GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

xx 4 Elements
xx 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven
xx Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile
xx Age of Booty
xx Aion: The Tower of Eternity
xx Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Make the Grade
50 Art of Murder: FBI Confidential
xx BattleForge
51 Beijing 2008
77 Bejeweled Twist
86 Bionic Commando Rearmed
71 Birth of America II: Wars in America 1750-1815
xx Bolt
xx Brain Training for Dummies
81 Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
xx Building & Co: You Are The Architect!
69 Bully: Scholarship Edition
xx Burnout Paradise
88 Call of Duty: World at War
xx CellZenith
32 Code of Honor 2: Conspiracy Island
81 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
xx Commander: Napoleon at War
84 Crysis Warhead
xx Damnation
56 Dark Horizon
86 Dead Space
xx Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm
xx Deer Hunter Tournament
xx Disciples III: Renaissance
xx Dr. Lynch: Grave Secrets
65 Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon
xx Duke Nukem Forever
xx Dynasty Warriors 6
xx EA Sports GameShow
59 Euro Truck Simulator
xx Europa Universalis: Rome - Vae Victis
61 Everlight: Magic & Power
xx Exodus from the Earth
xx FaitH
92 Fallout 3
86 Far Cry 2
xx Fate: Undiscovered Realms
77 FIFA Manager 09
80 FIFA Soccer 09
86 Football Manager 2009
xx futureU: The Prep Game for SAT
xx Galactic Civilizations II: Endless Universe
xx Grand Theft Auto IV
xx Gravitron 2
82 GTR Evolution
50 Guild 2: Venice, The
xx Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
xx Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft, The
xx Hei$t
xx Hell's Kitchen
xx High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance!
67 Hinterland
xx Hunting Unlimited 2009
xx Igor The Game
xx Imperium Romanum: Emperor Expansion
82 King's Bounty: The Legend
xx Laxius Force
88 Left 4 Dead
xx Legendary
79 LEGO Batman
72 Line Rider 2: Unbound
xx Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, The
xx Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
70 Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
xx MindHabits
xx Moto GP 08
74 Mount & Blade
77 Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest
60 Murder in the Abbey
69 MySims
xx Mythos
85 Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
xx NBA 2K9
62 Need for Speed Undercover
73 NHL 09
71 Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals
66 Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
xx Operation Mania
xx Orb and the Oracle, The
59 Outcry
81 Peggle Nights
80 Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 2
70 Penumbra: Requiem
xx Perimeter 2: New Earth
xx Pipe Mania
xx Poker For Dummies
xx Price is Right, The
xx Prince of Persia
xx Prison Tycoon 4: SuperMax
xx Project Aftermath
83 Pure
70 Quantum of Solace
73 Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches
70 Romance of The Three Kingdoms XI
xx Runes of Magic
75 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
76 Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
82 Saints Row 2
xx SAS: Secure Tomorrow
xx SCORE International Baja 1000
41 Shattered Suns
xx Shaun White Snowboarding
83 Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization
xx Silent Hill: Homecoming
xx Silverfall: Earth Awakening
75 Sims 2 Apartment Life, The
68 Sinking Island
60 Space Siege
59 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
84 Spore
xx StarCraft II
xx Still Life 2
xx Storm of War: Battle of Britain
73 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner
81 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free
81 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands
82 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective
71 Summer Athletics
xx Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
xx Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows
xx Talisman
xx Tomb Raider Underworld
xx Twilight War: After the Fall
xx Vampyre Story, A
86 Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
64 Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Battle March
xx Wartime Command: Battle for Europe 1939-1945
85 Witcher: Enhanced Edition, The
90 World of Goo
92 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
71 WorldShift
74 X3: Terran Conflict

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums
Caesar IV pc Game Reviews
Caesar IV
Critic Score
Metascore: 74 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.2 out of 10
based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

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]

PUBLISHER: Vivendi Universal Games
DEVELOPER: Tilted Mill Entertainment
GENRE(S): Real-Time Strategy, City-Building
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2006

What The Critics Said

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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
80
GameSpy
In terms of sheer strategic depth, there's not a city-builder out there that can match it.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
80
PGNx Media
The game’s audio perfectly complements the visuals. The background music flows naturally with the game without become an annoyance.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
77
Worth Playing
The overall design presents a good economic-based, city-building simulation with pleasing accompanying visuals.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
77
GameSpot
After a seven-year absence, the Caesar series returns with a slightly flawed but very engrossing game about ancient city building.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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]
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
70
Games Radar
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
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]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Christer H. gave it an8:
All in all a great game. I like it a lot and it is VERY difficult to actually stop playing, its always just this and that to do do. Very exciting. The battle game is pretty lame though, but that doesnt bother me.

Stuart B. gave it a3:
This could have been so good. I play BF2, 2142 ect and these are cpu/mem intensive and they don't crash, so why does C4 crash every 10 mins? Shoddy code, no thought, turns a great game into a rubbish one.

Mac S. gave it a2:
Full of bugs, crashing each 10 minutes! Empty of fun, maps are really small and you fell etricated within........ again a sub-standard game released, I'm just upset about me being caught again with pre-ordering.

Fred M. gave it a3:
Didn't have any hardware problems (but they are numerous). There are endless hours of gameplay here, but they quickly become long and tedious. The missions are badly balanced, and the interface is a leap backwards compared to Caesar III. Due to bad programming, if the game starts to lag your city will probably burn down. Not cool.

Mark W. gave it a4:
Decent gameplay as a city builder, but constant crashes and lame battle system keeps this game from being a great game.

Justin M. gave it an8:
Its fun and addictive, unlike that wonky CivCity game that has the tendency to glitch and never have enough jobs. The engine is prettier and lively, and the pacing is just right. But unfortunately, it is just another City Builder, so if you are not a nut for this genre, or history in general, you might be put off by it. Oh yeah, if you buy it retail, make sure to download the patch.

George A. gave it a10:
Hopelessly addicted to this game! WOW

Read more user comments...

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use