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No 'bliss' here.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: May 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I can only add myself to those seeing major flaws in Rome Total War that some seem oblivious to.
The review by "Spartan" titled 'The Real Deal' lists several major problems with the game that I too have experienced. In addition, I also have had the problem with my guard towers (that auto-firing can't be stopped) shooting my units in the back as they battle invaders atop walls. - And yes, these towers have not been taken by the enemy, and are 'technically' under my control. I noticed the basic troop battle AI and pathfinding troubles alone within MINUTES of playing the game. After ten or so hours, I couldn't bare to play more to see what other bugs might make good strategy pointless. Now, seeing the newer low-star reviews, it looks like the game's newest 'patch' has totally crumbled "Rome". If none of the issues facing those rating the game poorly may phase you, it's your time and money. After all, "Ignorance is bliss." However, If you are one with high standards and sees flaws in the world that many just can't, steer clear of this game. I bought this game based on rave reviews. Although there were a few pointing out problems, I just didn't listen. I will know better now. I simply don't understand how so many are blind to what the game's admittedly good graphics put right in front of them.

RTW; Not perfect... ...BUT PRETTY DARN CLOSE!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: August 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Prologue:
I purchased RTW knowing that my computer did not meet the minimum requirements. So, I had to upgrade my machine. First I had to have a better graphics card. Naturally, this required more power than I had. So I ordered a new power supply... ...the wrong one. After ordering another power supply in the correct configuration, I added a sound card (not crucial, but recommended). Well, of course, then I had to buy new speakers or the sound card would have been wasted. Next I had to find the time to put this all together. Now my machine is smokin' hot.

In a strange sort of "catch 22", I realised that, if I had been able to play RTW before I upgraded my computer, I would have never found the time to upgrade my computer.

....Now my wife is threatening with an intervention....

OH MY GOD!!! THIS GAME IS REDICULOUS!!!

The Game:

Here's a list of things I found worth mentioning about RTW:
GOOD STUFF.
-The need for the graphics cards is self-evident when the first battle begins. Full 3d polygonal rendered motion capture troops. First hundreds, then Thousands.
-Sound card and speakers were not needed, but no regrets here! Nothing more impressive than the thunder of 200 calvary troops and that !!THUMP!! when they hit the enemy! Even the whistle and hail-stone-pounding of arrows is incredible! The music is quite stirring as well.
-Game map is beautiful. Such detail and great animation.
-AI of enemy troops is pretty challenging and amusing. In one battle against the Gauls, (a fight they picked BTW) when faced with my larger army, they stopped their advance and just stood there, as though reconsidering the decision to attack my city. As my men began to move forward, the Gauls dicided to turn and march away, not run, but march away orderly. As soon as they turned there backs I sent my large calvary contingent after them. Instead of panicking, they turned to face the charge (better than running). Of course, my calvary broke there lines quickly and the rout was on, but the AI did what seemed rational for an outmatched army to do. Impressive.
-Your troops upgrade as your cities' facilities to train them upgrade. It's pretty interesting to see what unit will become available next. As I've only played the Julli family thus far, I thought the "Marius Reform" was pretty cool. (look it up).
-The variety of "nations" is astounding. Battle styles are well thought-out.
-Game can be saved at any time except during battles.

LESS THAN GREAT STUFF
-Twice, the game crapped out on me. In one situation, the same crash kept occuring on the same battlefield. As soon as I moved the battle out of the woods, it stopped crashing. Didn't lose any progress, but having to restart was iritating.
-AI troops are fairly easy to beat (as a Roman), even in "Hard" mode. They will sit and get wiped out by archer fire without recourse. I currently have 61 victories and 8 defeats in battle. Though I got embarrassed a couple of times by sneaky maneuvers.
-Each turn takes a LONG TIME. A good 33% of game play is waitng for a turn to play-out.
-Naval battles are AI resolved. Would be really cool to fight those battles manually, but not a show-stopper.
-Having to win with a Roman faction to unlock other nations in campaign mode is not too cool. However, you can use anyone you want in "custom Battle" mode.
-You have to have LAN connection to play VS. mode. (I can't find any other dorks to play with anyway)
-AI does not manage your taxes very well. I often need to take control due to a disgruntled populace going on the rampage.
-Often, I disagree with the advice given by the AI as far as city building goes. Disease will be spreading throughout a city and she has me building an archery range. What's up with that?
-I could not get my troop to climb a seige tower. So they got shredded by arrows. (probably my fault)
-The game is incredibly addictive. I just can't stop. help me...

Bottom line: This game will be the only game I play for a long time. It will take years to actually use all of the factions, try different battles etc. I'm actually considering a strict schedule so I dont get carried away until 3 in the AM.

