The Settlers: Heritage of Kings

The protagonist is a young man named Dario. One fine day, the village of Talgrund, hidden in a valley with a single pass, where Dario has lived since childhood, is attacked by the ominous Black Knights. Dario leads the militia and throws the villains out of the valley. He heard a rumor that some other villages had also been attacked by the Black Knights, and that among them was the one where mother Dario lived.

With a small detachment, the hero breaks into the village to his mother and finds her dying. Before his death, his mother reveals to him a long-kept secret: Dario is actually the son of the king of the once-existing Empire, fragmented into parts by the army of the Black Knights, led by General Kerber, the right hand of a certain Mordred.

Then Dario takes up the difficult task: he decided to restore the Empire, for which purpose it is necessary to unite the scattered fortresses, each of which is now the center of one of the areas into which the once great state fell apart. Gradually, a team of devoted associates gathers around Dario: childhood friend Erek, who is the commander of Crawford's army; Uncle Dario - Helias: a priest and a clever diplomat; Ari, the former thief (and in the future - the bride of Dario); the miner and unrivaled connoisseur of explosives Pilgrim and the oriental scientist Salim, the alchemist at the court of King Folklung (one of the fortresses that are the centers of the regions).

Dario meets with the rulers of all regions: more often he succeeds in peacefully convincing them to join his plan (be sure to rid the region of problems of various properties, be it hordes of barbarians besieging the castle, lack of funds for the restoration of the ancient cathedral or long-term drought), although sometimes it takes to act by force, expelling those in power from their lands (in the event of a clash with tyranny or treachery).

Near the former capital of the Empire, the Castle of the Old King, Dario and his associates capture General Kerber, who happens to be the son of Helias and cousin of Dario. Kerber very convincingly portrays remorse and persuades the heroes to take him as allies. However, he soon betrays them, slips into the castle of his master Mordred, where he deals with him and becomes the new Dark Horde Commander. But Dario with his comrades-in-arms, behind whom the power of the newly united Empire stands, crushes the hordes of the Black Knights, completely defeats Kerber and becomes the new imperial king.

Characters

• Dario is the protagonist of the whole story.

• Erek - Crawford garrison commander, Dario's best friend, master swordsman.

• Helias - Bishop, Uncle Dario. He was supposed to be king but became a priest, losing the throne to his brother and father Dario.

• Ari is a robber, a friend of Dario. Accurate Archer. Royal blood flows in her veins.

• Pilgrim is a miner who comes from a family mining sulfur.

• Salim is an oriental scholar and alchemist.

• Leonardo is a wise engineer helping Dario.

• Marie de Mortiche is the ruler of the county of Calais. It is in alliance with Kerber, and is trying to destroy Dario when he arrives in Calais.

• Kerber is a cousin of Dario. Throughout the game, the two brothers are fighting a fierce battle between themselves, but in the end, Dario drives Kerberus into the main fortress of evil Avelans, besieges her, and Kerberus jumps into the black abyss and disappears. Although many people think that Kerber dies after this, the dark knight actually survived and settled in the swamps, after which he began to carry out new vile plans.

• Mordred - never entered the battle, only sent his soldiers behind Dario's head. In the end, Kerber killed Mordred and became the new ruler of Avelance.

The gameplay of the game has seriously changed due to 2 things.

• Due to the rejection of many elements of the game series:

1. Porters disappeared, in exchange for materials and goods arrive at the warehouse automatically, immediately after receiving them.
2. Many buildings have lost their functions.
3. Resource chains have been greatly simplified.
4. It became possible to cross water obstacles only in winter, when the rivers were covered with ice. (However, the DLC has the ability to build bridges at special sites) ^[5]

• Due to innovations:

1. There was a change of seasons, which began to play a role. (during rain, arrows cause less damage; in the spring, melting ice can drown the units on it)
2. Heroes appeared in the game, significantly superior in strength to ordinary units, and with special skills. For example, Dario himself is conducting reconnaissance with the help of a manual falcon. Priest Helias lures enemy units. Eric can strengthen the troops around. Pilgrim is able to plant a bomb. Salim knows how to make traps. And Ari knows how to hide, move quietly and call out robbers for help.

There were 2 add-ons for the game:

• The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Expansion Disc
• The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Legends Expansion Disc

They add new characters and provide an opportunity to play for other heroes of the game company.

The Settlers: Heritage of Kings sold over 220,000 copies in Germany in five weeks ^[6] , and 5,000,000 copies of the game were bought worldwide.

Foreign gaming journalism

The game received an ambiguous reception from Western critics. Metacritic, based on 29 reviews, gave the game 58% ^[7] .

Russian gaming press

The largest Russian portal of games Absolute Games put the game 77%. The observer noted the quality gameplay of the game and beautiful graphics. The weaknesses and the failure of the game from many elements of the series were attributed to the shortcomings. Verdict: “Someone will like the game, someone will not, but, in any case, to look in it for those same never-discouraging people who with equal enthusiasm dragged logs on their shoulders, chopped coal and waved their swords, I do not advise. Useless lesson. Spoil the mood only ” ^[8] .

Gambling set the game 8.0 out of 10 points, making the following conclusion: “Let the word The Settlers not mislead you. Heritage of Kings has absolutely nothing to do with all previous games in the series. But unfortunately or fortunately, please decide for yourself ” ^[9] .

The Country of the Games gave the game 8.0 out of 10 points ^[10] .

• The official game page on Ubi.com