Building Rome One Step At A Time
“What have the Romans ever done for us?” so goes the sketch from the brilliant Monty Python film Life of Brian. It then goes on to say “Apart from aqueducts, sanitation, roads, irrigation, medicine, education, wine, public baths, and peace.” You see, the Romans were busy turning Europe into a colonial master plan, introducing elements we still see today. But they were also invaders, murderers and killed ancient religions across the countries they took.
But as a city-building game, it’s a perfect region of time to play around with. Citadelum is that game, set in the Roman Empire where you build cities, trade routes, and try not to anger the gods. But is it fun?
Since the rise of the Xbox Series consoles, we have had a lot more city-building and strategy games come over from PC. Citadelum does a mixture of both. Developed by Abylight Barcelona, the game has been on PC since 2024, and now finally on Xbox. Like most games in this genre, you are given access to a sandbox mode where it’s all about doing what you want, when you want. Or there is the more focused single-player campaign.
Starting Small In The Roman Empire
The game starts out simple at first, teaching you the controls and guiding you through the basics of the game. You start by trying to build a tiny place in the woods. Starting with the forum as your main home base, you then need to build roads out of it, creating more homes for the Plebeians (which generally means the working class). Build these houses, and they will come. You know the drill then, as you start opening up more access to buildings to make everyone happy, and the city starts to grow. Temples and markets thrive and develop, and you start to use resources from woods, mines, and the river.
Your Plebs will then get assigned jobs as carpenters, traders, soldiers and more. Then, of course, like other sim games, you need to keep an eye on balancing food supplies with the enjoyment levels the Plebs need and, of course, how much money you need to spend. Trade routes are a great way of building income and expanding to the outside world.
Regarding that outside world, outside the city, exploration and domination is key, where you can use soldiers to go out there and take down barbarian camps while protecting your own assets. Managing legions is key here, and training is essential to keep the army up to scratch for your needs. Combat is automatic, so you won’t be involved in the nuts and bolts of a skirmish, which might upset some fans of this genre.
Keeping The Gods On Your Side
Another big section of Citadelum is found in the need to keep the gods happy. You build temples around your city in honour of the six major gods, like Apollo or Mars. Make them happy, and they offer blessings on your work that might bring bumper crops or boost your military might. But it’s a balance, and if you favour one god over another, or don’t worship as you should, then they get angry. This might mean ruining the crops or smashing up the city. It’s a clever little addition to the game, but when they start raining down riotous fury, then it can get a bit annoying. Be sure you know though – this is a time-waster of the game, and it’s not one you can play for an hour and leave. It requires investment, and it will either grab you or not.
Visually, Citadelum doesn’t blow your socks off with its presentation, but it still does a solid job; the building design and all the features look authentically Roman, and the camera works well with you zooming in and out while moving across the map. I found the whole UI intuitive and easy to use without being overly complicated, and the soundtrack fits nicely as well, what with its orchestral music playing out, giving it a regal David Lean feel to the action. The environmental sounds of the city at work are well designed as well, giving it a unique sense of place.
Citadelum Builds A Solid Roman Empire
The city-building market is now pretty big on console with a multitude of games; some of which are much more complex than Citadelum. That said, I liked the city building found here, as well as the exploration side of things. The god mechanic is a good idea too, but the punishments that they give out are too cruel and hard to take. I’d suspect that many will find the combat lacking depth, a tad disappointing. But saying all that, if you really want to find out what the Romans did for us, then Citadelum might just have the answers.
Important Links
Build, Expand And Conquer In Citadelum On Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/build-expand-and-conquer-in-citadelum-on-xbox/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/citadelum/9NZ245MLDX9T/0010
