Settlers series, and the new benchmark in the city-building genre". Writing for PC Gamer (US), Joe Novicki scored it 85%, praising the removal of roads, the enhanced combat, and the addition of online multiplayer. Of the graphics, he wrote, "the attention to graphic and animation detail sets a new standard". Although he found the pace a little too slow, he concluded, "it strikes a nice balance between the action-oriented mainstream titles and more thoughtful fare like Caesar III". IGNs Tal Blevins scored it 6.9 out of 10, writing "Settlers III is a good game, but there's nothing really new or innovative here". Although he praised the differentiation between the races, the introduction of divine intervention, and the supply and demand-based gameplay, he cited "a slew of glaring problems which mar an otherwise brilliant game". Such problems include the inability to load a game without having to return to the main menu, the necessity for "quirky" disk swapping, the limited control of combat units, poor AI, and the inability to access the HTML manual from within an active game. He concluded "Settlers III is an entertaining and brain-heavy game that is unfortunately hampered by a number of problems". GameSpots Ron Dulin scored it 6.1 out of 10, arguing that it plays almost identically to The Settlers II, and citing "surface changes [which] make only a moderate improvement". He was especially critical of the similarity of the missions, writing "each mission is almost exactly the same. You start off with some supplies and must expand until you encounter an enemy". Although he praised the decision to remove roads, and the addition of online multiplayer, overall he felt the game didn't improve on its predecessors, concluding that "those who love the Settlers formula will enjoy it, but those who are unfamiliar with it will likely find it to be a moderately fun multiplayer game and an immensely repetitive single-player game". Game Revolutions Mark Cooke scored it 6 out of 10. He praised the intricacies of the economic system, writing the "level of complexity sets Settlers III apart from other real-time strategy games". He also praised the graphics and animations, but was critical of online multiplayer mode, which he called "a disaster". He concluded by referring to the game as "interesting [and] fairly innovative". Computer Gaming Worlds Samuel Baker II scored it 2.5 out of 5. Although he praised the economic system, and the