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Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War, and now Rome: Total War have proven just how exciting strategy war games can be. So many other "real time strategy" games have attempted to bring a realistic sense of tactics to the genre and have failed. Unlike Command and Conquer and its clones, Total War games require quick thinking on both a strategic and tactical level. This isn't a game where the fastest clicker wins, this is a game of planning an attack and executing it. Total War puts returns strategy to the real time strategy gaming genre.

Rome: Total War is very similar to previous Total War games except for one thing: 3D units. In the previous games the units were individual sprites. In the past 3D units were simply not viable in a game with hundreds if not thousands of units. Visually Rome: Total War may still lag behind 3D giants such as Doom 3 or Half Life 2 -- but neither of those game engine could display a battle on such a scale as Rome: Total War so successfully does.

In previews to Rome: Total War we were shown cinematic video clips rendered in the game engine. Unfortunately that tells us very little about the actual game itself. The truth is, Rome: Total War looks and plays that good. The demo battle begins with impressive cut scenes in which the situation is laid out in detail by a narrated voice. No confusion here; you know what you need to do.

Once the action starts players of the previous Total War games should feel right at home. The controls are very similar although the interface is a little bit different.

I do have a few complaints about the game. Perhaps with more play time I will overcome them. The units are difficult to distinguish from each other when zoomed out at a certain level. If you are running Rome at a lower resolution you may find this to be a bigger issue. Rome: Total War uses significantly more system resources than Medieval did; you may need to buy a new video card. Another problem is the display of selected units in the user interface. The unit icon is highlighted. Unfortunately the icons are already quite light, leaving little contrast between highlighted units and unhighlighted ones -- in the interface. In the 3D view of the battle this is not an issue.

One of the best parts of Rome: Total War comes when you realize the battle is yours. You can zoom in right on the action and experience the eye candy just as it is in the cinematic clips. The voices and shouting of the soldiers sound like they really are there. It is amusing to watch enemies get hit by your elephants and then fly, almost unrealistically, high in the air (make sure you are the one with the elephants,) I don't think I ever want to go to the circus again if they really can do this.

Earlier I reviewed the demo. I thought the included mission was short and specifically set up to be fun. I've played plenty of Medieval: Total War battles and know things can sometimes drag out painfully long. Fortunately, the full game of Rome: Total War is just as great as the demo. In the demo you saw one of the best units in the game, the elephants. In the full game there are three different elephant units you can get. On the battlefield these are just deadly. Another notable unit include in the full game is egyption chariots (blades included on wheels to slice down fleeing enemies.)

The Egyptians get chariots

Rome: Total War feels a little faster-paced than its predacessors. There is also an arcade mode included for those really impatient people. Players who may have previously been intimadated by Medieval: Total War should try out Rome: Total War. The graphics are way better and the gameplay is a little bit friendlier (but still not watered-down.) Of all the Total War games, Rome: Total War integrates the real time elements and serious strategy the most sucessfully making it one of the few games to successfully merge multiple game types.

These 3 screenshots show the actual game interface

I really enjoyed the multiplayer part of Medieval: Total War. Unlike first person shooters, you can play this game 1 on 1 in LAN and have a blast. In some respects, playing Rome: Total War LAN is better than playing it multiplayer over the internet, although this could be said of most multiplayer games. If you do not wish to go up against your friends you can split into a team going up against a computer player. Unfair? Your team's money is split in half between you and your friend. I even played a few games of Rome: Total War with 3 humans vs 1 computer on LAN. I had some issues with friendly fire, literly, with flaming arrows.


I've personally always loved war games. Unfortunately some of them have steep learning curves, slow-paced gameplay, and abstract graphics making them a big turn-off to many players. Rome: Total War brings realistic 3D graphics to a usually dull genre. There are very few other wargames that bring you this close to the action yet give you control over the entire battlefield at the same time. Rome: Total War definately deserves to be on your shelf!

Graphics.......... Excellent
Sound.............. Excellent
Singleplayer.... Excellent
Multiplayer....... Excellent
Overall Rating...... 94%