Developer: Eidos Interactive
Release Date: Out Now
Avg. Price: $39.99, £24.99

Recently I had the chance to play Eidos's recent PC release, Praetorians. For the most part, I can say that Praetorians is a great game, and will definitely create a need to play more, and if you’re like me, an addiction will form quite easily. So, with that, let's get down to business and take a look at Praetorians.

Overall, I found the gameplay itself to be a very addictive experience. I found small things such as the ability to have your infantry build ballistic weapons, catapults, and defence towers to be a very innovative feature. The gameplay was constantly upbeat and wherever you were on the map, you usually found a fight. The nice thing about Praetorians is that it keeps you on your feet as well. While in the midst of building your army up you will consistently have to deal with enemy troops moving in on you trying to eliminate you. Another very cool feature of the game is when you'll be placed in the position of defending a city. The third mission is setup this way. At the beginning of the mission, you’re given a 20-minute limit to sortie your defences and prepare for an enemy invasion against your city. Your city is enclosed with high concrete walls, so on top of the walls you can place as many archers and spearmen that you have that will attack from above the forces on the ground. Once the enemy forces reach your city, they will use a battering ram to bust down the door to your village, which was one of the best moments when playing the game. Watching the archers firing flaming arrows onto the battering ram and enemy troops was truly an experience as well. The subsequent missions to follow are setup like I mentioned earlier but each has a different mini-story behind it, which creates a fresh experience with each new level, which leads to absolutely no repetition in the game. The only downside I found to the game is that it can be very difficult at times. Such as the case in the third level. You’re given a 20-minute warning but enemy troops start pouring in after about two minutes.

Graphically Praetorians is outstanding. Each level is excellently crafted and looks outstanding. Each level comes with its own weather scenario as well. In the different levels the sun may be shining, then in the next level rain may be pouring down or a blizzard may be blowing in. The character animation on each individual troop is surprisingly well done and looks incredible when zoomed in. Overall, the graphics look great and game runs smoothly, even on my trusty old Athlon 800Mhz. The music in Praetorians is excellent as well. The soundtrack is very well down and fits the situation your in perfectly. When a battle is underway or an enemy is approaching the soundtrack switches to a very upbeat tone and then reduces itself to a peaceful tone when the situation is taken care. All in all, I found Praetorians to be an excellent game. The gameplay is simple to learn and is rock solid. The graphics look great and the music is very fitting. Praetorians takes the basics and makes one very immersive and addictive game. I'd recommend Praetorians to everyone, don't wait for this one to hit the bargain bin.