Reviews and Previews

Due to the age of the game, all links have been removed since most reviews no longer exist.

Reviews

Ace Gamez: 8 of 10 (03 December 2006)

“Beyond the flaws, once you’ve grappled with the basics there’s a lot to enjoy in Caesar IV. It lacks the scope and scale of most city builder games and despite the delicate balancing act if forces upon you it’s not that difficult once you’ve figured out how things work. Nevertheless, it’s a pleasing new addition to one of the best city builder franchises around and while it doesn’t quite surpass its predecessors, it’s still an enjoyable and accessible management game with enough challenges to keep fans of the series and the genre building away for weeks to come.”

Digital Entertainment News: 7 of 10 (14 November 2006)

“Rome may not have been built in a day, but with Caesar IV it can be; ironically, a day is about all you’ll be able to take of this game. Economic micromanagement can be taxing for the casual player and the plain combat system is far from engaging. Throw in some technical problems and Caesar IV is for series diehards only.”

Armchair Empire: 7.5 of 10 (13 November 2006)

“While it’s a solid game, and probably superior in most ways to its competitors, Caesar IV doesn’t do any one thing magnificently, and the sum of its qualities just don’t elevate this classical game to classic status.”

Gameplanet: 5 of 5 (04 November 2006)

“By far the greatest release of this series. Level of detail will really impress and the gameplay is immersive, challenging and above all, fun. If you love city builders, you should not be without this title.”

Gameshark: B+ (03 November 2006)

“In the end, Caesar IV is a pretty impressive strategy builder and while it doesn’t surpass Glory of the Roman Empire’s ease of use or CivCity: Rome’s good looks, it does offer the most robust city building components of the three.”

Video Game Talk: 4 of 5 (31 October 2006)

“If you enjoy simulation games then you can’t go wrong with Caesar IV, this game is very challenging while not being over the top. I know for a fact I’ll be playing for a long time to come and there will be plenty for me to do before I become Caesar myself. I highly recommend this title to anyone who enjoys the genre.”

Games First!: 3 of 5 (31 October 2006)

“It’s these annoyances that keep Caesar IV from being a really good city builder. The campaign and scenarios provide a satisfying challenge and, while there is no actual sandbox mode, it is possible to create one using the powerful but slightly unwieldy scenario editor. Ultimately, it is the economic micromanaging that will make or break this game for the player. For those of you city building fanatics who appreciate making your city as efficient as possible, Caesar IV will provide you with plenty of entertainment. Others may come up frustrated with the awkward UI, less than original challenges, and emphasis on the hands-on economy.”

Gamers’ Temple: 7.2 (30 October 2006)

“In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 72%. Caesar IV is at its heart an enjoyable game, but you’ll need to be willing to put up with a fair amount of frustration.”

Game Vortex: 9.0 (25 October 2006)

“I could easily find myself coming back to this title over and over again. To be quite simple about it, it is clean, beautiful and it just works the way I think it should. I don’t know if you can ask for much more. My only ding against it at all was the generic nature of the scenarios. I know that this is a tall order to say, especially as deep as the game is. I just think a few more curve balls would have been fun. This title lives up to its hype and I will purposely have to make time to touch it over and over again. Hail Caesar!”

PGNx Media: 8.0 (24 October 2006)

“Caesar IV is an engaging strategy game. There is a lot of content and many hours of gameplay to enjoy in the game. Although it isn’t perfect, the game will still end up sucking a number of hours away from your day.”

PALGN AU: 6.5 (19 October 2006)

“While the game shows areas of brilliance, Caesar IV just isn’t any fun. With a troublesome interface and control structure, and over complex management system, trying to successfully build and manage your town becomes less fun than it should be. While the game can be appreciated for its minor merits, the overall result is fairly average.”

IGN: 7.7 (17 October 2006)

“If you’re looking for a good city building economic simulation, Caesar IV has a lot to like.”

Game Over: 6.7 (17 October 2006)

“Obviously, I found Caesar IV to be a disappointment. I liked Tilted Mill’s first offering, Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile, much more, and it’s odd how they could go from a unique and interesting game to one so completely bland and generic. But that’s what happened, and, as much as I wasn’t really enthusiastic about CivCity: Rome, I’d easily recommend that one to people looking for a city management game to play, rather than Caesar IV.”

Eurogamer: 6 (16 October 2006)

“So, I come here not to praise Caesar or to bury it. It’s just doing pretty much the same generally reliable job it always has done, putting in its hours and going home again – if anything, it’s getting sloppier with age. If it really wanted to be great, it really could have been. But even after an eight-year gap, it still manages to feel like a churned out sequel rather than a careful study of what did and didn’t work last time around. Times have changed since the last Caesar reigned; there’s only enough spit and polish here to delay, rather than prevent, the fall of this particular empire.”

Game industry News: 4 of 5 (16 October 2006)

“Caesar IV is a lot like Caesar III with better graphics. Some of the execution of the game is not quite perfect, like a clunky menu system. But all in all, Caesar IV is a lot of fun to play, especially if you like city-building type games with a little bit of combat thrown into the mix.”

Game Chronicles: 8 (15 October 2006)

“Overall Caesar IV is a very good and fun city builder with loads of value in all the different play modes. With the recent rush of city builders coming out Caesar IV is the best that I have played and by far the best looking with its quality graphics.”