If your a fan of history, epic ancient battles or spectacle this game is a can't miss. There are flaws, but you really learn quickly that the payoff is too great (in fun) if you just ignore or cope with them.

Great Game, the best strategy war game out there.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 21
Date: October 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Rome Total War is the newest in the Total War series that includes Shogun and Medieval. Once you play Rome its going to be hard to go back to the first 2 since it improves on almost every aspect of the earlier games.

For first time players Rome Total War mixes a world map with city management, diplomacy simaler to Civilazation 3 and real time battles with thousands of soldiers. You can choose to customize the game to fit how you want to play the game. If you want to fight the battles you can have the computer handle the campaign map if your not that interested in the battles then the computer can determine the battles. Both sides of the game are very polished and both are fun to play.

In the 2 previous games the world map resembled a risk game board which wasn't terrible but Romes world map gets rid of these arbitrary borders makes the actual landscape like bridges and mountain passes a bigger part of the game. When you first start the game you have a choice between three large Roman families you'll be able to choice other factions including the Egyptians and the Carthaginians after you defeat them. Another improvement over the early games is that now have the senate to assign you missions which is both good and bad. Its good because it gives some structure instead of simply taking over the entire world. Its bad sometimes because the senate will give you missions that are really distant and impossible to get to in the time they give you. The missions come in two varieties blockade a port or conquer province.

The graphics throughout the game are very polished and detailed. The world map is really well done with plenty of detail. The soldier models look really good but models of a type will all look alike which isn't terrible but some variety would have helped.

The music and voice acting in the game is very good. Your generals give speeches before battles and the speeches change according to who your facing. Also the sound effects in the battles really add to the realism, if you zoom in you can hear the sounds of arrows zipping through the air and soldiers getting knocked away by a calvalry charge.

Rome Total War is overall a great game but its not without its issues. The enemy ai on normal difficulty can be pretty dumb. In most battles the enemy general will either charge you sometimes by himself or stand within range of your missile troops and get shot full of arrows. The same applies to when the computer is controlling your allies since the ai will send your commanders into kamikazi charges against spearman. Another issue is that your generals are made up family members how always appear at your capital, this is fine in the begining when your provinces are close together but if you play a family like the Scipii your be conquering most of the mediteranian. So you'll basically have to have ships to ferry your generals across the world. You can change the location of the you capital but I still wish there was more control over where your generals appear. So asside from these from these small issues if you have the slightest interest in the real time strategy games you need to pick up this game. Also like another reviewer said the game is packed with content and you will definatly get your moneys worth and be playing a long time.

Look beyond graphics - See an awful game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 16 / 29
Date: December 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Those thinking gamers who can see past pretty graphics will surely see the awful gameplay elements that break the game for them. Had this game been marketed (and priced) as a pure map/turn based strategy game, it STILL could not receive a good review. Unfortunately, its main selling point is the battlefield play. And while it is clearly nice graphicly, it is horrible in nearly every other way in this aspect. Troop unit path finding is terrible - You can click on a group of units to exit a city to a point outside the walls. Inevitably, one of those units will be stopped still inside somewhere as the others have reached their point. With the necessary constant manual handling specific units (while others being attacked elsewhere, of course) one will notice that they must always march in specific line orders. This mean that if they need to reverse direction, you must wait for the front line to move back through the whole unit, then the second line, and so on... until they are in the previous order, THEN they will begin the walk in the new direction. Very stupid in the middle of a BATTLE! The actual fighting AI is just as horrid as all members of a unit will charge a single enemy member going right past all the others. You may even have to march those missle fire units far from the fight just to keep them from firing into your OWN units. Usually the enemy is just as idiotic in their movements, so battles can still be won by using the same tactics over and over. Even the "map based" portion of the game has many issues prohibiting good reviews. (Though most are typical in programmed strategy games.) How in the world does this game get so many good reviews? Truely bizarre.

Impressed!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: December 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that this is one of the best video games I have ever played, and I've been gaming for over twenty years! (EDIT -- I just read the reviews of other gamers. I found that babysitting each of my units on the battlefield was difficult at first, but after a period of time, it became extremely easy. The camera controls allow for you to quickly reposition over each of your units, and as long as you remember where you told each one to go, then you'll be fine! One person also noted that sometimes your cities will be fully stocked with army units and magically seem to surrender to the enemy -- this is not a bug, the computer can use diplomats to bribe your governors/armies into surrendering, just like you can! The whole idea on the battlefield is to use your units strategically.. try to draw the enemy toward one group and run up behind them with another and such. These are not bugs in the game, they are the way the game was programmed -- on purpose! If you pay attention to your in-game advisors, they even tell you that. I have a 4.0 GPA at my university in the field of computer science/math minor, so maybe I have brain cells that other people lack or something -- but as long as you are able to keep track of what's going on around you [sometimes the game becomes so complex you'll actually get a slight headache, but it makes it that much more fun] and plan a sound strategy, you CAN accomplish anything!)

