Roman First Person Slasher

[longshotgene]

All of these WWII games exist, but no Roman game where an individual plays first person. It would be nice if there was a game where you could play first person. You would have the choice of what to do in the Roman World; Soldier, Merchant, Common Citizen, etc. It would be O.K. to have campaigns, but also give the player the option of making a career. For instance, if you joined the Roman Army, you would have to go wherever they sent you. You could buy things once you were there, get information from other soldiers about plots and various things, etc. Why haven't they created something like this. It would be great to fight in a first person testudo.

[DecimusCaesar]

While not exactly a FPS, Shadow of Rome for the Playstaion 2 is a game where you control a Roman Centurion in third person. I haven't played it before, but it's apparently set during the last days of the Republic. I also think you can take part in gladiator games and chariot races although I'm not too sure.

 

Here's the link for the game on Amazon - Shadow of Rome

[longshotgene]

I've seen this one, but it wasn't that good. They need something that lets you pick the time, occupation, maybe even what province you come from. Something! I get tired of playing the general or Caesar. I want to be a common soldier in one of the games. And not in the final days. All the good stuff has already happened by then.

[caldrail]

All of these WWII games exist, but no Roman game where an individual plays first person. It would be nice if there was a game where you could play first person. You would have the choice of what to do in the Roman World; Soldier, Merchant, Common Citizen, etc. It would be O.K. to have campaigns, but also give the player the option of making a career. For instance, if you joined the Roman Army, you would have to go wherever they sent you. You could buy things once you were there, get information from other soldiers about plots and various things, etc. Why haven't they created something like this. It would be great to fight in a first person testudo.

I think you'd be disappointed. First person games succeed by creating the illusion of personal freedom to go and do whatever you want (actually your options are always very limited, but the action makes up for that). In a roman game of this sort, as a legionary you would be constrained to act in formation and believe me, players wouldn't like that that at all. Especially since roman military doctrine dictates that a man who breaks formation is liable for execution, and your average hyperactive gamer simply isn't going to line up and wait with the rest of the troops. Also, as a programmer your idea would be an absolute nightmare to program. Complete freedom in every walk of roman life would require an enormous database and complex interaction code - I wouldn't even begin to attempt it. What you could do is isolate the character from any restriction at the start - in other words, an off duty soldier or whatever - and program a Deus Ex style first person roleplay game with the player selecting a character type (as you outlined) which accentuates certain skills. Actually, in theory I could do that now, given the SDK's available, but do I have the time to complete a roman roleplay game? Not even slightly. Even for this relatively straightforward option the work involved is daunting. 3D models need to be created and animated. The various levels need to be constructed and compiled. Entire cut scene and conversation sequences need to recorded and programmed. Its a lot of effort!

Edited February 22, 2008 by caldrail

[longshotgene]

Caldrail, it sounds like you are almost as frustrated as I. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who would think it cool to operate in that function. I used to play Morrowind. In that, you could fight Roman soldiers, but you were almost always an elf or some wizard-type person. I guess Rome:Total War is just getting old for me.

[Klingan]

Caldrail, it sounds like you are almost as frustrated as I. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who would think it cool to operate in that function. I used to play Morrowind. In that, you could fight Roman soldiers, but you were almost always an elf or some wizard-type person. I guess Rome:Total War is just getting old for me.

 

If Greek is acceptable, there's always Titans quest, a Diablo style hack 'n slash game. You could also try God of war at the xbox I believe. Those do not however live up to what you want, but then again I'm sad to say so, I don't beleive we'll hardly ever see a game like what you describe.

[tk421]

I think such a game could be done. The formation factor would certainly need to be addressed as it isn't much of a Roman army FPS if you can't play the part accurately. What about automating the battle up to the point where your commander orders the troops to melee? Then you can hack away at NPCs all you want until the melee is finished.