Twenty-four years after the release of the cult Pharaoh, Dotemu offers us a revised and improved version of the city-builder. Embalmed like a pharaoh and restored, is the title still playable so many years later? Yes and no.
Rare are the management games to immerse us in the middle of ancient Egypt. In 1999, the Sierra Entertainment teams, whose hour of glory was in the 1980s with titles like Leisure Suit Larry or the King’s Quest, took the bet with Pharaoh. A city-builder whose history dates back several millennia before our era. Upon its release, the title was a real hit, hailed for its pretty graphics and smooth gameplay.
A title that has become cult, therefore, that the Triskell and Dotemu studios wanted to dust off. New technical engine, improved controls and renewed interface are at the heart of this titled remake “Pharaoh: A New Era”. Sold for around twenty euros, is this remake of a title that is, all the same, 24 years old, worth it? Well if you are a fan of city-builders yes. Otherwise, move on. Explanations.
What we ask above all of a remake is to have adapted to current machines and technologies with an updated engine. The work done on this point is thus impeccable since the developers have respected the title and the basic artistic direction by bringing the necessary refinements. From the good old pixelated pyramids of 1999, A New Era truly transports us to a whole new era. The buildings are very nicely modernized and adorned with frankly clean textures.
It is the same for the modeling of all the other elements of the decor, such as the citizens and the animals, which retain this little cartoon side specific to the basic title and so pleasant. On the other hand, the environment has not changed much. Arid lands, lightly or more heavily herbaceous, swamps or floodplains, and that’s it. Admittedly, there are about fifty missions, but we simply have the impression that they all take place in the same place, thus diversifying the gameplay very little.
The gameplay precisely, let’s talk about it. With this remake, the developers promise improved and updated controls. Difficult to see where the gameplay is “modernized” as it is old-fashioned and very rigid. In a modern city-builder, like Cities Skyline or Anno, you appreciate being able to admire your city from all angles and to rotate the buildings. If it was a feat in 1999 to offer this kind of mechanics, it has become more than commonplace to do so in 2023. And yet, the developers do not offer it. The placement of buildings is also very complex since where we think we can place a building with enough space, the title prevents us from doing so. Few freedoms are thus left to the player, and it is frustrating.
If you have never played Pharaoh, know that it is a very normal city-builder. You have to offer different services to your population, such as a doctor or the police, but also entertainment, food and religion. This is also essential to attract the favors of the Gods. Otherwise, these will cast damaging curses on your city. Besides, we would have liked the system to be a little more elaborate and that we didn’t just have to build temples and shrines to please the gods. These different factors are essential for the evolution of the city and the well-being of the citizens, thus enabling them to pay taxes and improve their homes.
The management of your army and the defense of the city are also essential to allow it to prosper. The gameplay has absolutely not changed on this point, except at the level of the interface which has been improved and modernized. The developers have also created the “nilometer” system, allowing you to assess the upcoming flood and decline of the Nile and whether or not your harvests will be beneficial for the coming month.
In New Era, there are 50 missions spanning 4,000 years of history, all offering a hundred hours of play to the player. Substantial content therefore, but which is redundant. What was described in the right paragraph also repeats itself again and again and we hardly do anything more, especially since with each new mission we start from scratch, and therefore the need to attract new inhabitants and to balance the accounts so as not to fall into bankruptcy.
Earlier in this test, we mentioned the misfortunes that can befall your city, such as the curses of the gods. Be aware that this is not the only thing that can hit your city, but that epidemics, bankruptcy or looting happen on a recurring basis. So many details and factors to take into account, but which occur far too regularly. Even in normal or easy difficulty, the title is really too demanding and leaves us little respite, to the point of becoming annoying and incomprehensible. To give you an example, my tax office and my palace, which are used to collect taxes, were constantly looted. I set up a police station right next to it, nothing helped, and the message informing that my buildings were looted popped up on the screen, so much so that the game became unplayable and irritating.
To manage these misfortunes, the title offers us a long tutorial that spans the first few chapters. Unfortunately, this one too has aged far too badly since it is content with impersonal, imprecise and very guiding dialog boxes. We would have liked a tutorial that accompanies more and that is more interested in the misfortunes that can befall your city, rather than very long messages, which do not make you want to be read and which are particularly off-putting.
Conclusion
A New Era is very respectful of the original Pharaoh released in 1999 on PC, maybe even a little too much. Many elements of the gameplay of this ancient city builder have aged badly, and dealing with the fifty missions that all look alike to each other, and this, during the hundred hours of life, it’s really not fun , especially in a city-builder that is not renewed over the hours of play, or very little. Add to that an abnormally high difficulty and often stiff and dated gameplay. It’s a fact, the developers of the remake kept Pharaoh in its own juice, and brought a brand new engine and slight gameplay improvements. The work done on this remake is certainly good, but we would sincerely have liked the gameplay to be more dusted off and more suited to players of 2023. As it stands, it is difficult to recommend it to other players than to fans. from the original management game…
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Pharaoh: A New Era
WE love :
A very clean and fair graphic overhaul
A very nice artistic direction
Substantial content
A restored city-building legend
We like less:
A little repetitive in the long run
A frustrating difficulty
A dated tutorial
Isometric and therefore very stiff
A management of religion really not elaborated