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Product Description

Rome: Total War offers cinematic, real-time 3D battles based on ancient history. You'll command the great forces of ancient civilizations, from Rome to Carthage. The mightiest armies and the most brilliant commanders of ancient times clash in an epic war simulation.

Customer Reviews:

• Worth the time and the money.
  Before buying this game, I had played all of the previous Total War programs each of which was better than the previous. This game follows the same pattern and is better, by far, all of the other versions. The graphics are excellent, the interface is simple and the sound is great. I am glad that I ignored the negative reviews that have been posted about this game and bought it anyway....more info
• RTW .... better yet
  If you (like me) don't like the particular way this game approaches the player' side (nation, tribe, kingdom, state, republic, empire, whatever) selection, not giving you full control of Roman side, and/or not giving you the chance to play other than Roman from the very start, and on top of all this, forcing seasoned RTS (the "so-called" branch = combat oriented) players (as myself, since the Warcraft days) to play a boring trainning or tutorial campaign, but still you want to feel and enjoy the game, then I have a suggestion for you.
  
  Download and try the game mod(ification) "Rome: Total Realism" (available at an org web-site named after it), which they offer for free and deals a lot of well thought and implemented changes to the original game, besides removing the (anti) features described above. They added several more sides to select for the player, and removed some completely out of history characters. The campaign map has been enlarged as well, and many more cities are into the game. The install procedure is well explained and documented, and the download sites don't ask for your credit card number. Further information about mods for this game can be found in Wikipedia, where there are more than 15 full pages of text devoted to it.
  
  ...more info
• a guilty pleasure
  Ok, I'm admitting it, I have played this game off and on for about 2 years now. It has some bugs like they all do, some are pretty terrible as they all are. But, hey, the parts that work make this an interesting strategy game. Some of the speaches given before the battles are hilarious, and many are informative - not a bad idea to give them a listen.
  
  Each Roman family (there are 3 families, you get to try one per campaign) has it's own turf to conquer to start with, and so also different enemies. Here is my main complaint about the game... some battles cannot be won even with seeming overwhelming odds, I suppose that sort of thing did happen, but not like you'll see it happen here with the Parthia, Iberia, and Carthage.
  
  Battles, initiative, and strategy, are only a part of this game. The building and maintenance of cities, roads, and ports are hugely important. The types of troops and transport you can create, as well as your ability to trade to support your towns and legions, is a bit tightly constrtained, but works well in the bigger play of the game. Advice is available from talking heads in the game screen if you want, and the frequency or detail of advice is selectable... this advice is also available during battles.
  
  You also can create and use diplomats to negotiate with friend and foe alike for trade, creating alliances, asking for help, demanding supplication.
  
  After a point you can also create spies and sabateurs for intelligence gathering and monkey wrenching friend and foe alike - just don't get caught! Also remember they can and will do the same to you!
  
  The size of the armies, camera orientaion and motion, and screen image detail are also selectable. Just remember you can only select and order what you can see on the screen unless you use the auto pilot function.
  
  The fleets and sea battles are a bit lackluster, but possibly not as bad as it really was, and you can somewhat reasonably transport invading armies, blockade, defend ports and sea trade routes.
  
  So there is a lot going on in this game and the diversity of tasks and decision making can seem daunting - but that is what I find a huge plus.
  
  After playing all families many times, with all the bugs, I am still a player of this game, and have used it to help teach my kid about ancient kingdoms, peoples, weapons, mobility, strategy and tactics.
  
  And there is nothing like, after conquering the known world, that triumphant walk through the senate, their palms of victory waving to the fanfare, you are now the ruler of it all !...more info
• The best strategy game of all time
  This game is thorougly excellent and well worth its price. I normally don't play strategy computer games, but this one blew me away.
  
