Pharaoh + Cleopatra
- December 15, 2016
- Impressions Games
- 46h median play time
Get on Steam"Pharaoh + Cleopatra" is a city-building game that immerses you in Ancient Egypt, from the age of pyramids to the New Kingdom. Manage all aspects of Egyptian culture, including religion, trading, and agriculture along the Nile river. Construct monumental structures, ensure economic prosperity, and witness your dynasty rule for generations in this historically rich game. Its unique features include a farming model based on the Nile, naval warfare, and variable difficulty levels.
PC
Reviews
- A classic city-building game that brings back nostalgic memories and still holds up well after 20+ years.
- Engaging gameplay with a good balance of strategy, resource management, and city planning.
- Challenging missions that require careful planning and management to succeed, making it rewarding for players.
- The game can be buggy and prone to crashes, especially on modern systems, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Graphics and user interface feel outdated, and the game may require external patches to run properly on newer resolutions.
- Some mechanics, such as worker AI and resource management, can be frustrating and lead to unintended city collapses.
- story129 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The game's story is structured around a series of progressively challenging missions that require players to build and manage cities in ancient Egypt, often involving historical elements and resource management. While many players appreciate the depth and replayability offered by the diverse missions and the ability to choose between military or peaceful objectives, some have noted critical bugs that can hinder progress and disrupt the experience. Overall, the narrative is engaging, with mission briefings that enhance the historical context, though some players find the gameplay can become tedious due to difficulty spikes and technical issues.
“Pharaoh is like evolution itself; every mission shows you how to make greatness from nothing.”
“There's a storyline to every mission that requires you to meet certain goals in order to move on to the next age and subsequently the next period in time.”
“The missions are fun and interesting with different and diverse challenges to overcome, from war to economy, from food to housing, pleasing the pharaoh and the gods and everything in between.”
“This game falls flat; its music, map design, narration, and gameplay all fall short, very short of expectations. It doesn't catch you at all, while other games got me into a 'don't look at the clock, just one more mission' mindset. This game makes me quit every time I finish a mission... so I guess the whole review could be summarized as 'bland and dull.'”
“It's pretty bad when you pay money for a 20+ year old game and already on the third map there is a bug which makes you unable to complete the mission on the higher difficulties...”
“Many missions have 'logistical problems' because you just can't build a bridge, for example, and have to circumvent the map. While this sounds impressive, it actually creates massive problems in the longer missions, especially those where you have to build monuments. Some of these literally can't be completed within 40 game years because of import limits.”
- graphics96 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated but still hold a nostalgic charm, with many players appreciating the aesthetic quality and attention to detail that was impressive for its time. While some reviews note that the remastered version has improved visuals, others argue that the original graphics remain superior in certain aspects. Overall, the visuals are described as pleasant and colorful, contributing to the game's engaging atmosphere, despite some technical issues and limitations related to modern display settings.
“I love this game, and everyone I have ever shown it to has agreed that the graphics are still gorgeous after all this time.”
“The graphics are very aesthetically pleasing.”
“The graphics hold up and the soundtrack is cool.”
“Unfortunately, no effort was done for graphic support, aspect ratios, or even screen size.”
“The graphics are old, true, but the gameplay is still there!”
“But the graphics limitations really annoyed me.”
- gameplay89 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Pharaoh is praised for its engaging city-building mechanics, which blend historical elements with strategic depth, offering a challenging yet rewarding experience. While some players note that the mechanics can be frustrating or require a learning curve, many appreciate the refined systems and the nostalgic charm of the game. Overall, it remains a classic in the genre, providing hours of addictive gameplay despite its age.
“They kept the difficulty and mechanical feel from C3, while only perfectly eliminating the BS, so the legitimate difficulty is still there.”
“The gameplay is a pretty straightforward city-building game that takes you through each era of ancient Egypt, from its pre-historical roots, through the old, middle, and new kingdoms, and then again in the Cleopatra expansion game which takes you through the eras in which Egypt was ruled by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and later by the Romans.”
“The gameplay is fun and addictive, and the GUI is easy to learn and understand.”
“Many strategies today try to say to you: you start using all mechanics from the first second or you will lose.”
“It is also a real challenge sometimes and game mechanics can feel broken.”
“As for gameplay - even with one firehouse for every three shacks and plenty of wells, I was getting an annoying pop-up every five seconds that my buildings were all burning to the ground.”
- music75 mentions
- 49 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its nostalgic and immersive qualities, with many players considering it one of the best soundtracks in video game history. While some find it dated, the majority appreciate its ability to enhance the atmosphere and evoke memories, making it a memorable aspect of the gameplay experience. Overall, the soundtrack is described as beautiful, catchy, and integral to the game's charm, often leaving a lasting impression on players.
