Overview 
Edit
Age of Empires The Rise of Rome Official Trailer (1998, Ensemble Microsoft)
The Rise of Rome includes a few changes, including the new Roman architectural design shared by all four new civilizations.
Four new research technologies have been added, most providing very good bonuses and making a large change in the gameplay strategy. There are also additional new features and new units for the game.
Some other changes include larger maps and new ways to play such as adding unit queuing, using the period key to cycle through idle villagers, balancing damage done by Catapults, and increasing the population limit.
New features Edit
The Rise of Rome features a new Roman architectural design, shared by all four new civilizations (the Romans, Palmyrans, Macedonians and Carthaginians). Four new researchable technologies have been added. Additional new features include five new units, the ability to double click a single unit and highlight others of the same unit-type, and unit-build queuing.
Gameplay changes include adding larger maps and tweaking the interface.
Civilizations Edit
- Carthaginians - bonuses in nautical and war elephant units
- Macedonia - bonuses in siege units and missile resistance
- Palmyrans - bonuses in economy and trade
- Romans - bonuses in infantry and construction
Technologies Edit
- Logistics - reduces the population count by half for all units created at the barracks
- Martyrdom - sacrifice priests to instantly convert units
- Medicine - increase priest healing rate
- Tower Shield - decrease damage received from missiles
Units Edit
- Armored Elephant - an upgrade of the War Elephant with trample damage effect.
- Camel Rider - a new unit which is effective against cavalry.
- Scythe Chariot - an upgrade of the Chariot which damages adjacent units.
- Fire Galley - a new ship unit which applies fire to enemy units.
- Slinger - a new infantry unit which is effective against archers.
Campaigns Edit
Reception Edit
Although the expansion was criticized due to the minimal number of new features introduced, was well accepted on the whole. The most praised features were The Rise of Rome's unit queue feature, and the improved all around gameplay and balance. Review website GameWorldNetwork gave the game a score of 93%, and commented that it seemed to be a whole new game.
To celebrate its release, several tournaments were held at Age of Empires Heaven, inviting players from around the world to test their skills in this new game.
Multiplayer Edit
The multiplayer community is no longer supported by MSN Zone nor IGZones. The game can still be played on online gaming services like GameRanger, Voobly, Garena, CGA and QQ BattleZone.
External links Edit
- Official Microsoft website for Rise of Rome
- Official Ensemble Studios website for Rise of Rome
- Age of Empires IGZones
- Collection of reviews of Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
- Age of Empires Heaven