  There are so many pros that it's difficult to list them all. The game begins in 270 B.C., and if it's your first time playing it, you have the option of playing as one of three powerful Roman factions. As you play the game, you can unlock the other factions (the Carthiginians, Gauls, Britons, Egyptians, etc) as you conquer them. Your goal is to expand your empire across the known world, which you can do by battling enemy armies, taking their settlements, and building and maintaining your own armies and settlements.
  
  The battle scenes are stunning and cinematic. Unlike other strategy games, this game truly allows the player to demonstrate his prowess with military tactics. And the program is so intuitive that it actually matters how you go about fighting your battle. For instance, using cavalry to attack the enemy from behind will actually result in more enemy casualties than an attack from the front.
  
  The only negative aspect of this game that I can think of is the lack of any player involvement in naval battles. If you are attacked by an enemy fleet, you cannot fight yourself; you must allow the computer to determine the outcome automatically, which is not good because if the enemy has more ships, he will always win.
  
  Aside from that, however, this is an excellent game and you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you are a computer game afficianado and do not already own it....more info
• Excellent Game. True Classic/
  RTW is the epitome of PC Strategy excellent, and one of the most prolific strategy games to arrive in quite sometime. The numerous Strategy Game of the year awards that it received last year were well deserved, and only help to further substantiate the excellence that is RTW.
  
  For some odd reason, people seem to try to lambast the game with some of the most ridiculous issues that I have ever seen. I've heard people say they weren't receiving any tribute, when it's obvious the faction paying doesn't possess enough funds. The a.i. bug that everyone mentions is only noticeable when you save and reload the game after every turn, and why some would voluntarily try ruin their experience is beyond me. I have never had the a.i. not go where I've told them in regards to sieges or battles. Either the player that stated these issues did't know how to control his men, or the gate that he mentions wasn't knocked out, which makes me question the validity of his post since the gatehouse was still pouring oil. Someone even mentioned that sea battles were a problematic (what?) since they were automated, and assigning husbands to your daughters is essentially silly, eventhough this can result in the availability of new men with skills who can help you to expand your empire dramatically. You will hardly notice any of the bugs unless you go to the main forum or intentionally seek them out. I promise you this.
  
  Your never forced to play the tutorial, aleast I wasn't, I simply skipped it. If you wish to unlock other nations, all you most simply do is defeat them in the campaign and they are unlocked, ssimple. However, I believe you can cheat to unlock them if you are so inclined to do so.
  
  The gameplay is nothing shot of excellent. You start the game out in italy, and what part of italy you start in depends on the faction you chose. House Julii is to the north, Bruti to the east, and the Scipii to the south. As you open trade routes with other nations you begin to receive denarii, which allows you construct new buildings and train new units. Units that possess high management skills and who are placed within towns become governers, and help increase the money flow. Poor governers will embezzle money, or not try accumulate the maximum amount of funds that can be obtained from that settlement. If you wish to focus only war, you can set the settlements to be automanaged, which helps to alleviate stress later on in the game dramatically. Be warned, poor managers can bring a city down hill. You can set up all sorts of diplomatic alliances and protecotrates with other nations. You can demand tribute, map information, deman attack on another faction, bribe leaders, etc.
  
  In regards to your leaders, they gain experience as they age, and also begin to develop some unusual traits based on their actions. Although some are inherent, such as being a drunkard, a poor economist, or possessing preverted sexual desires. You create traits however. If you have your generals constantly in battle, they will begin to develop a taste for blood, if they constantly run from battle, they will become cowards, if they remain as governers they become better economist, etc. You can also get more leaders by marrying of your whoring (seriously!!) daughters. It's best to choose men with at list some decent skills in some field, whether it's being a good commander (better morale and experience for troops, also has a higher chance of winning automated battles). You can also build up these mens stats by having them pursue certain endeavors.
  
