Grand Ages: Rome Review
Grand Ages Rome is by far one of the most demanding games. If you want a stratagy game, this is for you.
Coupled with beautiful graphics, which are not too demanding, and a Historically correct timeline, you can actually learn from this game. Some elements of the game are easy, but most are very challenging. I know some people cannot get through the fact that there are fires set in your cities due to unhappy residence. This is easily overcome with a bit of patience and an understanding of why they are unhappy. It is easily one of the most sleep, bathroom, wife, depriving games made. I love it, my wife on the other hand...you know..
Grand Ages: Rome Feature
- Grand Ages: Rome lets you gain power and influence over one of the greatest civilizations in history
- Advanced Battle System with detailed RTS combat with 18 military units
- Intense online multiplayer modes for competitive and cooperative play
- Non-linear storyline features over 40 missions
- Use flow resources to create an intricate economic system
Grand Ages: Rome Overview
Raise massive armies and embark on epic campaigns to expand the Empire and take control of the known world! Engage in grand-scale city building and create magnificent cities with creativity and control like never before. Intuitive controls make it easy to launch bone-crushing combat missions and manage every aspect of your thriving civilization. After decades in exile, your family name has been all but forgotten in Rome. But the departure of the tyrant Sulla has changed everything, and Rome stands on the brink of a new era. Sides must be chosen as Caesar and Pompey battle for control of the Republic.The stage is set for you to gain power and influence over one of the greatest civilizations in history. Build an Empire worth fighting for! Featuring 4X Real-Time Strategy: Explore - Journey to ancient Gaul, Britannia, Egypt, and more to colonize barbarians and establish new trade routes. Expand - Stake your claim throughout the known world in the name of Rome! Help build the empire through military conquest and economic prowess. Exploit - Natural resources are yours for the taking as you establish farming, mining, and logging operations. Raze barbarian villages for riches, labor, and property. Exterminate - Destroy all who stand in the way of Rome’s glory! Defend your territories by land and sea to secure peace and prosperity for the empire Set Your Sights on Domination!
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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: May 20, 2010 16:51:08
Awful torture-waste of life - Smittey -
This game is torturous to play. I brought it almost a year ago, played it the day I got it, and threw it away within a day. If you are looking for a game like Rome:total war, this is nothing like it. Between unstopable riots, fires, crime and starvation I was pulling my hair out. All the pictures for this item show armies and scenes of conquest but in order to even buy a single military unit you have to fight the beforementioned curses which pop up within minutes of begining your game. They all seem random to me, I build a farm-people complain of starvation,Give people water-mass fires, and so on.
This game also seemed to have very childish artwork and graphics.
Gravely Dissapointing TW fans Beware! - Thomas A. Aschiero - DE, USA
This game is terrible! The action is little, and its not like TW at all! So anyone who plays TW do not buy! Even Empires was better than this trash!
Very advanced - Lisa E. Gunn - California
This game shows a challenge, which I like. The realism in this game amazes me and I find it enjoyable to just watch people walk around my town. This game may be difficult when playing for the first time but easily catches up latter on. I havnt played the game against other people but the campaign can sometimes be addicting.
Only if you like this genre - Kevin Meade - CT USA
This game is very representative of its genre's style. It is essentially simplified city building and simplified combat. Here are some notes:
1) no micro-management of resources. This is either a minus or a plus depending on if you want this or not.
2) no real combat AI. Combat is not anything like a RTS. It is not clear at all if there is any strategy to combat. For example, I cannot tell if there is any advantage to attempting flanking moves. Additionally the AI is basic. For example, computer units will chase you within a specific radius and then retreat. You can use this to your advantage in many of the scenarios. If you wanted a combat game I am not sure how well this will satisfy, but then again, this is one of the traits of this style of game. Indeed, many of the scenarios give you a "BONUS" at the end of the mission when you finish without loosing any squads. I ask you, how simple must it be if you can finish every mission without loosing any units?
3) slow. The game's pace is sometimes very slow and there is no way to "speed up time" in order to bypass it. It once took 10 minutes to send a fleet of ships across a map to attack on opposite shore. But then again this is also one of the traits of this style of game.
4) the CAMPAIGN is mostly a tutorial. Use it as an opportunity to experiment with ideas. This is good because the manual is very basic, missing many things you would need to know and which will frustrate you at the begining of the game to the point where you may just un-install it and move on. As an example, SLAVE LABOR can make the difference between an easy or manageable mission or a difficult one, but there is only one short paragraph in the manual (50 words) to even tell you that slaves exist in the game and nothing to tell you how to actually use them.
But there are clear positives:
1) a lack of information means you get to figure out for yourself how things work. This will cause you to devise your own strategies in the game. Once you figure out a few basics your game play will improve dramatically so if you are frustrated, go online for some tips.
