For readers who've not played previous games in the Caesar series here's the deal: You sign on as a raw, inexperienced provincial governor and
attempt to carry out the Emperor's wishes through progressively more challenging missions. Success brings promotion, wealth, and honor. Failure brings a stint as a galley slave -- if you're lucky. It's a bit
like SimCity with monumental classical architecture, only it embodies a subtler and more complex economic model and, of course, in SimCity, you didn't have to worry about rampaging Carthaginian
elephants.Readers who are already Caesar II
addicts will immediately want to know if this version is better enough, different enough, to warrant purchase. Yes, by Jupiter, it is! Here's a partial list of what's new, improved, and different.
The graphics. As lovely as were those of Caesar II, these are even more stunning. The sight of a bustling Roman metropolis, with its plazas, monuments, temples, and villas -- streets thronged with
colorful (and opinionated) multitudes -- is something to behold. To realize that you created this is to experience a sense of wonder few games can provide. The "city level" and "province
level" have been combined into maps that are generally much larger than those in the previous game. Now, when invaders threaten your city, you can see them coming and maneuver your military assets
accordingly. No longer does the game segue into a board-game-like view of combat; the fighting is now organic to the whole setting, and therefore a higher priority should be assigned to walls, towers, and
gates. No longer do you have to build each dwelling yourself. You simply "zone" areas as "residential" and after a while, you'll see settlers arriving and setting up their tents or
hovels. When economic conditions permit, the occupants will upgrade their own housing. All you need do is monitor the "desirability" of the neighborhood by making sure its inhabitants have water,
access to a market, and reasonable security. You must now build "engineer posts" (along with the fire-fighting, crime-stopping prefectures). Engineers will patrol their neighborhoods and maintain
all buildings in good repair. The Gods take a very active role. If they feel neglected, they smite you with draughts, fire, earthquakes, etc. Placating them means dedicating expensive festivals to them or
spending a fortune on temples. This feature I could have done without; it's distracting and a serious drain on the treasury. Pathfinding is very different. In Caesar II, citizens tended to travel in
a radius from their dwellings. In Caesar III, every animated citizen pauses for an instant when he or she comes to a junction or intersection before choosing which direction to go. In the previous
game, vital services were automatically provided if a dwelling was within a certain radius of a market, say, or a theater. In Caesar III, all buildings and facilities, civic and private, simply
generate people who stroll about offering goods and services to those they pass. For example, if you build an amphitheater to increase your population's prosperity rating, the seemingly logical place to
build an actors' academy would be in close proximity to their performing venue. In reality, though, you'll increase the range of entertainment by housing your players some distance away. The theory being
that, as they stroll to work, they'll tell jokes, juggle, or do mime tricks for all the citizens they pass. This new system is often very subtle, and it may take you a few scenarios to become comfortable
with it, at which point you'll come to appreciate its elegance. What it boils down to is two things: plan your city's road-grid to encompass as many long, straight, routes (and as few intersections) as
practicable; and two, pay close attention to your people. Observe their comings and goings, and if someone appears to be acting in an illogical manner, follow him on his daily rounds, and you may spot the
reason. Right-clicking on any citizen or building provides you with up-to-date information as to morale, health, crime problems, and economic bottlenecks. Ignore the vox populi at your peril! The
overlay system works as it did in the previous game, giving you a quick, city-wide summary of water-accessibility, high-crime areas, fire-prone districts, and entertainment coverage. Perhaps the toughest
part of the game is figuring out the economic model. Its chain of cause-and-effect is often rather complex, and until you learn the different functions of warehouses, docks, workshops, and markets, you're
not likely to turn much of a profit. Caesar's no help, either, since he occasionally demands products you're invariably low on: a dozen barrels of wine, for instance. You may need to radically rearrange your
inter-city trade (or even shut it down for a time), crash-plant new vineyards, and use the "stockpile" command in your warehouses. Even then, you may only have eight barrels by the requested date.
The Emperor will give you an extension, however, and as long as you get the wine to him within that period of time, you won't loose too much imperial favor. You'll just receive an icy note acknowledging
receipt. Combat is frequent but rather minimalist in treatment. You can change formation and exercise elementary tactical control, but considering all the other challenges of city-building and currying
favor with the Emperor, I found the simplistic battles fun and on just the right scale. One unforgettable vignette speaks highly of the game's artificial intelligence: after a brief siege, one of my cities
fell to invading Carthaginians, whose army began running amok through the streets. Yet, as I watched, my prefects, gladiators, and even the lion tamers from the circus converged on the enemy and grappled,
hand-to-hand (all without my having to issue a command!), filling the gutters with enemy blood before they were overwhelmed. Of such heroism did Virgil write in his odes!
During the 20 to 30 hours I've been compulsively playing Caesar III, I have yet to find a bug worth mentioning, nor have I experienced any crashes or lock-ups. This is one Sierra product that seems to
be a stable as a slab of Corinthian marble. Add the beauty, subtlety, and elegance of the game itself, a delightful soundtrack and a beefy, 220-page manual that is actually well written and packed with
useful information, and you have a game that bids fair to be Impressions' all-time masterpiece. --William R. Trotter |
