I am
Marcus Aurellis, emperor of all that lies before me. … I rule over Rome and Rome
is the center of the world.
In blood,
the greatest words are written and so Rome became a mighty scribe.
Her
destiny has been carved in steel; let not the world forget the mighty battles
fought in her name.
The History
Channel Great Battles of Rome is a game that tries, somewhat unsuccessfully, to
focus on a city-state entity and explore what made it great. Unfortunately, this
CDV/Slitherine title does not focus entirely on the glory that was Rome, but
rather allows players to play as different sides against Rome.
When you do
get to play as the Romans, you will confront Gaels, Celts, Carthage, internal
revolts and civil war. The game has more than 100 key battles to contest and has
a network multiplayer feature as well. Where the game falters, though, is in a
look that harkens back to real-time strategy titles of more than seven years
ago. What was fine in the 1990s is less than impressive in 2007.
At the
beginning of the game you can only play as the Latin’s. This is a progressive
campaign and only by completing the scenarios for the Latin’s – which is a
tutorial mode – will you unlock the Romans and Celts. The game itself has many
ways to set up the action. You begin with your units and organizing them on the
battle field. This is somewhat a tactical endeavor and akin to chess. Your
general is the field commander and the combat really relies on him. Each general
has order points. When you issue commands you use order points. No order points,
no movement is possible.
Win a battle
and you will be promoted, receive a medal and get a fame bonus. The more
lopsided the victory, the bigger the bonus.
After each
battle, you are returned to the Army camp where you can promote squads (which
imbues them with more skills), and replenish losses. Money won during battle
will help with the replenishment of forces. You can customize your units or
color-code them. When you are zoomed out on the map, have your units wear
different colors is advantageous to quick decision making.
The
interface is simple enough to understand. Once you get the hang of it,
everything is displayed in front of you and readily accessible. However, the
controls within the interface can be clunky at times. Even in the tutorial you
may be instructed to select a unit and there seems to be no real way to do that.
They will not highlight in the unit selection box, nor can you pick the unit
displayed on the preparation battlefield.
As you begin
a campaign, you are asked to start and name a new army. Doing so erases any
previous army you have. You are handicapped by the denari (funds) you have as
you build an army, so starting anew means that you have to really pay attention
to strategy more than simply throwing numbers at an enemy.
The battle
preplanning includes matching up your units against enemy units. There is an
overview of the battle conditions (open field, rocky slope and so on) and when
you are ordered your line the way you wish, you can then proceed to the battle
phase. Here the gameplay is precisely what one might expect. You select a unit
and right click to order them into motion. There are icons in the interface
along the bottom that will give you some options, but you essentially plan an
attack order and then carry it out. You might want to send in a main unit,
holding a second in reserve to see if the enemy unit flanking the defensive unit
you are attacking moves to attack your unit, exposing their flank to a unit you
are holding back.
The game,
regardless of the campaign you undertake, has a soft learning curve. The
difficulty is progressive.
Great
Battles of Rome does not do anything particularly new within the RTS genre. This
is a game that would have been decent in the late 1990s, but looks antiquated by
today’s standards. While not a particularly innovative game, this might serve as
an entry point for anyone who has yet to play an RTS.
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Gameplay: 6.5
This game has
basic gameplay elements. The interface is serviceable and the load times are
short. While the game does seem to track a timeline for Roman domination and
conquest, the way that the campaigns are set up, you get a quick overview as you
enter battle. This game focuses on the fighting rather than a Roman
leadership/strategic world plan.
Graphics: 5.8
These graphics
would have been fine seven years or so ago. Not only are the sprite-based
characters blocky, but the animations are repetitive and, at times, awkward.
Sound: 6.0
The musical score
is nothing to write home about and the sounds of battle are what one would
expect from the game.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Concept: 5.5
The game is
simple and graphically not up to today’s standards.
Multiplayer: N/A
The game does
allow for network head-to-head play, but during the times playing the game for
the review, there was no one online to play against.
Overall: 6.2
The battle
graphics get the job done, but everything else is a wash. The game is simple to
play and though it does try to complicate matters, does a poor job – which
reveals the simplistic nature of this title. The game is a cerebral exercise and
one that you need to undertake even in the early stages of a campaign. You will
need to plan ahead, just as one would in chess, so that when you encounter
tougher enemies down the road, you have the units ready to fight. In the overall
analysis, though, Great Battles of Rome is an introductory point in the RTS
genre and a dated one at that.
