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A Rookie Game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 18
Date: March 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Everyone knows that a good strategy game involves somewhat of a steep learning curve and an advanced difficulty level. This game is simply a click and attack real time strategy that does not involve any heavy thinking. In fewer words it's the bunnie slope for youngsters that are just discovering the thrill of these games. In conclusion I feel the word strategy is innapropriate altogether! True strategy players will want to return the product, rookies will like it because they'll feel moderately challenged by it.

Waste of Time and Money!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 17
Date: October 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Graphics are very poor. You cannot control Game speed and cannot pause the Game. Worst of all you cannot control your Units.

This is supposed to be all about Units, not managing an economy so as to produce Units. You just fight. The strategy lies in using the right Unit in the right place, but because of the poor Game interface and the horrible bottleneck Battle Maps , it is chaos once the fighting starts. Your units run all over each other and you end up with your Archers charging out in front.

Add the fact that if you are a Single Player going up against the Computer, it is useless to scout the Dense Dark Forests because your computer generated enemy will simply disappear and pop up in another place. There are even arrows flying at you which do not come from any enemy unit. They are computer generated.

There are Walkthrus online, but no viable Community Chat/Help because no one participates.

In short, save your money! I just ordered Rome: Total War which is what I should have done in the first place!

Seriously flawed AI and interface killed the game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 21
Date: May 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It is an excellent concept completely spoiled by bad design!

In the heat of the battle an extra click on already selected group can select ALL of you troups and instead a single move/attack you have all your army moving to a position. In this time the CPU kills you with ease.
There is no EASY way to tell the arches to shoot a specific target. Especially if there are 10 enemy troops rushing towards you in a pack. As a result they don't shoot the critical ladders but some stupid axeman. Short while after that you have all the ladders on your walls and in a minute all the enemy army is in your camp. Even if you survive this then it is real pain to target the ladders on the walls. You can spend a minute to shoot down one and the CPU does not wait that much.
THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME!

this games sucks

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 40
Date: December 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

this game sucks so much dont buy this its full of glitches and stuff people can take over your stuff even if your in them and destroy your villages it take 20000000 words to describe how bad this game is in summary dont waste your money on this game buy something anything else!

Pretty but simple

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: May 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I had this game for almost a week before I sold it to EB Games (when they were still buying used PC games). If you're looking for more of Rome: Total War just get the expansion pack, not this. The graphics are nice, but the gameplay is so limited that I felt like I was watching someone else play. The units were way too small and the controls weren't very fluid. Having never been a fan of stragedy games before, I went on the prowl for some after Medieval: Total War but found that Total War games are the only ones I like. Some others like the technical aspects of campaigning in other games, but I'm more of a battle map player. So if you loved Total War, stick with it. Stay away from similiar games.

Pray to Reruns

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 31 / 40
Date: March 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Once again I have been duped into buying a game based upon the advice of so-called consumer reviews only to discover that the game fails to live up to the hyperbole. Lets be brutally honest, Praetorians is a game which is marketed to appeal to the Medieval Total war fans but delivers a product more akin to Age of Empires. If you are about seven years old and/or have a basically juvenile sense of wonder then surely this game was tailor made for you. With the exception of the even more awful Platoon PC game this has to rate as my biggest gaming disappointment to date. The pundits for this mediocre yawner glory over the fact that the game has no resource management thus freeing you up to do lots of scrapping. This is basically true but on the down side the maps are so badly designed that manouvering units in anything other than a gaggle is practically impossible. Units will often blunder into one another and become entangled, this is not conducive to a happy gaming experience and the battle has not even been joined yet. But this is pretty much the essence of the game. It (bottlenecked maps)force you into waging war between individual units rather than the grand battles of the ancient kingdoms which were set piece affairs on open ground. Units are created in villages/towns which sounds fine but once again we are dealing with an abstract depiction - a few huts and structures surrounded by a simplified pallisade and peopled by a few sprites which bustle about to simulate an occupation of sorts. Oh did I mention that this village/town is just slightly larger than a unit of infantry? Must have slipped every reviewer's mind I guess.Even creating units is a puzzlement. Just create a barracks and then instruct your leaders to train this or that and voila there they are-a couple of minutes later. Although some units require that your leader sacrifice honour points to create-Oh did I forget to mention that, must have slipped my mind....Honour is won in the slaying of enemies. In short there is an artificiality pervading the game which rather than enhancing gameplay reduces it to a farce. The Ai prefers to operate with a mob mentality - so much easier than trying to reproduce the model of efficiency and co-ordination which was the Roman Legionary system. Unlike the Total War series which relies upon maps with realistic terrain, Praetorians has opted for an even more simplified version of Age of Empires (the original one at that). Even the camera view is severely limiting because you can only see in line of sight which is not very far in this abstract representation of the real world. The map is revealed - not blacked out- thank heaven for small mercies. Pulling the camera back to take in anything more than a top down view of a small area is impossible-pretty much like playing the game. This even extends to the lack of ability to angle the camera - something I haven't seen in a game like this since I don't know when. PC gamers deserve so much more than a retro update on a much worn out formula given the relative expense of a new purchase - $40 or more for most, including this one. In mere value for the dollar I would be hard pressed to say that at half the price I paid for it ($20) that it is a worthwhile purchase. I could go on but just move along folks - nothing to see here....