  
  Battles are nothing short of incredible. Controls are simple and easily understood, and if you have issues you can get advice from the game whilst in battle. The small details in the game are quite surprising, your general gives a detailed speech at the beginning of the battle and even tells you the odds that you will face in the coming battle, you'll see men celebrate when they have overcome a tough foe, you'll watch as your men lock their shields when the enemies get too close. You'll see centurions amd generals give orders to their men. Cavalry tramples men and sends them flying when they charge home. Phalanxes lower their spears when put into their phalanx formation, and this spear wall is almost impenetrable unless flanked or attacked by overwhleming odds. Watching your men charge into each other recretes scenes witnessed in movies such as Braveheart. Flanking can devastate an enemies army and turn the tide of the battle in a heartbeat. Watching volleys of arrows rain down on your opponents is a sight to behold (well probably more so for me), as is watching elephants plow through dense formations like a super charged bulldozer (make sure to bring flaming pigs!!!). There area also numerous combat animations, one in particular being the amusing Brad Pitt stab witnessed in Troy, which was obviously included by the developers to add amusement to the game.
  
  Morale plays a major, major (!!!) factor in battles. Men may run at the sight of an overhwelming enemy force, the death of an excellent general, if they see other men running away, if they are getting flanked or surrounded, or if they are too tired.
  Fatigue results in men fighting more sluggishly and moving more slowly. Experience can vastly rectify many of the above mentioned issues since men become more resilient to many of the above mentioned issues.
  
  Sieges are astounding. Cities are gigantic, and look like something seen in a Lord of the Rings movie. You'll have numerous siege weapons at your disposal. Battering rams, catapults, siege towers, tunnels, ladders, and ballista. Defenders have the advantage of tough walls, longer range, defensive towers, boiling oil at gates, and choke points within their city. Taking walls is extremely enjoyable, particlarly as you watch your forces receive flaming arrow showers and you try to puncture holes within the defenses. If you don't attack correctly (using catapults to soften defenses first), a majority of your siege weapons can be destroyed before they even reach the walls. As the defender you can plug up holes in the walls with troops to delay the enemies advance, and thus keeping them within the range of the deadly wall archers, if they get past your walls, you can try to ambush them within the confined city streets, by sneaking men behind them or blocking their path to the town square. If the enemies reach the town square and hold it for 3:oo min, they win.
  
  The biggest problems within this excellent game reside mostly within the enemy a.i. Although it is a pretty good combatant, sometimes it makes some extremely bonehead moves like having it's generals fight on the front lines, letting certain units get flanked, or not responding to siege equipment which has circumvented it's defenses. Otherwise it's a pretty good strategist, butit is no replacement for a human player, so don't expect it to be.
  
  If you haven't bought this game, I don' see what your waiting for....more info
• way better then the other total war but has its problems
  this game is great for the stratigic gamers if your not, stay away!oh my god i got booooored with this game the day i got it. still its agreat game for stratigists. this game is not for woosies. this game is @#%$#*%$ hard! #@$%$#@ hard!...more info
• poor tactical battlefield
  in order to command well, you have to use a pretty far away view, then all soldiers became so small, like a group of ants.
  Though impressing when stationary, however, when in action, the 3D soldiers act so awkwardly, like puppets. For those interested in the Roman genre strategic games, I'd rather recommend other games like "Nemesis of the Roman Empire" or "Legion" by Slitherine....more info
• my review of rome tottal war
  so far i have not got this game but i have plad it at my friend's place and if i cold i wold give it 150% rating but i cant but i liked the grafics and my friend is like absest with this game and but well lits just say he thinks the campain is hard....more info
• I ask Jupiter and Mars, how can I go to bed when my empire is not intact?
  I hate to think how many times since I received "Rome: Total War" for Christmas that I have made the mistake of playing one more round before I turned off the computer and went to bed a night. The next thing I know one or more of my cities have revolted and that means I have to crush them so that the city is back under my control before I go to bed. But when you send reinforcements over to make sure you get one city back, another one (or two or three) can revolt and the next thing you know it is 3 in the morning before you have things under control again.
  