2) there is no upgrading of units other than to gain experience in battle. However, there is a large assortment of unit types. MORE NOTABLY, each unit type has one special ability it can employ. These special abilities can be very effective. Even the most basic unit types have them and used well make a different in combat. As an example, the TRIARII unit type can "TURTLE UP" using its shields. In this mode it cannot fight and it moves real slow, but is almost invincible. This makes them great tanks. Indeed, coupled with the simple combat AI of your computer opponent, these guys can keep all enmey units occupied while your other units take no damage as they destroy the enemy. It suggests that the special ability of each unit type is worth investigating though I lost interest 2/3 through the game so never actually got to experiment with them all.
3) the most interesting aspect of the game may be off the main screen. There are five "Families" in the game, and you pick one of them as your family. The choice of family offers you a different set of upgrade options for your game campaign. After each mission you get one skill point with which you can pick one attribute to take. I suggest you concentrate on family attributes first since they are your only opportunity to change the game experience. Additionally, completing specific bonus objectives will open up ESTATES that you can then purchase as part of your families holding. Each estate grant specific bonuses that carry forward through the campaign. Thus you can select bonses that suit how you play and if you use your head, can make some aspects of game play easier. Still, this was a lost opportunity. I did not feel the variation was sufficient bewteen the families. Aside from a few obvious attribute selections, it seemed to me all the missions would be about the same difficulty and have the same basic emphasis. Too bad, I think this is where the game could have really excelled against its competition, if it had created very different experiences depending upon the family choice.
4) a nice very intuitive radial interface for town building. It looks pretty, is well organized, and is thus easy to use.
In the end this is a niche game for those who enjoy its style of play. It is better than most in its niche but suffers from several lost opportunities to distinguish itself. If you want to play, make sure to exploit the following:
1) learn how to use slaves.
2) pay attention to the family differences. A couple attributes are significant to game play.
3) explore the different unit type special abilities.
4) exploit the benefits of higher citizen types, building upgrades, and fulfilling the needs of your populous.
5) map estate benefits to problems you are having in your game play and use them to help fix these problems.
6) USE THE PAUSE KEY to give yourself lots of think time.
Hail Flavius!
Grand Ages: Rome Specifications
Raise massive armies and embark on epic campaigns to expand the Empire and take control of the known world! Engage in grand-scale city building and create magnificent cities with creativity and control like never before. Intuitive controls make it easy to launch bone-crushing combat missions and manage every aspect of your thriving civilization.
 The stage is set for you to gain power and influence over one of the greatest civilizations in history. Click to enlarge. |
 Journey to ancient Gaul, Britannia, Egypt, and more to colonize barbarians and establish new trade routes. Click to enlarge. |
 Help build the empire through military conquest and economic prowess. Click to enlarge. |
 Take command of 18 different military units, including naval command, elephant cavalry, and mercenary forces. Click to enlarge. |
 Raze barbarian villages for riches, labor, and property. Click to enlarge. |
Build an Empire Worth Fighting For
After decades in exile, your family name has been all but forgotten in Rome. But the departure of the tyrant Sulla has changed everything, and Rome stands on the brink of a new era. Sides must be chosen as Caesar and Pompey battle for control of the Republic.
The stage is set for you to gain power and influence over one of the greatest civilizations in history.
Advanced Battle System
Take command of 18 different military units, including naval command, elephant cavalry, and mercenary forces. Recruit citizens of Rome, draft captured enemy forces, and pay foreign squads for their special skills. Defend and expand the Empire by land and sea with exciting RTS gameplay.
Intense Multiplayer
LAN and online multiplayer functionality with 6 different strategy modes Ð play competitively or cooperatively. Create buddy lists and challenge your friends to a battle, or use the matching system and take on an unknown foe with the same skill level. Advance your career and increase your rank from praetor to consul and beyond.
Epic Campaigns
Rub shoulders with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and more in a non-linear historical campaign featuring over 40 missions. Choose your own fate as you create and destroy alliances with more than 20 different historical figures. Celebrate your victories by erecting legendary monuments such as the Coliseum, Circus Maximus, the Pantheon, and more.
Complex Economy
Flow resources eliminate tedious micromanagement, giving you the freedom to create thriving cities with multi-leveled economic systems. Information overlays visualize the city economy and satisfaction of the people on every location on the map.
4X Real-Time Strategy
Explore
Journey to ancient Gaul, Britannia, Egypt, and more to colonize barbarians and establish new trade routes.
Expand
Stake your claim throughout the known world in the name of Rome! Help build the empire through military conquest and economic prowess.
Exploit
Natural resources are yours for the taking as you establish farming, mining, and logging operations. Raze barbarian villages for riches, labor, and property.
Exterminate
Destroy all who stand in the way of Rome's glory! Defend your territories by land and sea to secure peace and prosperity for the empire.
Military Units | Friends and Foes |
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