Rome: Total War is the third game in the popular Total War series. Rome features epic-scale, historical type battles that include literally thousands of units all acting in real time. Taking much of the user feedback from both Shogun and Medieval into consideration the developers seem to have left no stone unturned. With a brand new 3D graphics engine, new 3D campaign map, Rome out shines two very good Total War games by making the game not only look better but play better.
Storyline & Game-Play
The storyline for Rome Total War is, at it’s simplest, what you would expect. You get to control legions of the great Roman Empire against the many hordes of barbarians or lesser civilizations of the day. That simple explanation however doesn’t do Rome Total War justice.
The game first begins with you having to select one of three influential and powerful Roman families. Each family has somewhat different responsibilities in regards to who is going to be conquered, but the ultimate goal is to increase not only Roman control over the world but to also the influence and standing of your family name.
As the controlling power of the entire family, or faction as it’s referred to in the game, it is your duty to assign generals and governors (who are all relatives of your chosen faction) based on their abilities in skills such as leadership skills, battle skills, charisma, etc… There are also many advisors to your family members that can play a very influential role in your city, and in regards to the Roman Senate. The Senate at times will offer you specific missions to accomplish, which you have the option to do, but if you’re looking to increase your favor in Rome it’s a good idea to accept most of the Senate missions.
Rome Total War, is broken into two distinct phases of play. First is the civ management or turn based phase. Once your faction has been selected you are taken to a 3D map of the ancient Roman Empire and surrounding Mediterranean Sea/Europe area. This is where you will manage all of your cities, armies, generals, family members, senate requests and more. The maps is not broken into provinces rather it’s an open land to be explored and conquered depending on where your armies move. This vital part of the game is not something that should be rushed, after all this is a strategy game.
Unlike the other Total War games, once a city or land is conquered you must leave someone behind from your faction to govern. When selecting a governor do you select a aging but seasoned general who’s led many past armies into battle or do you select a young up and coming general who’s leadership skills are questionable. The strategy part of Rome Total War is always at work. Some of your generals may be excellent at leading a city but terrible at commanding an army. The decision is up to you on which family member best fit the roles. Be careful to keep the family line going, kill off too many generals you may find yourself without any descendants or a competent one when you really need it!
The Rome: Total War campaign mode of the game is set during the peak of the Roman Empire. It contains about 20 hours of game-play, but as I found it can take much longer if you meticulously play each battle and micro manage your cities. Rome does also allow you to play other civilizations such as the Greeks, Carthaginians but one must first finish the campaign in order to unlock this “bonus” feature. This actually turned into one of my few problems with the game but in the end if you finish the campaign, you’ll gain more life from the game by being able to manage new and different civilizations.
