Ancient Rome is a period of time fraught with potential for video games, which these games have taken advantage of.
One of the most interesting and, it would seem, "ideal for games" historical places is Rome. Whether it is Ancient Rome, the Holy Roman Empire or the Roman Renaissance, this city is one of the most significant in history. Naturally, gamers who are interested in a specific time like to immerse themselves in the game world that offers it as a setting.
Unfortunately, gamers who want to immerse themselves in an accurate or even fictional depiction of Roman history don't have many options. There have been many games based on medieval history and World War II, but after the hype around the Ridley Scott film Gladiator died down in the early 2000s, fans didn't have much choice. But that doesn't mean there aren't great games based on Roman history that fans shouldn't be looking for; here are ten of the best.
Updated December 24th, 2020 by Michael Llewellyn: Even though the recent Assassin's Creed: Valhalla skipped the potential Ancient Rome setting in Layla Hassan's trilogy for a medieval game steeped in Viking legends and mythology. However, Assassin's Creed games aren't the only ones that offer players incredible historical settings to explore and play. Thanks to the variety of video games, the Roman historical setting can be explored in many other ways.
15. Asterix
Released in 1991, the Sega Master System video game version of Asterix was actually better than the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version. The 2D platformer absolutely pushed the 8-bit Master System to its limits and featured superb visuals and animations.
In it, gamers played as Asterix, Obelix and their faithful dog Dogmatix, who were trying to save the captive Getafix from Julius Caesar in Rome. Unlike many other games in the genre at the time, Asterix was much more forgiving thanks to the infinite continue feature, which came in handy in the difficult late stages.
14. Spartan: Total Warrior
Released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, Spartan: Total Warrior is a hack-and-slash fighting game developed by Creative Assembly in Rome: Total War. The plot of the game Spartan: Total Warrior is based on Greek and Roman mythology. Players take on the role of a Spartan warrior defending Greece from an invading Roman army.
Despite the fact that the game lacks the strategy typical of the Total War series, it is an action game in the same spirit as the Dynasty Warrior series, the battles in Spartan are very large-scale and exciting.
13. Colosseum: Road To Freedom
Released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Colosseum: Road to Freedom is a gladiatorial action RPG set during the reign of Emperor Commodus. The game's narrative is pure historical fiction, inspired by the popularity of the movie "Gladiator" starring Russell Crowe.
However, the game still captures the atmosphere perfectly and will more than satisfy gamers with a passing interest in ancient Rome and its setting in the video game world. The gameplay of the game is open and offers players a lot of freedom to live out their Spartacus fantasies.
12. Grand Ages: Rome
Released in 2009 for PC, Grand Ages: Rome is a real-time strategy and empire-building game set in the final years of the Roman Republic. Players are tasked with completing quests and building a reputation as a leader and statesman for real historical figures such as Mark Antony, Pompey Magnus, Marcus Tullius Cicero, and Marcus Crassus.
The game covers real historical events, such as the slave uprising led by the former gladiator Spartacus, and it gives you the choice to side with Julius Caesar or Pompey Magnus.
11. Gladiator Begins
Released on the PSP in 2010, Gladiator Begins is a prequel to Colosseum: Road to Freedom and is based on the last years of the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus before Commodus succeeded him.
Once again, Gladiator Begins is pure historical fiction and even follows the storyline of the film that inspired Gladiator, with Commodus as the main antagonist and the player as the gladiator. Despite being released on a smaller system, Gladiator Begins is a much bigger game than its predecessor, with a grander storyline and even more freedom to develop your fighter in the arena.
10. Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
Released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure is a 3D remake of the 1986 NES game Rygar. Like the original, Rygar has a story steeped in Greek and Roman mythology.
The titled Rygar is armed with a Discarmore and acts like the whip from Castlevania and the Blades of Chaos from God of War. As something of a forgotten classic, Rygar's Setting is sure to appeal to fans of the Roman setting and epic bosses.
