"a good idea that needs some work"

This game is based in the roman era where you are a governor trying to build cities for the glory of Rome. This game could have been very good if the designers had worked out a couple of flaws in the game play that could have made the game more enjoyable.

Graphics- 8/10 The graphics in this game aren't really awesome but they are still pretty good and it would seem that someone took a lot of time trying to design all of the houses and what they look like, different shops, buildings and roads all have a different look to them other than just blobs running around on some colored square things.

Music- 2/10 I can't even remember if there was music in this game.... it was either so boring that I decided to turn the volume down to save my ears of that the music was so forgettable that it wasn't interesting enough for me to remember.

Game play- 5/10 The game play is where some of the most work needs to be done for this to be a good game. I can tell that a lot of thought went into some parts of the game play, too little in areas and too much in others. One of the main problems is how you upgrade your houses. You must gather certain supplies for your granary or warehouse. After your house has been upgraded you must collect more materials to upgrade again. After awhile your supplies in your house begin to go down and you must recollect that supply again. If you don't the house will downgrade and you will have to rebuild the house again. Another problem is how your popularity is based, how your city grows and how much land is provided for you. Your city will continue growing and unless you provide food,shelter, and jobs for your citizens you will lose popularity. This wouldn't be a problem except you only have a limited amount of space to put houses, jobs ect. You can also earn a civilization rank by adding or keeping away certain things from your city. this can be a blessing or a curse. if you have a high civilization ranking then you will gain a boost to your popularity, if you let it drop then your popularity will fall.
There are some good parts to the game play however. You can research certain technologies to improve your city. you can also build trade routes to other cities buying and selling goods. Another good thing is that you can access the tutorial anytime you want from the main playing screen while still playing the game while in other games you had to pause the entire game go through five windows of tutorials before you got what you want.

Replay value- 4/10 Replaying certain missions could be fun for a master of the game, but for your average Joe it wouldn't be that fun. There is no bonus to replaying a mission except for fun but no statistical bonuses are given to you for replaying the mission.


Overall- 3/10 All this game needs is an improvement in game play and a slight improvement in the music and this could easily be a great game.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/08

Game Release: CivCity: Rome (US, 07/24/06)