With straight roads it is easier for providers of services, such as a market trader, to walk past your housing districts.Īn important feature of the game is also your councillors, which are available at the top of the Overview panel. There is also an emphasis on a better road system, where straight roads are more efficient than lots of junctions. Building is really simple: all you need to do is right-click on an icon and place your building within a square on the terrain, by clicking again. Here you can also find the prettier side of your city, such as entertainment structures, temples, gardens or statues. On the right-side of the screen there are icons which represent the main structures of your city, such as roads, housing, water-structures, prefectures or engineers. The gameplay is intuitive, featuring an isometric perspective and mouse-control over all aspects of the game, from zooming into terrain to selecting the various on-screen panels. You can also play in the ‘ City construction kit’ mode, which imposes no objectives or goals and gives you total control over what you wish to do with your city. This type of city-building takes place in the ‘ Career mode’ of the game, where you can choose a ‘ peaceful’, ‘ less-peaceful’ or ‘ military assignment’, should you wish to implement your notions of the ‘ de Bello Gallico’. You can also take control of an existing province, which is now in ruins due to its incapable previous governor in this case, you will be expected to get the basic city structures functioning again and gradually regain its status within the empire. You can build your city from scratch, taking into account natural water sources, potential points of enemy attack or areas rich on resources, such as iron or marble.

FeaturesĪs mentioned the aim of the game is to build a successful city on different types of terrains, with a variety of geographical features and wildlife: some are hostile, such as wolves, while others pose no threat like zebras or sheep. The game was first released in 1998 by Impressions games, a UK based company founded by David Lester, who specialises in historical games and particularly city-building series, such as Pharaoh, Master of Olympus or Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom as the game’s name implies, Caesar 3 continues from previous games but due to its advancements, not only visually, is really considered a title on its own.

Whether you choose a military based career, or you decide to take control of the more peaceful provinces in the empire, you will eventually advance to the rank of Emperor and be expected to administer all aspects of a bustling metropolis. ‘ All Roads lead to Rome’ as the famous saying goes, which is somewhat true in ‘Caesar 3’.

Caesar 3 online