I recently grew tired of the redundant first person shooters, and decided to try something else. I played the original Civilization and the Red Alert/Command and Conquer games, which were a lot of fun... But wow, these types of games have come a long way since then!

My computer/operating system setup consists of Windows XP Professional running on an Intel P4 3ghz machine (2.8 overclocked -- 800mhz FSB and HT technology) w/ 2 gigs of dual channel DDR 400, 21" Nokia monitor, and GeForce 5700 256mb graphics card. I can run Rome: Total War at maximum resolution/detail settings all the way around on the campaign map (since the main campaign map is turn-based, it doesn't use a whole lot of resources) and near-maximum settings on the battlefield with no lag (battlefield is real-time!).

When you start the game, you must first play through the Prologue mode. This is a very small campaign with limited factions -- it is mainly to teach you the basics of the game. The manual is almost ninety pages, so the prologue helps get you going if you don't want to read it right away! After you complete the "scripted" part of the prologue, you can continue to play it or create a new, complex campaign, or play one of the many historical battles, or even create your own custom battle!

In the main campaign modes, there are about fifteen factions. Three of them are from Rome (you choose one to play) and the rest are from other places in the world (England, Egypt, Spain, and several others). If you choose to run a short campaign in easy mode, you will have to capture fifteen settlements and survive longer than two of the specific factions (you do this by either destroying them yourself or waiting until someone else destroys them). If you choose to run a long campaign, you will have to capture FIFTY settlements and destroy most of the factions! I just completed a short campaign, and it took me twenty-one hours.

Once you start playing this game, it's IMPOSSIBLE to put down! I didn't sleep last night, and it's now almost two o'clock in the morning tonight :) Not only can you build your cities and your armies, and wage war against the other settlements and factions.. You can also recruit diplomats to negotiate (peacefully or forcefully) with other factions, spies to secretly invade areas to figure out weak spots in your enemy and help sneak city gates open for your armies to run through, and assassins to sneak behind enemy lines and take down generals and kings or burn down buildings! When you enter into combat, you can either allow the computer AI to solve it (sometimes this is more effective and a lot less time consuming), or the computer can place you on a real-time battlefield where YOU control each unit in your army! Each unit type has their own strengths and weaknesses, and special abilities. You must master these, along with special tactics, to take down your enemies with minimal casualties on your side! When you take over a settlement, you can actually build battering rams, ladders, and other equipment to help you bash through the gates/scale the walls... You can hurl heavy stones or flaming objects from catapults.. You can shoot over the walls with regular or flaming arrows from your archers... When defending a settlement, if you have the proper setup, you can dump burning oil down the sides of your walls and have your archers light your enemies on fire with flaming arrows! There are so many different unit types -- you even get war-dogs and incendiary pigs (pigs covered in oil that you light on fire and drive at the enemy!!!!!) This game lets YOU do what YOU want, WHEN you want! It's EXCELLENT! In the campaign-map mode, you can control what each of your settlements produces, their tax rates, their governer.. etc. You have to try to keep your people happy while still making a profit, or you will either go broke or your subjects will revolt and throw you out of the city! You can also harness the power of naval fleets, and use them to spread your intentions across the "world". Make alliances, break alliances, make trade agreements, put contracts out on factions, order factions to pay you money or die.... Embark on side-missions for the Roman senate (or conquer them if you like)... Even choose who the women in your bloodline marry. The world created by this game is so immersive it's unbelievable!

Aside from the gameplay, the graphics, sound, and stability also deserve 10s! The game plays flawlessly on my system for twenty plus hours with no bugs, no crashes -- nothing that makes me want to cuss and throw my computer out the window! (except maybe losing to an army that I outnumber) The graphics and colors are superb and use anti-aliasing to its fullest! The sounds are amazing.... Click on infantry and hear them stomp their feet on the ground and yell "SIR!" or listen to the rumbling of your cavalry as they drive into battle -- it REALLY gets the blood flowing!

I've already spent too much time away from the game writing this. I'm having withdrawal symptoms :) Buy this game, you won't be disappointed!

Instant Classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 28
Date: October 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Like many fans of the strategy genre, I have long been looking forward to this game. I thoroughly enjoyed both Shogun and Medieval and knew I could set my sights high for this one. I was not disappointed.

