The third game in the Total War strategy series sees the player take on the role of faction leader in one of three major houses in the Late Roman Republic era. It's 270BC and the stability of the Republic is starting to crumble.
At this point, the setting quickly diverges from history, although several notices and historical figures appear throughout the game to maintain a veneer of historical accuracy. For a game of this type, slavish devotion to history would be severely limiting on the player so inaccuracy can be forgiven.
The Turn-Based Campaign
To anyone who has played any of the other games in the series, Rome's campaign mode will be instantly familiar. In order to get the best units for the inevitable military campaign, settlements must be built up with a variety of military and civilian units, as well as fortifications.
In a change from previous games, the Senate will now make numerous demands of the player, which will increase the faction leader's standing in Roman society when successful, and decrease it if the mission fails. This has the effect of changing the point at which civil war can occur and the player can march on Rome, but it also has a frustrating effect on strategic planning.
For example, a player who is planning to take an enemy city may be informed by the Senate that they wish the player to blockade the city's port. If the player does as requested but continues to attack the city itself and takes it before the Senate announces the player's success, the mission is rendered obsolete and no gains are made.
It can therefore be necessary to hold off on attacking cities, and let the enemy build up units and fortifications in the process, simply to achieve political goals. Such is the way of politics in Rome.
Astonishing Real-Time Battles
As with the rest of the Total War series, Rome comes into its own once the player enters the tactical map and begins a real-time battle against an enemy. The sheer range of unit types available mean even the most jaded of strategists cannot help but be impressed and with some tactical cunning it is possible to outmanoeuvre and defeat even a massively over-manned enemy.
However, this is where the fun starts to leave the game. For the most part, the Romans are simply too powerful. This is not necessarily the fault of Creative Assembly, who are mostly just replicating the awesome power of Ancient Rome in comparison to its neighbours, but it can sometimes feel less like a challenging strategy game and more like sending a platoon of veterans into a kindergarten.
Large enemy armies will fall to the Roman onslaught with ease even if the player is a novice; and the appeal of marching across the ancient world can soon be lost. That is, until the inevitable message arrives saying “the people” of Rome would appreciate the player freeing them from the tyranny of the Senate. Cue civil war, and a significant upping of the difficulty level.
Sudden Increase in Difficulty
Until the player has sufficient standing with the masses, they cannot fight their fellow Romans. This can lead the unwary into thinking the game is something of a pushover. The majority of the ancient world can be conquered in an hour or so, if the tactical map is avoided and the computer is allowed to settle all battles. Once a civil war is triggered however, things get far more problematic.
The reason the Romans can conquer the world so easily is that their armies are vastly superior. When the civil war arrives, the enemy's power matches the player's and it is at this point that the game really starts to shine.
Overwhelming force is still a major factor in ensuring victory, of course, but now the command ability of the individual generals and the player's own tactics play a major part in the proceedings. It is unfortunate then that the game really only gets past the warmup phase in what is likely to be the last third of playing time.
Thank goodness that once a faction is eliminated during play in the campaign mode, it usually becomes a playable faction in future games. This allows for more challenging future games from the outset, and goes a long way to extending the lifespan of the game as a whole.
Rome: Total War is an excellent addition to the Total War series and brings many much-needed improvements to the previous games. In many ways it gives the player an easier ride than Medieval did, although this is more than made up for by a wider range of difficulty settings and the chance to unlock far less powerful factions for later play.
Zoe Kirk-Robinson - Zoë Kirk-Robinson is a freelance writer/artist specialising in legal writing, internet technology and creative writing. She holds a ...
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