Imperator Rome is the next grand strategy game developed and published by Paradox Interactive, the leader in grand strategy. Imperator Rome is a Roman-era twist on the classic like-styled games Paradox has released in the past. Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings come to mind when looking back on games Paradox has made that may have inspired the development of their newest game. Imperator uses the basic framework of most grand strategy games but with added features. The game features character management, diverse populations, military tactics, and different forms of government. Take a seat at the helm of a nation and watch the beautiful looking map change as you mold it, changing history forever.

This type of grand strategy is based around country management. The game uses real time, meaning that things are happening unless you pause the game, unlike a turn-based game.  You, as a player, are given control of a country, every part of it, including internal politics and policies and how they affect the population under your rule. Complete military control is given to you, with the power to move troops to wherever you want in your country. Diplomatic options are given to you: the power to trade, declare war, build friendships, and alliances. Grand strategy titles like this give complete control as a ruler to the player, and in this time period, give them the ability to shape borders and the future of the world.   

The year 304 BCE seems like someone took the first number they could think of and slapped it into the game as its starting date. In the game, dates are shown in both BCE as well as the Roman year system, AUC. AUC stands for Ab Urbe Condita and means “from the founding of the city,” referring to the founding of Rome. It’s great little pieces of historical detail like that that make the game feel immersive while only being a really big map on a screen with armies scattered about. It’s a pretty lively part of history, whether it’s referred to as 304 BCE or 450 AUC.

In the game, Rome is a republic with tributary states surrounded around it, poised to expand and take control of territory controlled by the historical enemies of the republic. Gaul, Iberia, Germania Britannia, and Scandinavia are covered in small tribes fighting amongst themselves to become bigger. The superpowers of the time (all of which are playable) include the vast Carthaginian Empire in Northern Africa, Iberia, and Sardinia. To the east lie the great successor empires of the empire that the famed Alexander the Great conquered and made part of his empire: Egypt, Macedon, Phrygia, and the Seleucid Empire. Even farther to the east lies the Maurya Empire located in India. Options are almost limitless regarding what type of country you chose to play and how you chose to affect the neighbors.

Noble families have played a pivotal role throughout history, and in Imperator, they do too. Countries have noble families that can have many or few members. These family members can be recruited to leadership positions in the country. Not everyone is created equal; leaders have points in four different categories making them more valuable for certain jobs than others. There are several positions within the government that advisors can be appointed to. Each character is evaluated according their ability in martial, charisma, and zeal (outlined by white).  Countries have a surplus of each of these powers with slightly different names: military power, civic power, oratory power, and religious power(outlined in black). They are used to complete all actions undertaken by that country’s government.

Their Martial relates to the ability to command troops, giving the commanded armies large advantages against enemies. Finesse represents the ability to comprehend things that have high levels of detail, and as such, it is beneficial for researchers and government workers. Governors must be appointed a province to ensure stability and loyalty, if either stability or loyalty fall too low rebels may rise up.  Charisma is as it sounds: how charismatic someone is, and it is important when dealing with other countries. Zeal is the stat related to religion and is used to convert populations(or pops as they are referred to in game) to the state religion and to gain stability. Stability can be between negative 3 and positive three and gives positive percentage bonuses to national tax and research points if stability is above zero, or debuffs if stability is lower than zero.

