Centurion: Defender of Rome

Centurion: Defender of Rome puts the player in the role of a Roman warlord tasked with expanding and maintaining the empire's dominance over the entire Mediterranean. The game combines a strategic map, on which provinces are managed, taxes collected, and campaigns planned, with tactical battles on land and sea and gladiator arena combat that functions as self-contained action sequences. The political layer also includes the relationship with the Roman Senate and the emperor, whose favor can boost or end the player's career, and over the course of the game the player can rise from a mere warlord all the way to the title of emperor.

On the Atari ST the game offered colorful, clear rendering of both the empire's map and the individual battle and arena scenes, which played out in real time with the ability to command units directly. The alternation between calmer strategic management of provinces and dynamic combat kept the game's pace lively and prevented it from shrinking into mere resource counting. Gladiatorial combat in the arena also serves a practical role - a successful fighter earns extra resources that can be reinvested into building the empire, while also boosting popularity among the Roman people.

Centurion: Defender of Rome was praised at release for how accessibly and enjoyably it combined empire management with action elements, without either component overshadowing the other. The game followed in the tradition of titles like Defender of the Crown and further developed the genre of historical strategy games with cinematic presentation, clearly understandable controls, and a fast pace accessible even to less experienced strategy players. Today Centurion is interesting as one of the more accessible entry points into the genre of historical strategy games and as evidence of how strongly themes of ancient Rome resonated across the games industry at the end of the 1980s.

Why play: For players looking for an accessible entry point into historical strategy games - its fast pace and clear controls make it a pleasant choice even for less experienced strategists.