Rome: Total War is a revolutionary step over the other games and is easily one of the best strategy games I have ever played (and I've played almost all of them). Its features and innovations would be too many to list and its depth is absolutely stunning. It seamlessly combines strategy with tactics and excels at both.

There are a few nagging problems, but nothing that would be considered a show-stopper. The building AI could use some streamlining as it seems the computer teams like to build hundreds of boats and then hesitate to attack a single one of your boats even when it is blockading their ports. Even poor countries who are being driven back by enemy land forces continue to build stacks of boats. There are a few similar problems, but I am confident they will be addressed in a patch.

If you are a fan of strategy games, you absolutely need this one. It ranks up there with Civilization and Europa Universalis as one of those strategy games you just need to try.

Rome: Total War -> Real-Time Tactics meets Turn Based Strategy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm a long time player of so-called RTS games.

This is the first and only title in the Total War series I've bought, I actually bought the gold edition, with the Barbarian expansion, but as I have not yet played the expansion (only 100 or so years into the original game) I'm posting my review here.

This is one of the greatest video games I've ever played, with plenty to entertain and very few drawbacks, and even those minor.

I briefly flirted with buying a title from the Civilization series, but turned away because it seemed to be little more than micromanaging a collection of towns. I wanted management over towns, but I wanted more.

Rome has the town management and more. Rome really is two games in a way.

On the one hand is the turn based strategy game: city development, army recruitment and positioning. In this game you decide what buildings you want to build in a town. The buildings vary in effect by augmenting what military units a town can produce, how fast the population of a town increases, how happy the people of a town are, and so forth. Here you can also adjust the tax rate which effects happiness and growth. The management of towns is easy and simplistic, but provides enough choice to make you really think about which direction you want each of your towns to go with each turn. It's not too much to get bogged down with. It's just the right amount of turn based options and civiliation-esque managment in my opinion.

The other game is the Real Time Tactics game. In this game your armies do battle against opponent armies. The pre-battle deployment phase is key, and easy to work with. Individual unit groups have their own morale dependent on the number of enemies they face, the amount of casualties they are taking, and the proximity of your commander. In the heat of the battle, finding and directing units is easy. Combat is realistic. I really can't say enough good things about it. In the same battle, with the same forces, it's possible to wipe out the enemy and suffer virtually no casualties, or have your own army completely routed and your commander killed depending completely on how well you position and utilize your forces.

And hell, if you don't like this kind of thing, you can auto-resolve any and all battles, and skip this whole part of the game entirely. (I fight every battle though, 1.) because I love it, 2.) because the auto-resolve will NEVER fight as well as a good player will, indeed if you pick the hardest difficulty setting forces that outnumber the enemy will regularly lose)

A few drawbacks:

I.) Naval engagements: there really isn't much here, when two navies meet, you click a button to auto-resolve the conflict. I picked the hardest settings when I started my campaign and I think that's why sometimes when I send 1000 ships to take out 400 I lose, and I don't particularly care for that. Especially considering in land battles I mop the floor with the enemy in wildly uneven victories (don't get me wrong, the AI in this game is very good, and much better than any other RTS game I've ever played, I'm just very good at games like this, this AI makes me really think before I annhilate it, pre-deployment often takes me awhile)

II.) Buildings: I wish there was a 'bit' more description on exactly what some buildings did. It's not much of a problem, it would just be nice.

III.) Camera: During battles the camera, which is probably the best of any RTS I've played, is still sometimes a bit sketchy to move around. Easy to get around, but a minor nuisance.

Excellent game that will hold your attention for a long time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Rome: Total War is a game that reminds me of my favorite American city: New Orleans. New Orleans is a place that rewards people who explore because many of the great things about the city are not readily apparent at close glance--you have to look for them.

Such is true for Rome: Total War.

While you can certainly play the game, and enjoy it, at a superficial level, it is the minute details (and the ways you can manipulate them) that make this game so deep and rich, ultimately making for an endless array of possible playing styles.

For instance, each of your family members gains attributes and retinue over time as his achievements mount. While attributes are specific to a family member, retinue can be moved among any of them, bolstering abilities that can greatly affect game success (or failure). While you do not have to swap retinue at all to be successful in the game, making astute decisions to do so and seeing how they affect game performace is incredibly satisfying.

Similarly, on the tactical maps the effects of terrain to battle strategy is profound. A strategy that may work in open terrain will fail miserably, even with the same troops, on a map where fighting occurs in a forest. These subtleties make for a truly engaging gaming experience as there is constantly more to learn and employ.

