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Puts to shame all other Real Time Strategy Games!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 209 / 268
Date: November 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is INCREDIBLE!
I am Roman, from Rome, Italy. Classical studies are in my backgroung... this game is a perfect recreation of ancient Rome: its politics and, especially, the way Romans used to conduct war.

You can play the game in tactical and strategic way, deciding to just stick to strategic or to delve into tactical too.

In strategic, you govern cities, move armies, build new structures (as Temples, Academies, Stables, Training Facilities, Arenas), hire and train troops, etc. If you do battle you then decide if you want to go into tactical or just want the fight to be resolved based on the number and kind of troops you have.

In tactical you fight. You will see hundreds of soldiers on the battle field. All in formation, just as the Romans used to fight. You will battle hordes of barbarians, opposite Roman factions, greeks, etc...

What was in history... IS IN THIS GAME.

But most of all...this game is FUN.
Normally games that are too realistic are really boring. This game has it all.

I won't go on and comment too much on graphics, fighting engine, help menu, sound... because it is all so good it all deserves a 10 out of 10 and just one comment: SUPERB!!!

I'll just add a note on Soundtrack: I makes you feel like you were in the first 20 minutes of the movie Gladiator. Incredible.

This is one of the best games I EVER SAW IN PC.

If you are an RTS fan YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS GAME.

Even better than its predecessor

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 49 / 56
Date: October 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've been following this series since I started playing Medieval Total War, and Rome is a beautiful sequel. I bought this for my dad, and he can't stop playing. It appeals to fans of the Civilizations series (like my father), as well as fans of Age of Empire's real-time battle sequences. Like Medieval, it's really two games in one, except with significant improvements over its predecessor. What's great is that if I'm not in the mood to fight lengthy battles, the option exists to autocalculate them - but you won't get to lead the troops the way you want.

When I first started playing Medieval Total War, there was a steep learning curve to understand how to win real-time battles against larger forces. Some of what I learned in Medieval I've been able to translate over to Rome, so I can imagine anyone trying the game the first couple times might have some difficulty getting the hang of the battle sequences. Start with easy battles where you outnumber your opponents, and learn which units oppose which the best (horses against archers, spearman against horses, etc). Use Pause as much as you need. Eventually you'll recognize the strategy involved with flanking your opponent, hiding your cavalry in forests, and positioning archers behind a protective wall of infantry on a hilltop. If you suddenly charge an enemy from behind them, they will panic! If a general dies in battle, the troops will be demoralized! And if you destroy a building, or worse lose an heir, that will be reflected in the main game.

The reverse is also true. What units you build in the main game and where you position them on the map will directly control how the real-time battles will look when they begin. It's that kind of realism that makes this game truly dynamic and fun.

Civilization for the new era.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 34 / 41
Date: October 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I remember playing civilization for the first time. I started playing friday evening, and only stopped when I could hear the birds outside on saturday morning.

RTW is the same deal. You get drawn in totally to the world of strategy and compelling gameplay. There are differences of course. The main one is the added realism... better graphics, and it doesn't look like RTW cheats (Civilization did). In fact, the graphics engine was used in a recent TV program on BBC3 (a BBC channel, aired in the UK), where a team of tv personalities re-enacted famous historical battles in real time via a virtual simulation that was provided by a networked version of this game!

I have all the graphic settings up to max and it works a treat on my Radeon 9800 pro, 1 gig or RAM and an XP2800. In fact, the final game works better than the demo (in terms of performance and less bugs), although, admittedly I still see crashes to desktop once every 10 or so hours of play. In most games, this would be unforgivable, but I haven't docked any points because it always seems to crash immediately after auto saving, so just re-loading the game and hitting the Continue Campaign option seems to put me back where I was.

One of the defining factors of a good strategy game is that it gets more difficult the more successful you become - not because you get to harder levels, but simply because being successful means you have to work harder to keep your conquests, and this game gets this perfectly. You start off with a few cities, but as your empire grows, you not only have to deal with enemy armies, but also keeeping your own people loyal (through either loyalty by keepin them happy, or by fear via large garrisons in every town). You also start to find your armies stretched, and cities well away from your capital become particulalry prone to attack from rebels. Being a good general on the battlefield is only part of winning this game.

The game also has a twist about half way through, where something unexpected happens within the Roman Empire (well, it was for me, perhaps I just didn't pay enough attention in history class!), and its something that totally turns the game.

You also get non-roman civilizations unlocked if you complete the Roman campaign, something that adds to the longevity.

A (very) minor niggle is some of the voice acting and scripting, which seems to be produced by the same casting people that produced some of the over-the-top Hollywood dialogue from the 1950/1960 era... the ham-it-up spirit of Tony Curtis lives on!

