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"Build an empire even Julius Caesar would be proud of."

Centurion combines small game engines to create an all around enjoyable game. As a solider in the Roman army, you must spread the light that is Rome while either creating allies or enemies, in an effort to control the world. You travel across ancient Eurasia and northern Africa. As you enter each land you are greeted by either hostile, friendly or indifferent ambassadors. You can choose whether to be-friend or attack the opposing army. Be-friending another country depends on their view of you, your army and their opinion of Rome. Most times, the weaker countries would not risk pillaging and plundering at your mighty hand but then again, you're not playing to make friends. This game is all about pillaging and plundering. The game developers know that and do not create many countries willing to join forces so easily.

When its time for battle, the lay out is pretty basic and simple to understand. You have your armies on one side the opponents on the other side. The graphics are simple, it's a Genesis game for god's sake. You have to plan out the route of groups of Calvary, Archers, and basic soldiers. There are no advanced strategies like the turtle shell or other army advancements made famous by the Romans. This is just a simple carnage fest of stick figures fighting to the death, the way it's suppose to be.

As you defeat the enemy, your status in the Roman army increases aka leveling up. As you gain more prestigious victories you make your path towards becoming Caesar. Leading troops is not all there is to it. EA has included the Coliseum games to build your status and keep the people of Rome pleased. There is a chariot race, which follows the same stick figure motif of the battlefield, only the view is overhead. It is extremely hard to stay on the chariot and thankfully the game doesn't affect the outcome of the game at all. The same goes for the gladiator games. These two features seem to merely be in the game to break up any monotony.

Overall the game offers intriguing strategy and a challenge making for a very enjoyable game. This game is very under looked and it's unfortunate. The downside is the games replay value, once you've conquered the world, there pretty much is anything left to do but to start over. However, I still recommend Centurion, if you can ever find it and still have Genesis.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/06