Europa Universalis: Rome Is Gold

Paradox Interactive really isn't wasting any time. After they have recently launched the expansion pack Napoleon's Ambition for their Europa Universalis 3 history simulating game, they are now ready to once again amaze the gaming crowd with a new game set in the Roman period.

As with all the Europa Universalis games from Paradox, Rome will put you in the shoes... errr, leather bound sandals of an immortal ruler behind the throne of a nation and will allow you to shape the destiny of that nation in any way you want. The list for the playable nations in the game is huge and is set to feature empires like Rome itself, Carthage or the Persian Empire all the way to little known Germanic and Gallic tribes that will struggle for survival.

The player will have to make sure that his nation is cultured, safe and well developed economically. Probably one of the most interesting additions is the way the in-game characters perform. Taking a cue from the Crusader Kings game also developed by Paradox, characters will have personal agendas and can sometimes betray their nation, creating a civil war situation that can break empires in half.

The game's main attraction will be the chance to remodel history after your taste. Didn't like the fact that the Roman Empire destroyed Carthage? Take charge, do a Hannibal over the Alps, protect your homeland and crush the Romans to make the entire Mediterranean basin speak Punic. Want to see the Greeks dominate the East? Simply rise an army worthy of Alexander the Great, built a mighty navy and go head to head with the Seleucids. The outcomes and events in the game itself will not be historically accurate in their progression, even though the starting situation will be represented as close to the real historical thing as possible.

The game is developed for the PC and is now Gold, meaning that no modification can be made to the source code. The release date is April 15 for North America and April 18 for Europe. A game demo could make an appearance sometime this week.