If you are a fan of the previous total war games, you really need to play on hard - medium is just too easy, particulalry because on that level, the enemy doesnt seem to mind getting too close to your castle walls and just sits there and gets decimated by arrows. Previous fans of TW will also really appreciate the better modelling of castles, which are now more realistic. The battlements now work (you can place soldiers on them), and to storm an enemy stronghold, you have to either scale the walls, batter the gate down, or simply demolish the walls. Sea battles are still not modelled in real time, although the reasoning for this is probably so they have something for the next game (or expansion) because everything else is modelled perfectly, and in detail.

Overall though, its a must have for any strategy fan. There's simply nothing out there to compete in either scope, depth or realism, so I must give it full marks. Oh, and also because its just an addictive, thoughtful, thinking-persons strategy game, with enough graphics and fun-factor to wow the video console kids into playing the game!


S

So innovative that it's used on the HISTORY CHANNEL

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 37
Date: August 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ROME: Total War, the third game in the series Total War by Activision, is set during ancient times when the Roman Empire War Machine was struggling to gain control over all of the known world. In this game you will find eleven factions fighting to control the world, including three Roman factions (Julii, Bruth, Scipii), three barbaric tribes (Gaul, Germania, Britannia), and five Greek or West Asian factions (Egypt, Seleucids (ancient Iraqis), Carthage, Parthia (Caspian Sea nomads), and the Greek Cities themselves).

Unlike the previous Total War games, the strategic map is a fully 3D representation of the game world. When you build cites, they'll appear on map as they grow. You will move your armies around on this map and the 3D battlefields will mirror whatever terrain you're on in the strategic map. So wherever you fight on the strategic map, that's where the game engine will create its battlemap from. A first in strategy/RTS gaming!

As my review title suggests, this ROME: Total War game engine is so intuitve that the HISTORY CHANNEL is using its engine in its "Decisive Battles" series. Each week the HISTORY CHANNEL uses this game engine to show the viewer a famous battle from these ancient times. This is the first time I think a television network has used a computer game engine as the central part of one of its shows.

The game is sure to redefine 3D strategy game in this genre.

Truly Awsome. Get it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 20
Date: October 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Being an avid chess player, I was not a real 3D gamer-until I bought this game two days ago. I had made a decisive decision one day, while watching "Decisive Battles" on history channel, that whatever video game technology they were using to put on the awesome stuff that I was seeing on the TV, I had to get it. I found out later, by researching the web that it was Rome Total War.

I spent a whole day and part of a night, running around the countryside with Romans, Greeks and what not, besieging cities, fighting Hannibal and other Barbarians, and lots of other wild stuff.

After about 20 hours of play with hurried intermissions, I finally, but reluctantly, went to bed. While asleep I dream that I was in the Roman Army all decked out in full Armour marching against Barbarians. Then when I woke up and went outside to go to the store, my surroundings felt kind of strange for a few moments, it was like I half-expected to see a Roman Cavalry charging down the street at any moment.

I was fascinated that a game could do this to me. It took over my whole time-perspective. I had started getting used to living in ancient Roman times.

Watch out! The addictive rate is very high. I know I'm going to spend years on this one.

For a RTS playing oldtimer, this game rocks!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 26
Date: October 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I know a lot of people (kids) are comparing this game to MTW or Shogun. I have never played those games at all. Why? Well, I've been on a FPS kick for the last couple years playing such games as Far Cry, M of H, Call of Duty you name it! But I have played many RTS games including the Age of Empires 1, 2, 3, Empire Earth, Empires: Dawn of Modern Warfare, Rise of Nations, Home World 2, Orb, American Conquest/Fight Back, etc.... the list goes on and on but here's my point!

I have never played a RTS game with such depth and top-notch graphics to boot that captures your imagination and takes all of reality and time like this game does to me!!! The main reason is there is soooooo much you can do with this game. You can fight every battle you want (battle map) or have the Computer resolve it for you. You can in-slave the population after you successfuly take a settlement or put them to the knife. You can micro-mange to a depth I have never witness before!!! What really inmpressed me about this game is it is user-friendly!!! Anyone can play this game! All those other RTS games I previously mentioned, most are so confusing and boring to play I don't even bother anymore.
No, I never played this series of games before and it may not be as good as MTW but I know that you can do anything you want with the game. It's endless and it has more diplomacy and stradegy than any game I have seen to date (2004) including all those RTS games I mentioned. I should of played Shogun/MTW and I didn't but I don't regret it. Besides, this is more up-to-date than Shogun/MTW?

In all, I think you guys are right (most of you guys) about this game. It's awesome! The world map is the best thing going for this game and the battle map makes this game un-believeable!
There will be always someone who will not like a game but for you guys and you know who you are, this game is better than what your willing to admit, you can't fool an old RTS gamer now can you????

