The Settlers: New Allies is a reimagined version of the legendary build-up RTS, The Settlers, that’s been on the shelves for years. It is the latest entry in Ubisoft‘s long-running city-building series and has endured delays and a poorly-received beta, but now it’s finally out.
The Settlers: New Allies tries to stand out with the help of modern-day technology wizardry and a few new tricks up its sleeve. Despite some flaws, it’s still a fun and engaging experience that will keep you busy for days on end.
The game offers a number of game modes, ranging from the campaign to Skirmish Hardcore Mode, each providing a different experience. The main campaign is a lengthy 10-hour journey that will have you exploring the world and building your civilization in an effort to protect your citizens from invaders.
In addition to the campaign, you can also play online Skirmish modes against other players. These can be a good way to test your skills against opponents and see how quickly you can build up your civilization.
You can save your progress in ten different save slots in both the campaign and Skirmish modes. Depending on which save slot you select, your progress will be saved in the campaign or in the Skirmish Hardcore mode.
Familiar Gameplay Mechanics in The Settlers: New Allies
The gameplay focuses on building a synergetic settlement from the ground up, grinding for resources, and raising an army that can defend your land against rivals.
You start with a small group of settlers and must explore their surroundings, build up their settlements, and optimize resource production to recruit settlers and train an army capable of taking on the enemy.
Like other RTS games, the economy is the key to success in The Settlers: New Allies’ world. The speed of movement of raw materials around your settlement via warehouses and roads measures how healthy your economy is. If the road network is inefficient or poorly built, it can clog up, slowing down resource production and making it harder to hire military units.
With the basic economic mechanics under control, the game’s focus on establishing a settlement and training its citizens is easy to master. You can build buildings to farm, mine, forge, and fish and assign specific people to do those jobs. You can also create a chain of donkey carts that make transporting raw and processed goods much faster, which is useful when dealing with a large population.
While the core gameplay loop is easy enough to manage, The Settlers: New Allies lacks a lot of depth. It may be a messy experiment that could be more satisfying. Still, it does offer some decent entertainment for those looking to get a fix of the old-school RTS style.
The Settlers: New Allies was released on 17 February 2023 for Windows on Epic Games and Ubisoft Store, with upcoming releases for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
