Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion

Barbarian Invasion is tweak-packed and jammed with choices, meaning that even expert Generals will be kept busy for ages. A must for fans of Rome Total War. [PC Gamer UK]

If you loved Total War get ready for another rendezvous.

It is a tremendous value at the cost, and offers hundreds of hours of some of the best strategy gaming available to gamers on any system. [Review of Gold Edition]

I am really looking forward to seeing what the developers of this game have to offer in their next game.

So while we're disappointed with the misplaced innovation and the lack of advancement, we still can't deny that it's Rome, that it's raised our bloodlust and our hackles in equal measure, and that it refreshes those parts that other strategy games just won't reach. [PC Zone]

It offers more factions, more units and a couple of cosmetic touches that will be sure to have you falling in love all over again... What is less easy to look past is the relatively homogenous nature of the barbarian factions.

Barbarian Invasion doesn't devalue the achievements of its precursor. This isn't a great triumph or a fall, just a gentle decline. [Nov 2005, p.95]

The ten new factions along with hundreds of new available units will help give this title new life, and even though the changes in gameplay won’t make any new fans out of the series, Barbarian Invasion delivers almost everything that fans could’ve asked for.

The AI still exhibits some faults during real-time combat. On the 'normal' level of difficulty, they were too easily tricked by my more mobile units into falling into ambushes and subsequently being surrounded. They would often unnecessarily try to cross the river even though that would significantly diminish their maneuverability and effectively take them out of the battle.

A fantastic addition to an already fantastic strategy game. [Dec 2005, p.94]

For those of us who crave battles with thousands of bloodthirsty warriors on each side, the Total War series is still your best bet for total carnage.

Barbarian Invasion adds a lot of new features and improvements to Rome: Total War, and the result is a much more challenging and satisfying strategy game.

As magnificent an example of the add-on pack as Rome is, it doesn't redefine the game completely in order to make it an absolute essential buy for anyone who was interested in the mother-game. It's an imaginative more-of-the-same, but still – at its core – a more of the same.

Barbarian Invasion isn't a must-have, but it definitely doesn't disappoint. It may not reinvent the original game, but it's certainly worth picking up for any Rome: Total War fan looking for some satisfying new challenges.

The single player campaign is so challenging and engrossing that it's easy to forget about the game's shortcomings.

There is certainly enough new here to recommend it to even casual fans. [Jan 2006, p.60]

But attempting the single-player campaign mode as the Roman Empire, especially the West, will present the greatest challenge to experienced players.

Though this particular invasion doesn't really change the scope of the battle, it certainly adds some berserk energy to your armchair strategizing. Trust in Crom.

Adds a bit of new life to an already great game even if there isn't enough new to make the expansion pack truly exceptional.

Exactly what you expect from a Total War expansion.