If Ancient Rome was this Boring, no Wonder it Fell
Written: Mar 16 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: free from bugs, cheap
Cons: crummy gameplay, unchallenging, long levels, repetitive music score
The Bottom Line: If you liked "SimCity" or "Populous," check this game out! If you're looking to branch out after StarCraft, AOE II, or Civ II, don't waste your time or money.
Caesar III opened my eyes to the possibility that video game marketers might be an unscrupulous lot of scraggs. The lies I was told concerning this game [on the box, no less!] convinced me to take a little gamble and purchase what looked not terribly compelling, but worth a Saturday afternoon or two. To whit--the box encouraged me to believe that I'd be building cities and fighting battles against enemies; something like Civ II save with better graphics, more control over the economy-building aspect of things, some rts for battle sequences, and all set in ancient Rome. Worth, at the very least, a *look* at $12.99, right?
I estimate I could've bought somewhere in the region of 17 Snickers bars for that money, Snickers enough to keep me alive and well for a month. Caesar III was, without doubt, the second most disappointing game I've ever purchased [the first being Nintendo's first TMNT game, which was out around the time what came to be Nintendo's *second* TMNT game was in the arcades, and when I bought the first, I thought I was getting the second].
To re-set the stage: I have, recently, purchased this game expecting either something in the vein of a Civ II, or perhaps a Warcraft II. I never played Caesar or Caesar II, and have little to go on save what they've written about themselves on the back of the box. I do not know at this time that what they've written on the box amounts to so many half-truths and bald-faced lies.
The first mission set my heart a-flutter, and put my stomach to the churn. Given money to develop land? Given building options? Encouraged to attract settlers, and reach a certain population? What th--I hadn't bought this game to play "Populous" or "SimCity." I hated those games. I'd bought it to kick enemy booty across the world, or at least into Africa. No such luck. So I did my job as a Provincial Officer of the Empire, attracting settlers, managing disputes, collecting taxes and [ugh] building barracks or stables for 'units' of troops with which to combat rebels or feisty tribesmen. You could also get javalineers But feh, what a brutal letdown when compared to my experience playing Warcraft II! RTS? Yeah, of the most primitive kind. Like, if they have 2 units of troops, I should have 3, or 4 to be safe. Then I'll win. Come *on*! So there I was, stuck with this stupid game, finding different ways to plan my city, manage it, drive off enemies. God, what a fruitless waste of a dime.
Having said that, I'm sure that for those people who enjoy this type of game [anyone who's ever bought a Sim title, for example], Caesar III won't disappoint. I was never a big fan [can you tell?] of the "Sim"/"Populous"-style computer/video-game, as it does nothing for me. If you're an avowed fan of the genre, skip to the technical part of this review and glean what you can from my observations on graphics, sound, etc. If not, this game won't convince you otherwise, I promise.
Gameplay is straightforward. You play "God" to an extent [at least, that's your perspective], building or razing city resources according to your whim [which usually depends on the victory conditions]. You build houses to attract settlers, provide housing to workers, and drive property values up or down depending; there are several sorts of trades you can set your people on from gathering/processing grapes into wine, wheat into grain, clay into pottery, iron into weapons. You need weapons to raise city defense units. You may, as the campaign progresses [I chose the provincial route, don't know how it works for city], trade your resources with other empires for coin or needed resources; this is something that becomes a chief element in strategic decision-making later in the game. As your population increases you want tax collectors hitting the street and keeping down crime [as well, unfortunately, as property values], people to put out the fires, and engineers to keep buildings from collapsing. Entertainers keep people happy. Temples to gods keep gods happy, which can result in various blessings [rather than curses] to fall on your people. Grainaries to store grain. Aqueducts to supply your people/city with water. And so on. Whoop-dee-do. In WarCraft II, the Church upgrades knights to paladins. Now *that's* a game.
Sorry. I needed a break from Caesar.
As the provincial campaign progresses you're invested with more power and responsibility. You fight more difficult battles, and protect larger cities. This 'stimulous/reward' aspect to the game didn't work very well on me as I neither felt particularly stimulated to protect my thankless citizens, nor rewarded when I had to deal with more of them. You know how in all the movies about ancient Rome you see the Imperial Romans as these decadent, hateful slobs? If the population *I* had to deal with is any indication, I think I understand the Patrician prejudice against plebs. Always comin' or goin', never a rhyme or reason. Speaking of which, gameplay could [and did] get surreal, as when civilian figures would appear outside a building with a rucksack slung over one shoulder and proclaim that there was no room for them when I had half my city standing empty. Was this the Ancient Roman version of "I'm just going to get another drink?" Or one of those phenomena for which there's no accounting? You decide.
As in SimCity you commission works by clicking on a graphic menu, which shows both the type and cost of a particular building. This function is simple, intuitive, and while not original, quite invaluable.. The game's learning curve is straightforward and not that steep; once you get the basics down and defeat one level you move on to another, more difficult level that presents different challenges. I thought the idea of two campaigns (one set on the frontier and one in Rome itself) was pretty neat--it ensured that the lessons learned on one campaign would *help* with the the other, but you'd still get a whole new experience. Unless you hated the whole concept of Caesar III, as I did, in which case you'll end up smashing the CD in disgust, or selling it on eBay.
Graphics were decent. There were several graphics for civilians, which gave the city a more textured, life-like feel [rather than one simple graphic for all the blighters]. The buildings, as in SimCity, grew as they developed, from tents to shanties to tenements to villas [it was bang or bust back in ol' Rome, lemme tellya.] and all the variations thereon. The colors were done well, too, for the most part. The enemies were a purple that went well with the grape and wine purple, and that looked nice, too. In fact, everything went together fairly well save *your* troops. Imperial Red never looked so drab as when on your dusty Provincial troopers. You almost want them to die against the enemy, but if you've half a brain there's little chance of that indeed! When a soldier dies, he decays so that a big battlefield will be littered with decomposing skeletons. Too little, too late, I sez.
The sound was not much to write home about. The music score was repetitive. I don't know if it changed for the Rome campaign, but it didn't during the Provincial campaign. And I wanted it to. Sound effects were better, but I'm not that impressed with good city sound effects nowadays; one good thing was a realistic alarm bell when fire broke out. To supplement the message box that would pop up.
One last thing. I know three women who have played and enjoyed Caesar III, indeed, who stake their legitimacy as computer game playahs on games such as these. Do with this nugget of information what you like. To sum up: women and people that enjoyed "Sim" games should check this game out. People used to playing RTS juggernauts such as StarCraft or AOE II, or good strategy games like Civ II, Alpha Centauri or Lords of the Realm should avoid this stinker like the plague.
Check out my other items ! ********** CAESAR III game for the PC Brand new, factory sealed! Windows 95/98/Me/XP/Vista compatible Fun and educational! ...More at eBay
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