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Editor's Choice Game
CivCity: Rome
Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
CivCity: Rome (Retail $39.99), a new empire-building strategy game from 2K Games, and part of the Sid Meier's Civilization franchise, is immersive, challenging, and very entertaining. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre, I encourage you to check out this game. You might be surprised at just how much fun it is to play. Be transported to ancient Rome, and take on the challenges of expanding the Roman Empire, while keeping both your rulers and your new citizens happy.
When you begin the game, you are issued a mission from Rome. Once you have completed this mission, another will follow. The missions can be to develop a successful mining town, to reach a marriage quota in your city, to mount a military attack with an approaching army, and more. Build homes, farms, shops, and factories. Provide water, food, and entertainment. Protect your people from fires, enemy armies, and fierce wild animals. In short, make your city into an ideal place to live.
Once you begin to build, watch your citizens go about their lives. A really cool feature is that you can get up close and personal with each of your citizens. Simply by clicking on an individual you can find out such things as where they work and live, if they have a family, what needs have to be filled, and what they think of the city. You can watch from a high distance, or zoom in and see right into their homes and lives. This really makes you feel like part of the city instead of just an observing entity.
On a larger scale, you can check out the reports page to find out how your general population is doing and their combined opinion of your governing. You can set rations and work hours to try to raise community happiness. You can see just what percentage of your people have jobs and homes, plus how Rome is rating your city. The better you look to Rome, the happier your citizens will be. You can research different things like irrigation, food production, and so on, to help your city grow and be more advanced. Research everything you can, and check your reports often. Don't worry if the reports aren't as good as you'd hoped, conditions can always improve.
A nice added feature is the helpful hints that can be accessed when you start a new mission. These can be advice on where to start building, tips on the placement of wells, clues to defend the city and more. A helpful voice will also chime in during game play when you need to be made aware of either a danger to your city's health and happiness, or any success your city has accomplished. Especially when you are dealing with a larger settlement, it is nice to be informed when fires break out or animals attack or, on a good note, when Rome is smiling down on you and your people.
Another really awesome feature, and worth the price of the game, is the Civilopedia. This is a dynamic encyclopedia of all things Roman. There is a map of Rome with icons over the top of it representing all the aspects of Roman life. By clicking on an icon, another screen is brought up giving a close up view of that aspect of life. Here there are a number of pictures to be clicked on, that will bring up a description and definition of that item and how it relates to life in Ancient Rome. You can learn about roads, waterways, surgical instruments, foods, soldiering, and so much more. You can spend hours just touring around this encyclopedia and learning about Rome, and you haven't even begun to play the game.
CivCity: Rome is an awesome game, and one that should not be missed this season. This is even coming from someone whose genre of choice is usually far from strategy and sim games. If even I liked it, you surely will, especially if you are already a fan of empire building games. There is so much to say about this game, and so much to discover once you begin. Go buy this game and try your hand at building and maintaining the greatest empire that ever existed. Good luck!
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