GENRE
	Strategy
	DEVELOPER
	Slitherine
	PUBLISHER
	Valcon Games
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	No
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Most video game shoppers have one common theme at a brick and mortar store. We all look at the box. Even games that are certain buys get that extra glance. Now, depending on the individual shopper, that look may have a number of purposes. Parents may check the rating before handing it over to the youngsters. Wii owners may check the controllers the game requires. Party gamers might look for co-op or online play. Seasoned gamers may check the developer. But most of us at least use the box to get a feel for what we're buying. For smaller, niche titles, that box can be the difference between purchase and pass.

So when shoppers pick up The History Channel: Great Empires - Rome from the shelf, they can't help but notice the branding: The History Channel. While the station may carry some clout amongst its target TV-watching age group, to gamers it screams "license." And while gamers know better than to trust a license, even the most trusted insignia of failure surprises every so often. It doesn'tdeserve any awards, but gamers may want to give this surprisingly meaty budget title a try.

Great Empires uses historical armies and situations to create a strategy genre mash-up. Players take control of an empire of choice, usually Romans in what can be best described as the "main scenarios," but players do have a choice of countries. Given a few cities and soldiers to start, players manage their resources through base-building to increase their strength and wealth so as to expand their empire throughout the land. As cities grow, players begin training soldiers of various types to defend against neighbors or conquer their land. The idea is to control 40 percent of the game's map, at which point the game ends in victory.

Play mainly progresses through various text- and number-heavy menu systems, where players can view what they have available in lumber, ore, and food, choose an available building to construct, reap its benefits, train soldiers, and repeat. Armies can then move across the land towards other territories and engage other traveling armies or attempt to take a city. Before the battle, players position each squadron and choose formation and aggression options. Once the battle begins, it's out of human hands as the computer plays things out and presents the winner.

If it sounds like a pre-NES text adventure, it should. Great Empires is designed in that style, with graphic elements inserted so that it could be a video game of today. With that in mind, the game's visual appeal is limited at best, ugly at worst and often distracting. Menus are not easy to navigate, and rarely do any visual cues indicate that a selection was even made. At the city level, buildings all look pretty similar, which slows the pace as players try to distinguish between their bath house and lumber yard to assign citizens and check production. The city view is generally crowded, and larger cities may actually bleed off the screen.

The overworld map does a better job identifying the grounds, as terrain plays an important role in battle strategy. But it never incorporates a bit of flair or elegance. The map feels smaller than it really is, and just doesn't provide the sense of breadth that world domination should entail. Battle scenes are better, but more for their inappropriately campy fun. The battle cries provide a few unintentional chuckles, and the Braveheart-like yells of charging armies is the one visual or audio effect that works well, but the remainder of the sights and sounds feel more Game Boy Advance than DS.

Even the DS touch screen is less useful than it should be. Menus are easier to navigate with the D-pad, due to a bit of imprecision in the touch screen's contact points and the small-ish text. If these issues were limited to the senses, they could be ignored. But they occasionally creep into the usability of the interface, which gets in the way of gameplay.

It's a minor complaint, however, because the game never applies any time pressure. Every act is methodical -- make a decision, watch the results. It seems kind of boring, but has a managerial appeal, like playing General Manager of the Roman army. Resources are cultivated and production improved through clearly identified means, and bad decisions have truly negative effects. Buildings are varied enough to allow indirect control on the path of a city -- will it train archers or horsemen, attract workers with a hospital or mercenaries with a bordello. It would be nice to be able to design the city, which would give a bit more attachment to its well-being, but the computer takes care of that.

Battles may be too hands-off for some, but over time players can see how certain common sense tactics can lead to wins even when outnumbered. Additional options let Rome form alliances with other countries, which basically keeps that land from attacking. A stronger nation can sometimes gain resources out of the alliance, only agreeing to the truce for a price, although that price is controlled by the game.

It's a theme for The History Channel: Great Empires - Rome. Nearly every element has a good and bad, its strength also its weakness. It's paced, moderately intelligent, and has a micromanagement appeal. It's also slow, occasionally simple, and has little direct control. If you can find a copy, it might go down as one of those fondly remembered little games you once played, or just one that was never as much fun as you remembered.

5.5/10