  In other words, this game can be quite addictive.
  
  I have now won the game twice, first as the House of Julli (the third time I tried, after I got acclimated to the way the game works), and now as of 2:12 this morning as the Egyptians. This was after having failed to come even close as either the Brutii or the Scipii, the other two Roman factions, and then getting no where as the Carthaginians, Pontius, or the Greek cities. Clearly the Julli are the best bet for winning the game: you have the advantage in that the other two houses are taking your backs while you go up against the Gauls. Then comes the point where either (a) the people of Rome ask you to march on the capital or (b) Rome demands your faction leader commit suicide, either of which is your cue to cross the Rubicon and take the city. Ironically, taking Rome is easy: it is conquering more territories to get to the required 50 that proves to be difficult (you are going up against both of the other houses and whatever barbarians are left).
  
  Be forewarned that the opposite is true if you try to win with Egypt or any other non-Roman power. I got up to 53 territories at one point, with only a tenuous foothold on the Italian peninsula (literally), while losing ground in Africa. What finally tipped the balance was that I controlled the western part of the board, including a bunch of cities in the Black Sea that could produce third-level ships. These cities keep turning out ships that are combined into fleets and I was able to blockade every Roman port in the Mediterranean (and sink most of there new ships as soon as they were built). Finally, taking a page from Ender Wiggin, I abandoned my two cities in Italy and shipped in four other armies to go after Rome, take the city, and win the game. Sure, it looks strange just to control Rome and nothing else in Italy, but I had been making no progress for THREE DECADES by the game clock (LOL).
  
  Because I have proven myself to be pretty inept when it comes to the real time strategy battles, I have been sticking to the basic strategy campaign game and having the computer automatically resolve battles. At some point I might get more ambitious and try to fight things out like a proper general, but I can still up the ante on playing the campaign game. You can go with no, low, medium, or high advice; both the campaigns and the battles can be easy, medium, hard, or very hard. There are also options for playing Arcade Style, having the computer manage all settlements, and following AI characters. If you want to practice on the real time battles, you can pick a historical battle, customize one, or do some quick ones for practice. I am still working on how to manage my cities (I am doing much better than I did when I tried to do "Civilization" and I got tired of hearing the computer yell "Plebs are needed! Plebs are needed!"), and I have to start paying more attention to using diplomats, spies, and assassins. I also have to stop moving too fast and being more strategic in how I build my empire (when you play a Roman faction Rome will push you along by giving you orders to take specific places).
  
  I also get to look forward to playing this game on line against my son, who bought this for me in the first place (which is why I cannot talk about already having my money's worth from playing this game). Plus there is a "Barbarian Invasion Expansion Pack," which is good because I can tell you from my current game that the Gauls are not going to win this game (I might have to try the Germanic tribes next, but I do not have high hopes). Most of the comptuer games I have played in the past have been narrative puzzles: you play them, solve them, and never really play them again. I expect to be playing "Rome: Total War" for at least the rest of this year. I suppose this is not really the 21st century version of "Risk," but it is in the running....more info
• Relive the glories of the Roman Empire
  Rome Total War (RTW) is one of the greatest games I have ever played. RTW incorporates an in-depth strategic empire building experience with nerve racking amazing tactical combat. The best elements of the previous versions (Shogun and Medieval Total War) are enhanced and expanded.
  
  The province management has been improved so each is like a small economy. The population growth is complex and is effected by everything from overcrowding and disease to taxes and food supply. Money management is an essential part of the game and makes this a true strategy that requires careful judgment and planning not just mindless unit training. Sea trade has been modified a limited amount of trade routes and allows blockading specific ports and does not require ships on every part of the ocean to trade between cities.
  
  The Roman senate is an interesting addition to the game. It changes all the rules and makes politics more difficult. The senate also makes requests of your fraction for the better of Rome, but necessarily you. I like it better than the Catholic Church affect on Medieval Total War.
  
