The Settlers IV is the latest rendition of the long running series from Blue Byte. Honestly I can say The Settlers IV are probably a bit more just only another sequel, though the game occupies only 1CD (do you remember 3CDs of The Settlers III?). No doubt the visual elements are certainly superior to its predecessors, but eye candy is not the only thing this game has going for it. The Settlers IV allows you to play as one of three tribes: Romans, Mayans, or Vikings. All three races play similarly, with only a few differences in resource requirements and a unique unit each, but they and their buildings look different. For an example the Mayans are bare-chested and dark-haired, and they use more stone in their building, while the other two races use more wood. Your goals vary depending on the campaign you choose to play, and include the standard "build and conquer," but also some new features, like the dark tribe campaign (against Morbus) as well as free settling mode, in which the goal is simply to build as rich an economy as possible in the absence of other tribes. In terms of gameplay, things haven't changed dramatically. Your people are still fairly stupid and limited in what they can do individually, and opinion will be divided about the amount of resource juggling required. In comparison with the previous games in the Settlers series, the mission objectives are very straightforward. For those unfamiliar with the series, The Settlers IV requires a great deal of micro-management . The game includes 21 missions in all (3 for each of the Settler tribes with 3 maps each, 12 for the campaign against the dark tribe) not counting the 12 tutorials. The game graphics are impressive looking, there are now lots of beautiful little animations of bunnies, deer, birds, hogs bubbling brooks... JUST CUTE! In fact, all the objects are larger and more detailed, so you can really see your world at work, also the animation for the characters is clean and fluid. I am certain that fans of The Settlers series won't be disappointed with this latest installment, without the blood and gore elements, everyone can enjoy this title.