Hegemony III: Clash of the Ancients takes you to the ancient lands as you create your own empire by using military tactics and careful resource management to reach the heights of the ancient empires. Lead the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans or one of a dozen other ancient factions to glory with each having their own unique designs and strategy options.
This title joins the large list of other historical Hegemony RTS games that have a similar design and was first released in 2010. With Hegemony III released five years after this original in 2015 it offers a number of enhancements over the previous releases in the franchise to ensure new and old players are catered for. Notably is the massively expanded map, additional factions, greater depth of unit choices and an expanded amount of detail in a number of key strategy mechanics.
Split across sandbox modes and a campaign you’ll dive into all of these Hegemony III: Clash of the Ancients mechanics in time. In sandbox players can customise their map based on their preferences with your goal in this mode to collect as many hegemony points as possible which are derived from your mixture of cultural, economic and military achievements. Serving as both a mode for longer term replay value and also somewhat of a training tool should players find themselves stuck or wanting to practice a particular tactic outside the framework of the campaign levels.
Like many strategic games the campaign has the bulk of intended gameplay for most players with each scenario presenting a historical based challenge with a core goal alongside optional side tasks that may allow the player to diverse from the historical timeline. While the time period for each of these challenges moves around the setting is the same 5th century BC framework which is a time when Rome had not risen to its heights with many comparable factions like the Gauls, Greeks and Etruscans circling. These are just 3 of the total 28 factions that are split into seven different culture groups (including the The Eagle King DLC) of Etruscan, Gallic, Greek, Illyric, Latin, Sabellic and Sicilian.
At it’s heart of Hegemony III: Clash of the Ancients gameplay is a real time strategy game but also offers a grand strategy like experience with its expansive game world which has you zooming in and out of your various cities. All of these cities in the ancient Mediterranean world and the armies that defend them bring history to life quite well and one of the greatest features that Hegemony III brings to the table. At the heart is resource management which with carefully constructed supply lines will allow you to expand your areas of control and equip an army sufficiently to enforce this expansion. With expansion also comes new buildings, technologies and diplomatic options that add new strategy.
While this sounds simple enough once you have a few cities and resources under your control the game quickly can become a logistical challenge as you find yourself with a large territory to control. This strategy is of course influenced somewhat by your desired faction given each has different bonuses to alter their playstyle. Rome for example comes with extra experience earned from combat and improved vineyard output while the Veii have improves tax and mine outputs.
Summary:
- The third Hegemony historical strategy game that offers a diverse roster of ancient empire factions.
- Command one of over two dozen city state factions with unique traits that will impact your ultimate strategy.
- Manage cities and resources on a vast map of the ancient world as you zoom into the tactical level and zoom out to the civilisation level.
- Dynamic objectives gives the game a great flow with the potential to even rewrite history.
- Campaign and sandbox game modes with an additional map editor to create your own worlds.
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Review Platform: PC