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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Join the Praetorians, 30 April 2003
To start with, i've got to say that Praetorians isn't a ground breaking RTS. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing: it is a very polished and fun game. The graphics are excelent; though not the bleeding edge of technology (e.g. C&C Generals), they are very pleasing to the eye and keep the whole experience alive. The detail and animation is very pleasant, with birds flying up as your troops make their way through lush forests and fields in Gaul, and the splendid deserts of Egypt with the huge Sphinx and pyramids. What I thought was great were the formations, variety of units and use of terrain. Your legions can (of course...) gather into turtle formation for minimal casualties, your archers can kneel to more effectivly shoot down the enemy. The terrain will constantly affect your strategy and tactics. You can have your soldiers hide in tall grass (though you must be careful for enemy archers setting your hiding place alight) or await the unsuspecting enemy in forests. Cavalry cannot enter dense forests, while the heavily armoured legions cannot cross rivers. At the beginning of the game it is essential to gain control of the high ground because if you don't it can be hell to retake. The game has left out resource management which might be an annoyance for some but i think it works well; after all you are a general. To recruit new troops you must capture settlements and create formations (as opposed to individual soldiers) from the villages' populations. When these formations' numbers get reduced in battle you can weld smaller units back into powerful single formations, or alternativly split up you mega units into smaller ones for tactical purposes.
Your troops suffer fatigue over the course of their activities, but it is true that the addition of morale would have been very nice to see, considering this is a game that leaves out resource management for more concentration on strategy. One part of the game that is worth a mention are the sieges, which are very satisfying to watch, with huge lumbering siege weapons and the defender's troops able to stand on the walls of the fortress to fight the assaulters.
From what I have seen multiplayer is fun; although i've only played two or three times over LAN, I thought the settlment mechanism for reenforcments worked well, because it force you to move on to other towns. In conclusion, i consider Praetorians to be a very fun game, definitly a winner on the RTS front, with some minor errors and lack of anything outstandingly new that kept me from giving it 5 stars.
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