Praetorians (video game)

Last updated
Praetorians
Praetorians Coverart.png
Developer(s) Pyro Studios
Torus Games (HD)
Publisher(s) Eidos Interactive
Kalypso Media (HD)
Director(s) Javier Arévalo
Producer(s) Ignacio Pérez Dolset
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Release
HD Remaster
Windows
  • WW: January 24, 2020
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • WW: September 18, 2020
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Praetorians is a 3D real-time tactics [3] video game developed by Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003, based on Julius Caesar's historical campaigns in Gaul and Britain, Crassus' battles in Parthia, and the events of Caesar's Civil War during the 1st century BC. The player controls either the Roman Republic, the Ptolemaic Kingdom (inaccurately represented as the New Kingdom of Egypt), or a generic barbarian tribe based on the Helvetii, Gauls, and Celts.

Contents

Gameplay

Unlike most real-time strategy titles, Praetorians focuses on military strategy and tactics rather than building or resource management. Units are trained from a garrison, which is built on a town or village which requires a garrison to be built and a commander to be sent there to oversee recruitment.

Each civilization comes with its own unique unit pool with units that have different strengths, abilities, and weaknesses. Some unit types are simply re-skinned for all the civilizations, but the variety in units offers different strategic ideas depending on which civilization the player is using. Light infantry units are generally weaker than heavy infantry units in hand-to-hand combat, and are susceptible to arrow fire, but are the only units in the game that can act as builders; the possible buildings they can construct range from wooden bridges and defensive towers to war machines and siege equipment such as towers and ladders. Heavy infantry units are strong in hand-to-hand combat and quite resistant to arrow fire, but generally much slower around the map, and cannot travel over watery terrain. Archer units are poor in hand-to-hand combat, especially against cavalry units, but can set fire to damage buildings and siege equipment. Spear units are generally competent in hand-to-hand combat, particularly in their defensive "stationary" formation when they form a spear-wall, but are susceptible to heavier infantry units and arrow fire, and cannot travel in forests. Cavalry units are quick, can easily outmanoeuvre most troops, and will fare pretty well in hand-to-hand combat with most other units, but they are quite susceptible to arrow fire and most cannot travel in forests.

Each civilization also has access to three highly specialised units that are superior to their "normal" counterparts. For example, Roman civilizations can field Gladiators – infantrymen that are hand-to-hand specialists – who also carry a dragnet which they can use to temporarily immobilise enemy troops, rendering them completely defenceless; Barbarian tribes have access to German Cavalry, who are the only cavalry unit in the game that can travel in forests and who also have a devastating charge; and Egyptian civilizations can recruit specialist archers from Nubia who can fire poison arrows that steadily drain the health points of enemy units. Each civilization also has access to scouts to act as a form of reconnaissance, as well as doctors who can heal their troops; each civilization's doctor also carries a unique ability specific to that culture.

There are multiple types of terrain in the game. Forests can be used to hide infantry units, and to spring ambushes against troops out in the open. Watery terrain prevents heavy infantry units from crossing, unless it is a site where a wooden bridge can be built. Grassy terrain can be lit on fire and can kill troops that cross the fire.

Members of an alliance may not attack one another, though it is still possible to attack an allied building or village belonging to an ally. In times of crisis team members can call upon each other via the message line "We need help". Allies will normally offer spare troops in assistance. Praetorians differs from other games of its genre in that resources do not play a part in it. In most real-time strategy games, items such as wood, food, gold, stone, and glory must be collected, to be spent during the creation of troops; in Praetorians, the only resource the players need in order to recruit stronger soldiers are honour points, which are earned by fighting and killing enemy troops. There are also troop control points and unit control points: the former limits the number of troops a player may have in their army, and the latter limits the number of individual soldiers and army men that can be used.

