Customer Reviews

Rome: Total War

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rome: Total War is a landmark advancement in RTS games. The compelling battles and intricate stategy engine ensure that this game is guaranteed value. It is very difficult to go back to early 3D RTS games such as AOE2 after playing a game like this. Rome immerses you in battles, such that you feel you are actually there and fighting for your life. Rome is not without its flaws but overall this is a truly impressive game and deserves the accolade as "the very definition of an epic strategy game".

OK, I have played this game every night for the last three weeks and can not put it down. Don't bother with any of the guide books, go to the Total War website and read each of the walk thru-s for each family, they are very very helpful. Get this game, you will not regret it (or you may after forgetting what time it is three weeks in a row at 2 am!)

The game allows you to take control of the entire civilization not just the battles. There is a learning curve with fighting but overall a great game with hours...days...weeks of entertainment

I am writing this for my 11-year-old son. He is dictating to me what to type: This game is tough yet addicting. My mind is always thinking of strategies and maneuvers on how to beat my enemy. Not only does it require me to maneuver my men in battle, but it also calls for me to deal with taxes,finances, and bartering. This game is so fun and you definitely need to get it if you are into history and Rome. It is one of the best Total War games I've ever played. And I'm not a computer "freak". I play baseball and basketball, and I still LOVE playing games like this. One of my favorite things about this game is that the senate gives you missions, so you know what settelments you can take and not take. I have learned so much from this game. It's worth every dime.

Rome:Total War is an instant classic that stands out in my mind as one of the best games of all time. The engrossing turn based campaign, along with the epic real time battles make this game both fun and challenging. The different factions and changes in each campaign mean you can play over and over without the game getting boring. A great game for anyone to get into!

This is a great game. Read the other reviews for that. If you can play this on Windows Vista then congratulations. I've downloaded all the patches and still can't get the game to fully download on my new laptop with Windows Vista. Like the old "Age of Empires", some games are just incompatible with the latest Windows software. Windows XP- this game works like a charm. Windows Vista- save your money.

This game is awesome. It allows people to conquer ancient Europe and Africa their own unique way. Hopefully the expansions are just as good as this. This game helps people prove their worth in the ancient world and allows insight on roman history.

I bought this game for my son. He really enjoys playing RTW. Only con is the size of the file which is very large in comparison to other programs we use. My computer does gets a little sluggish after he plays this game.

Rome: Total War to this day will give you one of the best real time strategy experiences ever. The game bolsters countless hours of addictive play and planning that never becomes stale. Your fun will especially broaden when you begin to play a campaign with factions outside of the royal family. Whether you are looking for a simple simulation of a quick skirmish or want to experience the long but satisfying process of building an empire...this game has everything you are looking for. Below I will give the highlights and lowlights of a game that is worthy of Caeser himself...

CAMPAIGN:
The campaign mode of this game is incredibly immersive. Sure the only real amount of backstory you get is through the opening cutscene of your faction...but eventually it gets to the point that you are penning the future of your empire. You are given the power to build up your economy, forge diplomatic relations, and horde the riches of the land or be bloody warmonger, scourge political alliances, and greedily ransack the resources of your enemies. Such actions will begin to give your leader and high ranking officers a reputation as you progress through your story. Another point of immersion in the campaign even comes down to managing family ties. You can invite betrothed husbands to wed your daughters and become glorious heirs of your legacy or you can bribe the respected generals of rival factions to join your legion. The possibilities are just endless.
*RATING - 10/10

COMBAT:
Combat in this game is deceptively simple at first glance. All you have to do to attack an enemy unit is select a squad of soldiers and right click on an incoming enemy. You will easily become mince meat however if you do this without careful planning and strategy. Its great to see how legitimate war tactics like flanking, bottlenecking, and ambushes really affect the tide of how a battle may go. The types of units you deploy are also important to pay attention to. For example, heavily armored melee warriors will fare poorly in the hot desert climates of Egypt. The only difficulty here is that with so many factors that could count for or against your armies, you may always find yourself one step behind an opponent if you did not foresee every possible surprise. Therefore the learning curb of becoming a true tactician will take some time but is well worth the effort.
*RATING - 10/10

GRAPHICS:
Reviewing the graphics of a vintage game is never an easy thing to do. The campaign map by today's standards is quite cartoony and the aliasing around army units is quite jagged even on the highest graphic settings. However, every pixel of this game's graphics has lots of character and lushness. Even upon attacking enemy cities, you will be able to view the kind of buildings and alleyways the city has. Some units look especially fun and deadly such as the Carthaginian war elephants or some of the siege weaponry. There are very few instances where I'm disappointed with the animation or lack of animation (i.e. soldiers standing like stiff statues when using a battering ram). The most lovely aspect of the graphics however, is how every region of the campaign map has its own unique climate and qualities. Such examples can be seen on the snowy peaks of the barbarian territories or the vast expanse of sand on the African continent.
*RATING - 8/10

SOUND/MUSIC:
All the sounds and scores of Rome: Total War are extremely lush in their delivery. Every unit you can control on both the campaign map or battle map has a voice actor acknowledging your orders. Before battles generals will give grand speeches that adjust based on how strong an orator they are or what enemy you are about to face. Whether its the clash of swords, firing of arrows, or galloping of cavalry; you will hear it on an epic scale during every battle. The most well executed part about this game's sound though is its great orchestral scores. It rises and falls in a way that is very appropriate to the actions being performed in battle. For example, before the beginning of a battle the music has an apprehensive and anticipatory feel to it. When you finally start lunging in troops to attack fast beating drums and dizzying strings will be played. The music alone just pumps so much excitement and adrenaline into any battle.
*RATING - 10/10

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
As mentioned before, the learning curb for becoming a strong tactician may be very steep for some. However, upon mastering some basic tactics, battles against the A.I. can become a little too easy at times. The best way to keep the challenge fresh is to switch up factions or perhaps pose conditions on yourself. A RTS newbie will find themselves struggling to stay afloat at least for the first week of play while a veteran could probably master this in a couple days or less. Overall, while I'm certainly no military genius, I do believe this game does reach a point when the difficulty declines once you learn the strategies for dealing with the majority of situations. I have not played games against human opponents but I am sure the difficulty will easily rise ten-fold in such cases. All in all, I still think that a little injection of more challenging scenarios or conditions should be put into place.
*RATING - 8/10

Despite the age this game now shows, it is one that RTS junkies should not pass up on. My only regret regarding this game is that I did not get into the series when it was in its prime. Thankfully it runs flawlessly on Windows 7 and I haven't run into one glitch to date. So do not be afraid to give this game a go, you may just find yourself playing it nonstop for months at a time.

*OVERALL RATING - 9.2
*REPLAYABLE - Yes
*RENT or BUY? - Buy!

Anyone who owns or is buying this game should immediately download the patches for Rome Total Realism, a free mod which completely rejigs this game for the better. While it doesn't improve the graphics it makes the units and factions much more historically accurate (no more made up Roman SAS style units!), utterly rejuvenating this now old game. I never thought I'd play Rome again after Medieval II came out years ago, but I'm having great fun replaying it all over again in a much better version. Download that mod!