Praetorians (video game)

Infobox VG| title = Praetorians


developer = Pyro Studios
publisher = Eidos Interactive
designer =
engine =
released = February, 2003
genre = Real-time strategy
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Teen (T)
platforms = Microsoft Windows
media = Compact Disc
requirements = Direct3D
input = Keyboard, mouse

"Praetorians" is a 3D real-time strategy game developed by Pyro Studios, based on Julius Caesar's campaigns.

Players are given two options. Players may participate as Julius Caesar commanding forces of varying sizes against various barbarian tribes. Alternately, a skirmish can be chosen in which the player first chooses a difficultly level (easy, medium, hard or expert) then chooses up to 1 character and up to 7 AI players, commanded by the computer. 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.

Members of an alliance may not attack one another. 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.

Gamespot cites the difficulty of the zoom function and limits of the camera (For example, the camera is unable to turn 360 degrees.) as negative aspects of the game. However, Gamespot does praise 'Praetorians' for its gameplay and tactical depth, as well as its beautiful graphics.

The game continues to sell well even today (May 2008), maintaining a place in the top 20 Budget PC titles on ChartTrack.

An unofficial patch was released in October 2004, 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 by gamers. This helped catapult the game back up the GameSpy Arena charts.

External links

* [http://www.pyrostudios.com/ficha_praetorians.asp?75 Pyro Studios-Praetorians]
*moby game|id=/praetorians |name= "Praetorians "
* [http://www.nexus23.net/praetorians.htm/ Praetorians Tribute and Links]
* [http://www.praetoriansgame.com/ Praetorians Fansite]
* [http://arena.gamespy.com/GameLadders/pc/2166/ Gamespy Arena Ladder]
* [http://www.fileplanet.com/146941/140000/fileinfo/Praetorians-1.05-patch-%5BUnofficial%5D Semi offical 1.05 Patch]