Roads of Rome III Game Review

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The Roman Empire needs your engineering and strategic skills once again in Roads of Rome 3. Foreign barbarians have invaded the many provinces in ancient Rome, and Caesar has called upon you to help rebuild the shattered empire. Work your way through Roman lands, clearing roads, repairing vital buildings and capturing barbarian control points in an effort to push back the invaders!

Roads of Rome 3 is the third installment in the hit “obstacle-clearing” strategy game series, and is similar in playstyle to other games such as Rescue Team and the My Kingdom for the Princess series. The same sleek high quality gameplay and interface of the previous games return, with a bit of extra polish thrown in. This time, the barbarians have taken the fight to Roman lands, and it once again falls to you (playing the role of General Victorius) to be the hero.

At the start of the game, we are treated to a video showing the barbarians invading the Roman provinces, pillaging and destroying everything in their path. Desperate for help, Caesar sends a messenger to summon the great General Victorius. However, Victorius and his wife Julia are expecting a child, and Caesar’s call is ill-timed. Nonetheless, Victorius prepares to fight the barbarians, telling Julia that he is doing it for their unborn child as well as for the good of Rome.

Gameplay is pretty much the same as the previous Roads of Rome games. You need to send your workers to clear the land and rebuild everything that was previously destroyed by the barbarians. Each level represents a different province in the Roman empire, and have a set of objectives that you need to complete. These objectives are varied, and can include things such as clearing all the roads, capturing all enemy totems, and repairing/upgrading key buildings. There is a time limit for completing the objectives, and an even shorter time limit if you want to achieve the expert level.

There are a few things your workers can do, such as clearing obstacles from the road, repairing/upgrading buildings, capturing key points and accessing locked areas. The road obstacles can be things like fallen trees, potholes and fires. Each type of obstacle will cost different resources to remove them, and some of them can even provide you with more resources. There are five resources in the game: food, wood, stone, gold and water. Clearing fallen trees would cost you food, but rewards you with wood. Incidentally, if you run out of wood, you can also run up to any tree nearby and chop it down!

Your workers can also be used to repair buildings. Most likely, you will need water to put out the fire, then some wood to rebuild them. You will be introduced to new buildings as you progress through the levels. Buildings such as the sawmill, pumping station and farm will provide you with resources at a constant rate. There are also other buildings that provide different bonuses such as speed boosts. Most of your buildings can also be upgraded (with a lot of wood), becoming more efficient. Upgraded farms will provide more food, and an upgraded base will give you more workers.

Sometimes, the obstacles aren’t simple potholes in the road, but something more substantial. You will need to pay off people blocking the way and build ladders to reach roads and buildings on a different level. You can even build a tightrope over water, and seeing your workers balancing on it as they go across is priceless! Some levels may require your workers to reach particular items such as barbarian totems. Usually the most difficult part isn’t getting them, but getting TO them.

The game also has a nice achievement summary screen showing your personal village. It starts out with all the buildings on fire, and they slowly get repaired and upgraded as you encounter them in the actual game. There are also huge statues in the background that get built whenever you finish a level in expert time. Achieving this in the later levels can be very challenging. You will need to properly manage your limited resources, and prioritize which buildings or upgrades should get completed first. Sometimes, the game transforms from a time management game into a puzzle game as you try to figure out what is the correct order to get things done.

Overall, the game isn’t that different from the previous Roads of Rome games or other games in this genre. However, it does manage to add some charm with its beautiful graphics and gameplay, and will definitely provide you with hours of exciting entertainment. You will like Roads of Rome III if you liked the previous Roads of Rome games or similar games such as the My Kingdom for the Princess series. Get the Mac version here.

Check out the other games in this series!

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