Most conspicuously, this is a much more stable game than Imperium Romanum, which crashed continually on release last year. So the new boss is the same as the old boss, with a few notable changes. This is a fascinating period of Roman history, given that it saw the rise of Julius Caesar and a nasty civil war that led to the creation of the Empire, but the era is much less interesting in city-building form these days because it has been beaten into the ground by game after game. The primary mode of play is still a solo campaign in which you manage the development of various cities across the Roman Republic in the decades immediately after the abdication of the dictator Sulla. Grand Ages: Rome is really just a slightly reworked and patched-up Imperium Romanum with a new moniker, new box, new multiplayer, and a full retail price tag. Predecessors Glory of the Roman Empire and Imperium Romanum, which arrived in stores in late 2006 and early 2008, respectively, are so similar to this game that it would be a challenge for even their developers to tell the trio apart. You can build only so many forums and raise so many legions before you get bored.Īctually, Grand Ages: Rome has pretty much already been released twice. The glories of Rome are becoming a little tarnished. 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. 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. Haemimont Games certainly isn't making this task any easier with Grand Ages: Rome. 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.

Manual grand ages rome