  In the battle map you will find the same great gameplay. Commanders are still very important and morale is more fragile than before. Tactics will have to change to meet new challenges. The sound of battle is even more intense and cavalry charges actually causes them victims to be tossed around. Another improvement is the movement of armies on the campaign map. It is no longer just move from one province to the next. You can now maneuver around the province to ambush armies and attack from multiple angles similar to Knights of Honor. Field of vision is now more important. Armies can hide in woods on the campaign map and troops can hide in different types of terrains in the tactical map.
  
  I could go into more details, but suffice it to say this is a great game. It is a step above and beyond Medieval Total War and beats all the others.
  ...more info
• Great Game
  Great Game. Everything good that everyone else said is what I have to say. Wonderful game....more info
• Most Realistic and Best Game Ever!
  This is the best game i have ever tried, by far! it is amazingly realistic. Hitting from behind actually makes a difference the people can be tired ,can run away ,can hide, elephants can even rampage!...more info
• I Love it, here's a Brief Explanation!
  This game has depth... to easy? Turn up the difficulty. Graphics to advanced? Turn down the settings. This game is mostly historicly correct, but you can make history the way you want it! The Total War series is the best of RTS, if not Grand Strategy. Rome Total War is like two games in one... The makers are also from Europe, and that means quality... I am only guessing. I waited 3 years for Rome:Total War and I was greatly impressed, kept me busy for months and I still go back and play it once in a while!...more info
• Strategy gaming at its finest!
  The follow up to the immensely successful "Shogun: Total War" and "Medieval: Total War" takes the action back in time to 200 B.C. - the era when the fledgling Roman Empire started to expand across Europe and assert its might. There are a number of gameplay options to choose from. The Imperial campaign is the real meat of the game, where you can take control of your chosen faction and either guide it to complete dominance over all the other factions, include the Senate of Rome. If you prefer a shorter game, a condensed version of the imperial campaign is available, where you only have to meet a couple of the preset victory conditions for your faction. Initially just 3 variants of Romans, the Julii, Scipii, and Brutii, are available to play, but upon beating the Imperial Campaign you can unlock all the other civilizations to play with. There are over 15 uniquely different factions you can toy around with, and this really adds a fresh perspective to the game whilst providing some nice replay value. Playing as Egypt, for example is a bucket of fun because you get to go against the might of the Romans as they try to invade your turf, and then of course you can go for it all and take the fight to the Romans themselves as you lay siege to the eternal city itself! The full Imperial campaign is designed for the hardcore gamer because of the commitment required, but thankfully the shorter versions are much less time consuming and can be completed in a day or two. As well as the campaign, you can choose to relive over a dozen historical battles. If preset battles aren't your cup of tea then there is an option to create your own custom battle, and the options are staggering. Everything from the time of day, to weather, to the troop armor and weapons levels can be tweaked. Multiplayer options are also available, with a solid LAN offering and of course the online Gamespy service that pits you in customizable battles against other human opponents. It has to be said that playing online is a thrill, the human opponents provide much more of a tactical challenge than the AI. Lag is usually kept nicely in check, there were no major issues that I experienced.
  
  The graphics are simply outstanding, and sets a new standard not just for strategy games but the whole industry. Over 10,000 fully animated models can be on screen at a time, and watching two armies clash in a head to head melee takes your breath away. Arrows pepper the sky, cavalry kicks up clouds of dust, bodies fly after an elephant charge and close combat is pure carnage. You can zoom in to admire the detail, and with a decent system the graphics can be maxed without fear of slow-downs or frame skipping. The developers really have outdone themselves in creating a flexible and reliable engine. The overhead map in the campaigns is beautiful, a vast improvement from previous Total War games. Weather is accurately detailed, with snow falling in the winter, and rain trickling down during battles.
  
