Glory Of The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was built on conquest, but don't let the trivial matter of the absence of any significant bloodletting put you off this ancient twist on the old SimCity concept, because it really is quite a challenging and rewarding game.

The aim, of course, is to keep your citizens happy, be they in need of food, clothing or spiritual guidance, and by building houses, farms and various other constructs in the right place, you can eventually command quite a sprawling settlement in Glory Of The Roman Empire.

On the plus side, the graphics are fairly detailed, the game rarely feels overly complex and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's no lightweight either, with quite a fine degree of tuning required to balance the growth of each of your settlements. It's perhaps not quite in the same league as Children Of The Nile in terms of depth and complexity, but it certainly has its own sedate charm. What's more, by concentrating on the people as individuals as much as a population, the game's human focus adds a nice touch.

Total War this ain't, and it doesn't quite match up to Firefly's CivCity: Rome either. With the long-awaited Caesar IV also due later this year, which puts city-management at the top of the agenda, it might be worth holding off for that too before landing a purchase. And by that time, Glory Of The Roman Empire is sure to be available at a knock-down price.