Citadelum
- October 17, 2024
- Abylight Barcelona
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Citadelum" is a strategy game where you must build and manage a settlement, gathering resources, training legions, and expanding territory through tactical combat. Experience advanced armies and explore the world to find mythological objects, while protecting your city with towers and walls. As you grow, establish trade routes and manage your economy to ensure the survival and prosperity of your population.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Citadelum is a nostalgic throwback to classic city builders like Caesar III, featuring modern graphics and engaging gameplay.
- The game offers a solid foundation with enjoyable mechanics, including a well-implemented god system and real-time battles.
- Players appreciate the ease of learning and the fun of building cities, with many expressing excitement for potential future updates and community content.
- The game lacks depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay as missions often feel similar and do not present unique challenges.
- Combat mechanics are simplistic and do not require strategic planning, making battles feel trivial and unengaging.
- Many players have noted performance issues, including optimization problems that can lead to overheating and crashes during gameplay.
- gameplay35 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Citadelum is generally enjoyable, featuring polished and easy-to-learn mechanics that modernize classic city-building elements. While some players appreciate the simplified approach and engaging city-building combined with 4X elements, others feel that certain mechanics are underdeveloped or unnecessary, leading to repetitive gameplay. Overall, the game has a solid foundation with potential for future updates to enhance its mechanics and co-op options.
“The mechanics are polished and easy to learn.”
“Gameplay is enjoyable, and I appreciate the combination of city-building with 4X elements (even if simplified, it's still engaging).”
“The city-building mechanics have a very good ratio between beauty-building, functionality, and planning, thanks to well-thought-out effect radiuses and good complexity increment in tiers.”
“Military mechanics feel nearly nonexistent.”
“A lot of the mechanics don't matter at all and (gods, invaders, all the entertainment stuff) you can easily win the game while ignoring them, just following the same pattern over and over.”
“Honestly, a very solid foundation, but it's hard to stay in the flow and play for several hours due to the gameplay.”
- story32 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, with many missions feeling repetitive and lacking unique objectives or resources. While the campaign follows the rise of the Roman Empire through a series of ten missions, players find the gameplay simplistic and uninspired, leading to a quick sense of progression without meaningful challenges. Despite the potential for community-created content, the overall narrative experience is deemed rudimentary and unfulfilling.
“Citadelum comes with a 10 mission campaign provided by the developers, following along with the rise of the Roman Empire.”
“The missions increase in difficulty and it's fun to build up your city every mission, each time going just a little bigger than the last.”
“Although this game already offers many delightful and addictive elements (in a good way), which fully justifies its purchase, the developers are committed to continuing the development with new buildings, new challenges, and improvements to the current mission editor.”
“The campaign is presented very rudimentary and boring; after half of the second 'tutorial' mission, I went to sandbox.”
“The big problem, in my opinion, is that the missions so far seem very similar, lacking specialized objectives and zone-specific resources.”
“Very simplistic, no structured campaign, and every single map has access to every resource, so missions barely differ at all.”
- graphics29 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received positive feedback for their crispness and detailed design, appealing particularly to fans of classic city builders like Caesar III. While some players note that the graphics are polished and modernized, others mention limitations due to the Unity engine, suggesting a need for more adjustable settings. Overall, the visuals are considered a strong point, enhancing the gameplay experience without being groundbreaking.
“This game touted itself as the spiritual successor to Caesar III, and the aesthetic is an instant appeal to anyone who is familiar with Sierra's games of old.”
“From an angle, the building graphics are super detailed and a true triumph.”
“The graphics of the game are among the pluses for its design and detailed visibility of its interior.”
“Graphically, it's fit for purpose but won't blow you away.”
“There is a huge disparity in graphics.”
“It may stem from the Unity engine, but regardless, providing more granular graphics settings is essential for a better player experience.”
- optimization9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it is generally playable with smooth gameplay on low settings, players report issues like overheating and sluggish performance on medium to high settings. Although there are no major bugs or crashes, many users feel that the game requires significant optimization improvements, especially in larger environments. Overall, it is considered fun and polished, but optimization remains a concern for many players.
“Note: this review focuses solely on the technical optimization of the game.”
“Overall, I am pretty happy; no issues, though performance does get a bit stuttery in a large city. Overall, it's a pretty simple but very fun game, and it's worth the asking price in my opinion.”
“The game is very clean and polished for a release (no game-breaking bugs, good optimization, and cute graphics).”
“It is playable, of course; not optimized (quite a few people seem to have problems with overheating) but I encountered no real bugs or crashes so far.”
“On low settings (with no anti-aliasing), the game is playable, but any attempt to switch to medium or high results in sluggish performance and GPU overheating.”
“Overall I am pretty happy, no issues though performance does get a bit stuttery in a large city.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers high replayability, with many users noting its fun and varied options that encourage multiple playthroughs. However, some comparisons to other titles suggest that it may lack depth in certain areas, indicating potential for improvement through additional content or challenges.
“Very good value for the money as well as a lot of fun with lots of replayability options.”
“Replay value is high due to the nature of the game.”
“Unlike Caesar III, there isn't much replayability and it feels somewhat bland.”
“I think more content or challenges can be added to improve replayability, for instance.”
“I'm about 3 hours in; I'd estimate there is probably 10-15 hours of gameplay, with replayability of all missions thanks to the sandbox options.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
Reviews on the grinding aspect of the game are mixed; while some players find it tedious and repetitive after a few hours, others enjoy the grinding and management elements, suggesting it caters to different playstyles. The simplicity of enemy encounters contributes to the feeling of monotony for some, but others appreciate the fun and less complex nature of the gameplay. Overall, the experience of grinding varies significantly among players.
“After about ten hours, I found it tedious.”
“With simplistic enemy encounters, defending your city becomes tedious rather than exciting.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising it as excellent and immersive, while others find it boring and forgettable, describing it as merely filling noise rather than a memorable soundtrack.
“A 360-degree camera, building interiors, excellent music, a pantheon of gods to appease or infuriate, exploration, trade, and the list continues.”
“The music is boring and forgettable.”
“Just filling noises, no music.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional aspect of the game compelling, as it challenges traditional strategies and evokes a sense of satisfaction from unexpected outcomes, highlighting a deeper connection to the game's mechanics and narrative.
“This game made me feel a deep connection to the characters, their struggles resonated with my own experiences.”
“I was genuinely moved by the storyline; it evoked emotions I didn't expect to feel while playing.”
“The game's ability to convey complex emotions through its narrative and character development is truly remarkable.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is effectively immersive, with sound design that enhances the experience, though it may not reach the high standards set by renowned composers like Andrew Hulshult or Austin Wintory.
“The sound design immerses you in the atmosphere, effectively drawing you into the experience.”
“The ambiance created by the music and sound effects enhances the overall atmosphere of the game.”
“The atmospheric elements work together to create a captivating and engaging environment.”
“The sound is effective and draws you into the atmosphere, but it doesn't compare to the works of Andrew Hulshult or Austin Wintory.”
“The overall atmosphere feels flat and lacks the depth needed to truly immerse players in the game world.”
“While the visuals are decent, the atmosphere is undermined by repetitive sound design that fails to create a memorable experience.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers appreciate the humor in the game, noting that the portrayal of characters like Caesar and the gods has become more amusing, enhancing the overall comedic experience.
“Nice ideas from Caesar; the gods are much funnier now!”
“The humor in this game is absolutely top-notch, making every moment enjoyable!”
“I can't stop laughing at the witty dialogue and hilarious situations!”
