I received Civcity: Rome for free from a PR representative of 2K Games so I feel obliged to write something about it. Unfortunately, it’s a very dull game that I have no desire to really play. For one thing, despite the fact that it was first released in 2006, its graphics and general polish are so drab that it looks like more of a 2003 game. Its gameplay mechanics are also rather dodgy and uninspiring.

This is rather disappointing as it has been a while since I last played a good city builder game. In fact, I don’t recall a game of this genre really grabbing my attention since the closure of Impressions Games who were responsible for such titles as Caesar and Pharaoh in the 1990s. As its name implies, Civcity: Rome uses the same Roman theme. You’re a governor who is instructed to construct various cities in different bits of the empire and each level of the campaign game presents different challenges and geography.

One immediate disappointment is that new buildings are plonked down whole onto the map. Contrast this with the fantastic Settlers 2, where you order your workers to construct a building and they progressively move the required materials to the chosen site and you can watch them build it almost brick by brick. Most buildings only cost money, but better versions of residences can’t be built but must instead be upgraded by the people themselves once various goods and services become available in the city.

One interesting aspect of the game is that one type of upgraded residence lets you put them above shops, which helps save space in your city, but you eventually need to upgrade them again into extensive villa style buildings which take up lots of space. The odd aspect of this is that you can move around these residences anytime you wish, which I suppose make the game easier but really detracts from the feel that you’re building a real city.

Overall a solid thumbs down. It’s sad that practically no one is making this kind of games these days but if you really feel nostalgic you’re better off going back to one of the older games than making do with this one.