Military conflict certainly has not been
forgotten. Attacks can come by land or by sea – even on naval transports. You have
chariots, infantry and archers to deal with the attacks although chariots aren't available
until later in the game. Chariots can break through lines and trample troops. You now have
the ability to attack enemies rather than just defending. Walls and towers still exist and
towers are manned by javelin throwers. Naval combat is now possible using ramming ships.
When you give the order to ram, the ships accelerate to twice the speed but the rowers
become exhausted quickly so you must be careful when and how you use your boats.The
overall map of Egypt is more useful than the Roman map of C3. If Pharaoh requests that you
send troops to help him attack an enemy or defend a city, you can now see your troops on
the overall map and they will return to you after they finish fighting. You will send
troops by both land and by sea. Their success is reflected in your kingdom ratings. You
can also see where your trade carts and boats are located on the overall map.
The game interface is very similar to C3 but the map has been shifted so that it is no
longer a diamond, but now is a rectangle. This eliminates the sharp map edges that looked
so out of place in C3.
The campaign structure will also be very similar to C3 in the fact that there will be
passive and aggressive options for each game level. The campaign will probably be a couple
scenarios longer than C3.
Pharaoh's map editor will be shipped as a part of the game and is similar to the C3 map
editor but adds a few enhancements. The Kingdom level requests are still available and you
can still set up battles but now, the events are somewhat randomized. You can select three
different resources for Pharaoh to request in the editor but when the game is played, the
computer will randomly choose one of these resources. This makes playing maps more
unpredictable. You also specify the monument which needs to be built instead of the
ratings to be achieved. Of course, you still lay down all the various terrain and create
other challenges just like the C3 editor.
Pharaoh is looking to be a fabulous addition to the city building series. While it
looks similar to Caesar 3, the gameplay will be significantly different because the life
style and geographic location of Egypt is so much different from the life style and
location of Rome. This one's sure to be another hit – don't miss it!
