Seven Kingdoms (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.5 stars Outstanding
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  T. McDonald
• Reviewed on: 12/12/1997
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 11/30/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: Seven Kingdoms (PC) Review

Seven Kingdoms is quite a surprising find amid the rubble of real-time strategy games. It almost passed by unnoticed, thrown in the pile with a couple dozen similar games. Interactive Magic had already earned our indifference with War Inc., but the "Designed by Trevor Chan" line on the box made me curious. Chan is the programming wonk who brought us the dry - yet strangely compelling - Capitalism. Was he a one-shot wonder or the next design whiz?

An hour with Seven Kingdoms answered the question. Designer Chan may be the next Sid Meier (Civilization, Gettysburg!) or Will Wright (SimCity), with ideas that make a nod to the past, yet have their own quirky individuality. Seven Kingdoms delivers on the promises made by Age of Empires by creating a real-time meld of Civilization-type empire building and WarCraft-style combat, with enough unique twists to make it more than a mere hybrid. It is one of the best strategy games of the year and deserves more attention than it is liable to get.

A glance at the box of Seven Kingdoms will show you why it's likely to be passed over in favor of more glitzy fare. The graphics are decent, but we've seen better this season. The images of little men running around fighting don't inspire us with the notion that there is something new and different here. But, in fact, it is new and different. Seven Kingdoms is not a game that is won by fighting. It can be, but not satisfactorily. It is won by planning, trade, deceit, intrigue, diplomacy, racial harmony (yes, really), solid leadership, exploration, prayer (yes, really), bribery, industry, and taxation. It is a complex world where the final goals (which are flexible) can be achieved in multiple ways.

After the intricate tutorial introduces all the game concepts, there are several ways into Seven Kingdoms. Scenarios offer specific challenges, usually with set goals and start-up units or even with complete kingdoms already built. The way most people will probably play, however, is to generate a new world. A plethora of settings can be tweaked to make each game different. Number of players, random events, world size, wealth, race, victory conditions, and other factors contribute to SK's strong replayability. Seven-player TCP/IP, LAN, serial, and modem play are supported, with spawning for up to four players from a single CD.

Seven races - Mayan, Norman, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Greek, and Viking - exist in each game. As leader of one of these races, your goal is to build a strong and profitable empire. To expand your empire, you need to build up your starting city and begin taking over unaligned cities, a la Warlords. Aggressive expansion isn't always the key to doing this. You can beat everyone into submission, but your reputation will suffer and your overall rating will decline. You can also take over cities through grants (basically buying them), the actions of spies, or by building a fort nearby to house a strong army. If the general in command of that fort is of the same race as most of the townspeople, they will be more likely to join your empire, as they will be if you provide them with jobs and goods.

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