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Expeditions: Rome is a new game in the Expeditions series of the same name, which tells about the conquests of the Holy Roman Empire and its war against Emperor Mithridates. This role-playing strategy has several separate campaigns related to the conquest of various regions of the world, and players will be able to become the commander of their own legion. And you also need to lead a small detachment, complete various tasks, collect resources, create items, improve the camp, have romances with companions and much more. All this is done with one goal - to lead Rome to an inevitable victory.
At the beginning of the game, you can customize the appearance of the main character, and even choose his gender. In addition, there are three personalities to choose from, which open up access to additional options in the dialogues. A little later, you can choose a combat class, which will affect the availability of certain abilities. Add to this the choice of physique, skin color, face, height, name. In general, there are all the elements that we are used to seeing in any role-playing game. And already here the developers surprised me: when trying to choose a female character, I received a notification that in those days women did not have a first name (they were only called a second, last name). And then I realized: a real historical adventure awaits me.
I do not know the history of Rome so well at that time, so I do not want to assert anything or complain about anything in terms of historicity. But I was delighted when, throughout the story campaign, the gender of my heroine was mentioned every now and then. In addition, many associates and people close to you will react to all the decisions you make.
The main team consists of 12 characters, who are called Praetorians. Each of them has its own characteristics and traits. These personality traits (in addition to a highly specialized doctor) endow each Praetorian with a mindset that allows them to judge the player by their actions. Some Praetorians have conflicting traits, which can lead to minor conflicts within the squad. As an example of the features available, let's highlight the pride and modesty, sexism, because of which your Praetorians can lose all respect for you in one moment if you are excessively rude and inappropriate to women. If the praetorian's sympathy for the main character falls below a predetermined level, he will leave the squad. You will never see him again.
This not only encourages you to be consistent in your decisions and look for various loopholes to maintain the trust of all Praetorians, but also adds depth to the squad formation system. You will try to build a system that will be based on similar morals. But we must not forget to diversify the squad with combat classes in order to get maximum flexibility in battles.
As for classes, there are four of them in Expeditions: Rome. Each of the main classes has three subclasses that provide access to separate skill trees. You will receive skill points as you complete tasks, participate in battles, and so on. So, the main classes are: shooter, triarius, veles and princeps.
Each of the classes has their own set of armor and weapons that they can use along with the available skills. And three subclasses allow you to specify a narrower specialization. In fact, you can have three princeps who will perform completely different roles on the battlefield. Believe me, they can all be radically different from each other. At the beginning of the game, you will be able to choose one of the classes for your hero. At this point, you don't know much about them, so you're essentially going to pick and choose.
Expeditions: Rome is a massive game with lots of mechanics and micromanagement. It has several levels of difficulty, thanks to which you can make the strategy as easy or difficult as you wish. In this regard, Expeditions: Rome will satisfy players with a wide variety of skills: there are three main difficulty levels and two additional options that make the game as hardcore as possible.
Personally, I consider myself a beginner in the strategy genre, so I chose the normal difficulty level, which I thought would suit my skills. Although later it turned out to be too simple, so I decided to set the bar higher, and even try the Iron Man and Instant Death modes.
Activating the "Death in Combat" option will make it so that Praetorians or even companions can permanently die in combat. If any important character dies, the game ends. Meanwhile, the Iron Man mode disables manual saves, and the player has to rely only on automatic saves. At the same time, the game is saved automatically quite rarely, at some important moments. Thus, players will be able to experience the consequences of decisions made and mistakes made.
Each battle is divided into two different types, both of which are extremely entertaining. There are head-to-head battles in which you lead your squad and try to kill a few enemy units, and full-scale battles involving the Legion. In the second case, you see a schematic formation of the legion and issue only commands using one of the hired centurions. The last battles are more luck based as you only superficially manage your Legion.
The Legion battle is divided into four stages, and in each stage the player must choose one of three random maps to change the formation and battle tactics. These maps are called stratagems, and in the future you can improve your camp and develop several new ones. Stratagems grant certain buffs and/or debuffs. For example, one of them can increase the aggression that your Legion fights with, but at the same time reduce its defense. Victims are inevitable, and sometimes fortune will not be on your side.
The protagonist, together with his squad, will explore a vast world covered in the "fog of war". The fog dissipates as you pass through it, giving you information about the location of enemy camps and resources. This system is very reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic 3, so I accepted it with open arms.
As you explore the game world, you will encounter random events specific to each region. Depending on how you act in a given situation, you can receive certain rewards or penalties.
I also liked the sound and graphics in the game. Almost every character has voice acting. Yes, there are dubious actors, but they can be ignored. Great sound design contains a minimum of repetitive, annoying sounds. And I would definitely use the photo mode if there was one.
So what you get is: a story that evolves depending on your decisions (yes, you can even influence whether Queen Cleopatra survives), great graphics and perfect gameplay. Expeditions: Rome is a great strategy RPG with decisions that really have multiple consequences. Therefore, I see no reason why you should refuse to purchase the game. Unless - you are not a fan of role-playing strategies and turn-based battles.
The success of the title is quite expected.
New heroes, new challenges.
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No release date for the adaptation has been given yet.
