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CNET Editors' review
Strategy gamers who get a kick out of King Tut will find much to love in this ancient Egyptian adventure, which takes plenty of cues from competing titles. You are the governor of a city in the land of the pharaohs, set with the task of feeding your people and striking deals with other towns to bring in the goods your town requires. Fans of Caesar III will find Pharaoh's look and feel familiar, and veterans of SimCity too will be pleased to see the range of actions available far exceeds that modern-day adventure. Action is goal oriented, rather than combat oriented--you don't build your city with abandon, but follow directions to complete a certain task. Considering Pharoah was designed in 1999, its graphics are still up to snuff--most views are from a bird's-eye vantage point, so you can survey your domain. Overall, this is a standard but solid civilization building game that should please fans of ancient history.Publisher's Description
From Impressions Games:
Impressions Games, the creators of Caesar III, plunge you further back in time to the mysterious land of ancient Egypt. Pharaoh is a strategic city-building game set in the Egypt of roughly 2900 to 700 B.C. Grow Egyptian villages into thriving metropolises and watch the economy and inhabitants of this exotic land come to life. Interact with your citizens. Observe their culture and habits. Raise their hopes or raze their homes. Manage your city poorly and watch it burn, be pillaged, or collapse in economic ruin. Manage it well, and ultimately the greatest Egyptian structures will be built in your honor. Your rule will span generations, until your dynasty, your royal bloodline produces a pharaoh!
Pharaoh includes many features not seen before in a city building series game, including a farming model based on the flooding of the Nile, naval warfare, giant monuments that are assembled over time, a unique dynastic progression, and variable difficulty levels. Pharaoh uses 16-bit color graphics, large maps for seamless gameplay, and a proven interface.
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All versions:
4.5 starsout of 514 votes
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Current version:
4.5 starsout of 514 votes
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My rating:
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"Good game that endures test of time."
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
Bought the game and the Cleopatra expansion years ago on a bargain rack, and still love it. I like that it is goal oriented (think of quests from Zynga type games), but that once you've met the goals for a level, you start over again with a new city so you can implement changes you learned you need from the last city. Also, each level introduces new elements so you can learn pieces bit by bit rather than having to learn and excel at everything at once.
Cons
Graphics are pretty weak, but they are still helpful. It automatically loads into 100% speed sometimes, and that is too darn fast - you want around 50%. Early levels (free) will not show you the wide range of things you work up to at later levels. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what it's looking for to meet a final goal.
Summary
It's the best $3 I ever spent in a bargain game and the fact that I pulled it out to play again now that I'm laid up with a broken ankle, despite a host of other video games available, should show that it's a classic that maintains interest. It's definitely a late 90s style game, but it's entertaining and a solid game with achievable goals and a solid buildup of skills. If I lose the disk I would buy this again.
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"Problem is CNET's"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
Played the game years ago and loved it.
Cons
Haven't been able to successfully download the game. Haven't received refund. CNET's customer service is next to non-existent. Will never purchase from CNET again.
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Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
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Cons
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"Definitely a new Fan!!"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
As an old fan of Sim city, I definitely enjoy the concept of the game. I love the concept of creating and maintaining the city and all the little quirks just make it that more interesting.
Cons
As you get further on in the game a scenario does take a couple of hours to complete but once you reach that point it makes it all worth it1
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"Excellent!"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
Brilliant strategy game! I wish it was free =)
Cons
Not much =).There is very little of fighting or war.
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"This game is very good"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
Story line, game play, etc.
Cons
Can become time consuming (but one expects that with city-building games), tutorials are not the best
Summary
This has been a favorite demo of mine for a while (and I really should pick up the actual game some time!) and while by today's standards the graphics are "old school" they were awesome for their time. The game play is not as complicated as some apparently believe, but then again I am used to complicated strategy games so I might not be the best judge of that. Good on history as far as I can tell. The tutorials are a bit confusing, but trial and error methods always work. Over all if you have played any Caesar game, the operations of this game will make sense. Give it a try!
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"nice variation on the classic city building game"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
straightforward game-play , good middle ground keeps you involved without too much micro-management, graphics dated but still good
Cons
as a demo , would have been nice to be able to save progress
Summary
just what I'm looking for in a city builder , somewhat unique storyline , familiar game-play meant I could jump right in without much need for tutorials. interface was well designed making it easy to keep track of what I was doing at all times.
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"so adictive game"
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
when you play it you have power over a nation,game is creative,fantastic,almost endless
Cons
i dont like that I have only 4 demo llevel...why i cant have this game for free...i desserved it
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"Not much in it...."
Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
Interface? I don't know. Not much.
Cons
Low graphic levels, even for its time. Weak concept and the font styles are difficult to read. Not like what I'm used to with Sim City, Nemesis of the Roman Empire, and Civilization IV.
Summary
It's a good thing that was free. It wasn't worth money.
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Version: Pharaoh demo
Pros
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Cons
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