...is a time-based resource management puzzle. Returning from vacation, Hercules and Megara find that the land devastated by drought, and must restore it while facing Hercules' doppelganger.

Your goal is to gather food, wood and gold to open paths, fix bridges and overpass several obstacles to achieve specific goals. You can pick up resources on the map, on various spawn points, from cleared obstacles or by exchanging it for other resources from various allies. Each level will also have a hidden puzzle piece, unlocking bonus levels.

Score is awarded based on how much time you have left when you successfully complete the level. Therefore, the challenge is in clearing the various obstacles in the correct order, with quick thinking and quick clicking. Wasting resources at the wrong place means you'll waste time waiting on resource spawning to proceed further.

Part of the strategy relies on investing resources on the right improvement, at the right time. Improve farms for more food, workshops for more wood, mines for more gold and your home for more servants. Improving them, of course, costs resources, so choosing which one to improve and when will affect your progress. You also get access to various abilities (different for each level) to boost worker speed, gather more resources or stop time.

While the fourth iteration of the game, I found the level design more challenging, and this is a good thing, because the whole point of the game is to get a 3-star rating everywhere. Most of the replayability will come from playing the same level multiple time to improve your score, with every second you save getting you closer to your goal.

There's a nice variety of obstacles to remove with different requirements, accumulated from past games, Sure, your servants remain the main tool to remove obstacles, with the occasional involvement of Hercules or Megara, but many others introduced in past games make a return: you'll need Cerberus against ghosts, Medusa against minotaurs, etc. New allies are also introduced to gather resources: Midas trades gold for other resources, Charon picks up driftwood, etc. The variety actually increases the challenge!

If you aren't trying get perfect scores, you won't enjoy this game, even as a casual player. It is impossible to fail a level: on-the-map resources are calculated to make sure you can reach the resource spawn points, so there's no way to misspend your resource to a point you'll be stuck. And no matter how long you wait on resource spawning, there is no base time limit for level completion.

Storytelling has never been the focal point of the series, but it feels like they didn't even try with this one. Besides a short cutscene every 10 levels, most of the levels themselves don't really tell a story, at least not as much as the previous games did. You might go through all 10 levels with no actual progression, and with no effect on gameplay. For instance: When Hercules and Megara are separated, the game simply substitute saplings for stoned saplings, and boulders for titan's teeth, which cancels any gameplay change this could've introduced.


Sure, it's the same basic gameplay, graphics and soundtrack as the previous game, but that's exactly what's wanted by the target audience. This is not so much a sequel as it is a standalone extra level pack for those that enjoyed the previous iterations. If you've never played them, start with the first 12 Labours of Hercules and work your way to this one if you like the genre.

—————————————————————————
This was just my opinion.

If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up, and feel free to check out more of my (purely opinionated) reviews.

[h1]12 Labours of Hercules IV: Mother Nature[/h1] ...is a time-based resource management puzzle. Returning from vacation, Hercules and Megara find that the land devastated by drought, and must restore it while facing Hercules' doppelganger. [h1]⚙ [u]Game Description & Mechanics[/u] ⚙[/h1] Your goal is to gather food, wood and gold to open paths, fix bridges and overpass several obstacles to achieve specific goals. You can pick up resources on the map, on various spawn points, from cleared obstacles or by exchanging it for other resources from various allies. Each level will also have a hidden puzzle piece, unlocking bonus levels. Score is awarded based on how much time you have left when you successfully complete the level. Therefore, the challenge is in clearing the various obstacles in the correct order, with quick thinking and quick clicking. Wasting resources at the wrong place means you'll waste time waiting on resource spawning to proceed further. Part of the strategy relies on investing resources on the right improvement, at the right time. Improve farms for more food, workshops for more wood, mines for more gold and your home for more servants. Improving them, of course, costs resources, so choosing which one to improve and when will affect your progress. You also get access to various abilities (different for each level) to boost worker speed, gather more resources or stop time. [h1]☺ [u]What I enjoyed[/u] ☺[/h1] While the fourth iteration of the game, I found the level design more challenging, and this is a good thing, because the whole point of the game is to get a 3-star rating everywhere. Most of the replayability will come from playing the same level multiple time to improve your score, with every second you save getting you closer to your goal. There's a nice variety of obstacles to remove with different requirements, accumulated from past games, Sure, your servants remain the main tool to remove obstacles, with the occasional involvement of Hercules or Megara, but many others introduced in past games make a return: you'll need Cerberus against ghosts, Medusa against minotaurs, etc. New allies are also introduced to gather resources: Midas trades gold for other resources, Charon picks up driftwood, etc. The variety actually increases the challenge! [h1]☹ [u]What bothered me[/u] ☹[/h1] If you aren't trying get perfect scores, you won't enjoy this game, even as a casual player. It is impossible to fail a level: on-the-map resources are calculated to make sure you can reach the resource spawn points, so there's no way to misspend your resource to a point you'll be stuck. And no matter how long you wait on resource spawning, there is no base time limit for level completion. Storytelling has never been the focal point of the series, but it feels like they didn't even try with this one. Besides a short cutscene every 10 levels, most of the levels themselves don't really tell a story, at least not as much as the previous games did. You might go through all 10 levels with no actual progression, and with no effect on gameplay. For instance: [spoiler]When Hercules and Megara are separated, the game simply substitute saplings for stoned saplings, and boulders for titan's teeth,[/spoiler] which cancels any gameplay change this could've introduced. [h1][b]My Verdict[/b]: ★★★☆☆ - [i]"It's up to you."[/i][/h1] Sure, it's the same basic gameplay, graphics and soundtrack as the previous game, but that's exactly what's wanted by the target audience. This is not so much a sequel as it is a standalone extra level pack for those that enjoyed the previous iterations. If you've never played them, start with the first [I][url=https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/342580]12 Labours of Hercules[/url][/I] and work your way to this one if you like the genre. ————————————————————————— [i][b]This was just my opinion.[/b] If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up, and feel free to check out more of my (purely opinionated) [url=http://gtm.you1.cn/groups/CJsOpinions/]reviews[/url].[/i]