Praetorians - HD Remaster Review Summary

Nostalgic and enjoyable gameplay: The game evokes fond memories and provides a pleasant experience for those replaying it. It maintains the key mechanics of the original and offers a unique RTS experience with interesting mechanics and an enjoyable storyline.

Strategic and tactical depth: The game focuses on battlefield tactics, unit synergy, and territorial control. It offers a complex strategy with a simple interface, rewarding good positioning of troops and considering strengths and weaknesses of units.

Extensive and varied campaign: The campaign is challenging and varied from the start, with many cool scenarios and immersive missions. It allows both newcomers and veterans to experience a classic tactical RTS without technical barriers.

Terrain plays a significant role: Terrain plays a surprisingly large role in combat, with units able to move through certain terrains and utilize them to their advantage. This adds a layer of tactical depth to the gameplay.

Challenging and satisfying gameplay: The game offers a satisfying gameplay experience with a focus on pure tactic and strategy. The AI is challenging, especially on hard difficulty, providing a respectful nod to the original game.

Poor multiplayer experience: Multiplayer is poorly implemented, with connectivity issues, lack of players, and disappointing gameplay. The multiplayer mode is almost dead and not worth the investment.

Lack of modding support: The game lacks modding support and workshop integration, limiting the ability for players to create and share custom content. There is only one feasible mod available.

Poor graphics and optimization: The graphics are outdated and lack significant improvements. The remaster quality is below expectations, with minimal graphical enhancements and poor optimization.

High price for limited content: The game is considered overpriced for the content offered. Players feel that the price is not justified given the lack of significant improvements and additional content.

Lack of new content: The game lacks significant improvements over the original, with no new maps, missions, or civilizations. Players feel there is not enough additional content to justify the price.

Strategic depth and terrain mechanics: The game emphasizes strategic depth with a focus on terrain mechanics and battlefield tactics. Players must use terrain effectively, and formations play a crucial role in combat.

Limited base building: The game lacks traditional base building. Players can only construct defensive towers and some defensive and assault structures like stone towers and heavy onagers.

Multiplayer and skirmish modes: Multiplayer mode allows players to create rooms and choose races and maps. However, multiplayer maps are limited, and skirmish mode revolves around destroying and defending villages.

Three unique factions: The game features three playable factions: Romans, Egyptians, and Barbarians. Each faction has unique units and strengths, adding variety to gameplay.

Historical campaign and immersion: The game features a historical campaign that recreates moments of Roman history. Video sequences enhance immersion, making the campaign engaging and varied.

Improved performance and graphics: Many players report that the game runs smoothly with improved graphics and fewer technical issues compared to the original version. Specific hardware configurations, such as an i5 8300H, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB RAM, can run the game at highest settings with a constant 60 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution.

Game crashes and bugs: Several players have experienced frequent crashes and bugs. Issues range from the game not loading at all to random crashes during gameplay. Specific mentions include crashes to desktop during missions and persistent multiplayer crashes.

Unit responsiveness and movement bugs: Players have noted that unit responsiveness can be sluggish, and there are bugs related to unit movement and commands. These issues affect the overall gameplay experience and need to be addressed.

Engine reprogramming: The game has been completely reprogrammed on a new engine (Unreal Engine), which has contributed to its improved performance and modernized interface.

FPS drops with many units: Players have noted that the FPS can drop to around 40 when there are many units or fires on the screen, which can affect the smoothness of gameplay.

Add more content and mods: Players request more nations, campaigns, and mod support to enhance the game's longevity and replayability. Additional maps and factions are also desired.

Recommended for RTS fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of real-time strategy games, especially those who enjoy classic or old games. It offers a tight, dynamic RTS experience that rewards precision and strategy.

Buy on sale: Many players suggest buying the game on sale as it offers better value for money. The game is recommended for purchase during discounts.

Original game with mods preferred: Veteran players recommend sticking to the original game with mods for a better experience. Some suggest specific mods like the widescreen mod or the ALLGrey 2.9.0 complex mod.

Not for new RTS players: The game is not recommended for new players to the real-time strategy genre. New players should try the free version first before purchasing.