Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War is, in a word, gorgeous. And that's always pleasing to any RTS fan. The more detail you have on screen, the nicer the gaming experience. Who wants a dull looking RTS these days? It's all about the detail. Well OK, not exactly, but it helps. And as we progressed further into the game, we realised just how significantly impressive the graphics proved to be. Smooth as a baby's backside.

The other important factor is content. Just looking at the options on screen after loading the game, we were thoroughly convinced we could play this game all week and really push the limits of game play experience. It's fairly evident early on that this game will not change the face of how RTS games are played, but that's OK. There's nothing wrong with doing something that has already been done, as long as you do it better. The options available allow you to play campaigns as specific heroes (Alexander, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra). You can play the computer, or you can choose scenarios that you want to play. There's a lot to choose.

Playing the hero campaigns is serious fun. Following a set storyline and dialogue, you play as a hero destined to live out the heroic (or not, as the case may be) deeds immortalised in historic tomes. Of course, being in control of your hero and your troops means that you can alter the course of history by either losing or winning the battles that lie ahead. It's best not to lose because you have set objectives that you have to meet. The interesting thing about RTS games is that anything can happen. Civilizations at War gives you the ability to take advantage of this type of gameplay by balancing out just the right amount of flexibility with a few restrictions.

Movement in the game is quite straightforward. Camera angles are controlled two ways; firstly by using the arrow keys to move the camera left or right and secondly by holding down the two mouse keys to move the view 360 degrees if you wish. You can also zoom in and out using a wheel mouse or by choosing a default key in the settings. Moving troops around the maps is also easy to execute. Double clicking on one troop will select all of the same type of troop (archers, spearmen etc) and right clicking will position your troops where you want them to go.

The business of heroes is one that needs a little explaining. Unlike other games where the hero is an all mighty and powerful being that can shoot lightning bolts at thousands of enemy troops with the flick of an eyelid, heroes in Civilizations at War are a lot more realistic. Heroes are simply human beings who have either worked their way up through the ranks (if soldiers) or have had nobility bestowed upon them from birth (as in Alexander and Cleopatra's case). Caesar was a little bit of both.

If you're any fan of history, you'll come to appreciate the realism of this game. Heroes are a little tougher than the average soldier, that is a given, and also have exceptional skills, but they can be wounded quite easily in battle, just like any other man on the battlefield. You will do well to remember that when rushing in. There is no magical aura protecting your heroes in this game. The one other great thing about your heroes is that they can be upgraded to different levels and can acquire special skills and attributes that will compliment and enhance certain attributes or skills of the people. It's important to choose wisely when upgrading your heroes as there are many options to choose from. Depending on the civilization you choose in the game, your hero will be upgraded via different means.

The multiplayer game plays very much like other RTS games in the sense that the objective is similar: crush your opponent, and beat them to the rewards/upgrades etc. Buildings are upgraded in a similar fashion found in other games with one exception: when you need to construct new buildings, you won't need to gather 20 or so villagers to do this as you would in other RTS games. You need only choose one villager, select the building you wish to build and voila! Multiple villagers will appear to build your next temple. It's great.

Population, however, is still something to be aware of when creating your cities and settlements. As always, too many villagers can soon have you running out of space. The same goes for resources. Resource management can make or break the most experienced army. Although we did notice that resources tended to last a lot longer than they do in other games. Hunting around for resources all the time can be a tad frustrating.

You can also change things such as the speed of the game by altering the settings under Options. You can toggle options like video and sound etc as you can in other games. That's all pretty standard. And there are three difficulty modes to choose from. At the beginning of the game, there is a tutorial section that can help newcomers to RTS find their feet and the tutorial is concise and detailed without being too cumbersome for beginners to navigate.

The sound in Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War compliments the game extremely well. The music seemed to be an interesting mixture of calming, ambient background music which quickly and feverishly changed its pace to quirky and upbeat music to march your troops to. Great music for battle!