An intellectual construct with real depth
9
Graphics
10
Sound
9
Value
9
Tilt
9
I am now finishing up with my Let's Play on Youtube of Caesar, which I started in February 2012. These are my thoughts on the game.
On the graphics, atmosphere and realism, they are phenomenal for a game from 2006 and just adequate for the immersion of this game even in 2012.
My Let's Play is played with a DX11 GTX 580 card which may have improved the water effect etc. from the original. There are clipping errors, inconsistent shadows and the camera angles are broken on the edges of the map, but that does not stand out amongst the good things.
Some parts of the urban areas in the Roman Republic were clean and natural. Pools were made from marble, polished and heated sweet water poured into them. Due to the absence of petro-chemical and industrial production, everything looked like in wild, but still manipulated by man. That is the historical theory, but Caesar 4 by Titled Mill from 2006 makes you feel that emotionally. That's how this game is underappreciated.
On the gameplay and controls, Caesar 4 is like a ready package what comes to its controls, difficulty and gameplay. Once you have beaten it, it will offer nothing else to do.
But even tough, like in the last mission, I have just beaten the challenge of a functional city, there is still the next challenge to beat, that is the challenge of perfect ratings.
Yet the definitions and boundaries are exact.
In some failed strategy games the rules of the game are arbitrary like Master of Orion 3 and Hearts of Iron 3, where it doesn't help to play as precisely as you can, no matter how "deep" the reviewers call it on Gamespot. Here it has an impact.
Even if there weren't any other challenges during one mission, and even if some of the earlier missions had only a very simple challenge, the experience is always worthwhile.
Controlling the game is always up to the player.
The player controls the game as long s/he can figure out the demands. Those demands in Caesar are very abstract and various but they are always amazing as an intellectual construct.
Caesar 4 does not ramp up in difficulty in that it would teach the player to understand the demands. It doesn't change either. It just throws those demands out to the player in smaller quantities throughout the game and then gathers up towards the end.
This does not mean that the game is unfair or repetitive.
Figuring out those demands never gets any easier. Figuring out those demands and making them work is the value of this game. That is how Caesar 4 entertains us. That is better than in other games where the demands don't work at all or they are not interesting unlike in Caesar 4.