Imperator: Rome tosses players face-first into a map with ten different modes, a hundred menus with hundreds of sub-menus, and what feels like a million lines of text - and expects them to figure it out. Strategy games take time to learn and even more time to get good at, and while it's a decent game, this historically based title will bury players in an avalanche of info that only dedicated fans will love. But however it's played, only true masters of resource management – whether land, capital, technology, business, or men – will rule their own empires. The game can be played solo against an AI opponent, or online against real human players.
Politics become personal with the new character management system that lets players manipulate public opinion by courting or scorning powerful families.
Trade barons can employ a new trade function that grants them financial and diplomatic power as well as bonuses for surplus resources, while war hawks can expand their borders by assigning their armies specific battle tactics and military traditions.
Players can choose from a range of playable European, African, and Asian nation-states as well as the fledgling Roman Empire and decide how to build their nation's power. The game starts during the period just after the death of Alexander the Great, when his numerous successors were vying for control. IMPERATOR: ROME is a historic grand strategy game (a genre where players control an entire nation's military and resources) that lets players rewrite history, building their own version of the Roman Empire.