Field of Glory: Empires Critic Reviews

Empires lacks the breadth Imperator has striven for and is a few years behind what Total War is doing these days, but it's a smartly made game and gives a deeper military experience for those who prefer those aspects. It's definitely one to consider and an excellent new contender in the grand strategy space.

Field of Glory: Empire is a complex, deep grand strategy game in the vein of previous AGEOD titles. While great for long-time fans of the genre, its lack of adequate tutorial and its lousy interface could very well scare away new players.

The new effort by AGEOD and Slitherine introduces an even more fascinating and dramatically real aspect: the decadence of a nation and a people which, then as now, must be fought with culture, good administration and infrastructure investments.

Strategically, Field of Glory: Empires is one of the more accessible 4X strategy titles out there. It's not too demanding on the player around the diplomacy and trade side of things, allowing you to focus principally on the military strategy. The interface, sadly, will put anyone off who isn't a wargaming veteran, but anyone who has an interest in ancient Rome and its military history should push through that, because they will get a kick out of Field of Glory: Empires. If only because you'll be able to hand Hannibal the great victory and conquest the poor guy clearly deserved.

FOGE is a fresh and innovative grand strategy game that blends a lot of good ideas in the strategic department with fun and entertaining tactical battles. AI, diplomacy and, above all, interface design, need a lot more polish.

Did I mention the unique gameplay touches designed into some of the nations? The excellent interface that makes it easy to jump to whatever information I need, whether it’s the size of the Carthaginian navy, the closest source of amber, if there’s a river crossing on the way to the next province, or how good that unit is at besieging fortifications? The scattered tidbits of historical flavor text, especially on each of the buildings? The post-release support, which includes a new diplomacy system currently available in a beta build? And did I mention that I haven’t played a strategy game this unique and absorbing since Victoria and Imperialism before it?

Field of Glory: Empires is a grand strategy set during the hellenistic period: is deep and complex, but it lacks of some key points.

Essentially, Field of Glory: Empires is a quintessential Slitherine game. Big scope, big idea, but executed in such a way that will not click with anyone, but the nichest of fans. It doesn’t really add anything that was missing from any other grand strategy game, and all of the glory, character, and scope of the Roman Empire is virtually nonexistent here, feeling instead like a virtual version of a very charmless boardgame. However, if you’re a long time fan of Field of Glory (or a hater of Imperator or Rome II), this game might end being right up your alley.

If you want to bring a piece of ancient Rome into the 21st century, and live out your fantasies as a grand strategist, I find it hard to recommend any other game than this.

A very complex, but also quite accessible turn-based strategy from AGEod Studios that aims to simulate all the complexities of ancient civilizations. Yes, there are minor pratfalls and lapses, but a patient general will succumb to its charms all the same.

This is dreary, sometimes plain boring and frustrating. Even if you get into the mechanics thanks to YouTube-videos (!), there are way too many shortcomings.