The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom

If you're a fan of games like Sim City, Tropico, Caesar or even the earlier Settlers games, this game probably isn't one you want to miss. The changes from the earlier games and from other games in its genre are almost all for the better, and it's just generally a well put-together piece of entertainment - whether you prefer to build sand castles or kick them over.

Although I lost my Settlers virginity at a fairly old age, growing a functional colony is very, very addictive. The game brings back a load of childhood memories, which is definitely one of the game's strongest sides. There are some minor flaws though. The AI is passive and if you need to handle million things at once, sometimes the game gets quite confusing. [May 2010]

Perhaps too complex for some but a beautiful, sprawling city management game nevertheless. [June 2010, p.58]

Despite DRM controversy, The Settlers VII manages to successfully continue the series and stay in the spot.

City builder with a hint of speed-chess. The intense micromanaging aspect won't be for everyone, but it's tough not to like. [May 2010, p.98]

The setting is definitely terrific, and multiplayer is handled quite well, but the game just does not go that extra mile and offer something outside the graphics that sets it apart. It is a good game; it just does not go that extra step to becoming a great game.

Constant crashes and a really annoying anti-piracy system hinders The Settlers 7 from growing to the fabulous strategy game it should have been.

the reviews ppl give this game is so unfair and CLEARLY they havent played a game from a score 0 to 5 this game is great and i have no problems with DRM whatsoever after having this game for a year probably people obviously have not played games that are 0-5 scored please do great game ive played most of the settlers games 2,3,4 and now 7 great game and i have enjoyed it for a long time

It is a nice new chapter in a beloved sequel, for me starting with Settlers 2. Not a great game, but nice. Great music, good athmosphere, but gameplay and game mechanics are quite unclear. This is a sort of "trial and error" concept. However, I will not buy this (or any other software, for that matter) until the DRM is removed permanently. Companies have a choice here: they can earn my money by making good games, or they can persist in endless patching and forcing spyware. We'll see.

I didn

The start is horrible: The campaign is poor with childish and political correct language. This setting destroyed my motivation to continue to play. No I dont want to play as a female. The dialogues are childish and the gameplay looks very simple, if you compare it to the older settlers. And when you read about the DRM attack of Ubisoft years ago I have more sympathy, that this game is a flop.

How lazy this game is... Not much to do in matches. Maybe the focus is really on you building and maintaining a city, with logistics and all. But then you need to remove the victory points among other things. Not my favorite genre, but this one I hated.