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How Metascores Are Calculated
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Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
In Caesar IV you govern a province (and most importantly its capital city) in the Roman Empire. Success yields political advancement, allowing you to take on a new challenge in another province, as you climb the ladder of power in ancient Rome. As city planner, you design and layout each city in detail, creating road networks to facilitate the distribution of resources, and to provide homes access to entertainment venues, healthcare facilities, fire protection services, and so on. Of course, you must in turn develop these industries and services to meet the needs of your growing population. You control your city's finances, and must quickly turn a profit in your new endeavor or face the wrath of the emperor. You must build a military force and direct the defense of the province against barbarian threats. You must establish far flung trade networks so the exotic wealth of the empire can flow into your province, bringing it fully under the Roman fold. As the city grows from a simple village to a bustling cosmopolitan city, so too do your challenges and responsibilities increase. To achieve your goals as provincial governor in Caesar IV you must consistently provide for your citizens' needs, keep them healthy, happy and safe... and on top of that satisfy the demands of the empire. Your ultimate goal is to rise among the political ranks of the empire, and become Caesar yourself. [Vivendi Universal]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 89
Da Gameboyz
It has all the right components (quality gameplay, strong graphics and sound). Move over Civilization, there's a new emperor in town and his name Caesar 4.
 83
GameZone
Caesar IV offers hours of gameplay with lots of different types of scenarios to choose. Meeting the objectives is challenging, but not so hard as to be frustrating.
83
GameShark
A pretty impressive strategy builder and while it doesn't surpass Glory of the Roman Empire's ease of use or CivCity: Rome's good looks, it does offer the most robust city building components of the three.
82
Games Master UK
A must for city-building fans with a few frustrations that don't ruin the experience. [Feb 2007, p.72]
82
GamerNode
Fans of the franchise or new fans will be pleased with Caesar IV; it's a solid historic city building game with plenty to do.
80
GamingExcellence
A fun city-building sandbox game, especially for those that like balancing a myriad of options like space, happiness, budget, resources, and political obligations.
80
Computer Games Magazine
Caesar IV deserves an ovation, if not a triumphal procession, for merely reminding people what a good historical city sim looks like. [Jan. 2007, p.68]
80
AceGamez
A pleasing new addition to one of the best city builder franchises around and while it doesn't quite surpass its predecessors, it's still an enjoyable and accessible management game with enough challenges to keep fans of the series and the genre building away for weeks to come.
80
GameSpy
In terms of sheer strategic depth, there's not a city-builder out there that can match it.
80
Yahoo! Games
Online or offline, as a campaign or a freeform scenario, Caesar IV is an inviting game, easy to like and hard to stop playing. It's got a fairly forgiving learning curve, and it will rarely plunge you into the sort of economic death spirals that can make other city builders so discouraging.
80
Game Chronicles
Caesar IV has some awe-inspiring graphics with really easy to use controls and is an overall well constructed city builder. Due to some bugs that were in the final release I could not give the gameplay a better score.
80
PGNx Media
The game’s audio perfectly complements the visuals. The background music flows naturally with the game without become an annoyance.
78
Strategy Informer
It leaves once again a lasting impact and shows the real depths city building can go to and how strategy counts all the way. A few questionable elements hover like a dark cloud but honestly this is the best experience you’ll have to sate a city building lust, Roman or not.
77
Worth Playing
The overall design presents a good economic-based, city-building simulation with pleasing accompanying visuals.
77
IGN
Some interface drawbacks, high tech requirements, and lack of creativity in scenario design keep Caesar IV from becoming the big sequel that we were really hoping for. It's still enjoyable.
77
GameSpot
After a seven-year absence, the Caesar series returns with a slightly flawed but very engrossing game about ancient city building.
76
PC Gamer UK
A shame, then, that much of your time is spent wrestling with a defiantly hobbled control system. [Dec 2006, p.76]
75
Armchair Empire
While it's a solid game, and probably superior in most ways to its competitors, Caesar IV doesn’t do any one thing magnificently, and the sum of its qualities just don't elevate this classical game to classic status.
73
PC Zone UK
A worthy successor to the Caesar family of titles. But chances are, you already know if this is going to be your cup of tea - follow your heart, young governor. [Christmas 2006, p.92]
72
Gamers' Temple
Caesar IV is at its heart an enjoyable game, but you’ll need to be willing to put up with a fair amount of frustration.
70
Total Video Games
It may not break any ground in originality stakes or provide stunning visuals, but it does revive the original facets of a classic genre for today's gamers.
70
Games Radar (in-house)
If you can deal with its quirks, Caesar IV offers a stunning economic model that is sure to challenge even the best money managers while providing hours of play.
70
Digital Entertainment News
Rome may not have been built in a day, but with Caesar IV it can be; ironically, a day is about all you’ll be able to take of this game. Economic micromanagement can be taxing for the casual player and the plain combat system is far from engaging.
70
PC Format
Not as complex, but more focused than "CivCity." For resource geeks only. [Dec 2006, p.112]
69
Jolt Online Gaming UK
Thanks to its clunking interface and reluctance to be inventive in pretty much any respect, it’s tricky to describe it as little more than SimCity 4 in a Roman toga.
69
ActionTrip
If this game was a Roman and it was giving a speech in the Senate, I'm afraid it would likely get stabbed 18 times in the back by a bunch of conspirators just because it was boring all the Senators to death.
67
Game Over Online
A disappointment. I liked Tilted Mill’s first offering, Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile, much more, and it’s odd how they could go from a unique and interesting game to one so completely bland and generic.
64
PALGN
Caesar IV is by far the best Roman city builder that has been released this year, but honestly that isn’t much of an achievement. A game that isn’t particularly stable, attractive or user-friendly, it’s hard to immerse yourself in the Caesar IV experience.
60
Eurogamer
It's just doing pretty much the same generally reliable job it always has done, putting in its hours and going home again - if anything, it's getting sloppier with age.
60
1UP
All of a sudden, instead of dealing with urban sprawl and water rights, you're tasked with using a bunch of poorly controlled, dim-bulb A.I. legionnaires to defend against invading hordes. Battles have nothing to do with tactics, being determined only by who has the bigger, better-equipped force.
54
PC Gamer
Tilted Mill has given us more of an ancient relic than anything new and compelling. [Jan. 2007, p.82]
54
Pelit (Finland)
A pleasant continuation of one of the old city building game franchises. The absence of slavery in virtual Rome reeks of political correctness, though, and the military part still leaves a lot to be desired. [Dec 2006]
Christer H. gave it an8: Stuart B. gave it a3: Mac S. gave it a2: Fred M. gave it a3: Mark W. gave it a4: Justin M. gave it an8: George A. gave it a10: |
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