  The campaign is played in turns, and two turns represent summer and winter, and account for one year of game time. City management is surprisingly deep, with everything from trade, food production, taxes and public health to take care of. Those that are daunted by economic micromanagement need not fear, an automanage option is available to make things easier. There is a solid assortment of buildings available to build, with each having its economic purpose, and in a neat touch the architectural style differs from faction to faction. A Gallic Temple looks considerably different from Greek one, and this keeps things realistic. The ability to zoom in and take a look at your city in full 3D glory is a wonderful touch. You can spend a good few minutes just admiring the beauty of some of the bigger cities like Athens, with people scuttling about on the streets as mighty walls loom over them. Military management is the focus of the game and creating armies is relatively simple. You can build units from a nicely varied selection, and then combine them into an army with the click of a button. Special mention must go the flaming pigs for being the coolest unit in the entire game. You'll see what I mean once you pit them against those pesky elephants.
  
  The family aspect is back once again, and your family members play a key role in the handling of everyday affairs within your empire. Your family expands as the game goes on, getting incredibly large by the end of the imperial campaign, which keeps in pace with the expansion of your empire (if you've been doing things right, that is. If not, then expect a very crowded capital city by around 50 B.C.) Stationing your family members in cities helps with their management, and your family members act as generals on the battlefield, with the more successful ones gaining experience and more skills. This is really nice touch, as you can watch your Faction Leader's son for example, lead a successful campaign against the vicious Gauls over the years and raise his Command skill battle by battle. And your family ages too, and it is truly sad to see your more potent ones bite the dust. Expect some drop in Senate favor when your leader with 10 stars in Influence dies due to old age. Of course they can die on the battlefield too, but you might want to protect your generals the most, since they are the most important part of your army. A good general boosts morale by a significant amount, and rallies fleeing troops. A good general will also kick some serious amounts of ass if used right. Try charging your General's entourage into the flank of a barbarian warband and you'll see what I mean.
  
  The tactical battles are the best bit of the game, and the sheer number of tactical varieties and nuances are staggering. Formations are easily changeable, with everything from loose formation, to toggling flaming arrows for your archers, to forming testudos with your legionaries is available. Hell, if your war elephants run amok you can order its rider to kill the beast, which is a wise option because they WILL trample over your troops too in the midst of panic. The interface is wonderfully simple, managing units is a two click process, and even laying siege (the most exciting battles are the big sieges) is a breeze to manage. Of course you have to micromanage every unit to ensure a clean victory, but the interface really helps with getting the hard bits of management sorted so that you can focus on the tactics and admiring the gorgeous graphics.
  
  For those sneakier out there, assassins and spies can also be employed, and if used right they can cripple an enemy army or city before a big battle. Espionage in itself is deep and immersive, as is diplomacy. Your diplomats can bribe and negotiate with other factions, and offer alliances, trade agreements etc. Forming alliances is the key to staying alive early, because having too many enemies early on makes things considerably difficult. Naval battles are also included, but these are resolved automatically by the AI, which is a bit of a disappointment.
  
  Although I'm running out of superlatives here, the sound design has to receive special commendation. Never before have I been so drawn into a real time strategy game by the means of sound. Everything, and I do mean everything is incredibly detailed, from the shouts and cheers, to clash of steel, to cavalry hooves. This has truly set the bar for the rest of the industry to try and leap, and trust me it will be a long time before another strategy game comes this close to realistically recreating the ambience of a battle. The music is nothing short of fantastic, its cinematic quality blends in seamlessly with the action onscreen, picking up at key moments during battle. Your heart rate should get a healthy workout when two armies clash together and the orchestral theme starts booming. This is a complete audiovisual entertainment experience.
  
  If there are any bad points, you would be scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for any serious ones. The minor annoyances such as the Wardogs unit count not being displayed properly after a battle and the minor glitches in unit formations are not nearly substantial enough to take anything away from the game. The AI is not perfect, but with a tactically complex game like this it is understandable.
  
