Praetorians

Preview - Pyro's latest strategic offering is nearly upon us, can Eidos Interactive's big hope buck the trend? Sam investigates.

Right, I know that the game’s release is imminent, but it is never too late to gather some information on what is looking like a refreshingly different RTS game. Praetorians is slated in for release on the 28th of this month so it is almost upon us. The question that can’t be fully answered until our review is whether or not it’s much cop, but we can have a peruse of the features with which it threatens to jam a sword up the jacksie of an increasingly moribund genre.

Developed by the same house that gave us the Commandos series Praetorians is essentially a Roman legion fighting game. You will command various troops across Europe and Africa during the games 22 single player missions, even absorbing foreign troops into your ranks for the occasional mission. As there are three civs to play with, (Gauls and Egyptians also included) I can only assume that Praetorians will be similar to Age of Mythology as to the way that game switched you back and forth between nations depending on where in the campaign you were. There will be fifteen special maps for the all important multiplayer game which will support up to eight players with each side having thirteen units to go into battle with.

Pyro Studios has taken the ever more popular desicion to drop resource gathering from the design, preferring to concentrate their undeniable talents into developing a war game that concentrates on the battles themselves. To this end the combat model will allow games which offer more tactical opportunities for the player, with attention being focused on how you can use the terrain to outmanoeuvre your enemies. Rather than building up a massive army from the safety of your base you will have to venture forth and conquer enemy towns. You see Praetorians does in fact have an element of resource collection for it is only by occupying towns that you can then conscript their populations into joining your force. Once the enemy garrison has been vanquished your commander (an important, often mission-critical unit) can victoriously ride in and set up a press-ganging operation. Then you can select to build units like archers, legionnaires, praetorians or even gladiator units. Auxiliary infantry are necessary to build structures like defensive towers and can be used to build and then man siege weapons right on the battlefield.

Combat itself is also a little different in its approach, and from what I’ve gleaned from playing the demo, it’s good fun. The player has no command against individual fighting units but instead commands formations. These formations are much more rigid than most other games, holding their positions with even more discipline than those in the Total War series. Formations can be easily split and joined together depending on your wants and can strike different attitudes and layouts depending on your needs. Scouting also plays a larger role then I’m used to with special units available to increase your battlefield awareness. You are going to need to have as much info about your foe at hand because they are ably represented by the AI. Terrain is also important, not just in calculating line of sight but it will also give bonuses to attack and defence. Archers can hide in forests, all but invisible except for the rain of deadly arrows. Melee units can surge in to attack but some troops can be left behind by stranding them on the wrong side of a river.

Pyro has made a real effort to get players away from the kind of RTS thinking that has become ingrained, making movement and attack the most important strategies in the game. While players can get down to a little base building, sitting around in one place is not an option. You must attack, attack, attack! The interface is smoothly designed to allow the player to concentrate on dishing out ancient-flavoured whup-ass. The terrain is quite sumptuous and the units are nicely designed, although I did find it a little tricky to pick out certain formations once the fray had been entered. Generally though it looks like the developers have managed to get a good system in place to allow the player to concentrate on having fun. I hope to be able to give you a full review as soon as possible.