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Retrospective Return is a look at older games to see whether they’re worth a revisit. Ranging from unknown gems or bargain bin failures, we’ll revisit any games that we think deserve it.

It’s been twelve years since we’ve played Settlers 2 and it was back in 1996; when PC’s had megabytes of ram and megahertz of processing power that we last had a game. Much has changed since then, but The Settlers (2) (now available on the Nintendo DS) is still as enjoyable as it was all those years ago. The early Settler games spawned a complete age of ‘empire’ style gameplay. The game granted the player the power to micromanage at a level unseen before. Every settler could be given a particular job, (which heralded specific rewards) which meant in-depth customization of your domain. The DS version was created to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the series, and what a celebration it is.

Fans of the original will not be disappointed and will feel right at home. The 2D visuals remains and is supported by the typical addictive gameplay. The campaign grants veterans a nostalgic buzz, guiding your Roman settlers to found their first village, and subsequently maintain it. The player is granted an HQ, basically the central hub of your town, which stores your people, food and raw materials. From then, you’ll use the bottom screen of the DS to create paths, build buildings and maintain your empire. To successfully sustain your realm, you’ll have to effectively balance your inhabitants’ jobs. For example, you’ll need wood to build buildings. To fashion the wood into usable wooden boards you’ll also need a carpenter. Obviously the supply of trees isn’t endless, so you’ll require a forester. It’s a simple mechanic to pick up, but a difficult one to master.

To help you keep all of this in check there are plenty of helpful menus available. On the main screen is the task bar, which allows you to save your game, manages the amount of wood / water a building gets, how your military is managed and the progress your metal-work is making (for the creation of tools). There are stats pages where you can compare building qualities, the economy of your civilization or compare the strength of your army against your rivals. There’s also the ‘mail’ icon that grants you notifications about the state of your empire; if your geologists have discovered a resource or if you’re under attack. Luckily, while this data exists, it’s not vital to the game and is only available if you wish to use it. Most likely you’ll only come across it when you accidentally click on it instead of save.

Despite the above quip, the controls are fairly adept at providing the player with sufficient interaction. Generally you use the D-Pad to navigate the map, backed up by shortcuts mapped to the other buttons. The right bumper allows you to speed up time (and you’ll be doing it a lot), while the A button toggles the visibility of the building indicator. It’s handy to have them at your disposable so you’re not completely relying on touch-screen interaction. Luckily, because the game is ported over from the original PC version, the DS’s touch-screen abilities lend themselves to the genre. Both screens are fully utilized, and the top screen can be kept open on a specific menu. You can flick through menus using the left bumper and it’s easy to keep an eye of the data and the actual game.

As you progress through the game, you’ll pick up what buildings to create as well as what materials you’ll need to gather. The game slowly feeds new buildings, as well as materials, into the campaign so there’s always a feeling of progression. The pace of the game is relaxed, and as a result won’t suit everyone, (but that has always been the case with the franchise). The inclusion of a ‘fast-forward’ button does means that boring construction waits can be skipped, which suits the portability of the title. If you take your time you’ll find that a single level takes about an hour (the average commute time). The enemy AI often has a head start in terms of technology and military, so you’ll find yourself slowly advancing anyway.

Sadly, while the essence of the game is there, the execution is lacking. The game is a direct port of the PC version; The Settlers 2, so the graphics are the same as they were twelve years ago. It hasn’t aged particularly well, but then you’d argue that it is on the DS. More worrying is the fact that despite the age of the graphical engine, the handheld struggles with processing the information onscreen. It occurs when you un-zoom, and the game begins to lag. It’s a catch 22 situation because you’ll be zoomed out due to the fact that the screen isn’t large enough, but can’t zoom in because too much is needed to be seen. Tie this in with some finicky stylus responses (getting in the way of fluid construction) and the outlook is lowering in favour. You’ll find yourself misguiding roads and having to reconstruct them. Finally, (while this in un-true of our copy) there have been widespread reports of freezes and crashes, while condemns the game hugely.

We’re sure that many people (older gamers) will return for a nostalgic look-in but it’ll be short-lived and met with disappointment. The promise and premise is there, but its implementation is absent. The only time we can really justify the purchase is if it is dead-cheap in a bargain bin. It’s good enough to entertain on a long journey, but not good enough to actually settle into.

Retrospective Verdict: Unless cheap on EBay, avoid. There are better games out there.

Score: 5/10

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