The History Channel: Great Battles of Rome

Great Battles Was only $20 when Richie Shoemaker reviewed it back, but it hasn't got any better as a budget release. Essentially a tribute to the infinitely superior Total War series, History Channel: Great Battles of Rome fails to capture the charm and sense of epic conflict that the rival franchise exudes.

Great Battles gives you such gameplay highlights as being forced to wait for your order bar to recharge each time you give instructions to your units. It says a lot when the best parts of the game are before and after the suppossed 'great battles' themselves. The pre- and post-conflict sequences offer a much more interesting experience than that contained within the, what should be, exciting parts.

Graphically, things haven't aged well at all, with larger scale battles seeing your highly trained soldiers blurring into one big blob of colour as they pile into the enemy.

Perhaps the next game in the series (yes, there'll be others, it seems) will attempt to make the battles worthwhile. But we should be honest: if you want to get your gladius dirty, get Rome: Total War instead, as there's just no reason to buy this attempt at a deep RTS.