Northland

While Northland has a good focus on combat and more exciting missions than Cultures 2 had, it still has a lot of focus on the building and Godsim elements as well. This does add a ton of up front play to the game though, and it is amazing how addicting this game gets once you sit down and start getting into it.

Somewhere between "The Sims" and "Civilization," Northland fills a unique gap in the strategy genre. [Mar 2004, p.113]

If you like to eat your dessert before your meal, this is not the game for you. However, if you are a patient gamer, you may find something satisfying in the end.

Northland is really a sim posing as an RTS game. I doubt it'll fully satisfy fans of either. [July 2004, p.69]

Examining Northland as a strategy game, it fails miserably with ridiculously tedious micromanagement gameplay that falls behind the times.

Northland would have been a great primer for new RTS fans if it wasn't so complicated. Population growth and logistical issues too often distract the player from the overall goal of the mission.

The slow pace, even at heightened settings, is horribly boring. The graphical issues make things even worse, especially for owners of newer video cards.