Praetorians features three game modes: Skirmish, Campaign, and Multiplayer:

Skirmish

Skirmish functions can be chosen in which the player first chooses a difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard), then up to one character and up to seven AI players, controlled by artificial intelligence. These can be Roman, Egyptian or an anonymous barbarian tribe. Once this is completed, alliances may be created by joining two forces on the same team, whether set before the game has started, or during the game.

Campaign

Players may participate as Julius Caesar commanding forces of varying sizes against various hostile tribes of barbarian, Egyptian and, nearer the end of the game, Roman origin. The Campaign consists of four Tutorial levels, which educate the player on how to order troops around the map, initiate combat, and best use the units at the player's disposal, and 20 Campaign missions, beginning in 59BC with Caesar fighting the Helvetii tribe, and ending in 45BC with the final battle of the Civil War. The 20 campaign missions are divided into four sections; each new section is preceded by a short film. The sections, including the tutorial missions, are divided by the time period the missions are in. The first section involves leading Caesar's new legions to Gaul to investigate the recent surge of bandit attacks in Aeduii country. The second is the initial stage of the Gallic Wars and focuses on Caesar's battles against the Helvetii and the Nervii. The third section continues directly from the second section, beginning with Caesar crossing the River Rhine and followed by Caesar's invasions of Britannia and Ambiorix's revolt. The fourth section focuses both on Crassus' defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC and the subsequent retreat - two of the most difficult campaign missions, with challenging initial starting positions whilst being significantly outnumbered by the Parthians - along with Vercingetorix's revolt. The final section focuses on the civil war against the Senate and the battles to aid Cleopatra in her succession dispute.

Multiplayer

Originally, the game was designed to be played online in multiplayer mode using GameSpy. The installer for the game includes instructions and gives the option to install GameSpy Arcade, but GameSpy Arcade no longer offers support for Praetorians game, since they have closed many servers. Instead, players can download and use GameRanger, which offers support for Praetorians multiplayer.

Development

After the Pyro Studios producer of the title, Javier Arévalo, and Eidos' Jason Walker talked about sorting out a flaw in the multiplayer game that was being exploited, an unofficial patch was released in October 2004. This helped catapult the game back up the GameSpy Arena charts.[ citation needed ]

The latest version of an unofficial extension, called MoD 4.1, became available in 2004; it adds three new factions and many new maps. MoD 4.1 contains the unofficial patch to fix the multi-player game. The next official extension is called MoD 5.0 released in 2013 by Pyro Studios. It sorted out a number of flaws, decreased the hit points of some troops, updated the start screen of the game, added brand new music and sounds, and presented 40 new maps for battles.[ citation needed ]

In 2008 an unofficial map editor for the PC game Praetorians was released. The map editor is programmed in the C++ programming language and uses the OpenGL computer graphics API. In the same year, the game continued to sell well, maintaining a place in the Top 20 Budget PC Titles on ChartTrack at the time.[ citation needed ]

In May 2014, GameSpy servers were shut down, thus ending the official multiplayer for Praetorians, but it is possible to use unofficial third-party clients to run and maintain servers for Praetorians.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Sales

In the United Kingdom, Praetorians sold roughly 20,000 units during the first half of 2003. Kristan Reed of GamesIndustry.biz wrote that these were "not figures that spell H.I.T." [4] The game ultimately received a "Silver" award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), [5] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. [6] It also received a "Gold" award from the Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento (aDeSe), for more than 40,000 sales in Spain during its first 12 months. [7]

In the German market, Praetorians debuted in third place for March 2003 on Media Control's sales charts for full-price computer games. [8] It fell to 15th place in April and to 24th in May. [9] By June, it was absent from Media Control's top 30. [10]

Reviews and awards

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [11] GamePro noted in its preview that the game is "a healthy mixture of Medieval: Total War and WarCraft ". [22] GameSpot praised the graphics, tactical depth, and AI, but the limited camera (lacking the ability to turn 360 degrees), audio (particularly the sound effects, and voice acting), and poor multiplayer matchmaking services were criticised. [16] IGN praised the gameplay, and strategic-focus of the game, as well as its balance, graphics and campaign. [19]