The world is not empty; populations exist in every city and are made up of four different types of social strata. Each pop belongs to a certain religious group as well as culture group. Keeping all of your subjects happy so they don’t cause any trouble is key. The four different types of strata are citizen, freeman, tribesmen, and slave, citizens being the highest on the top of society right under the actual nobility. This means that they don’t trouble themselves with trivial things such as serving in the military or paying taxes. Instead, they find themselves trying to make life easier, adding research points to progress technology levels. Citizens also find a use for the finer things in life like silk, wine, and all the other great things located in the ancient world. It’s because of this reason they also contribute to trade or commerce value, as it’s called by Imperator. Commerce value is one of the sources of income for countries. Freemen are the artisans and craftsmen of the world and contribute to the part of the population that has the ability to become troops. Manpower is a surplus that is added to monthly; the surplus is pulled out of when troops are recruited. Tribesmen are as they sound, nomadic tribespeople. They are both fighters and workers contributing to both manpower and tax. Tax, like manpower, is added monthly and is based on income from trade, and taxes from the citizens in your country. The money that is gained is used to purchase everything in your country. Slaves, being at the lowest level, are good for one thing, as not as nice as it may be, turning a profit. They unsurprisingly only contribute to tax, netting double the tax of Tribesmen. No doubt more than a few labor laws were skirted. Both religion and culture are very simple mechanics. Countries have both state religions and dominant culture groups. Being not part of these will cause some unhappiness, but never fear! There’s a completely reasonable manner in which to fix that: just have them change. I’m sure that the way everyone starts worshipping new deities and changing their very culture is voluntary, with no one feeling in the slightest upset over it or that they should be compensated for their now broken fingers. Whatever the cost to forceful conversion on someone’s psyche, it can be done a couple of ways. Governors can be tasked with policies, and there are a bunch of them but there are two that deal with causing pops to change their culture and religion, respectively. If you don’t want to wait you can always pay for it, Religious power can be paid to convert a pop and oratory power to shift the culture of a pop.

War! It’s only what fueled the molding of the era. War and military engagements, land or sea, are a vital point to the game. They can feel absolutely awesome as hundreds of thousands of troops meet on the fields of battle, invading the lands of hated enemies. On the other hand, they can be a strong deterrent to expansion and cause military alliances between nations to form out of the desperation to survive. In Imperator and previous grand strategy games by Paradox, troops have been able to be recruited in groups of a thousand and function as a group, unable to break apart. This is stayed true to; the slight roman twist is the new name of the cohort added to the units, as well as the title of legion to armies. Armies can be compiled of any amount of troops from the different classes available,  which is nine: Archers, Camels, Chariots, Light Cavalry, Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Heavy Cavalry, Horse Archers, and War Elephants. Going over every positive and every negative nine times over would take a while, so I’ll sum it up. Every unit has weaknesses and strengths when it comes to fighting. Combat between armies is like really complicated rock paper scissors. Each unit type also has maintenance, which has to be paid monthly. Armies also have weight which is dependent on how many troops are in the army. Cities only have so much available for the troops staying in them and an army that goes over that amount, determined by its weight, will suffer attrition. Numbers in a battle are important but more so is the skill of the commanding generals. A General with a higher martial rating than his opponent and fewer troops, to a degree, can still win. The chance becomes more of a solid thing as the gap in skill increases.

Governments in Imperator are few but all contain depth and differences. Monarchies, tribal governments, and republics are the forms of government that dominated the era.  Differences regarding the ease with which actions can be completed and how thrones are succeeded are what set these government types apart. Republics like that of Rome and Carthage have senates comprised of one hundred seats held by different factions. These factions are essentially political parties, with each character belonging to one. All those pesky people checking your power make things hard. Each member of the Senate will have a stance on diplomatic decisions; at least 60 backers are required to pass. Elections are held every few years for republics. Monarchies and tribal governments are ruled by leaders that are absolute in power, not having to ask permission to do what they wish. Succession is slightly different for each. Monarchies succeed through the ruling family and tribal governments through whichever male family leader is most popular in the country. The system of internal politics is easy to understand and enjoyable at that.

While lacking the depth of other of Paradox’s games, Imperator has had a strong entry but will need to address lacking diplomatic features to continue its success. Thankfully the development team has heard the criticisms of their game and already has plans to completely rework naval combat, and are releasing bug fixes with speed.

If you’re a player and lover of grand strategy, or just want to get into the genre id recommend this game. It’s packed full of content, replayability and most of all good ol fashion conquest.