Just one more turn, THEN I'll go to bed!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 20
Date: February 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Just one more turn, THEN I'll go to bed

If you are like me, this something you'll be saying often and repeatedly (frequently several times in a row) when playing Rome: Total War. This game is hideously addictive.

In my University days I nearly failed my doctorate because of a game called Civilization II. I have sought far and wide for a game that rivals Civ2 for the depths of gaming addiction - a game where I couldn't bring myself to actually click menu, save, quit and go to bed - because I had so many things happening, so many strategies in mid-flight, rebellions needing to be quelled, belligerent neighbours to be taught lessons, troops stuck in the middle of a sea crossing with the enemy's navy lurking.

For a while I tried real-time strategies, but frankly, I suck at them. I love nothing better than sending an army of heavy cavalry or a phalanx or two at an enemy stronghold, only to discover that another enemy has launched an attack on my base while my workers sit around and do nothing because I have forgotten to assign them tasks, and my archers stand there like morons while the city is being sacked right behind them. And so I deal with the domestic problem, and return to my boys on the front, only to find the enemy priests have converted them (I really hate that) or they have run off into the wilderness chasing after some elusive but inconsequential peasant.

In short, I love the battles, but hate the real-time headaches. I like to really think out my strategies, look at the whole map and plan my next moves, shore up my economy and make sure my cities are thriving, without constantly having to worry about fifty things going on at once. Thus Rome: Total War is the ultimate for me. It has all the nuances and strategic elements of the turn-based strategy like Civ2, with the real-time action of something like Rise of Nations (only 50 times more realistic). The great thing is, if you don't want to, you don't have to fight the battles either - these can be automatically resolved for you (often with less casualties than in my own incompetent hands!) - but the battles are excellent fun. There's nothing like seeing a 30-strong regiment of heavy cavalry ploughing into the side of a Spartan Phalanx, or the legionary cohorts marching fearlessly into a head-on horde of charging barbarians.

This game is well worth shelling out for. It's well worth every cent. And you will need something with this much depth to it after you are fired for turning up to work every day after only 3-4 hours sleep. Be warned!

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.

The game I've waited for all my life...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: October 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm not going to give a long description, the previous reviewers have already made many good and vaild points. This is just my short version...

This is the epitome of what war game should be. The combat and empire building is challenging and rewards real tactics but the controls and methods of the game are very easy to learn. And very good graphics, which is rare in a war game.

No self respecting strategy gamer should be without it...period.

Best ... game ... ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 20
Date: October 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I don't normally feel the need to write reviews here, but after seeing negative review after negative review, I have to shake my head and wonder what game everyone else is playing, because it's not RTW. It's the finest strategy game, ever, hands down, without a comparison. It's not even a close race. The only way I can see someone not liking this game is when they just don't like the genre (realistic strategy), or are unaware of some of its features.
Yes, in some ways, it's a lot like civ, but with strategic battles.
Don't like building your buildings civ style? Click the auto-construct, and no more civ in your rome. But then, I adored civ II like some kind of deity, so this is all the better anyway.
Battles too confusing? Use the pause button to study the situation and give orders.
Honestly the only problem I can find with this game is that I wish the sea battles weren't automatically auto-solved. I'd have loved them to be strategic as well. Oh, and AI-controlled reinforcements I'd like to see fixed in a patch (either make the ally general a touch less brave (stupid), or allow for direct control).
But otherwise? Flawless. Absolutely flawless. The generals (the main characters) actually seem to have more complex personality ratings than characters in rpgs, as they have various personality traits like drunkard, brave, gloomy, deranged, good orator, etc. All the bonuses are easily added up on the character's sheet (you don't need to add it up yourself, just look at their management, command, and influence ratings, it's all there). Before each battle, the general gives a speech about the upcoming battle. Once, one of my deranged, gloomy generals (he was quite insane, but hey, he won battles) gave a speech complaining that he was depressed and just wanted to go home, but then accussed the enemy survivors of being his sister and ranted something about "frocks for everyone!". Ooookay, so Roman leaders go crazy in the game too, just like in real life. ;)
So, yes, it's basically flawless, and more addictive than _any_ game I have ever played - I'd think it would be for any history strategy fan, that is, unless you need constant click-fest action with fireballs (well the catapults come close) and dog-headed men. But for history buffs and people who appreciate and care about the differences and uses of soldiers such as hoplites, peoni infantry, velite, equite, and praetorians, this is heaven. I'm surprised I could stop playing long enough to write this review. Speaking of that... I better get back to Rome, I think my crazy general is supposedly biting people again.

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