Ramses: Rise of Empire. Collector's Edition

Ramses has been Pharaoh since he Twelve years old and had every day was the same as his predecessors, wake up, listen to a harpist’s song praising him and his deeds, the ritual dressing performed by a special brotherhood of priests, then a sacrifice to the gods and hearing of prayers. He’d then dive into his work of listening to grievances, review reports on the economy, hear diplomatic messages and so on. This went on day after day after day and it seemed it would stay the same forever, until...

During his 30th anniversary celebration of his rule, he notices the Princess Hathor, daughter of the Babylonian King, Samuabu. Ramses instantly falls in love with her, thinking that the Babylonian King would agree he asks him for his daughter’s hand in marriage. However, the King asks for ten chests of gold and the Amulet of Ra, a family relic in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The next morning Ramses consults his Head Adviser Shu-Shu, about how to acquire the gold the Babylonian King is demanding and to fetch the Amulet of Ra from the treasury. Shu-Shu decides that it would be a good idea to develop the Nile Valley, build new houses and temples and enhance trade, making Egypt the most prosperous country in the world. So, with the help of a young architect Kabir you plead your idea to Ramses who provides you with the resources to get underway.

Selecting to play a new game from the main menu you will have the choice of two options, Normal Mode and Relaxed Mode. Normal mode is where each level is played against a time limit, and you will earn One to Three Stars depending on how fast you completed that level. Relaxed mode is exactly the same game, although the time limit has now been removed and you’ll gain Three Stars no matter how long it takes you to complete the level. Both modes can be played separately from each other so any Stars earned in one mode does not affect the other mode.

You begin by building your first settlement in the Nile Valley on Level One, there are Fifty Levels in total for you to complete. Upon completing all Fifty Levels you will unlock the Bonus levels which can be found on the main menu screen. Kabir isn’t the most experienced architect so you’ll have to start simple. On each level you’ll have a number of objectives to complete before you can move onwards, the first level’s objectives are to build three huts.

Each hut will require Forty-Five Stone Blocks and One Worker for it to be built, it also requires enough space to be placed in the Nile Valley. Each hut needs a space of Four by Five squares, on the first levels this is easily done as only the huts will fit on the available plot of land. Once a new hut is built then residents will move in and start paying your rent, clicking on the hut will reveal how much rental income you’ll earn per hut along with the amount of Divine Favour you may earn or gain and the number of residents residing in that hut.

There are three types of buildings you can build through the game, Housing, Religion and Production. The buildings under Housing consist of Huts, Houses, Villa’s, Estate’s and Palaces and will become unlocked as you progress through the game. Each of them will increase in stone blocks and workers required to build them but as they become bigger and grander, they bring in more income and increase the population.

The religious buildings consist of Obelisk, Temple, Wise Council (yes, I am a member) Eye of Horus and Treasury. Like Housing and Production, they require stone blocks and workers to build. Each of the buildings will give some bonus such as the Eye of Horus will repair damage caused by natural disasters and adds three residents to any adjacent buildings. While the Wise Council (yes, I am a member) allows for quick hiring of workers and provides Thirty gold for each resident.

Production you’ll find Quarry, Workshop, Stable and Post, building a Quarry will cut the cost of materials in half and allow you to build Statues of Bastet. The Workshop allows you to decorate buildings with frescoes and cuts the cost of workers by half. The Stable allows for faster delivery of materials and increases the income of every building. While the Post increases the income of adjacent buildings and allows you to drive away nomads who have taken over buildings.

Each of the buildings come in varying sizes and on each level, there are only so many vacant spaces. So, you will have to place them where possible, sometimes there are ruins or damage caused by natural disasters. So before being able to place buildings you will first need to clear the ruins which your workers can do but as for damage caused by natural disasters, you’ll need the help of the gods. You may have to build other buildings until you have enough gold and resources, you can then demolish these buildings and replace them with those which are required to complete the level.

Clicking on any of the buildings which you build throughout the game will also allow you to upgrade the building, decorate it with frescoes or a statue of Bastet. Naturally any upgrades or decorations will cost you some resources, statues of Bastet requires that you to build a Quarry, while you’ll need to build a Workshop for frescoes. Building a quarry also cuts the cost of materials in half, while building a workshop cuts the cut of workers in half.

You will begin with a small amount of stone blocks and workers but you will need to buy stone blocks and hire more workers. You will begin with a small amount of stone blocks and workers to get you on your way but you will need to buy stone blocks and hire more workers. Stone blocks can be brought in varying numbers and costs, however, it’s best to spend more and as you’ll receive more for your gold. You can get Sixty stone blocks for Two Thousand gold but if you spend Thirty Thousand gold, you’ll receive Fifteen Hundred blocks. The same is for hiring workers, you can hire One worker for Ten Thousand gold but you can have Five workers for Thirty-Five gold.

In the options you’ll find Sound and Music volume sliders, Full Screen and Show Hints and that’s your lot.

Ramses: Rise of Empire is a nice relaxing game which can be enjoyed by all ages. The Graphics are nice and there’s a total of Seventy levels (Twenty bonus levels upon completion of the main Fifty levels), it does have achievements. I did have the game lock up on me three times so I had to restart the game and redo the level I was currently on but other than that the game ran smoothly.

? Positives
+ Nice graphics
+ Good music
+ Enjoyable game

? Negatives
- Game froze on me

Rebuild the ancient civilisation of Egypt to its former glory, build housing, temples and palaces all while filling the treasury’s coffers so that Ramses can marry Princess Hathor?8/10