  Anyone who is a serious strategy gamer owes it to themselves to go buy this game. If you don't feel like buying it, then at least try it once, and let the seamless blend of tactical battles coupled with empire management and topped off with revolutionary audiovisual presentation lure you towards that store shelf. No I don't work for Creative Assembly, but I have been a gaming for over a decade now and I must say that Rome: Total War is quite simply one of the most complete videogaming experiences that I have ever had.
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• The Most Phenomenal achievment of the human race
  Well what can anyone say about Rome Total War? it's the toughest thing anyone can possibly be made to answer. Maybe it's wise to start with the other great human endeavours, the Ancient Greeks, the Pyramids, The European Rennaisance, Beethoven, Einstein. Put these in a melting pot and the end result would stll be vastly inferior to Rome Total War. The human mind is simply unable to comprehend the dizzying magnitude of Rome Total War's genius. It's like trying to comprehend the vastness of the Cosmos. Every single man woman and child on the planet must do 60 years of penance for failing to be in the same league as Rome Total War. Rome Total War is the greatest thing in the history of existence. We are but worms in the Almighty prescence of Rome Total War ....more info
• Awesome game!!!!!
  After reading many reviews over this game I wasnt sure if I should get this, but I finally decided that I should get the demo for it, I got the demo and was amazed at how good the detail was and how big the battles were. So the next day I went out and bought the game. I have been playing the game for a month and I am only about one third done with one faction! There are like fifteen factions. So far I have only played as the Brutii, and I have already destroyed Macedonia, and the Greeks, and Pontus and Dacia are about to fall. I could easily overthrow the senate but I am waiting for another time to destroy them. I do use one cheat though, it gives you the desired amount of money. That way I dont have to worry about money. A lot of the game is played like chess, in the same way but a piece is a general and the general stands for a army. The chess board is a 3d map of europe,africa and the middle east.
  Once you conquer a faction and control all the cities that they started out with you can play as them in campaign mode. At the begginning of the game you can only play as the three Roman factions; Julii, Scipii, Brutii. The Julii are located in the north of Italy, and mostly fight barbarians who are very easy to kill but are huge in number. The Brutii are located in the east of the Italian Peninsula, and face the Macedonians and the Greeks who fight in a phalanx, so you will have to start learning tactics to fight them(not just sending soldiers to face them head on).Once you have conquered the Greeks and Macedonians you will have the choice of sending your armies to the east or to the north. I chose to split my forces up and send them both ways. The Scipii live in the southern coast of Italy and north of Sicily. They first have to destroy Carthage, and after that they have a huge Medditeranean power that made Carthage so powerful. So they can fight in any direction, conquering Spain, Africa, Egypt, and Israel.
  Overall I think I should have picked the Scipii because they have more choices than the Brutii, and the Julii. If I were you I would go out and get this game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...more info
• Pity
  Very nice game. Super Idea. Great graphics. More than I could imagine about a PC game, until I started to play it. Unfortunately sometime after you install you'll face some problems of performance. After playing for 2 or 3 rounds it became very hard to play, slowing down considerably, becoming choppy, answering with delay to every command. A pity....more info
• ROME TOTAL WAR ROCKS!!!!
  all of the 5 stars u read for this game review are right.i wouldn't give this game anything short of a five. the gameplay is ausom and the way to control youre units is excellent. i may not be one of those people who have played rts games for years but im a HUGE fan of Rts's. All i play is rts and rpgs and this is probably the best out of over a hundred others ive played. what really wowed me was how detailed the main campaing was set up. I WAS BLOWN AWAY. anything u could possibly think that would happen will happen. And the variaty of factions was really good to. But the one thing should have is over the requirement of prosser speed like around 3.0 or 2.5 and take it from me who is running this on a dell laptop with over 3.0 prosser speed and a nvidia geforce 5200 MAKE SURE U HAVE A HIGH GRAPHICS CARD or just enough to get by. But if we could rate over 5 i would give it a 100 but make sure your a serious rts fan. HAVE FUN!...more info
• Insult to your brain.
  I too was amazed when I began to play 'Rome'. It is truly beautiful to look at compared to most games of its type before it. Unfortunately for highly strategic gamers, this is the only thing it has going for it. As I played more, I began seeing that even very basic elements critical to strategy were "broken". Troops on both sides are dumb...REALLY dumb. They fail to fight back sometimes (and don't run away either). They can't make the simplest of maneuvers without extreme micromanagement. Left to their own thought(AI), your idiotic archers fire into your OWN troops battling the enemy rather than an open unit bearing down on them. Your enemy may just stand in place, be bombarded by arrows and boulders over and over, and fall to their death. (Strange too that those huge boulders sometimes hit a single member of a unit...and BOUNCE OFF him!) Running the perimeter of a city's walls within reach of tower fire, computer troops get picked off easily, losing most of the unit by the time they reach their destination. Individuals simply walking off the tops of walls to die is common as well. Imagine all these problems going on at once with hundreds of troops scattered throughout the battlefield! Once you know the abilities of different units the same basic strategies work every time - bait them in with a little faster unit, then attack from behind with another. That's it - no thought required. So many more problems plague 'Rome' within the battle scenes alone that it will end gameplay for anyone thinking beyond the average gamer. In fact most gamers should be screaming that - The COMPUTER controls reinforcements from YOUR OWN ARMY! It is truly a mystery how many can completely miss such factors essential to strategy and gameplay and rate this game highly.
  Not only do the over-hyped battle scenes fail, but other aspects to the game are flawed as well. Naval battles must be auto-resolved from the map. These battles may pop up at any time as the enemy "magically" tracks you down anywhere at sea. You may feel more like the host of the Dating Game as you try to figure out which generals to marry off, or a psychologist as you try to figure out which leaders in your army the programmers deemed compatible with each other. You will soon be wondering why your cities deteriorate faster with "upgrades" you provide. Of course, such problems may or may not be planned by the designers of RTW, but any way one looks at it, it is a badly done game....more info
• One of the all time best on any platform
  Whether you're talking console or the PC, Rome Total War is one of the best you will ever play. I won't break down all the graphics and sound because others have done a more than adequate job of that. Besides, all you need to do is look at the screenshots to know that the graphics are awesome.
  