9 Centurion: Defender Of Rome
Released in 1990 for the PC and in 1991 for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and Amiga, Centurion: Defender of Rome was one of the first turn-based strategy games to run great on consoles at the time.
Set in 275 BC, Centurion: Defender of Rome challenges players to climb the ranks of the Roman military with the intention of becoming Caesar. Despite limited hardware, Defender of Rome has remained one of the most faithful and historically accurate Ancient Rome games on consoles for years.
8. Praetorians
Released in 2003 for PC, Praetorians is a real-time strategy and tactics game originally developed by Pyro Studios, creators of the Commandos series. The game was recently remastered by Kalypso Media as Praetorians HD Remaster and released in early 2020 with subsequent versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Praetorians allowed players to take on the role of Julius Caesar and take on hordes of barbarians. In terms of gameplay and mechanics, the single-player campaign is very similar to the classic Warcraft and Command & Conquer RTS series.
7. Age Of Decadence
Released in 2015, Age of Decadence is an isometric RPG inspired by classics like Baldur's Gate. The game takes place during the fall of the Roman Empire and creates an almost post-apocalyptic scenario in which players will have to immerse themselves.
Players can create their character by engaging in Roman politics and treachery. Age of Decadence has a strategic turn-based combat system and a very deep dialogue and choice system that has a huge impact on how the world develops around them.
6 Rome: Total War
Fans still mod the game, but even without that, the lengthy single-player campaign is one of the best historical video games of all time. The game also comes with the Barbarian Invasion and Alexander expansions, which add additional complexity to negotiations, religions, timelines, and locations.
5 Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
First released in 2010 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a direct sequel to Assassin's Creed II. It was remastered and re-released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One in 2016 as part of the Ezio Collection. Set in 16th century Rome, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the most modern game on this list.
However, even though the game is not set in Ancient Rome, it is still an important era for history buffs and players will encounter real historical figures such as Borgia and Leonardo da Vinci. In addition, fans are free to explore and climb into the Colosseum, Pantheon, Sistine Chapel, Sant'Angelo Castle and more.
4. Shadow of Rome
Shadow of Rome is a stealth gladiatorial combat set in 48 BC and after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The player takes on the roles of Agrippa, a gladiator soldier wrongly accused of killing Caesar, and Octavian, a statesman who tries to prove Agrippa's innocence in stealth missions.
Stealth missions are the weakest element of Shadow of Rome, but the brutal arena combat more than compensates for this and really plays into the hands of Capcom. The combat system is easy to master and the attacks and finishing moves are satisfying.
3. Assassin's Creed Origins
Released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, Assassin's Creed: Origins is both a prequel and a reboot of the series, featuring a wider open world, an all-new combat system and RPG mechanics reminiscent of The Witcher 3.
Although the game takes place in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period, players will interact with several important figures from Roman history such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Pompey Magnus, Brutus, Lucius Septimius and others.
2. Ryse: Son Of Rome
Released exclusively as a launch game for Xbox One, Ryse: Son of Rome is a hack-and-slash adventure game developed by Crytek. It was one of the first true games of the new generation, with high production numbers and visuals that still hold up seven years after release.
Like many other games on this list, Ryse: Son of Rome is pure historical fiction, but the authentic Roman setting and real-life characters like Emperor Nero and Boudica will definitely appeal to history buffs. Players will take part in large-scale battles and gladiator fights in an arena with a surprisingly deep combat system.
1. Total War: Rome II
Released in 2013 for PC, Total War: Rome II is the successor to one of the greatest strategy games, considered by many to be Rome: Total War. Initially, Rome II had many bugs and technical issues, which affected its scores.
However, thanks to fan feedback, they have been fixed in updates and patches, and now Rome II is a more than worthy successor with great visuals and incredible depth. Like its predecessor, the game features real-time tactical combat, turn-based strategy, and a massive single-player campaign.
