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Platform: PC
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CivCity:
Rome
Here
we have a city builder set in Ancient Rome, and boy do I feel tempted
write a bad “Rome wasn’t built in a day…until now!” pun.
In any event, yeah, city building sim, Rome, 2K Games, Firaxis-Firefly
One-Two Punch, PC-only, this fall, be there, or be some place else.
When
looking at the places, and eras in which such a game could take place,
one can’t really do too badly to pick the Roman Empire. There’s a lot of history and culture to recreate in CivCity:
Rome, so expect to build technological wonders like aqueducts, as well
as more artistic structures such as palatial villas, or huge, hedonistic
bath houses.
However, the game’s developers are trying to mould the title into more than a by the numbers city builder through incorporating a number of new features into it. One thing that may help is that players can actually see into the buildings that they create. Up until now, we just sort of assumed there was stuff going on in our little creations, and had to use our imagination. The buildings had lights on at night, so somebody must have been doing something in them. With this ability to look in for ourselves, it makes CivCity: Rome look |
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like
it could bring
a similar feeling as one had as a kid when building a huge Lego city,
and peering inside the houses, shops, and what not, imagining what sort
of drama may unfold.
And
again, this game has that base covered as well by having somewhat of a
story to follow. This will
be done in two ways. First,
players will follow the lives of a Roman family through the generations,
deciding their fate (will they become affluent nobles, or filthy
paupers?). Second, players
will have encounters with various famous historical figures who will
either engaging in idle chitchat, or present new challenges to the
player. |
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While
all of this building of empires is going on, Firefly Studios wants to
ensure that the whole process goes by as smoothly as possible, and as
such are putting a lot of emphasis on ease-of-use in CivCity: Rome
by making the core focus of the game center around building
placement, and visually appealing cities. It’s a very simple approach.
Also, the developers want to ensure that the title is reasonably
educational. They have
mentioned that they would like to make the game so that players can
learn a thing or two about Roman history, the extent to which remains to
be seen.
City
builders have been around forever now, so it takes something a little
bit different to get noticed. Seeing
as there haven’t been a lot of games to focus on Rome, and to do it on
such an aesthetics-based premise, CivCity: Rome may have something
going for it when it gets released later this year.
Mr. Nash (April 20, 2006) |
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