Hi.
Way back when I gave either Caesar or Caesar II a try and found it boring. (I thought the same of the original Age of Empires.) Anyway, I think I was more into playing Sim City, AOEII, and whatever version of Civilization was around.
Then I saw Pharaoh at the store. It had rave reviews on the box cover and I liked the Egyptian theme. I bought it and it has been the game I played most of the ones mentioned here. I'm not sure I ever heard of Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom. I have Children of the Nile but never played it much: couldn't get into the flow of the game.
Competing for my time and attention was Zeus. It was, um, different. The most vivid thing I recall was some element that struck me as rather toylike: maybe it was statues. I don't remember. I think I recall that it was also easier to play (i.e., build cities) than Pharaoh. Maybe it had smarter walkers and/or less complex cities. It was enjoyable.
I would like to give Caesar a go (the game that is). Would someone recommend Caesar III or IV?
But I just reread this thread and someone mentions that C3 doesn't have roadblocks. Wouldn't this be major drawback as compared to, say, Pharaoh?
Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian; she was Greek.[This message has been edited by kar_nak88 (edited 05-18-2011 @ 03:18 PM).]