At least the sound of marching sandals is cool....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 22
Date: April 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Since when did Gauls throw hand axes? I thought that was the Franks...a Germanic people if I remember correctly who came along some time later and while on the subject, I'm pretty sure Roman infantry didn't wear their cloaks into battle. I guess I'm a stickler for details sometimes and when those details get kinda blury and 'wierd' I lose interest. I believe some of the designing of the game might have been influenced more by fantasy game programers than from any historical data. Troop control is disapointing as they seem to charge off happily after enemy formations against orders then are non responsive to commands at the vital moment...strange! There is no detailed unit control capablity really. Once contact with enemy troops is made the game seems to play the combat for you. Kinda takes the fun stuff right out of it! The script and dialogue delivery is sad indeed. Take a look at the 'CLOSE COMBAT' series of games for attention to details with dialogue and sound effects particularly for comparison. Praetorians lacks the same homework. Well at least you get to march your Legions around the countryside for a while and watch them!

Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: April 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because my friend said it was excellent, however he's never been a very good gamer, I thought the no resource management idea was ok, but it ruins half the point of an RTS, and strategy is all about careful management of resources to fund your army, because, if you dont have any resources, you dont have an army ;-) I'd say ok for someone who doesn't really know how to play a REAL RTS, but if your an expert, I'd save up for Warcraft 3:The Frozen Throne, and if you haven't got the normal Warcraft 3, go buy it!

Like Caesar 1,2 &3 series but definitely not Rome:Total War

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 23
Date: April 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have played many strategy games: Red Alert, Starcraft,
Star Wars, Caesar 3 to name a few.
I have even tried this game on the demo level, while
playing another game called Medieval: Total War. However,
that was before I knew another game coming out in November, Rome:Total War. To be honest with you all, I am more of a
'deep-thinking;micro-managing' type of player. I still
recommend Praetorians, since it is quite similar (not the
same) to the Caesar series. The gameplay is still good, and
the time line is also similar to Rome:Total War. But, after
Shogun and Medieval, I am currently hooked to 3D battles
and deep micro-management. So therefore, if you:
1) like Romans but prefer less management and straightforward
stuff, Praetorian is for you.

2) like Romans but would want to experience the
'Gladiator' Roman general Maximus style of crushing
barbarians in 3D battles, then go for it.

I miss playing Caesar 3, but Praetorian is the next phase
and so is Rome:Total War. Choose according to your taste,
or choose both if you want. I am on a tight budget ;)

PAX ROMANA

Great strategy game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: May 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had experience of RTS games (Total Annihilation, Age of Empires and Empire Earth) and after I bought Praetorians and played the first time, I found it very very interesting.
It's not the typical RTS game where you have to produce a lot of units and simply attack the enemy (like for example TA kingdoms or others) but you have to think in a strategic way before moving and attacking the enemy. In this game, mission by mission, you learn how to balance your troops and how to move in the territory. It's important the fact that troops can interact with territory (hills, woods). You can hide your troops, you can stay higher than the enemy and then attack you enemy suddenly (for example,if your bowmen are in a higher position they will hurt more seriously the enemy). In some missions you have to lay siege to a fortess with war machines.
To sum up, I think it's a good game, if you want to enjoy yourself and live the experience of "De Bello Gallico"!

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