Rome: Total War

"All Hail Rome: Total War"

Introduction:
Its almost impossible to not hear about the Total War series, especially if you are into strategy games. However, what does Rome Total War have that the others do not? Quite frankly, Rome Total War is just a solid game minus a few minor bugs. It brings a lot to the table and that can be appreciated. This is a definite must have for strategy game fans. This game is simply just like the others but during the Roman Empire, when things were all about conquest and strategy. Imagine a field of roman legions, archers, ballistas, and calvary against an army of barbarians attacking from the hills of the north and the forest from the southwest. Now imagine firing firey arrows into the crowd of barbarians as they rush towards you. The two armies collide in the middle of a snowy field of Germania as the calvary from the southwest flanks your troops. Imagine THAT with good graphics, realistic battle sounds and mediocre artificial intelligence. THAT is Rome: Total War.

Gameplay:
The Roman Empire. One of the many things that pop into your mind when thinking about it is their dominance in Europe during their era. Basically this game is a reanactment of their rise and fall. You are a small faction in Italy and you conquest your way into new territory via a world map. Similar to games like Civilization you have to build buildings, units, and lay seige to enemy cities in order to rise to power. When you finally build and move armies into enemy territory, you can choose to seige their town. Once the battle is started, its similar to a real time strategy game. You have large forces of units and you control them around the battlefield to defeat your enemy. Battles take place everywhere from your cities, to open fields to hills to your enemy's city. There are seige equipment and MANY units that you can build, but your strategy on the battlefield is IMPERATIVE. This game relies heavily on strategy and this is one of the things I like about it. In other strategy games, two spearman can take down a swordsman or a small axeman can take down an elephant... stuff like that. However, in this game, everything is weighted very drastically. Calvary cuts through infantry and elephants can completely annihilate its path through a crowd. Everything is realistic and strategies even like a simple flank can completely change the tide of the battle. So brush up on your strategy skills and get this game as soon as possible.

Story:
There is none. Its open ended kinda... you are a faction leader and you are trying to take over Europe.. because.. well.. you feel like it?

Sound:
I like the ambient music on the world map and during battles. Its very dramatic and moody. As for the sound effects of the battles, I love it. Before the battles, your general will give an inspirational speech to his troops which I must say is quite entertaining and I do listen to them fully before each battle. It sets the mood. Your troops then react to his speech by banging their swords and shields together in order to intimidate the enemy. You can hear the officers shout out commands during battle and during every move. The actual fighting sounds realistic as well. The calvary's charges are sometimes a relief.. but can also strike fear and panic into you. Its not fun seeing a large group of archers being mowed down by calvary.. literally.. run over.

Graphics:
The graphics aren't amazing but they look really good. This game is almost as fun to watch as to play. Its almost cinematic to see hundreds of soldiers rush into each other as arrows are flying overhead. The cities are not done in too much detail, but the size of the battlefields are to blame. Graphics look really good in this game but you have to remember, this game relies heavily on gameplay and not flashiness of graphics.

Flaws:
So you must be wondering.. you have nothing to say but good things about this game so why the 8? The answer is simple. The artificial intelligence of the game is lacking. Don't get me wrong.. its not a major problem. In general, the artificial intelligence isn't bad.. its just.. not good. From a programming standpoint, the enemies are programmed to attack a certain way, but once their original gameplan fails, they dont know what to do.

Replayability:
The game is really good but I'm unsure of the replayability it has. If you manage to finish this game and play it to your heart's content, I doubt you will be running back to it soon. Instead, I can imagine you playing it a few years down the road and have just as much fun the second time around. Its one of those games that is really addicting and fun to play.. but eventually wears down. Only time will make the game seem new, addictive, and awesome all over again. Who knows though.. this is just a personal opinion.

Conclusion:
If you love strategy games.. and especially realistic ones.. then this is right up your alley. This is defnitely one of the best strategy games I played in a long time. I loved games like Warcraft III and AOM and even the prequels, but I loved them for the strategy AND story. There isn't any story in this game, but the strategy is 10 times better. Not only that, the battles are epic and cinematic. Hundreds of soldiers rush your walls, flaming archers above.. watch it INCHES behind the shoulder of an archer if you desire.. AMAZING. Its like watching and controlling a movie.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/04