Zeus: Master of Olympus – The God with a Trident

In the dawn of time, the planet was ruled by Typhon, the God of Monsters, but Zeus, Lord of the Earth, battled him to drive him out of his domain. After the great battle, the Earth was wounded, and from its depths sprang a fire that consumed everything it touched. To stop it, Zeus tore off a massive rock and used it to cover the crack, creating Mount Olympus.

With this brief lesson in Greek mythology, we’re introduced to Zeus: Master of Olympus, a game that follows in the footsteps of titles like Caesar and Pharaoh. This time, as you may have guessed, the action takes place in ancient Greece, during its golden age—a civilization as impressive as its long list of gods. Your task will feel familiar if you enjoy SimCity-style games (with some differences, of course). You’ll need to turn your city into one of the largest and most modern poleis in all of Greece. To accomplish this tough job, you’ll have endless resources to manage.

You’ll have to figure out how to attract masses of immigrants to your homes, which will eventually grow into a grand city. Once that’s done, you’ll need to ensure your city develops in a balanced way, taking care of your citizens’ food, health, education, and culture. Your city’s territory will have to expand to house new residents, and before you know it, you’ll be managing a massive metropolis that never stops evolving.

As your city grows, your citizens will become harder to please, so you’ll have to go the extra mile by providing cultural entertainment like theaters, stadiums, drama schools, etc., as well as efficiently organizing all public services (markets, fountains, parks, etc.). If you don’t, unhappy citizens will pack their bags and leave for another city that can give them what they want.

Trade with the rest of the world has improved significantly. During the game, you’ll encounter various merchant caravans traveling your roads on their way to your city or others farther away. As your game progresses, you’ll also be able to establish trade relationships with cities you’re on good terms with. To do this, simply build a market post for the city you want to trade with and transport any excess goods you produce—either what your allies want or whatever brings you the most profit.

The best way to maintain good relations with trading partners is to win most of the games (Olympic, Pythian, etc.) and selflessly agree to their requests for help (though a nice gift to that stubborn city wouldn’t hurt either).

Cities you have terrible relations with may try to declare war on you. Military matters aren’t the main focus of Zeus: Master of Olympus, so there’s not much to say—just make sure you’re better prepared than your enemies. You’ll need enough elite troops to keep your citizens feeling safe, and if you’re under threat, you should build fortifications around your polis.

However, if you’re a natural-born general and love stirring up trouble, you can always ask the God of War, Ares, for a little help and train your legions to conquer other cities.

Aside from all these "mortal" affairs, you’ll also have to deal with a bunch of capricious gods and monsters that will appear on your map, roaming freely. Some will demand worship (in the case of gods), while others will just annoy you and make things even harder (like monsters, such as the Hydra).

This is also one of Zeus: Master of Olympus’ strong points. Depending on which god you worship, you’ll receive different favors. For example, if you worship Athena, she’ll make sacred olive trees grow in your fields, yielding better olive harvests and higher-quality oil. If you worship Zeus, you’ll have the best ally for your city’s safety and protection.

Monsters are a different story. They usually appear in key spots on the map, and you’ll need to hire a hero to try and defeat them—Heracles, Hercules (and no, he doesn’t come with Iolaus as a bonus, nor does he look like Kevin Sorbo). To recruit these muscle-bound warriors, you’ll have to build them a temple and fulfill their requests, which vary depending on who it is (that Heracles guy asks for 32 amphorae of wine… must be a real drunk, that one xDD).

Gameplay

Right at the start of Zeus: Master of Olympus, you’ll find the game’s Tutorial option. If you’ve never played this type of game before, it’s highly recommended you pay attention to this, because otherwise, you’ll be hit with so many concepts at once that you might quit before even starting to enjoy it. When you begin the tutorials (don’t be scared by the whopping number of 16), focus on the advice about trading and managing your city, and skip the ones that seem obvious (or you’ll get fed up).

Once you’ve got the hang of it (don’t worry if some concepts still escape you—you’ll learn as you play), dive in and start making your city grow.

To manage all your resources easily and without too much confusion, you can pause the game to plan your road networks and buildings in an organized way. Once everything’s built, just resume the game, and if something isn’t working right, pause again and try to fix it.

It’s crucial that when you start creating and shaping your city, you take it step by step and think about what each resident needs at any given time (you can right-click on houses to see what their inhabitants need most). If you don’t, your city will collapse before it even gets off the ground.

But don’t get discouraged if your first game of Zeus: Master of Olympus doesn’t go well—just start over and try to fix your mistakes. You’ll see how the game slowly hooks you and immerses you in what life was like in an ancient Greek city.

Graphics

The graphics in Zeus: Master of Olympus are similar to those of previous titles from the studio—fairly simple, small, but very effective, typical of this game style. They’re well-crafted, with small animations of workers doing their jobs, appearances by the gods, etc. In short, no flashy lights or colors, but they do their job perfectly—when your city is complete, it looks like a lively, bustling metropolis.

Music & Sound

One of Zeus: Master of Olympus’ strong points is its sound. The background tracks immerse you wonderfully in the game, with melodies that change depending on what’s happening in your playthrough, fitting seamlessly with the events. Also worth mentioning are the voices of the city’s inhabitants, and most of the text is well-dubbed.

Zeus: Master of Olympus Gameplay

Conclusion on Zeus: Master of Olympus

Zeus: Master of Olympus follows in the footsteps of its predecessors but adds enough new concepts to make it superior in many ways. In my opinion, it’s an entertaining game that keeps you glued to the screen for hours, watching your little houses grow into cities. Maybe the only thing that holds it back a bit is the price, but for a solid strategy game like this, it’s worth it.

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