  I'll take a moment to discuss what I didn't like. Keep in mind I gave this game 5 stars so it must not have bothered me too badly. It's a little hard to balance out having a large enough population in a city to produce troops and still have the city make money. I don't like that once you become the Emperor you can't keep going and rule the whole world. That's about it.
  
  If you still don't have this game, get it.I bought it when it first came out but just never got around to writing a review until now. I am however normally a bargain hunter and wait until games are a couple of years old to buy them. So for those of you who are like me and waited until now,take it from Showtime....it's well worth the price....more info
• Endless Excitement
  Rome: Total War has to be the most engaging strategy game for PC ever. By allowing players to engage in battles that directly influence what is happening on the campaign map, and manuever on the campaign map in ways that impact battles, it is an incredibly well thought out game. The battles are always different - and always exciting. If you enjoy any type of strategy games, or even are just a casual gamer in it for the battles, this game earns five stars....more info
• Excellent Buy
  Rome Total War is easily one of the best games i have ever bought. It gives the kind of tactical and strategic freedom most other similiar games can only touch upon. You really are allowed full control, but also have the aid of the AI any time you get overwhelmed; the whole experience stays quite smooth. I definetely recommend Rome for anybody who likes history and/or military history . It is amazingly fun and well paced, but the developers have also taken a lot of time and interest to add in a lot of interesting and accurate historical information. All in all it's a extremely solid product: well researched, well executed, and amazing to play....more info