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I never knew computer games could be so educational! And today's lesson, courtesy of Millennium, is all about Rome. Rome began life as a tiny city-state always under threat from neighbouring kingdoms. The extent of the threat was so great that the Romans decided to kill everybody and set themselves up as a Republic.

This newly-formed region was divided into two classes; the Patricians, the elite of the population Who held the vote, and the Plebians, who had no money and made no decisions at all in the running of the community. After a century or so of this, the Plebs decided that they'd had enough and marched off out of Rome, threatening to start their own city (Plebsville, or Bath as we call it today). The Patricians, horrified at the thought of actually having to do some hard labour, begged the Plebs to stay - even offering them the privilege of the vote!

During the next few centuries Rome expanded relentlessly, conquering all neighbouring states and acquiring a vast amount of new citizens who, once submitting to the Roman rule, were allowed to vote as well. Unfortunately all this vote counting business was becoming a bit of a chore for the rulers so they dropped democracy for straight dictatorship and the reign of the Emperors began. With their advances in technology and revolutionary plumbing system the Roman era looked likely to run and run.

But soon the population became extremely complacent and when the first cracks began to appear in their 'perfect' society, none of them lifted a finger to stop it. Rome soon found itself at the mercy of bloodthirsty adventurers. Anyone, with a bit of cunning, scheming and conniving, could eventually find themselves wearing the ultimate prize - the Imperial Crown.

You don't know anybody who fits that description, do you...?

If you hadn't guessed by now, Rome A.D.92 uses the same game-engine as Millennium's previous adventure, Robin Hood. The graphical style is almost the same, the controls are virtually the same, in fact even the criticisms are the same. As with Robin, the backdrops may be pretty, the humour still funny (in places) but the sprites are too small and the scrolling is atrocious.

Perhaps with a little more attention to the 'front end', Rome could have become an instant classic but the sadly-lacking visual department makes for some severe eye-straining sessions which can result in huge optician bills (I'm sending the invoice for a new pair of peepers to Millennium right now). This is a shame as on playing Rome reveals itself to be a really (and I mean really) huge game with plenty to do and action a-plenty. The way the plot develops is good and the overall storyline is well written and neat. It can be quite unclear at times as to what needs to be done but this is the case with most types of adventure games.

Robin Hood was often criticised for being too small and too easy but I doubt if you'll hear that said about Rome as I think it would take even the most experienced Roman many weeks of play to become Emperor. Cleverly, the way that the game is split into stages, each with their own map area, means that although there's lots to see and do, the game's size never becomes frustrating or overwhelming.

Overall, Rome falls into the very good but not astounding category and, as such, you certainly find me thinking twice before chatting this up at the Computer Games Bar.