning of
the game, is a link to ‘the Pharaoh site.’ So I went to this
link, hosted by Impression Games, and found lots of useful
information and knowledge, not the least of which is the button
for the ‘cheat codes’ on the sidebar of the site. I am not
going to say too much about those codes, other than that when you
play the game, be sure to try out "Hippo Stomp" and
"Side Show." The geniuses behind this game have a good
sense of humor, too.
You can read more about PHARAOH the game online
at:
www.pharaoh1.com/intro_index.shtml
You can download a preview of the game at:
www.sierrastudios.com/games/pharaoh/intro.html |
