Imperium Romanum

Visually stimulating, with a friendly interface, but overall Imperium Romanum isn't very ambitious.

Imperium Romanum has some significant problems - it's a buggy mess, has horrible combat mechanics, and doesn't really get across what the problems with your city is - but in spite of these problems there is still a good amount of fun to be had.

A pretty standard Roman city builder. While that may seem like enough for hardcore fans of the genre, the title fails to really bring anything new and innovative to the table.

It’s a little boring and it’s a little easy and it’s a little basic, but if you’ve never tried the city-building genre before, then you might find it to be of some value. However, if you’re familiar with the genre at all, then you might as well skip Imperium Romanum, because you’ve already played better versions of it.

Much like roast dormouse: moreish but unsatisfying. [Apr 2008, p.79]

Everything here has a very paint-by-numbers feel to it and, while we're not enemies of following the traditions and conventions of the genre, there's no reason to make yet another Roman-themed city builder if you're not going to try to do it in a way that is noticeably different from the other three that are still sitting on store shelves.

What is there to tell about Imperium Romanum, which isn't already been said about "Glory of the Roman Empire"? The game brings absolutely nothing new and feels like some tied together missions. Imperium Romanum is on the other hand a nice builder to play. The game is mainly a good title for newcomers in the genre.

This ancient city planning simulator got a bit more interesting, but is still lacking many managing options and the scale is certainly sub par, especially considering that the population of Rome at its peak was over 1 million. [May 2008]

It is not going to set the world afire with a wild reimagining of the format, but Imperium Romanum is a solid and enjoyable city management simulation, with some gorgeous graphics, an evocative soundtrack, and very confident execution. [May 2008, p.64]

The gameplay is very basic and badly dated and, with all the top-end city building sims out there now, that makes it doomed to failure. With very little in the way of redeeming features, it is only going to have any kind of appeal to the most hardened of Roman history vets – ones who don’t know games very well so won’t know better.