Caesar III is a city-building & management game much in the same spirit as the popular "Sims" titles. This game, as the title implies, takes you back to ancient Roman times where your goal is to "conquer" certain scenarios that Caesar himself requests of you. The "point" of the game is to actual become a "Caesar" yourself!
To accomplish "Caesar-hood", you are given a plot of land and are required to meet certain demands. The demands may be no more than a certain population, or as complex as population, defeating hostile natives and meeting certain "ratings" set forth by Caesar (Culture, Prosperity, Peace & Favor). To help you meet these ratings; you have a council of Advisors, who can really make your life much easier!
I have played the Caesar line of games since the very first one, and I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I love simulation games, and here is why I've enjoyed Caesar for so many years.
Pros: Complex & interesting game-play. You must build roads, water systems, housing, cultural & government buildings, farms, docks, fishing wharves, industrial buildings, bath-houses, religious structures, "fire departments" and police structures. You must make sure that your citizens are well-fed, clean, in good health, well-educated, have places to worship, jobs nearby, a fresh water supply and people to protect them from hostile intruders, riots, burglaries and fires. You must also monitor your trade routes, military and overall city-mood.
Choice of scenarios. Caesar gives you his requirements, but let's you choose between two scenarios (normally a "peaceful" and a "dangerous" situation).
Minimum game requirements. Since this title is a couple years old, the computer requirements are pretty low (by today's standards). PC, Pentium 90, Microsoft Windows 95 or later, 16 MB RAM, 150 MB hard disk space, 4x CD-ROM drive, 1 MB PCI video card, 16-bit Windows compatible sound card with DAC.
Good graphics and sound. A nice step-up from Caesar I and Caesar II. Easy to distinguish between buildings and citizens. Can hear the grumblings and praises of your people easily.
Easy interface. Learning curve was slight and controls were easy to understand.
Suitable for all audiences. If you're worried about gaming violence, nudity or bad language - Caesar is great. Even the battle-scenes are not graphic.
Cons: Buggy. Have multiple spots where I get "stuck" in the game and it locks on me. Even after downloading the patches I still cannot make it through all the scenarios. Luckily, I've been able to move onto the next stage by going back to the beginning of the scenario and choosing the second option, but still very frustrating when you run into a brick wall.
Caesar's demands. Throughout each scenario, Caesar will demand certain things of you (he needs so many bushels of olives, or so many loads of marble). At times, these demands are impossible to meet without forcing your citizens to suffer. Also, some of his "starting" demands at times seem terribly difficult, and can get frustrating.
All in all, a very fun game to play. If you've enjoyed games like The Sims, SimCity or even Age of Empires or Warcraft, you may want to get a copy of Caesar III.
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