GameBoyz: 8.875 (12 October 2006)

“If you’re looking for a break from all the shooter games and want to exercise your cerebellum instead of your libido, then Caesar 4 is must have game. It has all the right components (quality gameplay, strong graphics and sound). Move over Civilization, there’s a new emperor in town and his name Caesar 4.”

Games Radar: 7 (11 October 2006)

“If you can deal with its quirks, Caesar IV offers a stunning economic model that is sure to challenge even the best money managers while providing hours of play.”

ActionTrip: 6.9 (10 October 2006)

“Caesar IV offers a lot of content. The main campaign is pretty huge, with three different stages that depict three different eras of Ancient Rome. The developers have also included an in-engine editor with tools and an online feature for those wanting to get into some geek on geek action. In my opinion, however, the game is simply not fun enough and it gets very repetitive after a while. The challenges rarely diverge enough to keep things interesting, so Caesar IV just gets stale after a while.”

GameZone: 8.3 (10 October 2006)

“Tilted Mill has produced a faithful rendition of Caesar, which should make all fans of the series very happy. While many things have changed, these changes are all minor features, which haven’t affected the original vision as a whole. Players new to the series will greatly also enjoy playing. Another plus is the family friendly type of game that it is, with many differing ages able to play. Children will especially benefit from the good strategy processes involved. I highly recommend this game for anyone, and it would make a great Christmas present!”

HonestGamers: 8 (9 October 2006)

“At the end of the day, Caesar IV is a great game that anyone can play, one that keeps you coming back because it’s so careful to get all the important things right. Even when you’re not doing particularly well, you’ll be tempted to keep going because you know that the next time around, you won’t make the same mistakes.”

GameSpot: 7.7 (5 October 2006)

“Despite some of the aforementioned flaws, Caesar IV can be an engrossing game at times. Each scenario can easily take hours to accomplish, but somehow time flies by as you constantly struggle to solve the next urban design challenge you’re presented with. Between the game’s campaigns, scenarios, and (albeit unwieldy) scenario editor, there’s a lot of content for any would-be Roman governor to enjoy.”

Yahoo Games: 4 of 5 (3 October 2006)

“Online or offline, as a campaign or a freeform scenario, Caesar IV is an inviting game, easy to like and hard to stop playing. It’s got a fairly forgiving learning curve, and it will rarely plunge you into the sort of economic death spirals that can make other city builders so discouraging. Tilted Mill’s attention to detail has ensured that whether Caesar IV is beating you down or unfurling before you a magnificent ancient city, it does it with style and personality.”

1UP: 6 out of 10 (2 October 2006)

“While your citizens are busy gathering up and assembling all this stuff, you’ve got to keep them happy with things like religion, entertainment, sanitation, and pretty foliage. And all the while, Rome herself is watching and evaluating your every move — constantly demanding more efficiency (and more resources), forcing you to make tough choices between your local economy and the far-off “federal government.””

GameSpy: 4 of 5 (22 September 2006)

“In the end, fans of the classic Caesar franchise, city-building fanatics and general strategy gamers will find a lot to love in Caesar IV. In terms of sheer strategic depth, there’s not a city-builder out there that can match it. The game offers plenty of big rewarding moments: tracking down the sticky bottleneck that’s keeping the city from reaching its full potential, squeezing that last grain field into a tight space between hills or just creating a beautiful plaza surrounded by gardens and statues that simulated Romans can enjoy.”

Previews

GameZone preview (18 September 2006)

“The game will feature two campaigns, each with several missions to undertake. There is a scenario option for sandbox mode, and an online play feature will be available.”

1UP preview (23 August 2006)

“For what is typically an incredibly daunting task — the creation and management of an empire — Caesar IV looks to manage it with simple grace. It is easily deep enough for the serious players and yet should be easy enough for just about anyone to play.”

IGN hands-on impressions (21 August 2006)

“One of the things we were most impressed with during our playtest was the interface. City-building games are known for their high learning curve, and while there will be a tutorial included with the game, the interface does a beautiful job of arming you with most of the info that you’ll need to play Caesar IV.”

GameSpy hands-on impressions (16 August 2006)

“Caesar IV is already head and shoulders above any city builder I’ve played recently. (…) The copy of Caesar IV on my hard drive is early, unoptimized and crippled, and I’m playing it like an obsessive madman. To say that I want the final really badly is an understatement on par with “The Romans ‘sort of’ wanted to conquer the world.””

IGN demo hands-on (15 August 2006)

“Long-time fans of the series should comfortably slip right into the demo, despite the 3D engine. You can zoom right in to see things from the street level or pan out to view your metropolis from any angle, but the core gameplay will feel comfortingly familiar.”

Eurogamer preview (5 August 2006)

“The Caesar series is going 3D for the first time, and doesn’t it look pretty? High dynamic range lighting, bump-mapping, procedural shadows – you may neither know nor care what all those are, but they’re all in here, and you’ll be grateful when you see the game in action.”

Armchair Empire preview (10 July 2006)

” In all, if it lives up to its promise and to the inevitable high expectations that come from long delays, Caesar IV might be a very worthy continuation in a very worthy series.”

Interviews

GameSpy interview (15 August 2006)

Four-page interview with several Tilted Mill employees.

Link: GameSpy