LIKED
The first thing that anyone would notice is the lack of any attracting features in the game. The graphics looked very dated and way behind. The overall colour scheme of the game lacks vibrancy, not attractive at all. The iconic presentation of Julius Caesar, the Queen, the Gladiator and the others could do better, but okay, so it is an oldie. Paytable wise, Caesar is the Wild symbol, paying 5000x the line bet for 5 of them, but is unfortunately a dumb Wild symbol. It only substitutes for the other symbols except for the Scatter symbol. No doubling of wins, no nothing. The Gladiator is the Scatter symbol, paying 100x the total bet as usual, and getting 3, 4 or 5 of these Scatters award a Free Spins game of 8 initial free spins. You need to pick 4 out of 9 shields to get more free spins or some cash prizes. The maximum you can get is 40 free spins with all wins doubled, but more free spins cannot be retriggered. The symbols pay from 1500x the line bet for 5 of the Queen, down to 100x the line bet for 5 of each kind. An average paytable.
Somehow or rather, when it's a Microgaming game, an average paytable would usually perform slightly better than a game with a better paytable, and this Glory of Rome is one of them. Whenever I played this game over the years, albeit only intermittently, I tended to get satisfactory gameplay quite often, but the dry runs simply cannot be ridden. I like the Free Spins game, not because of anything, but for its more consistent payouts range. Getting 40x - 50x bet size wins weren't that difficult to get, and that makes for a more pleasing gameplay in general. I also like the pick-a-shield feature to win more free spins or to win instant cash rewards of 10x the total bet for each shield. This ensured that the final payout from the free spins are more balanced, and I like this.
DISLIKED