Yes, this post is about the best game ever, or at least the best game in my opinion. You see, since 2000 my parents have played this game and it was eventually passed down to me and my sister who treasure it just as my parents still do. It is a game of strategy, of power and, most importantly, gods.
Welcome to Zeus!
Master of Olympus: Zeus is an old strategy, city building game from twelve years ago. It may be old and not compatible with Windows 7 (I found a way to work it though), but it's a lot of fun.
You are a Greek ruler, making your way through various adventures and quests as you attempt to conquer your enemies and build a great and mighty city. You may think that's easy or perhaps even basic, but it really all depends on the difficulty level you play, which ranges from light hearted fun to incredibly hard and near impossible to complete. Unless you're playing Sandbox there are goals to complete in each chapter and if you're on the max difficulty level then you're in for one heck of a challenge.
Before I start telling you how amazing the game is and what-not, I shall first tell you how to make it work on Windows 7. Forget the dodgy torrents and downloads, just buy the expansion Master of Olympus: Atlantis (Poseidon) and install it after installing Zeus. That way, they game will work. If you don't want to play the expansion you don't have to so fear not!
Basic Building
When you first build your city it is important to remember that your citizens will NEED the following:
Food
Fleece
Olive Oil
Water
Hospital
Maintenance guy
Tax man
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| People arriving |
Without these things your houses will never grow and your city will die. Trust me, it gets scary when you're people rebel. The tutorial takes you through everything at a good speed that prevents you from getting bored with it so feel free to jump straight in. Just don't forget that you need an Agora to distribute goods, a granary to store food and storehouses for everything else. There's a lot of different food to grow so you should never be stuck for choice. With the tax man, be sure to build a palace first, otherwise you can't collect taxes and won't make any money.
The other thing your people will need is access to cultural venues. These are things like the theatre, gymnasium and college. Your people want access to the arts so don't deny them. Leave the stadium though, that's for elite housing.
 |
| Normal Housing |
When your people are growing and your city is stable, think about building some elite housing. This builds your army thus allowing you to go to war with neighbouring cities. Elite housing requires:
Food
Fleece
Olive Oil
Wine
Armour
Horses
Water
Hospital
Maintenance guy
Tax man
The elite housing requires an incredibly beautiful area for them to be built in with fish ponds and flower gardens, otherwise you can't lay the foundations of the house. Be sure that they have access to all cultural facilities including the stadium - they will want to watch the Olympic games.
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| Army housing |
The World Map
The world map will show you who your allies are, who you control and your enemies. It will also show you how they are currently feeling about you which can let you know if they may be planning an invasion or perhaps wish to give you a gift. The world map also allows you to look at trading options so that you can trade with allies and vassals.
Trade is really important as it is a source of income for you, and you might be able to import some items that you really need as not every adventure allows you to have fleece and such. You can set up trading posts and piers that will allow trade with other cities.
The world map will also let you conquer enemies or allies. You can also raid them for goods. It will allow you to select your army and attack. If you win, they pay tribute, if you lose then they become very angry indeed.
Gods and Heroes
Sometimes, monsters will attack your city or you may get the occasional god who really hates you. In the case of monsters you'll need heroes to fight them off. Should you be attacked, build the heroes hall and fulfil their demands in order to summon them to the city. Once they are summoned they will defeat the monster for you and you can go on living your life without the threat of Hydra's and Gorgons. In the case of gods it's a little more difficult. You're always going to have a god that hates you, and there's not much you can do about it. If a god attacks it's best to have built a temple to one of the gods that like you because then the god you worship should emerge and attack the evil god who wishes to destroy your city. Your heroes won't touch the gods because they're clever.
 |
| Herakles and the Hydra |
When you build a temple the god that your worship will be able to offer you perks. Some will give you food, others will bring people to your city. Some provide an army, some healing and others are just there to help you when you're running low on drachma.
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| Temple to Ares |
Master of Olympus: Atlantis (Poseidon)
The expansion pack is focused on the inhabitants of Atlantis. They're modern, have Hippodromes (horse racing), science and weirdly shaped lands. Throw in a few extra heroes and bring Atlas in as a god and BAM, you have the expansion. I like it, but it certainly isn't as awesome as the original.
I've played this game for a long time, and I've given you guys the basics. It taught me a lot about Ancient Greece in both culture and mythology, which really helped me when I took Classics A-Level and will help me in my Classics course at University. It's not intentionally educational, I reckon it was made by some classics nerds like myself. In this game you have to think, you have to use strategy and most importantly, you must not annoy your neighbours or the gods.
Give it a go, I think you'll like it.
Valhalla
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