“The music is probably some of the greatest music in video game history, and that is not a hyperbolic statement.”
“The pure feel and style of the music in this game is beautiful, and Keith Zizza and Henry Beckett managed to create some of the most memorable themes I've heard in a video game, with wonderful instrumentation.”
“The music is absolutely wonderful, sets the mood perfectly.”
“Awfully rewritten music”
“Music is a bit dated - you may end up muting it and putting something more appropriate on in the background instead.”
“I've played this game since I was a child so I am very nostalgic about its shitty graphics and repetitive music.”
- stability28 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent glitches, crashes, and freezes, particularly on the Steam platform. While some users have managed to play without significant issues, the overall consensus indicates that the game is buggy and can be unplayable at times, especially during startup or after a short period of gameplay. Players recommend caution, as technical problems can detract from the overall experience.
“The game freezes at the start screen and it is unplayable.”
“Do not buy this game, the Steam version is for many people (myself included) completely broken and freezes/crashes at random for no reason.”
“The issues I keep having is the game freezes at random parts of the game sometimes just a minute into it. It's frustrating to not get it to run right after you paid for it!”
- replayability10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its high replayability, with users highlighting its variety of missions, challenges, and engaging scenarios that encourage multiple playthroughs. Its nostalgic appeal and attention to detail contribute to a lasting enjoyment that transcends age groups, making it a standout in the city-building genre. Overall, players feel that the game remains fresh and fun, offering countless opportunities for replay.
“The game also has a variety of missions and challenges to complete, adding a layer of replayability.”
“An old-school city-builder with surprising depth and great replayability.”
“Although this game is old, the depth and breadth of this game has a lot of replayability value.”
“It is truly a work of art when one sits back and looks at the details and care put into this particular game, with that attention to detail translating to countless replayability, as well as transcending gamer age groups.”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating music, sound effects, and immersive settings, effectively evoking the feel of ancient Egypt. Despite some noted flaws, players find the overall experience enchanting and nostalgic, making it a memorable title that stands out for its unique ambiance and engaging gameplay.
“The game's music and sound effects are also well done, adding to the atmosphere.”
“There is a fantastic atmosphere to this game that truly hammers home the feel of ancient Egypt.”
“Whereas the atmosphere, music, and mission settings are still great, looking at it now there are some glaring errors and mistakes in the game.”
“This is a game I like to whip out every summer: maybe it's the sunny atmosphere, maybe it's the hypnotic music, maybe it's the lethargy brought about by waiting for the pyramids to be built.”
“I had so much fun playing this game back then; the music, the atmosphere, the graphics, the game itself, it is just amazing. It's a shame that they don't make games like this anymore.”
- grinding7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- -14 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while it offers depth and challenge through various mechanics like seasonal farming and monument building, it can also become tedious due to the need for constant resource management and navigation of the world map. Completionists may find the grinding overwhelming, requiring significant time investment to achieve all objectives. Overall, the balance between engaging gameplay and repetitive tasks varies among players.
“The grinding in this game is rewarding and keeps you engaged for hours.”
“I love how the grinding feels purposeful, making every level-up satisfying.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding if you are a completionist.”
“The world map is worse off with a lot of useless resources in the cities you can trade with, making it tedious to figure out what you need and are able to trade with each mission.”
“This means that you need to constantly be right-clicking every building to see its status, employees, raw materials, etc. It's really tedious and a shame that they have not managed to optimize this for Windows 10.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game runs smoothly with no significant bugs or crashes, indicating effective optimization. However, some players express nostalgia for previous versions that allowed for more customizable speed settings, suggesting that the current optimization may have sacrificed some gameplay flexibility. Additionally, specific compatibility settings are recommended for optimal performance.
“Everything runs smoothly, as it should, with no bugs or crashes.”
“No problems so far; everything runs smoothly and it's as fun as I remembered.”
“Runs smoothly for me as well, which is a bonus as Cleopatra always used to crash on me!”
“I still miss the old days before the game was optimized when you could set the speed to 100%, and the game would do a mix of the 100% and 90% speeds, so you would get a smoother gameplay in comparison to now where it is all in on a single speed.”
“Use Windows XP SP2 compatibility, reduce color to 16-bit, disable fullscreen optimizations, run as admin, program DPI, high DPI override.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the humor in the game, noting that while it features some antiquated mechanics, there are hidden comedic elements and funny comments that enhance the experience. The voice acting, though not perfect, adds to the humor and overall charm of the game.
“Barring some antiquated game mechanics (why hello there, labor seeker....), it is a well-designed, challenging, rewarding, and beautiful game, with the occasional humor hidden within it.”
“Some comments are really funny.”
“The music is some of my favorite video game music of all time, and although the voice acting may not be exactly the best at times, it works because it's funny and well executed.”
