Pax Romana (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.9 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Sam Parker
• Reviewed on: 01/28/2004
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 11/06/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Pax Romana (PC) Review

Rome wasn't built in a day. Setting the vast empire's boundaries took centuries of war, and at times strong foes and political wrangling seriously threatened the burgeoning republic. In an attempt to capture these dual challenges, Pax Romana ambitiously aims to combine the sort of strategic conquest common to many games with a detailed modeling of the Roman republic's inner political workings. At its best, the political model provides some insight into the inertia that can keep a great militaristic nation from expanding and also makes for a much-deserved distraction from the task of pushing legions around the map to put down rebellions and gobble up minor nations. But as intriguing as this design concept may sound, the convoluted interface is difficult to learn and navigate, bogs the political and economic game down in details, and hardly glues the political and strategic halves of the game together. And then there are the technical glitches and poorly executed graphics to deal with. The end result falls far short of being an enjoyable game.

The box proudly declares that the game is "From the creators of Europa Universalis," and whatever the details of this connection, Pax Romana's strategic approach is undeniably inspired by Paradox's ambitious historical games. As in Europa Universalis, the map is quite large and covered with dozens and dozens of competing nations--many of which have but a territory or two and can hardly field a defensive army. Rome has just a couple of historical foes that can stand up to its legions. With the real-time engine counting the days away, you might move armies around the map, adjust administrative and economic settings, raise new forces, engage in diplomacy, and go on the campaign trail. But with Pax Romana's modeling of internal politics, just because you could theoretically make the moves to lead Rome to glory doesn't mean that you yourself will actually call the shots. Specific leaders assume responsibility for each of these tasks, and unless your faction's men are in positions of leadership, your role is limited to watching others make the big decisions.

The six political scenarios let you choose from six factions, and unless you pick the weakest of them, you're practically assured--once you figure out the system's intricacies--of regularly placing faction members in at least one of the major offices open in annual elections. But fighting other factions over the four main offices--two consul posts, an economic post, and an administrative post--is just one basic step. The consuls aren't as powerful as you'd think, and the other posts give you access to a limited number of management options, some restricted to the core territories in Italy. Many critical things can only be decided in the Senate, like declaring war and peace agreements, budgeting money to raise new legions, and setting the rules for appointing governors to outlying provinces (Northern Italy, Spain, Turkey, and others, depending on the period). Getting your faction's soldiers appointed to army commands and governorships is essential to playing an active role in Rome's expansion. The faction that controls a large army and can seize upon opportunities to declare war on neighbors can benefit greatly from successful battles, which can bring in much-needed influence and popularity points, as well as funnel gold into the faction's coffers.

There's plenty of opportunity to use gold to buy bread and entertainment for citizens, bribe senators, and generally gain influence in elections and during the senate sessions. But none of this ever guarantees that things go your way, since other factions are often roughly as powerful, and factors like influence and popularity are mostly hidden by the interface. Indeed, the fiercest fight in Pax Romana is that between you and the interface. Even after going through the tutorial that walks you through the 10 basic interface modes, it can take hours to figure out how to accomplish basic tasks. Not only does the main map have four modes and many subscreens, but nearly all the political activities take place on separate screens designed more to resemble scenes in Roman life than to maintain any continuity to the interface. Inconsequential events (like the overly frequent notification that a trade route is broken and is no longer earning your faction money) regularly pop up in front of you, but there's not so much as a pause in the game for important messages, like corruption trials that can put your leaders in prison.

If you play single-player grand strategy games because you like to take your time and think about your options, the political forum screen isn't for you. Despite the fact that strategic events happen in pausable real time, only once a year (on December 31) do you get to access a half-dozen important screens, and you're limited to digesting them in just three minutes' time. This feature might make sense for multiplayer games (which are hindered by the lack of a game browser), and it can be turned off--but only if you happen to look in the game folder for a setup application that controls those settings.

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Pax Romana (PC): $19.99

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