''Imperium'' is a 4X

strategy video game Strategy video game is a major Video game genres, video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy ...

published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

in 1990 for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

, and

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

Plot

''Imperium'' is a

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

adventure video game in which the player can choose to either dominate the whole

galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

or survive to be 1,000 years of age. The player controls all political and military elements, and can spread the influence of the empire while stopping other empires from gaining influence over the area under control of the player. The player maintains invasion forces, the construction of fleets, and reinforcing the loyalty of subordinates, and can allow the computer to control the economics, defense, and

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

of the empire.

Gameplay

''Imperium'' is driven by icon and windows. The player uses icons to save and load games, establish alliances with and embargoes against opponents, review the wealth level, deploy strategic forces and fight, view the maps, and gather information from news and other reports. The players can set windows all around the screen, which contain selection areas where the player can either type in data or click to retrieve more data. All of these icons and all but one of the windows, and all the information they provide, are displayed in

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1991 in ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' #165 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' in 1991 criticized ''Imperium''s production values as "not what would be expected in an American game", but praised the gameplay and the computer opponent. The magazine concluded that "due to its strategic complexity and depth of play, it is certain to give any strategic gamer plenty of hours of enjoyment". In a 1992 survey of science fiction games the magazine gave the title four of five stars, stating that the game "seemed to quickly disappear from the market. Yet its rich texture and gameplay deserve a second look". A 1994 survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game three-plus stars.

Reviews

*''

ST Format ''ST Format'' was a computer magazine in the UK covering the Atari ST during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like other members of the Future plc Format stable - PC Format and Amiga Format, for instance, it combined software and hardware revie ...

'' - Jul, 1990 *''

'' - Nov, 1992 *''

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

'' - Sep, 1990 *''

ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) ''Aktueller Software Markt'' (literally ''Current Software Market''), commonly known by its acronym, ''ASM'', was a German multi-platform Video game journalism, video game magazine that was published by Tronic-Verlag from 1986 until 1995. It was ...

'' - Feb, 1991 *''

'' - Jul, 1990

References

External links

* *{{abime, id=2619
Review
in

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...

Review
in

Info Info is shorthand for "information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpr ...

Review
in

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'') was a British magazine aimed at users of Atari 8-bit computers and Atari ST home computers. The first issue was in 1982, and it was renamed to ''Page 6 Atari User'' and then ''New Atari User'' be ...

1990 video games 4X video games Amiga games Atari ST games DOS games Electronic Arts games Intelligent Games games Monochrome video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Barry Leitch