Caesar 3

I loved this game - too many nights I found myself still building away at 3am. One of those games where everything came together, sound, gameplay, variety of maps.

You know that pleasure taken in watching a complex, incredibly detailed machine working away like clockwork - or the strange peace caused by watching sand flow between your fingers, or water between one glass and another? That's why we play the city-builder games, at least in part. It's the compelling complexity of many functions we develop, distilled to a beautiful simplicity as it all interweaves, creating a balanced system. Caesar 3 is the best game yet made for that feeling. Clean, quick, absolute control of the construction of your city, a functional interface, colourful and pleasant visuals, good music, varied gameplay and a high challenge for those who want it. I think my favourite thing about Caesar 3, though, is the evolution of the city as you watch - the first plot of land you ever offer to immigrants will become a tent. In time, depending upon how you treat the local area, what amenities, securities and luxuries you provide, it may become a shack - a cottage, a real home. A villa. A palace. Then if an enemy attack destroyed a section of Aqueduct several screens to the rest, you might see droves of people emigrate, their houses devolving to muddy shacks once again, as their water supply is cut off, only to nurture the district back to health after the enemy have been driven off and the water supply restored. It feels like creating a living creature. Only one other citybuilder (other than the spinoffs Pharaoh and Zeus) has achieved that, and that game was Children of the Nile. One word of warning; yes, the combat is absolutely awful. Avoid it =p

I still play this game today and i've had it since it came out. A fantastic simulation that doesn't have the same complexity as the later games in the series but actually benefits from that. Wile away a few hours building the perfect city or challenge yourself on the campaign. I still personally havent attempted half the military side of the campaign. Actually theres an idea....

What an brilliant game this is. While the base game is fantastic, I 100 percent recommend you find the Augustus mod for this and play with it. Not only does it update the graphics and resolution to run on modern systems, but it makes tons of QOL and mechanical changes you honestly can't live without. That being said, this game is an absolute titan of the city building genre. You will be presented with different missions and map layouts, each with their own challenges and layout that make each one a brain burner. Don't be surprised if your first few attempts at a city go down in flames (maybe even literally), but stick with it. The difficulty is high, but the game does an outstanding job of slowly ramping up the difficulty as your skills grow at playing the game. There won't be a dull moment as the game presents challenges just always a little bit out of your reach. You have a lot of manage, from the economy, taxing citizens, keep them happy, having a large labor workforce, food, soldiers and weapons, exports/imports, diseases, and the list goes on and on. All of these system interlace on top of each other, and when all the conditions are perfect, those little tents and huts you build will grown into cottages, houses, and mansions. Caesar III is a must for fans of any Rome game or any city builder, and if you like both then what are you waiting for? Once you start playing, I dare you to put it down.

As a kid I tried playing this game, but failed to understand what I needed to do to make cities work, as I wasnt that good at reading information and strategizing. Now, being older, I wanted to try again and see if I can fair better. Although I did fair better and managed to understand how much of the things work, it isnt a fun experience. There are some issues I have with this game. First off, is that you need to often follow specific buidling strategies to be effective. Either because you need to make sure maintenance is carried out properly or houses develop properly. Its important, because if you dont then your city collapses or you dont have a proper tax base. So possibilities for variation are limited and often come out inorganic or even somewhat illogical from a normal city perspective. If you are new to this game, trial and error will be a running theme and there will be a certain lerning curve. Next off, you will require to do some micromanagent in certain situations, but interface and controls are so outdated it becomes quite a chore. This also applies to gathering information. Also, some information you dont get, like how far people can live away from their work place. There are those that are quite fine with the design of the game and others get mods to solve technical or other issues. I can definitely see why people like it a lot. Even I wanted to like this "classic". But while trying to play the missions and learning how it all works I kept catching myself on the thought that Im not enjoying myself. I caution younger or newer audiences to this genre. Despite having a lot of charm, the game also has its significant flaws.