Grand Ages Rome Campaign

[Qiana Thieklin]

Thesingle player campaign takes place during the final years of the Roman Republic during the time of the First Triumvirate. The player undertakes missions for his/her family, establishing a reputation as a statesman and leader, as well as working under historical figures like Marcus Tullius Cicero, Mark Antony, Pompey Magnus, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. Certain historical events are portrayed, such as slave uprising led by Spartacus and the crossing of the Rubicon. At one point the player must choose between siding with Julius Caesar or Pompey Magnus, with missions playing out to wiping out the Optimates or building armies against the Populares.

Starting out, players create a character, choosing their name, gender and portrait. They then choose which family to associate their character with, selecting between the Flavii, Valerii, Julii, Aemilii, or Lucii, each with unique traits that benefit the player in military, civic or economic ways.

The focus of the game is on macromanagement. Each mission involves building a Roman colony in various locations around the Roman Republic, with certain requirements and bonus objectives to successfully complete the mission. A colony includes various food production buildings, such as wheat and pig farms, bakeries and butchers; material production buildings such as lumber camps and brick works; religious temples; and various types of housing for different citizen classes (Plebs, Patricians, and Equites). Emphasis is placed on efficiency and employment, ensuring that all buildings are staffed by the appropriate worker class.

Resources are based on a "flow" economy, in which the player does not actually accumulate a stockpile of resources, but rather develops the infrastructure to construct and maintain buildings. To gain more resources, players may opt to build communities around the map, engage in trade, or purchase estates, which remain with the character for the duration of the campaign.

Players must keep the citizens content through satisfactory levels of food, religion, and entertainment. Building benefits work on a radius system, with buildings providing their bonuses or needing other materials within a certain distance. The player may construct significant monuments for large or global bonuses, such as the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, and Pantheon. When players fail to satisfy the needs of their citizens, crime and disease may spread and homes may be deserted, which may lead to a chain reaction in the shortage of goods and services.

Missions will often focus on military skirmishes, allowing the player to recruit, train and command groups of units such as hastati, triarii, and auxilia. Battles usually occur on a small scale with a basic experience and morale system. Often, campaign maps will feature barbarian villages or war camps, which can be subjugated for additional resources or razed for money and slaves.

Grand Ages: Rome received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4] IGN said that there was little difference from traditional city builders and limited combat control.[7] GameSpot said the game was another generic city-builder set in ancient Rome.[5]

Raise massive armies, embark on epic campaigns to expand the Empire, and take control of the known world! Engage in grand-scale city building and create magnificent cities with creativity and control like never before.

Raise massive armies, embark on epic campaigns to expand the Empire, and take control of the known world! Engage in grand-scale city building and create magnificent cities with creativity and control like never before. Intuitive controls make it easy to launch bone-crushing combat missions and manage every aspect of your thriving civilization.

After decades in exile, your family name has been all but forgotten in Rome. But, the departure of the tyrant Sulla has changed everything, and Rome stands on the brink of a new era. Sides must be chosen as Caesar and Pompey battle for control of the Republic. The stage is set for you to gain power and influence over one of the greatest civilizations in history.

Take command of 18 different military units, including naval command, elephant cavalry, and mercenary forces. Recruit citizens of Rome, draft captured enemy forces, and pay foreign squads for their special skills. Defend and expand the Empire by land and sea with exciting RTS gameplay.

Rub shoulders with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and more in a non-linear historical campaign featuring over 40 missions. Choose your own fate as you create and destroy alliances with more than 20 different historical figures. Celebrate your victories by erecting legendary monuments such as the Coliseum, Circus Maximus, the Pantheon, and more.

Flow resources eliminate tedious micromanagement, giving you the freedom to create thriving cities with multi-leveled economic systems. Information overlays visualize the city economy and satisfaction of the people on every location on the map.

You would need to have the smarts of a Cicero to keep track of all the Roman city-building games released in the last few years. Haemimont Games certainly isn't making this task any easier with Grand Ages: Rome. This generic city-builder set during the waning days of the Roman Republic looks and plays almost exactly like its ancestors; good luck telling the difference between the game and kissing cousins such as Caesar IV, CivCity: Rome, and, more to the point, Haemimont's own Glory of the Roman Empire and Imperium Romanum. Although there isn't anything outrageously wrong with this rehash of an old formula, it would be hard to think of a game that needed to be released this year less than this one.

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