Verdict: Illegitimi non carborundum, cries Dan Emery as he defends his Roman Empire.
Way back in the dim and distant past, when an 'official D&D licence' meant that a firm was able to make authentic pewter figurines, shoulder pads were fashionable and everyone lived under the threat of atomic annihilation, games were open-ended. MUDs had you endlessly questing, Space Invaders kept coming and Elite was the ultimate 'game-with-no-end'. In fact, even when you were rated 'Elite', and had eleven billion credits, a Fer-De-Lance with all the trimmings, and a cargo full of narcotics, tobacco and slaves, you carried on playing, hoping to nail a few more Thargoids. However, over time, games have changed. Players wanted missions, challenges, campaign modes and, of course, a plot. Every storyline had to have an ending, which meant that games had a finite life, and an audience gagging for a sequel at the end of it. Even Sid Meier's Civilization, which chronicled the entire evolution of modern history, ended when you flew off to Alpha Centauri.
Dorkus Malorkus
When you first start playing Imperium Romanum, you immediately feel that there's something missing. There's no campaign, no ranking system to scale and no map to conquer. It's like getting into a car and finding there's no steering wheel - unnerving to say the least. Instead, the game serves up a number of maps on which you have to build, manage and defend your Roman city (Imperium Romanum, as you probably guessed, is Latin for the Roman Empire).
There are 16 levels, which can be played in one of two ways. 'Scenario mode' is a sandbox-style play mode in which you're given a handful of denarii, a small quantity of resources and left to your own devices when it comes to building the city. The other way - and this is about as close to a guided game as it gets - is a series of in-game challenges that you encounter as you expand your existing city. These can range from very basic tasks, such as 'build 10 houses' to more challenging missions, such as 'defeat a barbarian village' or 'defend the city from an invasion'. Players with the highest score can upload them to an online hall of fame. And that's it.
Visually, the game is a mix of old-school graphics and a rather nifty three-dimensional game engine. Imperium Romanum is cut from the same cloth as Caesar, Glory of the Roman Empire and other God games of antiquity, although (thankfully) it doesn't appear to be dogged with bugs and random crashes to the desktop. As with most other games of this ilk, the underlying tile nature soon becomes obvious. We know the Romans were fond of long straight roads, but even they were known to add the occasional bend. However, as the game only lets you make joins at 90 degrees, your finished city can end up looking more like downtown Manhattan than Pompeii.
Despite the linear mapping and LEGO-esque building mechanism, the game looks rather pretty, especially when you zoom down to street level and watch your citizens going about their daily grind. Of course, this assumes that they have a daily grind to go about - not only is it your job to build the city, but you also have to keep it stocked up with supplies. Your peons can't just live on fresh air: they need food, wine, cloth, clay and protection. Naturally, none of these elements grows or creates itself, so you'll need to build enough houses to attract immigrants to your new city. Of course, this influx of new people means that they'll need more resources, and more houses. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The other aspect to this is security; you have to contend with fire, riots and, most importantly, protect the masses from the occasional barbaric horde that's hell-bent on knocking you back to the Stone Age. You'll therefore need to build barracks, archer halls and stables, along with defensive walls and gates, which may - if you're lucky - buy you enough time to rally your forces. The developer could have arranged the action using a mini-Total War style of combat - the graphics engine is certainly powerful enough - but instead, the game is a retro-throwback too far, with basic, and at times comical fighting with everyone moving in synch. Ultimately, the combat is a missed opportunity.
Conclusion Finalum
What you have in Imperium Romanum is a sedentary 'Sim-City of Antiquity' that does a reasonably good job of providing the entire City Prefect experience, albeit on a very rigid X/Y axis. Unfortunately, the combat is lacklustre, a little more variety in the buildings wouldn't have gone amiss, and the only time your heart rate will rise even slightly is when the price of clay drops two denarii. Nevertheless, however, it's a worthy and reasonably agreeable effort.
If the game were priced at less than £20, we'd advise you to 'give it a punt'. However, £30 seems a bit much to pay - the game is fine, but not brilliant.
If we're being brutally honest, the developer, Haemimont Games, is merely reinventing the chariot wheel. Wait for the price to drop a tad and, if you have the time and patience, there's an interesting game waiting to emerge - perfect for young children, the elderly and anyone recovering from a coronary arrest. Adrenalin junkies should look elsewhere for their kicks.
