Praetorians Hands-On

"Praetorian!"

So shouted Maximus Decimus Meridius while facing a deadly praetorian soldier who lunged at him in fury! It was quite a memorable scene from Ridley Scott's fabulous Roman epic, Gladiator. All of you who have seen the movie most likely remember the spectacular beginning of the movie when Maximus leads his army of legionnaires against the barbaric hordes of Germania. Such spectacular battle scenes are exactly what we were hoping to encounter in Praetorians, the latest beta of the exciting new real-time strategy being developed by Pyro, the makers of the Commandos series. The software finally arrived to our humble office recently, and, if memory serves me correctly, Praetorians was announced roughly two years ago. During the lengthy period of its development Pyro had to push back the game's release since they were concentrating on the Commandos sequel, but as of now, the game is in full swing. After reviving the project and showcasing a preliminary edition of the game at last year's E3, Pyro Studios released an official demo for the game, which received decent feedback from the gaming population. Now come with us, as we open the doors of an addictive new RTS world, called Praetorians.

Hail, mighty Crassus!

The desert could very well be our demise...

Before we get into the details regarding the gameplay, I would like to refer you all to our previous preview and the official game web site, if you want to know more about the game's storyline. Just so you have a vague idea of what's going on, Praetorians will take you back to the times of Julius Cesar and his ruthless military campaigns, which have expanded the Roman Empire to its full glory.

Judging from the beta build, the game is nearly finished and it appears to work smoothly and without any major problems at this point. A certain number of flaws remain, however, which we hope the developers plan to remedy by the time the game hits the shelves. But apart from the few bugs that still need squashing, we can safely tell you that the game is one heck of a ride. As you begin your very first tutorial mission, you will be introduced to the game's basics, which include interface handling, unit manipulation, various hero and unit abilities, construction options, etc. Once you get acquainted with the capabilities of your units, you'll realize that there are no limits to what you can do in terms of strategy and military maneuvers. Your units can operate in groups and individually. Each type of unit was trained to handle a certain type of adversary, which is why army positioning and terrain planning is crucial to your victory in battle. The missions were adequately designed so as to test the skills of each and every unit. The scout, for instance, is particularly helpful for planning out your attacks; rather then including the conventional RTS scout units, such as horsemen and runners, the lads at Pyro threw in two rather interesting variations - the Wolf Scout and Agrado of Talagatta. Both scouts are accompanied with well-taught animals that can survey different types of terrain. The Wolf Scout can send out (you've guessed it) a cute little wolf, which is specially trained for sniffing out enemies that hide in the nearby brushes and forests. But the Agrado of Talagatta is the master of the eagle! His faithful companion can fly over all obstacles and rough terrain and is usually the best way you can explore your foe's territory within city walls.

By avoiding the traditional and most tedious conception of the peasant (or your basic building unit) the developers have included a very competent unit, which represents sort of a crossover between a builder and a basic melee soldier. They are called the Auxiliary Infantry and are practically your main weapon for major assaults on enemy strongholds. The Auxiliary Infantry can build bridges, catapults, ladders, and garrisons. Luckily enough, they are trained to fight if they are taken by surprise and they can handle themselves in close combat.

Throughout the game you are required to assemble your military might, which should encompass three main types of fighting units - archers, Roman legionnaires, and spearmen (later on you will receive mounted units). Archers and spearmen were depicted in the customary RTS manner, but we were rather impressed when we saw the legionnaires in action. Namely, they can enter the famed turtle formation that turns one group of troops into an impenetrable military machine. Moreover, Praetorians also feature a commendable utilization of hero units. Mounted hero units, for example, will be maintaining order and disciple within your ranks; as long as they are nearby, your troops will be well organized and responsive in battle. Of course, your soldiers will last a longer on the battlefield provided they have a healing unit close by. All units respond well to orders and don't seem to have any trouble with path finding. OK, there are a few exceptions here, which we hope will be tweaked in time for the game's release. Sometimes, in mid-battle, your troops can jam each other while trying to get to their designated destination. I should stress, however, that this happened only once throughout the entire build, so we think it won't be much of a problem for Pyro to patch-up before the final version comes out.

Run now, my brave soldiers, retreat!

Don’t worry men, the rain never stopped us before!

While playing through a couple of missions, I distinctly remembered having a really hard time defeating the opponent (with the game difficulty set on "Normal"). That doesn't mean it won't be possible to defeat them, but you are required to think before you "leap" into action; otherwise you'll get your ass kicked even by a small group of barbarians. In short, the game clearly demonstrated that that unit placing and attack coordination is vital to your army's survival. Anyway, it's obvious that the opponent AI was fairly beefed up so it's often advisable to have a well-prepared army of legionnaires, arches, spearmen, and everything else you can muster before you assail enemy territory. Still, your heroes can't be everywhere at once, if you create an enormous number of ordinary soldiers without a proper leader by their side, it is quite possible they will get heads handed to them. On the whole, the AI has proven its competence on several other occasions. For instance, many units have the ability to hide within thick forest, thus creating very effective ambushes. Archers, legionnaires, and infantry units can hide in forests or can lay undiscovered in fields of wheat (neat one!). This particular skill is something your enemy tends to use quite often, which can be countered by your Wolf Scouts, who are capable of discovering such traps.

On a few personal notes, I think the developers need to input an easier way of manipulating certain units. For instance, the ladder carriers can assail the walls only when you have selected a spot that's free on the wall. If the battle rages with a large number of units already placed on the wall, it will be extremely difficult for you to find an open space where you can assign a ladder placement. Also, the game is largely action-oriented; hence you won't be faced with any gameplay elements such as resource management and tech-tree advancements.

As for the visuals, the development team at Pyro Studios has once again showed their admirable attention to detail. The terrain looks very nice and I enjoyed the way they've animated the water surfaces... In addition to that, it was fun to watch the troops in action; although I strongly believe that some of them could use an additional animation or two. When your troops march across the plains and fields they will produce clouds of dirt and their feet will leave ripples on the water while they cross rivers or ponds. Several flavors were added to certain environments, such as sudden gusts of wind in the desert, which can cause sand storms. When that happens, your view will be obstructed and your units may act a bit confused (a most realistic and impressive visual moment).

All in all, we were satisfied with what we've seen at this point and we're pretty sure the game will impress RTS fans. Perhaps we were a bit disappointed for not encountering any adventure elements (which were promised on several occasions via official press releases). Nonetheless, this game evidently has amazing potential and enough to hold your attention for some time - the addictive gameplay, and above all a fabulous atmosphere with captivating battle scenes which carry the reminiscences of historical conflicts that took place during the age of the Roman Empire. Overall, a totally fulfilling RTS experience.