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SEMPER EADEM...yes, basically EADEM!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: March 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If truth be told, City-Management has been a staled game genre for years. Sure, graphics get improved, physics get augmented, various minor creative strokes get added; yet, the basic concept stays the same: build your city, keep the majority healthy and happy, maintain your finances in the black. In an attempt to spike this with a little RTS, skirmishes have been added lately. IMPERIUM ROMANUM is one of those cross-pollinating attempts.

Graphically the game is very well made. Zoom in or out and the detailed textures do justice to all of the buildings and environmental elements - whereas, the sounds follow the zooming level, getting louder as approaching. The citizens, though, feel like animated plastic toys, and seem out of sync with the rest of the imagery.
What I found particularly disappointing (for a game released in 2008), was the...sudden appearance of the structures getting built! I mean, if (7 years ago!) EMPEROR OF DUNE managed to have the buildings progress on screen, why do I see a worker hammering on the ground the foundations one moment and the finished, say, city-wall segment appear the next?

Rome was not built in a day; it will take something like...10-12 hours to complete its first run, with little replay value. Unless of course one is a Roman era aficionado.

Finally, IMPERIUM ROMANUM tries to incorporate some RTS elements in the form of skirmishes. Tries and fails. These skirmishes feel like a rushed afterthought and offer little to the overall gaming experience. Because an army has to be maintained, special buildings have to be built (barracks, archeries etc), on top of the usual city utility necessities. Likely, the interface is simplified and intelligent and this makes controlling the game easy. In the end, though, it is not worth the extra hassle.

Overall, IMPERIUM ROMANUM is a good City-Management game that has little new to offer besides improved graphics and a well below average RTS.
A chimera of limited success.

Definite Buy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I had the demo of this game and really enjoyed the demo so I decided to purchase the full game. Definitely not disappointed with it. great for the history buff in the gamer. Also makes you think of strategy a bit and how you will handle certain things.

Quo vadis?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ave friends and citizens!

This is a good game, but leaves you wondering, where is it going?

Gone are the days of Caesar II, when the city and province screens were separate, and even the military was managed separately.

I think that if a product, like Imperium, could improve on the best qualities (province management and military) of Caesar II, then you would have a perfect marriage for Imperium, city building and RTS.

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