Rome: Caesar's Will

Rome: Caesar's Will
Developer	Montparnasse Multimedia
Publisher	Montparnasse Multimedia
Platform	Windows
Release	2000
Genres	Adventure, Educational

Rome: Caesar's Will is an educational adventure game released in 2000.

Production

A substantial part of the game's promotion was focused on an "innovative dialogue and artificial intelligence engine" called ReActiveAttitudes technology, which meant that the player could have a personality or "mask" when speaking to a character. If the player approaches the character in a "friendly" or "insulting" way, this would affect how the character interacted, resulting in branching narratives of allies and enemies. ^[1]

Plot

The game revolves around a murder mystery set in 44BC. As a Roman legioner, the player takes on the role of detective who has to prove Aurelia didn't poison her husband, and solve the crime before time runs out.

Gameplay

The game has a time limit of 40 hours; actions such as moving locations via the map cause the player to lose precious seconds. The interface contains an inventory of items, a notepad to write down clues, and an encyclopedia to give the player additional background knowledge as they play. ^[2]

Critical reception

Jeux Video praised the music and sound effects for creating a sense of atmospheric suspense. ^[2] Tom Houston of Just Adventure criticised the ReActiveAttitudes technology for not delivering a diverging series of stories as promised. ^[1]

References

1. "Review: Rome: Caesar's Will". 2001-07-18. Archived from the original on 2001-07-18. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
2. "Test Rome : Le Testament De Cesar sur PC". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-02-02.