[PREVIEW] We’re Back in Roman Times with Pompeii: The Legacy, Which Got a New Demo for Steam Next Fest

We last played Pompeii: The Legacy back in March, when the official playtest was open. Since then, Željko Kos, the developer behind this game, has been working diligently to present his demo version to us at Steam Next Fest next week. Although it’s practically the same prototype, with some modifications, the demo brought even more content – not a lot, but just enough to return to the Roman era of this game.

The Demo Brings New Content and Improved Graphics

First off, this is an excellent city-builder game, brought to us by a genre veteran. So, it’s no surprise that the gameplay is smooth, simple, and fluid. There’s not much need for overthinking how to do something or where to place things; the game explains everything in a nutshell, and it’s easy to get to the end of the demo.

What’s immediately noticeable is that the graphics have been significantly improved. Not just the graphics, but also the colors, lighting, and overall details. The game looks more beautiful in general, the people in the game have their own charisma, and the environment is more vibrant with various flowers, palm trees, and other foliage. There’s also an entire section of buildings where you can see the destroyed city of Pompeii next to the volcano.

The technology has also been expanded; you can now grow wheat, build an iron mine, and use bricks. At the same time, Pompeii: The Legacy is more balanced. I got the feeling that some buildings are cheaper and easier to construct. However, what I did notice is that transportation in the game is quite slow, or too many buildings depend on each other, despite the fact that you can upgrade roads and speed up the flow through technology.

Buildings will be scattered across the map: something has to be closer to the water, a quarry must be built on a mountain, and it’s not entirely clear how much food you gather through hunting and mushroom collection. While it takes time to get to something, the production process is faster, and this is very noticeable compared to the playtest.

An Impressive Project with a Touch of Historical Authenticity

As soon as you start the demo, it’s clear that the final game will feature campaign, sandbox, and creative modes, promising hours upon hours of gameplay. We also got a bunch of new options for customizing our crest and can choose from several different families, each with its own unique benefits. The demo does a great job of showing us what to expect.

However, some of the most important parts remain largely untouched, the function of families through diplomacy and the world map. It’s not yet clear how all of that will work. While the city-builder mechanics are solid, we’ll have to wait a bit for all the other features.

The demo may not show the full splendor of the game, but the massive theater and forum hint at how large the final buildings will eventually be. It will be interesting to see what kind of architecture we can build, given that the game aims for historical authenticity. What remains to be seen are the mid- and late-game sections.

But based on what Željko showed us in his studio in Zagreb—that there won’t be any lag and that the game will run many things at once without a problem – we have reason to remain optimistic. For now, Pompeii: The Legacy remains one of the most impressive Croatian games, and we hope that everything expected later this year will be truly spectacular.