Conquest of the new world is a turn-based strategy game that lets you control one of 6 different nations in their attempt to colonize the new continent. The gameworld is represented in an isometric point of view. Combat is a mini-game taking place on a battlefield where victory can be achieved by killing enemy troops or capturing the enemy’s flag. This deluxe edition added new elements of diplomacy, including trade options, as well as specific bonuses based on which nation is played.
In this game, victory conditions are customizable, so a game can go a number of different ways. However, there are common themes which occur with fairly level frequency. The game is meant to simulate the colonization of the new world-what is now North America. The player can choose from five different nations, including the natives, and battle the other nations for supremacy of the continent. Much like history-the player will settle the continent and gradually grow into a town and expand into other towns. These towns are able to create troops, which can be used to attack other nations. The player will also inevitably declare independence from the mother nation, due to increasing taxes administered by the mother nation-much like the American experience.
Everything!
The multi-player cannot be done online-otherwise this game would be as famous as Age of Empires.
The game established a lot of the gameplay that has become famous in the Civilizations games. It had limited troop movement, turn based engagement, and civilization-building themes. Yet, it was not as complicated as Civilizations-and I think this is one of the things that made it great. There were many different things that you could do in the game, and you could choose whether or not you wanted to. Many of the things, such as settlement development and diplomacy could be set on automatic. Surprisingly, the ai was excellent for this, and I often indulged in this to focus on things that interested me more. The turn-based system worked perfectly for the game, since it reflected well the time period that it was portraying. I thought it was particularly brilliant how one could play as the natives. As is accurate for the time-it was extremely difficult to win with the natives. However, it was possible-essentially, the natives could only be levelled up to 2 (as opposed to 4). However, they could expand and build troops waaay faster than the other nations. This meant that, if you were quick, you could destroy the other nations before they gained a foothold on the land.
Beyond the above gameplay, the turn-based system worked so effectively because it allowed you to micromanage to your heart’s delight. I remember my brothers and I would play this game, and quite often one person would take 1/2 hour or more on a turn. The other two players would be off doing completely different things-so games could last for quite a while. Conveniently-you did not have to finish a game in one sitting, and could save a game for a later date. It was risk for the computer, but in a highly sophisticated way, and with an accurate portrayal of an exciting time-period.
Conclusion: This game, I think-was very underutilized. And, I believe the reason for this was because it was ahead of its time. Much like Dreamcast, it introduced a number of features that have become a staple in modern gaming-yet was under appreciated when it was released. I still go back to this game and play it every now and again, despite the dated graphics-it was extremely well-crafted, and a brilliant retro game.