Pharaoh™: A New Era

This game is full of bugs, that are still not fixed, several years in. The fact that this is based on an old game, makes these bugs all the more ridiculous, as they did not exist in the old game so the complete decline in developer skill since then is apparent. This product is absolutely faulty, with some levels being unable to complete, through no fault of the player. An absolute shame, and very embarrassing. Thumbs down.

Неплохой ремейк. Поиграл в кампанию пару часов, багов пока что не словил. Посмотрим, чтоб будет дальше. Почитал комменты и увидел, что русский язык был, но его удалили. С кем вы так боретесь, разрабы? С геймерами? Смешно. И отзыв поэтому опубликую как негативный

I am obliged to pick "recommend" or "not recommend". I wish I didn't have to. Overall I would just about recommend this if you never played the original and would definitely not if you did. The core of Pharaoh is an excellent game and the remaster is faithful enough that that remains true, but enough has changed - and not always in a positive way - that longtime fans may well be disappointed. I'll run through the elements of the remaster specifically that I think are bad, neutral or good. If you want a review of the original Pharaoh game I'm sure enough have been written, and honestly it was too integral to my childhood for me to be objective. BAD: -The revamp of the combat is just not good. Pharaoh's military system was always a little basic and janky, sure, but it's been abstracted away completely to the point that it's not fun any more. It contributes almost nothing to gameplay and having to dedicate resources to military stuff therefore just feels like a chore. -A small thing but man they really needed to get an editor for the text. There were a few typos I noticed and there's a real tone clash between the text lifted from the original game and some of the jokes etc added in the remaster. -Another small thing but man I really think it would've been good to keep the old faux-Egyptian interface font. It was so integral to the feel of the game. Maybe there was some licencing issue or other specific reason it couldn't be re-used, but if not, I think switching to a generic modern sans-serif was a mistake. OKAY: -The rework of the interface has both good and bad elements. Some parts are now significantly more user friendly, like the controls over the Overseer of Workers and Overseer of Commerce. Little details like being able to see the mood of the gods whenever you mouse over a religious building instead of having to go into the Overseer are really excellent choices that notably improve the game. But some parts are actually harder to use - I think the recategorisation of buildings in the interface is unintuitive (though the smaller side panel is a good idea at its core), and the use of icons is inconsistent so that unrelated things often are visually similar (e.g. the Overseer of Commerce and the Courthouse both use a scales. It shouldn't signify both justice and trade, just pick one). Also there is just a lot less information in a lot of places, such as the Overseer screens. Those old full-screen Overseer interfaces had pretty background art, told you more information, and thereby gave the game its distinctive feel. They could've been improved to be more user-friendly without being drastically cut down and made more generic-looking. -Graphics: A scan of reviews here suggests the art rework is divisive. I think I remain on the fence. The updated visuals are very pretty, and in many cases achieve this while retaining the feel of the original. Also the additional detailing - birds flying over, clouds etc - really makes the game feel alive. But in some other places I think they sacrificed some of the uniqueness on the altar of a "modern" aesthetic, and it feels a bit washed out. GOOD: -The music and sound updating is excellent. A notable increase in quality while staying just faithful enough to the original. -In several places the remaster makes explicit information that was only implicit or had to be worked out through trial and error in the original, like where people spawn from in relation to buildings. I think that's where the remaster shines - it is adding little elements of usability that no one would've thought to have in 1999, while reflecting a deep knowledge of and love for the game on the part of at least some of the design team. And that's kind of the core of it, I think. This clearly was made by some people who loved the original, and I respect that a lot, as someone who also did. They have done a lot to bring it into the modern era, which is a great goal. But I think there were some poor choices made along the way, and enough of them that it becomes an issue. Like I said, I can't recommend it if you played the original, and I did, hence my verdict. But I respect what the devs were trying to do.

Решил вернутся в игру и тут обнаружил что русский удалили и игра полна багов. Да уж, разрабы судя по всему конченые русофобы и диграданты раз умудрились запороть проект. Очень жаль, так как идея была замечательная.

Buy only if you're fine with installing community patches as mods. Otherwise you'll run into countless problems — yes, even game-breaking ones. Feels like the developer took our money and then just vanished. Disappointingly little post-launch support.

I played Pharaoh as a kid and was super excited for this new version when it was announced. Not gonna lie, it's been over 2 years since it's release and it's still so glitchy, I can't upgrade Army Units and there's been times my ships just wouldnt get built. If you want to play the game, I'd downloading the original - the mechanics are clunky but at least it does what it says on the tin.

I honestly don’t understand the purpose of this remake. Instead of improving on what made Pharaoh great, it feels like the game has just been reskinned on top of it. The art style looks cartoonish, which really hurts the atmosphere compared to the original. The animation are the same. The core gameplay is basically identical to the 1999 version — quirks, clunky behavior and all — with almost no meaningful improvements. The war system feels weird and half-baked. Bugs are still all over the place, which makes it frustrating to play, and since the devs have disappeared I guess that's it. In the end, it feels like only the music and UI truly got a proper remake (the latter not really for the best). Everything else is stuck in the past, without the charm of the original. Unless you’re desperate for a slight visual refresh that won't be to everyone's taste, you’re better off playing the classic Pharaoh with community patches to increase the resolution.

Graphics are badin the sense the animation and style looks like cartoons now, the original version had better graphics in the sense of textures and details, this looks like a mobile game now, the menu is soulless, i have no clue why they changed the layout, the original UI was perfect the way it was.