Citadelum Preview – Building cities in the lap of the Roman gods

thesixthaxis.com:

Rewinding time to the earliest days of Rome, from a time before the republic was founded, Citadelum is a city builder with a little bit of a difference. Sure, you’re founding a settlement, looking to grow and expand, but you’ll be doing so while the pantheon of gods can walk among your populace.

Citadelum is built on three core pillars, and the biggest of these is the city building at its core. The fundamentals look to be in place, from laying out the roads and buildings of your fledgeling city, to spreading out and gathering resources from the surrounding area, feeding them into your workshops to produce things that further your industry and growth.

There’s a really wonderful style to this, with the game packed with detail and quality. As you scroll around the world, you’ll see your citizens wandering around your city, but you’ll have to zoom in to really appreciate all of the fine work that Abylight is putting in here. Building walls and roofs will peel away to reveal people hard at work inside, each with lovely animations as they go about their work.

This is not a historical simulation, it should be noted. The city that you’ll grow will be defined by your choices each time you play, but there’s also visual touches that you’ll see or be able to influence. Things like pink hair, mixed gender legions, and different styles of armour.

Speaking of which, one of the most important thing to produce is an army, equipping your legions with armour, swords, shields, bows and more. They’ll lead the way in expanding your territory on a world map, sending legions to free nearby villages who are under siege by barbarians, using military might to help establish trade routes with your neighbours.

Combat in Citadelum takes the form of an auto-battler. You set out the placement of your units, the starting formation, and then watch as they march forward to meet the enemy in a fight for supremacy and survival. Think like a more sensible, less wobbly form of TABS.

Everything you do will be