During the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Praetorians for "Computer Strategy Game of the Year". [23] [24]

In 2017, HobbyConsolas named Praetorians one of the best Spanish games ever released. [25] El Economista offered it the same recognition in 2020. [26]

Remaster

A remastered version of the game was released in 2020 by Kalypso Media. Developed by Torus Games, it includes higher resolution, better textures, and re-activation of the multiplayer mode. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. [27] [28]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rise of Nations</i> Real-time strategy video game by Big Huge Games

Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy video game developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios in May 2003. Designed as a fusion of concepts from turn-based strategy games with the real-time strategy genre, the game's development was led by Brian Reynolds, who founded Big Huge Games following his involvement in the development of the turn-based strategy games Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. In contrast to previous historical real-time strategy games, Rise of Nations is based on the entirety of history, taking place from the ancient era to the modern age, and features eighteen civilizations, playable across eight ages of world history. The game features several innovations on the real-time strategy genre, introducing novel features such as territory and attrition influenced by the turn-based strategy genre.

<i>Age of Empires II</i> 1999 real-time strategy video game

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh in 2001, it is the second game in the Age of Empires series. The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains thirteen playable civilizations. Players aim to gather resources, which they use to build towns, create armies, and defeat their enemies. There are five historically based campaigns, which conscript the player to specialized and story-backed conditions, as well as three additional single-player game modes; multiplayer is also supported.

<i>Codename: Panzers – Phase One</i> 2004 video game

Codename: Panzers – Phase One is a 2004 real-time tactics video game developed by the Hungarian studio StormRegion and published by cdv Software Entertainment. It is set during World War II.

<i>Civilization IV</i> 2005 video game

Civilization IV is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the Civilization series, and designed by Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and his video game development studio Firaxis Games. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia, between October 25 and November 4, 2005, and followed by Civilization V.

<i>Age of Empires III</i> 2005 real-time strategy video game

Age of Empires III is a real-time strategy video game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed and published by Destineer's MacSoft. The PC version was released on October 18, 2005, in North America and November 4, 2005, in Europe, while the Mac version was released on November 21, 2006, in North America and September 29, 2006, in Europe. An N-Gage version of the game developed by Glu Mobile was released on April 28, 2009. It is the third game of the Age of Empires series and the sequel to Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. A remaster titled Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition was released on October 15, 2020. Its successor, Age of Empires IV was released October 28, 2021, for Windows.

<i>Grand Prix 3</i> 2000 video game

Grand Prix 3 is a computer racing simulator developed by MicroProse's UK development studio in Chipping Sodbury and published by Hasbro Interactive, released in July 2000. The expansion pack, "2000 Season", was developed by Simergy and published by Infogrames Interactive.

<i>Stronghold</i> (2001 video game) 2001 video game

Stronghold is a historical real-time strategy video game developed by Firefly Studios and published in 2001 by Gathering of Developers for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits but also has prominent economic and infrastructure development elements. There is both an economic and a military campaign to be played and both are discussed in the game manual. In the English version, the game takes place in Medieval Britain around the year 1066; however, since there is not always a time limit, scenarios can continue hundreds of years beyond that date.

<i>Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2</i> 2000 video game

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is a real-time strategy video game which was released for Microsoft Windows on October 24, 2000 as the follow-up to Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Red Alert 2 picks up at the conclusion of the Allied campaign of the first game. Its expansion pack is Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, released a year later in 2001. Red Alert 2 was principally developed by Westwood Pacific in collaboration with Westwood Studios.

<i>Command & Conquer: Generals</i> 2003 video game

Command & Conquer: Generals is a real-time strategy video game and the seventh installment in the Command & Conquer series. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003 and 2004. The Windows version of Generals was developed by EA Pacific and published by EA Games, the Mac OS X version was developed by i5works and published by Aspyr Media. The Mac OS X version was released by Aspyr on April 12, 2004. In the game, the player can choose from three different factions: the United States, China and the Global Liberation Army (GLA).

