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An RTS game with style is still an RTS game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 50 / 52
Date: April 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Praetorians is a real-time strategy game in which you command companies of troops (Romans, Gauls, Egyptians) rather than individual units and it concentrates on battle with almost no resource gathering (you must "recruit" troops from captured villages.)

There's plenty of cool stuff like legionaries that can form the Roman shield wall ("testudo"), birds that fly out of forests alerting you of approaching enemy troops, ambushes in grasslands, desert battlefields, elevation effects, 3D graphics (with a limited camera angle though), scouts with hawk/wolf spotters, catapults, ballista, axe-throwing Gaul infantry, Nubian archers, Balearic slingers, camel archers,etc.

However, as much as I'm enjoying both the campaign and skirmish mode, I have to point out this is not a wargame. There is little time (in the skirmish mode particularly) for thoughtful maneuvering: you must attack at once! It's fun, but I never feel as though I was really a general or consul or whatever the term is. It's still RTS and if you're enjoying watching your archers shoot down a Gaul warrior company from the safety of a hill, you're probably wasting valuable clicking time.

This is not Medieval: Total War in which you can maneuver companies like a general. It's a bit closer in spirit to Empire Earth or Age of Empires in combat terms - only here you fight with companies rather than mobs of men.

I'm really enjoying it for lighthearted quick gameplay, but I wish it were a little less frantic, a little less like Age of Empires and a little more like Medieval: Total War.

The skirmish mode is fun (unfortunately we get only about 20 different maps), multiplayer could be cool (haven't got my friend to buy it yet), and the campaign is decent (only played 5 missions so far). The AI appears to be strong and doesn't seem to cheat by unfairly building faster or by being able to see all your troop locations. It may appear that way but I've saved the games and watched the replays and it just seems to play better (than me anyway). It organized its units better, captured more villages, recruited more troops, scouted intensively (and didn't notice when I captured a village unless its scouts saw me - it's troops marched past out of sight).

(I think it's a bit harsh of one reviewer to say this game is only for kids or newcomers to RTS games. If you realize that Praetorians is not trying to be a realistic wargame but rather a light-hearted RTS then you're more likely to enjoy the game on its terms.)

The best tactical game of all times!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: March 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Guys, I have to admit - I'm not a big time tactical strategy fan, but this game totally got me on the hook. I like Starcraft, Warcraft III and Age of Empires, but couldn't imagine that a game like Praetorians can grab me and never let me go.
I've been playing the multiplayer skirmish demo since it came out - I've never played a demo version of the game for more than an hour!!! It's AMAZING. Plain amazing. The strategy is beautiful, all the terrain tricks, everything you could expect from a real battle. ... - the troop building model there is so beautiful that I can hardly type these words now, I want to get back to the game. I love it!!! If you love any kind of RTS games, this is a MUST in your collection!

The Best PC Game out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: December 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I definately recommend this game, which can be played on three different levels. It's an exciting game which not only has 24 chapters at 3 levels, but also a dozen skirmish games to pit your skill against the CPU. If you are serious about realism and into ancient warfare, then Praetorians is the game for you. One other great thing about this game. You can rebuild destroyed units and with that add different fighting units once a certain plateau of wins is acquired. It will keep you glued to your seat as well as keep your attention on the screen.

One of the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

My wife purchased this game for my B-day. So far, I really like the game.
I like playing Warcraft, Starcraft, and C&C series. However, I was getting bored of managing resources (e.g. gold, timber, food)
I was looking for a game with more strategy rather than resource building.
I remember the first time I played Myth and I like the concept of the game. Praetorian is a mixture of Myth and Warcraft. There is less resource managment and more strategy on fighting. Praetorians' graphics, sounds and game play is top notch.

Better then you'd think

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: August 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

With a lot of games in competition on the shelf, this game should stand out as one of the best. Hardly trying to conquer every genre along the way, it instead concentrates on the period when wars were fought with arrows and swords. This game can also be used as a teaching tool on how warfare was in the past, as well as how to plan battles based on superior numbers and superior strategy. If you like the whole concept of conquering towns, and recruiting soliders from that town to attack the next town, and need a slight break every once in awhile from resource management, this is the game for you.

Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: December 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

"Praetorians" is a great RTS game! Unlike "Age of Empires", Praetorians allows soldiers to enter thick woods, ambush out of grasslands, and recruit soldiers at captured villages instead of having to build a barracks and wait a lifetime for your soldiers to be created.

The units are interesting such as a barbarian (barbarian meaning Gual) axemen that, first, throws an axe at the enemy and charges into battle immeadietly after.Archers don't take forever to kill an enemy unit, (in Age of Empires it takes most archers atleast fiffteen shots to kill an enemy soldier)it usualy only takes them about nine shots.

The graphics are realistic!Such as trees that are the right size compared to the units and rain hitting water, making a small splash.

The AI is a little poor. Units travel in groups, and if a group gets to fighting hand to hand with the enemy, than it is impossible to get that group to retreat.

This game is great! That's why I decided to give it five stars!

Praetorians is a pretty much must!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: April 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Although this game is great, I would give it a 4.5 stars if I could. First the good: Beautiful graphics (the scenery is almost like real), the campaign has a story (unlike some RTS games that have no campaign or story), skirmish mode is fun but sometimes too quick, great gameplay, and it runs nicely. The bad: The units are sometimes kind of dumb (they stand and do nothing sometimes when they are told to go somewhere), the unit graphics could have been a little more sharp, and there aren't many units (this is not really that bad but I would have liked more units; there are 9 different combat units for the Romans). Don't let the bad things sway you from buying the game. Unless you are a real critic than the bad things would make you very mad.

Many sleepless nights later...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is an amazing game. The detail is super and the gameplay is straight forward and engaging. The level of control is not in the same level as Age of Empires or Warcraft - but if you're playing these kinds of games you really need not be concerned with farms and food and all that other Simcity kind of stuff. This game will give you what you're looking for - plenty of war, plenty of units and the quickest time into battle. If you've been around at the time of Broderbund's Ancient Art of War (1987-88) - you'll definitely like this game because it has many elements of that original game and amzing graphics to boot.

Superbly immense

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: February 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Some have speculated about whether this game was of brilliant quality. Well, they were dead right. The graphics and gameplay of Praetorians are absolutely Phenomenal. If you are a fan of any sort of war game at all, then you will love this to bits. It has panache about that is like no other game I have ever played. Absolutely superb!

A sweet game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game was over all very fun. The graphics are pretty good and the gameplay is awesome. It is a game that will last you a good long time. It is one of those games that you will be stuck on a level and come back and win and get sucked back into it. You can command the egyptians, the gauls or the romans. The campaign is very fun. The skirmish is very fun. You can make up to eight different computer players and choose who is an ally and who is an enemy. I reccomend it.

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