Imperator: Rome

TLDR: Forget the launch. Get it now. It’s really good!
I rarely leave a review here, but this game deserves one.
Like everyone else, I heard about the flop that was this game when it came out. So, I skipped it and only remembered it as “the boring Paradoxgame”. However, a couple of years later I stumbled upon a playthrough on YouTube of this game and thought “Yea, I’m bored and have some minutes to waste. Seeing someone try to endure it might be a laugh.”
I ended up watching the whole thing. I was hooked on watching video after video, shocked that the darn thing was actually looking really fun! It seemed to have a surprising level of depth. Coincidentally, it was on a steam sale at the same time, practically free.
I played the hell out of it…
I then found the mod “Invictus” recommended by someone.
I played the hell out of it…
Suddenly, out of nowhere, came an update to this abandonware-game!
I played the hell out of it…
Now, approx. 1 year later and 550h played it turns out that this game is at the same time the cheapest paradox game I’ve ever bought and is soon to be my most played one. It’s surprising the stories you can find (and make) in this game!

If I had a nickel for each time a dead game managed to keep me glued to the monitor for over 150 hours, I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s odd that it happened twice.


P.S. since the game was abandoned, it didn't suffer the same fate of all the other Paradox Games, which means that to make it playable you just need the base game and the Invictus mod, which is really cheap for a paradox game.

Paradox pls revive this game, it gained so much traction last year from many popular streamers and we would love nothing more than to see this game succeed.
This underrated gem deserves more attention!

After playing Europa Universalis V today, I admit that Imperator: Rome is a good game.

As a player of Total War: Rome 1 and 2, I cannot go back to those after having played Imperator: Rome. The game was initially released as a mess - explaining the early negative reviews - but has had a significant overhaul since, making it one of the best itch-scratchers in the Roman Empire strategy genre.

It’s Not Rome That Fell. It’s You Who Never Rose.
Alright, listen. I know what you’re thinking — “Didn’t that game bomb on launch?”
Yeah. It did. And so did No Man’s Sky, but you still built a shrine to your freighters, didn’t you? Same thing here.
Imperator: Rome had one of the worst first impressions in Paradox history. It launched as a sterile spreadsheet simulator wearing a Roman toga.
But here’s the twist: they actually fixed it. The 2.0 update didn’t just slap on some QoL changes, it reengineered the damn thing.
And nobody noticed because everyone already left the party.
What Makes Imperator Secretly Incredible?
It takes mechanics from all other PDX games and blends them into something... smarter. You’ve got:
Pops like in Victoria — but more dynamic.
Characters like in CK — but they’re actually tied to gameplay, disloyal generals start civil wars because you made them powerful.
Trade that actually matters — not just background gold flow.
A culture/religion melting pot system — that makes EU4 look like it’s stuck in the 90s.
Want to turn Sparta into a cosmopolitan hellscape of philosopher-kings? Do it.
Want to roleplay as a petty Iberian tribe and survive on pure spite and mountain forts? Go ahead.
Every corner of the map feels alive — like a real ancient world, not a board game with event spam.
And the Map?
Chef’s kiss.
Zoom in and you’ll see aqueducts.
Zoom out and you’ll realize half your provinces are ready to betray you because your governor is embezzling enough gold to fund Carthage 2.0.
Downsides? Sure.
Yeah, it still has a weird UI, and the dev team got Thanos-snapped before the final patch.
But honestly? That just makes it more modder-friendly.
The Bronze Age Reborn mod literally turns it into a pre-Classical sandbox with over 7000 provinces.
Insane.
Verdict
If you play Paradox games for flavor text and hats, stick to CK3.
If you want a systems-heavy, sandbox beast that punishes your hubris and rewards long-term planning,
Imperator is the unsung king.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☑ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

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By far my favorite of the Paradox Interactive Grand Strategy games, and certainly one of the most underrated. Vanilla post 2.0 the game is very approachable. It combines elements from Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings together. Sometimes the combination works well, othertimes it leaves something to be desired (specifically the character management). With mods, primarily Invictus, Timeline Extension and Crisis of the Third Century, you get a full experience with nearly endless replayability. For the average person, a lot of the nations in this game will be unrecognizable or even outright unknown. This does not diminish from the experience but I feel only adds the depth and understanding one gets when looking back across history. Starting date includes many historical events from the peace following the Second Samnite War, as well as an intial option for an alternate history with Seleucus I Nicator and Chandraupta Maurya, and lastly the Fourth War of the Diadochi. The modding community also supports this game in the ParadoxGameConverters, taking your save from Imperator Rome into Crusader Kings and beyond. This is easily one of my favorite games of all time.