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 successfully captures the nostalgic essence of classic city builders like Caesar III, offering a fun and relaxing gameplay experience.
- The game features beautiful graphics and a charming aesthetic that brings the ancient Roman world to life, enhancing the overall immersion.
- The inclusion of gods and their mechanics adds an interesting layer of strategy, allowing players to earn boons or face consequences based on their actions.
- The gameplay can become repetitive, as missions often feel similar and lack significant variation in objectives or challenges.
- Combat mechanics are simplistic and lack depth, making battles feel more like a chore than an engaging part of the gameplay.
- The game suffers from performance issues and lacks optimization, leading to potential crashes and high resource usage on some systems.
- gameplay53 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Citadelum is a modernized take on classic city-building mechanics reminiscent of Caesar III, featuring solid city management and engaging resource gathering. While the game offers enjoyable mechanics and a visually appealing experience, it suffers from repetitiveness and some underdeveloped features, such as military and god mechanics, which can feel inconsequential. Overall, it provides a fun and accessible gameplay experience, though players hope for future updates to enhance depth and variety.
“Citadelum does a fantastic job of taking inspiration from Caesar 3 and implementing modern mechanics and graphics while keeping the same spirit behind the management basis.”
“The city management mechanics are solid, with a great balance between resource gathering, building, and expanding your settlement into a magnificent Roman city.”
“The gameplay itself is enjoyable, and I appreciate the combination of city-building with 4X elements; even if simplified, it's still engaging.”
“As mentioned in other reviews, the gameplay is incredibly repetitive.”
“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.”
- story48 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its lack of depth and coherence, with many missions feeling repetitive and disconnected from a central narrative. Players noted that the campaign consists of disjointed missions that often require similar strategies, leading to a sense of monotony rather than an engaging progression through an epic tale of the rise and fall of Rome. While there are sandbox and community-created missions available, the overall campaign experience is described as rudimentary and lacking in meaningful objectives.
“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 mode.”
“In contrast to games like Caesar III, where each mission offers a real incentive to continue, this title lacks engaging challenges in its campaign.”
“Very simplistic, no structured campaign, and every single map has access to every resource, so missions barely differ at all.”
- graphics37 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of Citadelum have received praise for their stunning detail and modernized aesthetic, effectively bringing the beauty of ancient Rome to life while maintaining the spirit of classic city builders like Caesar III. Many players appreciate the crisp visuals and polished design, although some feel that the graphics could be further improved, particularly in battle scenes. Overall, the game is seen as a successful blend of nostalgic elements with contemporary graphics, making it appealing to fans of the genre.
“The game also shines with its stunning graphics, bringing the beauty of ancient Rome to life in a way that feels immersive and rich in detail.”
“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.”
“As for negative points, I think the game deserved better graphics.”
“Graphically, it's fit for purpose but won't blow you away.”
“There is a huge disparity in graphics.”
- music10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some praise its fantastic and original soundtrack that evokes a Roman feel and draws inspiration from Caesar III, others find it boring and forgettable, with some even describing it as mere background noise. Overall, the soundtrack is noted for its quality, but opinions vary significantly on its impact and memorability.
“Has a wonderful soundtrack that captures the Roman feel.”
“And the music, oh, the music is fantastic!”
“Bonus value: although the music is original, you can hear there are short passages inspired by the Caesar III soundtrack.”
“One thing I'm not a fan of is the soundtrack.”
“The music is boring and forgettable.”
“Just filling noises, no music.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players report smooth gameplay on low settings, others experience significant performance issues, including high GPU usage and overheating when attempting to play on medium or high settings. Overall, while the game is playable and visually appealing, it is clear that further optimization is needed to enhance performance, especially in larger cities.
“Citadelum is initially very exciting, both because of the ambiance and because of the production trees and population optimization involved.”
“Note: this review focuses solely on the technical optimization of the game.”
“The game is very clean and polished for a release (no game-breaking bugs, good optimization and cute graphics).”
“Unfortunately, the game is not optimized. With my computer (i9-11900k, 32GB RAM, 3060 Ti), I can only play this game on normal settings at 60 FPS. My GPU was at 85%, and if I set higher settings, the GPU is loaded at 100%, causing my computer to freeze.”
“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 to desktop 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.”
- replayability9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is viewed positively, with many users highlighting its high replay value due to sandbox options and varied gameplay experiences. However, some comparisons to other titles suggest that it may lack depth in replayability, indicating room 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.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game can be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to challenging missions and simplistic enemy encounters that detract from excitement. While some players appreciate the management and grinding elements, others find the experience overly repetitive and time-consuming, often requiring excessive effort to keep up with city demands and exploration tasks. Overall, the grinding may appeal to dedicated players but can be a significant drawback for those seeking a more engaging experience.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“After about ten hours, I found it tedious.”
“With simplistic enemy encounters, defending your city becomes tedious rather than exciting.”
“Meanwhile, you’ll be clicking scouts through a tedious exploration mini-game before they inevitably stumble upon and are killed by an enemy legion.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while some users miss the charming wit found in "Zeus," others appreciate the fresh comedic elements introduced by "Caesar," noting that the gods are portrayed as funnier this time around.
“Nice ideas from Caesar; the gods are much funnier now!”
- 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 game's world.”
“The ambiance created by the music and sound effects enhances the overall experience, making it feel alive and engaging.”
“The atmospheric elements combine beautifully to create a captivating environment that keeps you invested in the game.”
“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 uninspired, lacking the depth and immersion I was hoping for.”
“While the visuals are decent, the atmosphere fails to evoke any real emotion or tension, making the experience feel hollow.”
