Paradox' latest Grand Strategy game Imperator: Rome was meant to combine all the best elements from other Paradox games such as Crusader Kings II's emphasis on characters, EU IV's clean interface and controls and Victoria's strata management. At the same time, it was meant to improve on every aspect that made Europa Universalis: Rome popular back in 2008. Were these goals achieved? Can you extract and distill the essence of many different past games and still do them all reasonably well in a new title?

Typical for Paradox games, you will notice the complexity of the systems running in the background of any playthrough. Your population needs to be fed and is made up of four different classes or 'strata'. Each region is made up of multiple cities all with their own unique modifiers and building slots, producing trade goods which will in turn grant you appropriate bonuses - You will need wood for ships and horses for mounted troops. You have different factions within your realm that demand to be satisfied, whether these are the noble families of Alexander's successor states, the Roman senate or the Gaulish tribes. Army management is more detailed than in previous titles, you can set which troops to send in first and every troop type has strengths and weaknesses based on who they're up against and where they fight.

Where the game disappoints is in the monotony of it all. While you have access to a vast amount of nations, they all ultimately feel the same. The character management is shallow and does not come close to the almost RPG-like feel of Crusader Kings. There is little attachment you feel with the important characters and as such it becomes tedious keeping track or even caring about their personal relationships.
Like in EU4, you have monarch points to spend (now 4 types instead of 3), but deciding what to spend these on no longer feels like a careful balancing act of choosing between long term or short term benefits. You can change the culture and religion of any population within your realm by spending a handful of these points and it happens instantly without any penalty. This means faith and intercultural tension becomes a non-issue even in a larger realm. If you run out of whatever monarch point you are currently lacking, you can simply buy more for gold. This to me is an attempt to streamline the EU4 monarch point economy, but ultimately feels like it was over-simplified.
Like with any Paradox game as of late, the DLC-driven business model should be addressed. As mentioned, the game released relatively barebones - Sure the performance is good and the UI feels clean and usable, there have been no noticable bugs and even the Multiplayer worked during release week, but only a few nations get unique ideas, interactions and events, which really hurts in this setting of 300 BC, where the many tiny pseudo-nations couldn't be more diverse. It is painfully obvious that all the actual content will release later down the line as paid DLC probably ranging from $20-30. The Preorder bonus is confirmation for this.
It may well be that Imperator: Rome will improve in content and therefore in replayability when this DLC goes live and this review is not meant to be a criticism of Paradox' business model in itself, but as for the game in its current state I can simply not recommend picking it up for full price, regardless of whether you are a long-time Paradox fan or even an enthusiast for the setting.

Paradox' latest Grand Strategy game Imperator: Rome was meant to combine all the best elements from other Paradox games such as Crusader Kings II's emphasis on characters, EU IV's clean interface and controls and Victoria's strata management. At the same time, it was meant to improve on every aspect that made Europa Universalis: Rome popular back in 2008. Were these goals achieved? Can you extract and distill the essence of many different past games and still do them all reasonably well in a new title? Typical for Paradox games, you will notice the complexity of the systems running in the background of any playthrough. Your population needs to be fed and is made up of four different classes or 'strata'. Each region is made up of multiple cities all with their own unique modifiers and building slots, producing trade goods which will in turn grant you appropriate bonuses - You will need wood for ships and horses for mounted troops. You have different factions within your realm that demand to be satisfied, whether these are the noble families of Alexander's successor states, the Roman senate or the Gaulish tribes. Army management is more detailed than in previous titles, you can set which troops to send in first and every troop type has strengths and weaknesses based on who they're up against and where they fight. Where the game disappoints is in the monotony of it all. While you have access to a vast amount of nations, they all ultimately feel the same. The character management is shallow and does not come close to the almost RPG-like feel of Crusader Kings. There is little attachment you feel with the important characters and as such it becomes tedious keeping track or even caring about their personal relationships. Like in EU4, you have monarch points to spend (now 4 types instead of 3), but deciding what to spend these on no longer feels like a careful balancing act of choosing between long term or short term benefits. You can change the culture and religion of any population within your realm by spending a handful of these points and it happens instantly without any penalty. This means faith and intercultural tension becomes a non-issue even in a larger realm. If you run out of whatever monarch point you are currently lacking, you can simply buy more for gold. This to me is an attempt to streamline the EU4 monarch point economy, but ultimately feels like it was over-simplified. Like with any Paradox game as of late, the DLC-driven business model should be addressed. As mentioned, the game released relatively barebones - Sure the performance is good and the UI feels clean and usable, there have been no noticable bugs and even the Multiplayer worked during release week, but only a few nations get unique ideas, interactions and events, which really hurts in this setting of 300 BC, where the many tiny pseudo-nations couldn't be more diverse. It is painfully obvious that all the actual content will release later down the line as paid DLC probably ranging from $20-30. The Preorder bonus is confirmation for this. It may well be that Imperator: Rome will improve in content and therefore in replayability when this DLC goes live and this review is not meant to be a criticism of Paradox' business model in itself, but as for the game in its current state I can simply not recommend picking it up for full price, regardless of whether you are a long-time Paradox fan or even an enthusiast for the setting.