This game will encompass the years 280 BC through 27 BC. Producer Johan Andersson describes the games and its features:
"The Roman era depicts some of the greatest cultural and military civilizations that have ever existed. We felt there was so much more of this era to explore, and that the time period lends itself perfectly to the type of deep and challenging strategy we have specialized in. In addition, we are all fans of the era, which helps immensely, since we will be well familiar with every inch of it after finalizing this project....There will be more than 50 playable nations ranging from Rome itself to smaller Gallic tribes. Of course, we have nations like Carthage, Egypt, and Macedonia as well. We chose 280 BC as our starting point because there was a type of balance between several major nations at that time, and essentially any of those major nations could have created an empire similar to that of Rome. Players will have different resources, geographical locations, characters, and governments at their disposal, which will define their strengths and the capabilities of the nations.
Players can set up trade routes to get access to other resources, appoint characters to various positions in their nation, elect different national ideas depending on their government type...and [they'll have] many more options. The outcome of Europa Universalis: Rome will completely depend on players' strategic and tactical choices.
There are six different units available in the game: militia (standard peasant levy); heavy infantry (such as the legionary); archers (missile troops, such as slingers); cavalry; horse archers (Parthians); and elephant cavalry.
The 3D map and improved terrain adds substantially to the look and feel of the game, and in some instances it will play into [certain] strategies. It's more difficult to open trade routes if your nations are separated by mountains, or to wage war over sea, unless you have a strong fleet. What will be visible to players will depend greatly on the strategies applied.
We've found what we believe is the perfect balance between a game with great strategic depth and scope, as well as a certain degree of complexity type, and a game that is easier for players to get into. We've also seen the importance of an intuitive interface, as that means gameplay can be kept intelligent and challenging at the same time as it can be welcoming to new players."