<i>Sacred</i> (video game) 2004 video game

Sacred is a 2004 action role-playing game developed by the German company Ascaron and published by Take 2 Interactive. It is set on the magical continent of Ancaria, with characters of various races each with their own missions. Two expansion packs were released for the game in 2004 and 2005. In 2008, Linux Game Publishing announced that they would port the game to the Linux operating system.

<i>Vietcong</i> (video game) 2003 video game

Vietcong is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Pterodon in cooperation with Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering for Microsoft Windows. It is set during the Vietnam War in 1967.

<i>Anno 1602</i> 1998 video game

Anno 1602: Creation of a New World, entitled 1602 A.D. in North America, is a 1998 construction and management video game developed by Max Design and published by Sunflowers Interactive. Set in the early modern period, it requires the player to build colonies on small islands and manage resources, exploration, diplomacy and trade. The game design is noteworthy for its attempt to implement a 'progressive' artificial intelligence, meaning that the pace of the game changes in response to how quickly players act.

<i>Pharaoh</i> (video game) 1999 video game

Pharaoh is an isometric city-building game released in November 1999. It was created by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Studios for Microsoft Windows. Using the same game engine and principles of Caesar III, it is the first such game in Sierra's City Building series to focus on another civilization of ancient times. Players oversee the construction and management of cities and settlements in Ancient Egypt, micro-managing every aspect of the city to ensure citizens are fed, employed, healthy and protected from diseases, disasters and wars. An expansion pack, Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile, was released in 2000, developed by BreakAway Games. In 2001, both the game and expansion pack were bundled together as Pharaoh Gold. A remake titled Pharaoh: A New Era was released by Triskell Interactive and Dotemu in 2023.

<i>Company of Heroes</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Company of Heroes is a 2006 real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Windows and OS X operating systems. It is the first installment of the Company of Heroes series, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label.

<i>Anno 1503</i> 2002 video game

Anno 1503: The New World is a 2002 construction and management simulation video game developed by Austrian developer Max Design and published by Sunflowers Interactive. Part of the Anno series, it is a direct sequel to Anno 1602, the most commercially successful German video game ever by 2002. Anno 1503 revolves around building and maintaining a 16th-century colony in the New World.

<i>Commandos 2: Men of Courage</i> 2001 video game

Commandos 2: Men of Courage is a real-time tactics video game, developed by Pyro Studios, published by Eidos Interactive, and released on September 20, 2001. It is a sequel to Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and the second installment of the Commandos series, and is the only strategy game of the series to be designed not only for Microsoft Windows, but also for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game sees players taking control of a squad of commandos, along with various allied units, as they sneak behind enemy lines to accomplish various missions in World War II, between 1941 and 1944, that will help them to thwart the war efforts of the Germans and the Japanese. The game features several improvements to the gameplay from its predecessor, including the ability to use enemy weapons and explore interior locations, the inclusion of three new commandos, a number of new skills for the original six members along with their other abilities, and new pieces of equipment to help overcome the enemy.

<i>Stronghold: Crusader</i> 2002 video game

Stronghold: Crusader is the successor to Firefly Studios's 2001 real-time strategy video game Stronghold. Crusader has much in common with the original Stronghold, but differs from its predecessor in the fact that the game is no longer set in England, instead being set in the Middle East during the Crusades. Another prominent addition not found in its predecessor is a skirmish mode in single-player, allowing customized battles with AI opponents instead of the linear campaign. The game was also released as Stronghold Warchest. This version was a compendium of Stronghold and an enhanced version of Stronghold: Crusader, containing additional characters and an additional Crusader Trail.

