I liked this review a lot. In fact, I think that I gave you the highest score of the four judges. It hits all the main content points, and has a polished and refined presentation. I?m also pleased to say that after reading it again now, my impression remains unchanged.
However I did mention in my comment that preposition use was a bit iffy at places, so I?ll take the time to address that point now:
To create your first settlement on
This should be written as
?on which to create your first settlement?
Uninhabited islands to peacefully settle on
This should be written as
?on which to settle uninhabited islands peacefully.? The adverb ?peacefully? splits the infinitive ?to go,? and ?on? introduces a relative clause.
So you?ll have to take on of your opponents? by force
I assume that you were trying to say one of two things here. Either ?take on
all of your opponents by force? or ?take on
your opponents by force.? As it stands, the use of ?of? here causes a double-take that could have been easily avoided. There?s no need for an apostrophe in ?opponents.?
The joy arises by figuring out
This should be written as ?the joy arises
from figuring out?
If you haven?t got the power to go directly in
This should be written as ?if you haven?t got the power to go
in directly.? Although ideally, "to go in" can be better said as "to enter" or "to engage."
You also switch person a lot in the review which, while not being a bother to me, could be an issue for others. Second person pronouns are everywhere, with first person sentiments occasionally cropping up. Despite this, I do like the second person voice because I feel that it?s appropriate for describing what is essentially a ?god-game.? There are no players and characters. There is only you as you pull the strings from on high and supervise the proceedings.
The only other issue is that the writing voice feels a tad stilted, and I can?t quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it?s how the review seems to be composed of short and concise sentences creating a ?stop/go? feel instead of being composed of longer sentences that move between points gracefully and fluently. Your review isn?t terribly long, but it
felt longer to read than it actually was, so perhaps that was a big factor for some of the low scores.
Anyway, I for one liked your review and thought that it was one of the better offerings in this competition. It?s certainly made me want to give 1602 A.D. a look, and surely that must count for something. Hopefully you?ll place better next time.