PC Gamer

D

ressed in a toga and flanked by Roman

soldiers, veteran designer Johan

Andersson announcesImperator: Rome

• an indirect follow-up to 2008’s grand
  strategy gameEuropa Universalis: Rome. While the
  PDXCon 2018 reveal trailer offered no in-game
  footage, backstage I’m shown a bare-bones build
  that Andersson talks me through.


• is accessed from a series of dropdown
  menus, as is the process of enacting laws.
  If you’re running a republic, you might
  consider passing bills through the senate,
  or you can go full Julius Caesar and ignore
  democracy. You nasty sod.
  Military options let you manage morale
  and unlock traditions; technologies grant
  you access to inventions; and economic
  policies let you weigh diplomacy and
  global power. If you’re familiar with
  Paradox’s games, you’ve seen this before.
  These features do, however, illustrate how
  focused Imperator is on provinces over
  people. Andersson stresses his desire to

keep individual personalities, with their

own skillsets, limited to their roles within

the political machine.

MAPPED OUT

Imperator’s world map is easily the

best-looking Paradox Development Studio

has ever created. Its vibrant territory

colours echo its forerunners, but every

cloud, shadow and river looks stunning.

It’s a sight to behold, and I can’t help but

think this iteration of the Clausewitz

engine, coupled with Imperator’s

accessible interface, has potential to

welcome new faces to the genre.

It’s still early days, though. Large

sections of the map were incomplete, as

were chunks of its UI. I’m a bit concerned

that Imperator’s early 2019 launch target

is unrealistic but Andersson and his

team’s track record speaks for itself.

“There’s no way in hell we won’t get it out

in the first half of next year,” he assures.

Joe Donnelly

IMPERATOR’S UI IS FAR

MORE ACCESSIBLE,

BUTISNOLESS

SOPHISTICATED

FIRST

LOOK

Paradox puts on a toga party

IMPERATOR:

ROME

Set from 304 BC to the founding of the

Roman Empire, Imperator promises 7,000

explorable, conquerable and developable

cities. Like previous Europa Universalis

games, Imperator: Rome offers a less

personal approach to politics. Factors

such as popularity, prominence and public

opinion are instead balanced with your

global presence in mind.

Continuing the strides made by

stablemates Europa Universalis IV and

Stellaris, Imperator’s UI is far more

accessible, but is no less sophisticated.

Information on the three government

types – republics, tribes and monarchies

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASE
Early 2019

DEVELOPER

Paradox Development Studio

PUBLISHER
Paradox Interactive

LINK

http://www.gameimperator.com

Imperator: Rome

PREVIEW

This is Paradox ’s most

eye-catching map yet