Rome: Total War

"Slightly flawed, but still an excellent RTS."

The engine for Rome: Total War, has been used for two television shows, one on the History Channel and the other on BBC. If that isn't some indication on how absolutely mind-blowing it is, I don't know what is. Battles consist of upwards of 5,000 individual units, ranging from archers to elephants, all fighting each other in a scale never seen before. And you have all the control.

But I've gotten ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning. The game introduces you to the basic game mechanics, like siege and field battles, with a helpful prologue. It shows you the bare basics of how you build your empire and armies, and is generally incredibly boring. But then you finish it, and a myriad of new options explode.

The majority of the game is spent in the Imperial Campaign, where you take one of three Roman families, the Julii, Brutii, and Scipii, and help them achieve greatness. And it's not easy. The massive game world that takes place on a Risk type game board is the stage for your escapades, and is filled with other factions reaching to the same goal as yourself: world domination. During battles, the screen changes to a much more detailed field, where you'll fight the Persians, Egyptians, Armenians, Germans, Greeks, Brits, and so much more, each of which with somewhat unique abilities and units. For example, the barbarian factions like the British have units specializing in waving decapitated heads, while the Carthigians can ride into battle on the amazing War Elephants. Eventually, if you beat either the short campaign or the longer one, you can play the other factions in a campaign, but they don't seem nearly as fleshed out as the Roman factions in terms of unit diversity.

You have to use spies, diplomats, assassins, and your massive armies if you wish to beat the Imperial campaign in either of its two modes (one shorter than the other). But if you tire of this, there are 3 options waiting for you. You can fight a quick, randomized battle, create your own (with up to 6 1,000+ man armies on the field) or enjoy some of the time's greatest battles, such as the River Trebia or the Siege of Sparta. And while mulitplayer exists, this game truly is a singleplayer game.

Graphically, the games models are sparse, but there's so many of them it's a minor grievance. Soldiers will individually fight each other, really creating a feeling that you're actually in a real battle, instead of just moving a couple chess pieces around. The battlefields are also littered with foliage like rocks and trees, as well as huge strategic points like hills and cities.

The music tends to merge into the background while you play your moves out on the campaign map, but during battles the large score really delves you into the combat. And while the general's speeches in the start of every battle can be kind of ridiculous, the voice acting is very well done. You here screams of pain and calls of retreat clear as day during the thousands of fights.

But overall, Rome: Total War also gives you that sense of accomplishment that few other games do. Building such a massive empire not only genuinely feels good, but also gives you a reason to sit through the games lulls in combat and wonky ally AI (reinforcements are controlled by the AI, and are almost always on the defensive, despite the battle's circumstances).

Also, the game seems to be riddled with a few game-breaking glitches (the game crashed every time in one of my Brutii campaigns), and some units, like the elephant, seem to suffer from some balancing issues. Despite these flaws, though, Rome: Total War still is an excellent RTS, and pretty much the best (and only) choice if you want the large-scale combat it delivers quite nicely.

Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Control: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Note: I never played around with the multi-player feature, but given the reviews I've read and the fact that much of the game revolves around empire-building, I wouldn't suggest this to RTS fans looking for a break from WC3.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/05