Pax Romana: Romulus

Review

The game starts with a story about how you and your twin brother Remus were abandoned by your parents. Placed in a basket and left to float down the River Tiber until it ran aground. Here the twins are found by a wolf who nurses them for a time, then a shepherd called Faustulus finds them and brings them up as his own.

You play as Romulus and one morning as you awake your father Faustulus tells you to wake your brother Remus as he needs to talk to both of you. He explains that it’s been a long time since he found you but now his time is up; he’s dying of consumption. Someday you’ll become great men and rule the people because you’re descended from Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Venus. Inside the basket in which I found you was a letter and it is now time to go after your destiny. Telling the twins that he loves them and to take care of each other, Faustulus dies soon after.

Remus ran up gambling debt and the twins had to sell everything they owned to pay them off. Then one day he just disappeared with the last few coins the brothers had, leaving Romulus with nothing and on his own. This is where your story begins.



Now that you’re on your own you have a lot of work ahead of you to get by each day. You’ll need to tend to your farm and grow crops so that you have enough food to get by each day. However, first you’ll need to earn some pennies by doing any jobs you can so that you’re able to buy any items you need. After receiving a letter from Bulla, an old friend of your fathers’ sending his condolences, he tells you stop by his farm in Silvium. He has some jobs for you to help you back on your feet.

After making your way to the town of Silvium and doing some jobs for Bulla, there are more jobs around town which will help you gain some money and resources. These types of jobs are collecting wood, rocks, metal ores or taking items to someone else, for which you’ll need tools.  Luckily you already have some at your farm so make sure you find them and take them with you as you travel. You can also collect berries scattered here and there; these can help keep the hunger at bay for a while, although you’ll need more than those to sustain you. You’re able to buy provisions, seeds etcetera from various people around town.

The game has a day and night cycle;  the day starts early, at 6am, and night starts at 6pm.  As the day progresses so will the colour overlay of the game, which changes from a bright morning through to dusk and then finally dark when it’s night. You can stay up as long as you like but sooner or later, you’re going to need rest. You can keep an eye on your energy levels, along with your hunger, in the bottom left corner, where you’ll also find the time, date and month.

When your energy is getting low it’s time to get some sleep. If this happens while at home, you can just crawl into your pit and get some beauty sleep. If you’re away from home then you’ll need to find somewhere to stay; this will cost a few coins, but you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. However, this won’t replenish your hunger, so always try to keep something at hand and in a pinch, you can collect berries from the surroundings.

There are quests which you’ll need to complete;  completing one will reveal another, and there are also some side quests in which you can take part. You check on any current, completed or failed quests in the menu screen. One of the main quests is to find the Temple of Vesta.  Your mother, Rhea, appears to you one night, explaining that she can’t stay for long or explain what is going on, but she tells you to find the Temple of Vesta and that Fortuna will show you the way.

Here she will talk to you and explain what’s happening. Unsure of the temple’s whereabouts, you ask around. While doing so you’ll discover that you’re not the only one looking for the temple. Commander Lucius has men searching high and low to find the temple for reasons unknown to you, so you must find the temple before they do and discover both what your mother wants and your destiny.

To grow crops back at home, you’ll need to dig holes for the seeds, plant and water them. The types of crops you’ll be able to grow are Carrots, Potato, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Wheat, Corn and Strawberry. You can also craft many items like furniture, painting, carpets, windows and curtains. You can also move and place any items crafted wherever you like. You can change the floors and walls of your farm and even add rooms if you have the money and resources.

In your inventory there’s Alchemy, Food and Drink, Tools, Others and Quest Items (which stores all the items you currently own). On the right-hand side of your screen is a list of consumables for easy access. When I first started playing, I’d have to go into the inventory and select something to eat, after which it would take me back to the game, which was a bit of a pain as I’d have to keep going back-n-forth to the inventory after eating something.

However, now you can just select keyboard shortcuts to eat something - it’s much better, so thank you Mr. Developer for that. The game is in early access so bear this in mind, but I’ve had several updates  so far and it’s nice to see the developer working on the game. I’m sure there’s going to be one or two changes as the game develops and I look forward to seeing how it all works out.

On the main menu screen there’s New Game, Continue, Options, Controls, Credits and Quit Game. In the options you’ll find settings to turn On or Off Always Dash, Full Screen and Lighting Effects. There’s also Background Music, Background Sounds, Menu Effects and Sound Effect volume controls.

The controls have Primary and Secondary options for Movement (WASD and Arrow Keys) and Interaction (Space Bar and Enter). There are also keys for inventory, quests, crafting etcetera, although they are more geared towards being used with the primary keys of WASD. I personally prefer to use the arrow keys and would have liked to have been able to re-map the other in-game keys to keys around the arrow keys, but maybe this is something which can be done in the future. 

Right clicking or pressing Escape will bring up the crafting, inventory etcetera, where you’ll also find The Music Box. Here there are several pieces of music which you can select and play as you game; you may also turn of the music should you wish too.

 

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!


Positives

+ Nice graphics
+ Good music
+ Achievements

Negatives

- No cards

Review Summary

Gather resources, craft over one-hundred items, develop your farm, grow crops and design your house as you rebuild your life after being left with nothing.

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Zeepond Rating: 8/10

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