What do you get when you mix Sim City with the Roman Empire? For the people at CDV, this piece of math equalled glory, and so they named their latest project Glory of the Roman Empire. I can't say whether or not they would have passed with that answer, but this early preview more than indicates that they wouldn't.

After a long installation, a painfully slow intro and a quick briefing, I'm appointed governor of a small village in northern Italy called Florence, which I am to guide to prosperity. I have no idea which historical period the game is set in, as life in the small towns goes on undisturbed by the bloody wars and conquests that made the Romans famous. Regardless, I just follow the easy steps the game provides and after a few more levels, I've got to grips with most of the controls. After a few more, the preview ends, and I'm left with a small indication of the final product.

During the game, I was faced with the tasks of resolving several crises in three different cities. At first it was rather stressful as I kept constant watch on the situation, but as I progressed, I learned that if I just did as I was told, I could go have something to eat and leave the game to put out fires, cure the sick or gather gold, because, aside from the main objectives, there is nothing else to do. And while this suited me perfectly the first time, given my hunger, it annoyed me immensely for the remainder of the game, as I had very little to do and found myself just watching the game unfold. The missions played themselves, so to speak. However, there will likely be more to do in the final version, and even if there isn't, you'll just have to find something else to do while your more than able citizens run the city.

From the looks of it, innovation is not a quality Glory of the Roman Empire can brag about; at the moment there are only a few things to do to keep yourself entertained, such as decorating your city with gardens and statues, or following your citizens around. There are a few other features to enjoy in the final game, such as barbarian attacks and revolts by angry slaves or citizens, so hopefully you won't be bored half of the time when playing the full version, like I was playing through the preview. One of the other aspects that struck me about this early version is how people were happy to give away food and clothes, and even though it's very thoughtful and all, it isn't quite realistic. The fact that plagues can be cured simply from stopping by a herbalist shop doesn't exactly do wonders for the realism either.

In terms of graphics, Glory of the Roman Empire is quite a stunner if you have a powerful machine. I had to play with reduced graphics, but even at the lowest settings the landscapes are beautiful! Although there are still a few flaws to be corrected on the visuals, the graphical side is even at this stage very impressive. Unfortunately, several design flaws have managed to sneak in, and the few music tracks going on a loop in the background manage to make the experience rather monotonous. However, it should be possible to correct this, have a second look at the flaws in the graphics and add more to the sound before the game is shipped, and if these issues are dealt with, the presentation of the game will be outstanding.

However, presentation is too often just a cover-up for bad gameplay, and I'm afraid there are two sides to this in CDV's latest release. It has the unfortunate effect of not being very appealing to anyone beyond fans of the genre, which is by far the greatest minus of the game. Since your citizens are able to take care of themselves, the town hasn't much use for its governor in the daily-life routine. You will therefore have to entertain yourself for the time it takes to proceed to the next level, an aspect that the developers need to take a look at. But if you can enjoy the little details, if you are entertained by watching your citizens going about their daily business, then Glory of the Roman Empire is a game for you. If not, I suggest you bring a book with you!

Featuring several other game modes, the final version of Glory of the Roman Empire could well be worth a look, and if you're a fan of strategy games, it's one to keep an eye on. There will be the possibility of founding your own city and leading it into prosperity in the free play mode, as well as playing through the ready-made campaigns, something that definitely has a lot of appeal. You can also upload you scores online to see how good you are when matched against other players.

Work on Glory of the Roman Empire is probably drawing to a close by now, with its release date just a few weeks away. Hopefully they will have had time to fix the various flaws and bugs in this preview version, and hopefully the extra game modes and features will add more to the experience, making it a worthwhile purchase. The game needs some tweaking and oiling in places, but if the development team have time to do this, Glory will be a pretty solid strategy game, if not offering much wider appeal beyond fans of the genre.

Previewed by Niels Jakob Kyhl Jørgensen for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).