Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #652 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Avanquest Software
• Released on: 2006-09-22
• Platform: Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review:
With the glory days of the real-time strategy game now nothing but a distant memory, Activision's Total War series has come to totally dominate the strategy market and Rome is such a huge leap above the already impressive Medieval and Shogun titles that the series has almost become a mini-industry in itself.

Set, fairly obviously, during the hey day of the first Roman Empire, the game gives you total control over your own faction with the game once again split between a turn-based strategic world map and real-time tactical battles. The former allows you to build and maintain armies and buildings, but also gives increased control over diplomacy and trade--elements that were largely overlooked in previous titles.

The real draw of the game though is the tactical battles which are now displayed using some quite staggering 3D graphics that can see up to 10,000 separate warrior in battle at one time. With units ranging from elephants and inflammable pigs to centurions and escaped slaves just watching the battles unfold is as epic as any Hollywood blockbuster. What's perhaps most impressive about the game is that controlling such huge numbers of soldiers is actually surprisingly easy with a simple point-and-click interface making everything as smooth as possible.

Rome: Total War is one of those rare breed of games that is largely impossible to fault. In technical and gameplay terms it gets everything right and unless you have a pathological hatred of strategy games this is easily one of the best PC games ever made. --David Jenkins

Manufacturer's Description
Rome: Total War for the PC, is the next game to be released in the Total War series and the follow-up title to The Creative Assembly's Medieval: Total War. Players return to the golden age of antiquity to take command of the most fearsome armies in a bid to rewrite the annals of history and be proclaimed supreme commander of the Roman Army.

he player controls mighty armies of up to 10,000 fully polygonal, highly detailed, motion-captured warriors clashing in panoramic real-time battles. Players can fight as, or against ancient history's most legendary generals including Julius Caesar, Hannibal and the rebel Spartacus.

At players' disposal will be hundreds of different troops including legionaries, hoplites, barbarian hordes, war elephants, gladiators and scythe chariots to colossal war machines such as siege towers, battering rams and catapults hurling flaming missiles. Additionally, more than 10,000 unique battlefields based on the topography of Europe and North Africa set the stage for the carnage. However, conflict is not the only way to gain favour with the senate and people of Rome; politics, diplomacy and the gladiatorial games will play key roles in the player's quest to be declared Imperator.

Customer Reviews

Hail Rome!
Nearly ten years ago I remember playing Age of Empires. I really enjoyed playing it, and I imagined how much greater the game could be if it was in 3D, with the option to view the battles from the ground.
When Shogun was released in 2000, I was really hoping that the Creative Assembly were going to follow up with a Roman Period game, but I imagined that they wouldn't.

I was therefore very surprised to discover that in 2004 they were going to release this game. In the four years that have followed, Rome: Total War still stands as one of my favourite games, and one that I still play sporadically to this day.

The game puts you in command of the Romans just as they have finished the conquest of Italy in 280 BC. You have a choice of three Republican families to control: the Julii, who must deal with the Gauls and Germans; the Brutti, who are at loggerheads with the Greeks and Macedonians, and the Scipii, who are engaged in a war with the trading superpower of Carthage. This set up might not be a realistic depiction of Roman history, but does present you with some interesting choices.

Your mission is to expand the Empire's borders at any cost. Every once in a while you are given mission by the Roman Senate, which gives you bonuses in the forms of soldiers, money or titles. Eventually when you become too powerful, the Senate and the other two Roman families will oppose you, throwing you into a turbulent civil war. You must triumph over the senate so that you can finally achieve your goal of becoming Emperor of Rome.

Once you have achieved this goal then a number of other ancient factions are unlocked for you to play. These include the Greeks, Egyptians, Parthians, Britons, Germans, Seleucids, Carthaginians and Gauls. To spice up the play there other non-playable factions who oppose you including the Thracians, Scythians, Iberians, Numidians, and the superpower of Macedon. My only gripe with the campaign is that you're not allowed to play as the Macedonians, which is a shame really. But then again they are playable in the game's 'Alexander' expansion.

The game is split into two parts. One is the turn-based campaign map where you manage citites, taxes and train soldiers, while the other is the real time battle map, which allows you to command thousands of detailed 3D soldiers in epic cinematic battles. The two game modes are combined, so that when you meet an enemy army on the turn based campaign map, it will then switch to the real time battle mode for you to duel it out with the enemy, if that is what you want to do (you can also auto-resolve battles).

Because of its free-form mode of play, and its lack of linear gameplay, the game has plenty of variety. Each time you play a campaign, you will face different odds and challenges. Part of the longevity and the fun of the game is in this aspect.
Beyond the campaign there is a custom battle mode (create your own armies and then command them on battlefields of your choice), a quick battle mode which allows you to play a random battle generated by the computer and a historical battle mode. The historical battle section allows you to play out a famous battle from the period 280 BC to 11 AD, from Caesar's Siege of Gergovia to the Battle of Cynoscephalae, the Siege of Sparta, Battle of the River Trebbia, The Battle of Telamon, the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest and so on.

When this game was first released no one had ever attempted a game on this scale before, what with a marriage between epic 3D battles between detailed armies (with zooming in options)and a turn based game on a gigantic map. Since then we have had Medievall II and in the near future there will be Empire: Total War. But Rome will always be considered one of the greatest and most revolutionary games in the strategy genre. At this price the game is defiantely worth getting. Highly Recommended!

Is it your cup of tea
With single player campaign and mapmaker you can enjoy happy hour upon happy hour playing. But download Game spy and you find Rome takes on a whole new genre with people who know what they are doing not idiot computers. But the maps do soon get repetitive and the campaign drives you mad with backstabbing allies.

History in the Making
The greatest game in historical strategy, roll playing great Roman leaders and fighting historical battles. The senates orders are not made to follow but can be helpful, their commands can be from taking a city to recruiting a unit of mercenaries. Destroying factions is a sure way to get the senate on your side and to become more reliable as well as helping the defence of your people.

I would recommend this game to anybody who is interested in Roman history or enjoys strategy gaming experiences. It is suitable for older children as well as adults and provides real escapism, you become totally pulled into the game.