It is rare that a game becomes more interesting over time. But Rome: Total War does due to the small, seemingly insignificant details that become quite significant as your experience with the game grows. I do not play the game the same way now as I did two weeks ago; I suspect this will be true in another two weeks.

When in Rome....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Possibly one of THE best games I have ever played, Rome:Total War melds turn-based and real-time strategy better than any game to date.

Graphics: 8/10 - Incredibly detailed world view lets you actually look at what type of terrain you'll be fighting on in battles. Anything that is on the world map (lookout towers, cities, even wonders) actually shows up in battle if they're in the battle square. Units are very detailed, but lack variety as each soldier looks exactly like the other.

Sound: 10/10 - What isn't to like here? Gamers with high quality headphones or 5.1 surround will be even more delighted. Everything from a general's pre battle speech to ballista artillery that whiz by through the air to the incredible music score that changes as the battle changes is top notch. An aural delight for the ears; it almost seems like a movie!

Gameplay: 8/10 - While little has changed from the first Total War game, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Using the mouse for control and selection of units is easy for any novice and very familiar for anyone who has ever played an RTS. Diplomacy and spying are still something of a side note and one can actually play the game without doing much of either, though it can be very useful. Unit movement during battles can be tricky sometimes though as their pathfinding can be suspect, especially in cities.

Overall: 9/10 - The almost endless replayability of this game, with the different factions and units, is almost unmatched in any other game. In addition, there are numerous modifications to be found on the Net which allow all sorts of different things, from a latin voice mod for the romans to one that allows you to play all the factions without having to play as a roman first. Sieges are much improved over earlier games and allow a new dynamic to the game.

A must buy game!

Great game with few flaws; but not for everyone.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 26
Date: September 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

So on Saturday night I was feeling the need to play an historical strategy game; I was looking for something from the Civil War or Revolutionary War time period but I couldn't think of any titles. So I went on Gamespot and clicked on their Strategy Game section and the obvouse choice came to mind: "Rome: Total War". Of course this game dosn't come out until September 22nd, but a demo can be found. So I searched the internet for around 45 minutes looking for the damn demo (each page sends you to a different website who sends you to another and to another until you find a dead link or you need to pay to download!) and finally I found it on Fileplanet; of course I still had to wait 30 minutes to actually download. So Saturday night at 1 AM I finally had the Demo of Rome: Total War.

Now let me tell you this game has spawned two TV shows; one on the BBC and on on the History Channel, it's graphics and historical accuracy is that damn good. If you haven't seen the screen shots or seen the History channel show "Decisive Battles"; this game lets you see as many as 30,000 characters on screen, with the ability to position the cameria where ever you'd like on the battle field (even right in a soldier's face). Although I imagine the game slows down significantly when you have that many people on the feild, I haven't noticed a problem with the several hundred in the demo.

Anyways this game is a total blast, and incrediably hard. At first I tried just ording my troops to advance, calvery to flank, and archers to attack the rear; well that failed misserably. You need to have precise ever-changing calculations to ensure your enemy's lines break and your heavy troops can mop up. To do this you need a series of vollies of aeros, calvery charges, and to exploit and prod at known weak areas. All this while protecting your own general from the ever flanking enemy.

This game is real time, but it can't be played that way; if you tried you wouldn't be able to get the first few troops in the correct formation before you'd be surronded. You must move your men to the correct offensive/deffensive position within the first few seconds of gameplay, or else you won't have time to do it later. Second you must have your archers positioned correctly to lay down the correct fire before falling back behind your troops. Third you must protect your flanks, because it is the nature of an attacking enemy to swarm around a deffensive postion. All these factors must be calculated out before you unpause the game for the first time, otherwise victory is an impossiblity.

Overall the feel of this game is pretty good though. I hate that 3d cammeria though, I could never get used to it (thought it better in this game than others). Fortunity if you just double click a unit it gives you a pretty simplistic view of that characters position in realivence to the nearest enemy. Sometimes you click a button and you're not sure if the game will react to that, or how the AI will react. Like if you order your calvery into a wedge formation the outter areas of the wedge my get engaged by the enemy and the whole group will attack instead of forming up and leaving. Moreover it's nearly impossible to disengage from an attacking enemy without losing all moral and your troops being routed; however the computer can do it at will. And for some reason if you order your troops to attack an enemy it dosn't always attack other nearby enemies once the orginal target has been removed. Hopefully these glitches will be fixed before the actual game release, so that I don't have to micromanage EVERYTHING in the game.

Anyways, 8 out of 10 (but this is just the demo). It would have gotten a 9, but the fact that you have to pause the game every 5 seconds pretty much disables the cool upclose battle sences; since you really don't have the time to enjoy it.

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