<i>Age of Empires</i> (video game) 1997 real-time strategy video game

Age of Empires (AoE) is a real-time strategy video game based on history, developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, and the first game in the Age of Empires series. The game uses the Genie Engine, a 2D sprite-based game engine. The game allows the user to act as the leader of an ancient civilization by advancing it through four ages, gaining access to new and improved units with each advance.

<i>Sudden Strike</i> (video game) 2000 video game

Sudden Strike is a real-time tactics computer game set in World War II and the first game in the Sudden Strike series. The game was developed by Fireglow based in Russia and published by CDV Software of Germany. The player selects a faction and gains control of many varied units such as infantry, tanks and artillery. The games focus primarily on tactics, eschewing traditional real-time strategy resource gathering and base development.

<i>Patrician II: Quest for Power</i> 2000 video game

Patrician II: Quest for Power, entitled Patrizier 2: Geld und Macht in Germany, is the second video game from developer Ascaron in their Patrician series. The sequel to The Patrician, it is a game simulating trading, piracy, politics, and economy. An expansion pack, Patrizier 2: Aufschwung der Hanse, was released in Germany in 2001. A compilation release containing the main game and the expansion was released as Patrizier 2: Gold Edition in Germany in 2002 and as Patrician III: Rise of the Hanse internationally in 2003. A sequel, Patrician IV, was released in 2010.

References

  1. "Praetorians MP demo released". Eurogamer.net. 2003-02-21. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  2. McNewserson, Newsey (2003-03-12). "Praetorians Ships". IGN. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  3. " "Praetorians". Pyro Studios . Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012."
  4. Reed, Kristan (June 11, 2003). "UK Charts 2003: Summer Report". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on August 12, 2003.
  5. "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association . Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  6. Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra . UBM plc.
  7. Dossier de prensa Galardones aDeSe 2004 (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento. March 2004. pp. 5, 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2005.
  8. "Zeitraum: März 2003" (in German). Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland. Archived from the original on April 17, 2003.
  9. "Zeitraum: Mai 2003" (in German). Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland. Archived from the original on June 18, 2003.
  10. "Zeitraum: Juni 2003" (in German). Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland. Archived from the original on August 1, 2003.
  11. 1 2 "Praetorians for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  12. "Praetorians". Computer Games Magazine . theGlobe.com. July 2003. p. 82.
  13. McDonald, Thomas L. (May 2003). "Praetorians" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 226. Ziff Davis. pp. 94–95. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  14. Edge staff (April 2003). "Praetorians". Edge . No. 122. Future plc.
  15. Fahey, Rob (March 25, 2003). "Praetorians". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  16. 1 2 Colayco, Bob (March 17, 2003). "Praetorians Review". GameSpot . CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  17. Rausch, Allen (March 16, 2003). "GameSpy: Praetorians". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  18. Lafferty, Michael (April 4, 2003). "Praetorians - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Adams, Dan (March 13, 2003). "Praetorians Review". IGN . Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  20. Chan, Norman (May 2003). "Praetorians". PC Gamer . Vol. 10, no. 5. Future US. p. 90. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  21. Hudak, Chris (March 21, 2003). "'Praetorians' (PC) Review". X-Play . TechTV. Archived from the original on April 13, 2003. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  22. Dunjin Master (January 28, 2003). "Praetorians Hands-On for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro . IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  23. jkdmedia (4 May 2012). "AIAS Announces Finalists for Annual Interactive Achievement Awards". GameZone. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  24. "2004 Awards Category Details Computer Strategy Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  25. Alonso, Álvaro (April 24, 2017). "Los mejores juegos españoles de todos los tiempos". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 28, 2019.
  26. "Mejores videojuegos españoles de la historia - JuegosADN". Archived from the original on 2020-06-04.
  27. Valve Corp/C (June 11, 2019). "E3 2019: Legendary Pyro Studios Titles Remastered for 2019". Calypso Media. publisher site. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  28. "Commandos 2 and Praetorians HD Remaster Double Pack for PS4 and Xbox One launches September 18". Gematsu. August 20, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.