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