When you think of the Roman Empire, its great triumphs probably spring to mind first. Its grand conquest and expansion, its political systems, and its deep-rooted influence on everything from language and art to religion and architecture. New survival game Lost Legions bears a love for the period, yet it focuses on one of the more dramatic defeats borne by the Romans – the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, where an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed three Roman legions, leaving them scattered, and marking an abrupt end to Emperor Augustus’s plans to expand into the region. I took a look at Gamescom 2024, and I’m already a big fan of the setup.
Developer Tarock Interactive, led by co-founders Felix Dreyfus and Jens Kortboyer, want their passion for the time period to shine through. Lost Legions isn’t designed to educate its players, marketing manager Bat El Levi tells me during a preview at Gamescom 2024, but instead to provide a fun game that makes them curious enough to seek out and learn more. The team at Tarock Interactive has also put a lot of work into considering what makes even the best survival games arduous, and into finding ways to offer you control over doing what you enjoy most.
In the wake of the ambush, you – either alone or in co-op with up to four players – assume the role of the eponymous Roman legionaries. You have nothing but your training, and must use that to survive, rescue and recruit your captured fellow soldiers, and ultimately attempt to reclaim your honor and glory. Tarock has three core pillars for Lost Legions, Levi explains: conquest, NPC management, and narrative.
Once you’ve found your footing, you can explore the map freely and attempt to challenge your foes. There’s a mix of melee and ranged combat at play here, though Levi notes that the team is currently looking for an animator to really capture the slower, impactful warfare employed by Roman soldiers. Crucially, as you collect additional characters to join your retinue, you can bring them along to fight by your side – or use them to handle any of the other busywork that needs doing.
Your NPCs each have quests tied to them, as well as an overall camp morale, and if they fall in battle they’ll be captured, meaning you have to save them once again. They can handle resource gathering, and you can leave your subordinates to build your structures once you’ve set down the blueprints. You’ll need to do so quickly, too, as the displaced German forces will periodically attempt to reclaim their captured territories. That makes smart delegation all the more important, especially if you want to hold multiple settlements at once.
While it’s very much rooted in real-world history, Lost Legions also leans into the supernatural as it progresses. Early on, you’ll explore forests, mountains, and meadows, but later regions slowly become darker and unpredictable. Even here, however, the team has focused on ensuring that all the more fantastical elements you’ll encounter are based on Roman mythologies from the time.
Currently, Tarock estimates that if you’re a player who sticks mostly to the main story progression, you can expect about 40 hours of gameplay. The narrative is optional, however, and the team encourages you to get lost in its world – or you can send one of your NPCs out exploring instead, and they’ll bring back a basic map of the areas they visit.
Tarock has also considered other common survival game frustrations – your stash, for example, is shared across all your storage boxes, meaning you or your squad can drop items in anywhere and then pick them up from another location. There are even some fun touches, such as the way your soldier runs their hand across the wheat while walking through fields in a nod to Gladiator. Whether you’re a Roman Empire enthusiast or just looking for a new survival game to try, Lost Legions is certainly shaping up nicely so far.
Lost Legions is set to launch on Steam in early access in the second quarter of 2025. If you’re curious to learn more, you can wishlist it on Steam, where Tarock Interactive provides regular weekly updates on development.
Before that, there are lots more upcoming PC games to look forward to in 2024, so be sure to check in with our updated list of the most exciting. We’ve picked out the best open-world games as well, in case you want something you can play right now.
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