Expeditions: Rome is the latest entry in the originally cult-classic turn-based tactical RPG series. Coming right off the heels of Expeditions: Vikings, Logic Artists' latest project is a significant step-up from its previous works, both in terms of scope and production values.
Logic Artists and THQ Nordic hosted an announcement event for Expeditions: Rome, which Game Rant attended, where creative director Jonas Waever reveals interesting information about the game's setting.
Stepping It Up
The Expeditions games have never shied away from creating a big world for players to get lost in, which holds true for Expeditions: Viking as well. Set during the Vikings' attempt to colonialize North America during 790 AD.
Expeditions: Rome aims to create a similarly rich and expansive world of Rome during the Late Republic period, which is around the time of Julius Caesar. Of course, the setting and this particular time period has been explored multiple times in video games. When asked about the inspirations behind such a setting, Waever replied,
Compared to the Viking era it’s a wonderfully well-documented period with so many well known and larger-than-life characters to use. That alone has been a great change of pace for us. One thing you immediately notice when you delve into the period is how strong the parallels are to many of the politics and problems we deal with in the modern era. That chance - to reach out across a timespan of two millennia and create those connections in the player’s mind - is something we’ve truly enjoyed playing with.
In addition to using the more well-known characters, Logic Artists took the time and effort into including some lesser-known characters in Roman history. This is sure to provide great depth to the world at large, while also feeling fresh as games based on a particularly well-known part of history can get exhausting after some time. Thus, the team decided on weaving the larger narrative and involved politics with deeply personal stories, which Waever describes as,
Our story, of course, still has that large-scale perspective you’d expect from a story about Rome, but it doesn’t take a bird-eye view of things; it’s quite personal, which sets it apart from most of the videogames you’ve seen that deals with similar material. You get to play within the larger tapestry of Rome in the background, but make real, personal decisions that impact not only the future of Rome, but also you and your companions on a human level.
All in all, Expeditions: Rome seems to be a significant step-up from Vikings, and with a release later this year, the wait won't be that long to find out.
Expeditions: Rome is set to release in 2021 for PC.