Developer: Impressions Games
Publisher: Sierra Studios
Game Site: http://zeus.impressionsgames.com/
Years ago, the ancient city building series began with a lone title called "Caesar." It gathered quite a following, and progressed through the ages (or rather the 1990's) with two additional Caesar titles that spawned quite a franchise, which has since branched out into other civilizations of the Classical Age. Last fall, Sierra released Pharaoh followed over the summer by an expansion pack, Cleopatra. Beyond the visible look of the game, moving away from the Roman Empire and back in time actually into the fertile Nile River delta where the Egyptian civilization blossomed, this title and expansion each added new features to the interface while preserving the look and feel of the Caesar franchise.
Now the latest title in the series, Zeus, goes back to Rome's roots by portraying Greek life in their high point of civilization. In fact this game really helps demonstrate how much of Roman society was actually based on that of the Greeks – and it is almost too bad that this series wasn't initially produced in proper chronological order so players could fully grasp these nuances since they are so detailed they might possibly be overlooked. As a game, Zeus even goes a step farther in progressing the gameplay while keeping with the same concept. The developers wanted to make this an easier game for a new player to pick up and start playing while also keeping it as fully immersive and addictive as previous titles. The end result is that what comes to the screen as "Zeus" is nothing short of a true classic.
The city building series has certainly evolved quite a bit from the original Caesar to the third title in the Roman world, later traveling to Egypt and now Greece. With last year's release of Pharaoh, the interface had a few changes, but really carried over the feeling that Caesar III had created, and some would say, mastered. The same can also be said for the Cleopatra expansion, which added vipers and other menacing creatures that would bring your population's number down and thin out the ranks quickly. While keeping in mind that narrowing out the gene pool is not a good thing in this game as reaching a certain population level is often the goal of the mission.