Total War: Rome II - Emperor Edition

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Sep 16, 2014
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 179 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 120 out of 179
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 179
  3. Negative: 35 out of 179

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  1. Stocknet
    Sep 19, 2014
    5
    Less gutted and soulless than at release. Still the worst entry in the total war series. CA has made some basic improvements to the core mechanics, but only now is the game approaching ship quality. The campaign map now has little strategic depth, and is now little more than a speed bump between battles.
  2. nenaza
    Sep 18, 2014
    7
    Is the Emperor Edition playable and enjoyable? Yes. It is.
    Is the worst of the TW series? Sadly, yes. It is.

    Desn't matter how much they patch the game. The wrong path was taken and only a new game from scratch could fix this.

    Still feels soulless and tasteless.
  3. Wolverinemetacr
    Sep 19, 2014
    6
    Graphics are really good always have been. Without fancy graphics this game is really bad. Its an empty shell. How let me tell ya. Hills dont matter they just dont. Do men tire out no. You generals in the new DLC are immortal, take em and charge em in it dont matter. What you build tons of choices now does it matter not really pick something there are no bad choices. Pick the menGraphics are really good always have been. Without fancy graphics this game is really bad. Its an empty shell. How let me tell ya. Hills dont matter they just dont. Do men tire out no. You generals in the new DLC are immortal, take em and charge em in it dont matter. What you build tons of choices now does it matter not really pick something there are no bad choices. Pick the men with higher stats they will win why cause thats what matters.

    Do units still blob yes but not as bad no spacing and mass doesnt matter you can charge men into a line they still dont spread out and fight it looks bad if you care about that. Torching gates yes still there. Siege AI is better just dont kill the guys pushing up siege equipment let em get to your wall first and you will avoid problems.

    Politics there are none. Civil war does it work ?????? Its better than it was kinda. No one still knows how to stop it though lotsa theories on that.

    Is the game playable now yes for most people with lotsa mods. Is it fun? If you like and still play old Total War games I say right now dont waste a nickel on this game. If you dont play Total War anymore but liked previous games you may like it buy it on sale. If your a kid I say go for it pay full price and enjoy the graphics.

    I gave the game a 4 out of 10 on release it is now a 6, 15 plus patches it should be, but fun for a game or 2 but the reality is for Total War games this is not very good.    … Expand
  4. Creardo
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    The game improved and is practically bearable now, many glitches of the release are gone and some good decisions to fix things were made. We have to give it a try.

    But design and concepts are still weak enough to keep at bay any pretensions of the game to deliver us a brand new experience. It´s nothing like that, at all, because the things that made the game annoying theoretically, for    The game improved and is practically bearable now, many glitches of the release are gone and some good decisions to fix things were made. We have to give it a try.

    But design and concepts are still weak enough to keep at bay any pretensions of the game to deliver us a brand new experience. It´s nothing like that, at all, because the things that made the game annoying theoretically, for example the UI and the missing of many old concepts of total war franchise, these misleaded concepts are still in the game (the political mechanics shallowness, the restricted diplomatic options etc).    … Expand
  5. Exfan
    Feb 24, 2015
    5
    It took about 9 months of beta testing by Rome 2 players. Many patches to get game at playable state. If you would forget how long this took and game to be finished i would give 8-9 rating. However least CA did something to already published game. Game is quite bug free atm some little issues with unit pricing that should be corrected by minor patch. DCL packs are mostly decent if youIt took about 9 months of beta testing by Rome 2 players. Many patches to get game at playable state. If you would forget how long this took and game to be finished i would give 8-9 rating. However least CA did something to already published game. Game is quite bug free atm some little issues with unit pricing that should be corrected by minor patch. DCL packs are mostly decent if you forget Wrath of Sparta which is terrible. DCL packs aren't really needed and should be bought on discount sales if yo need those.
    Some forgive failure of Rome 2 when name is changed and buyers of Rome 2 get this freebie i do not.
    At current state not bad game at all.    … Expand
  6. Vorlon66
    Jul 21, 2015
    5
    Caveat Emptor! I gave the initial version of Total War Rome II a resounding 0/10 for being a seriously incomplete and flawed game that should never have been released in the state it was in. The Emperor Edition does finally bring the game up to what it should have been at that initial release - at least from a technical and performance perspective. The initial version was frankly aCaveat Emptor! I gave the initial version of Total War Rome II a resounding 0/10 for being a seriously incomplete and flawed game that should never have been released in the state it was in. The Emperor Edition does finally bring the game up to what it should have been at that initial release - at least from a technical and performance perspective. The initial version was frankly a disgrace - it taught me to never pre-order a game again, not to rely on a franchise "reputation", and to distrust many of the "professional" game reviewers and game review websites.

    At best I would now rate it a 5/10 - it has too many design and aesthetic flaws from the clumsy agent and political faction system to a messy provincial system to some odd choices in functionality (inconsistent use of opening and closing windows - missing information in pop up panels and the Encyclopedia and the lack of proper linking through to game elements between event windows) to the poor choices over unit and building card designs - so while it is a not a "bad" (or appallingly disastrous!) game anymore and can be quite enjoyable it is by no means comparable to Shogun 2, Napoleon, MTW2, the original RTW or even Shogun 1. Even the patched up Total War Empire is IMO actually a better game than this one. Even at the hardest difficulty it is still far too easy at the strategic and tactical level (battles are still far too easy, too short and arcade like and naval battles are still pretty hopeless - you'll end up auto-resolving most of them). If I really want a challenging game with depth and complexity then I still prefer the Europa Barbarorum II conversion/mod of Medieval Total War 2.

    I certainly wouldn't recommend this game + DLC at full price. Most of the DLC is really content that should have been in the base game rather than actual enhancement and expansion (the Blood and Gore DLC being the most egregious example of this) - Creative Assembly/Sega really need to re-examine their DLC programme - compare it to Paradox's approach to EUIV and Crusader Kings II to see how a proper DLC can be handled). Wait until TW Rome II: TEE goes on sale for a significant discount and then consider buying it (first though buy the earlier TW games or even Total War: Atilla).    … Expand
  7. Wulfen
    Nov 26, 2014
    7
    After the Emperor update I really like it now. Sure, it's still not as perfect as Shogun 2. But I strongly recommend everyone who was totally disappointed after release and like the Total War games to give it a second try. Balance, politics, KI - it's all much more worth playing now.
  8. Dezdicho
    Mar 7, 2015
    6
    Rome 2 is almost a good game. Its disappointments are intriguing, almost more so than the things it does right. In each of my three completed playthroughs I saw a glimmer of what the developers intended, a chance to spread my empire throughout the massive ancient world so beautifully rendered in this game. Instead, the player is treated to unfulfilling imperial bloating to reach theRome 2 is almost a good game. Its disappointments are intriguing, almost more so than the things it does right. In each of my three completed playthroughs I saw a glimmer of what the developers intended, a chance to spread my empire throughout the massive ancient world so beautifully rendered in this game. Instead, the player is treated to unfulfilling imperial bloating to reach the arbitrary victory condition, compounded by an AI unable to cope with the complexity of the game’s mechanics.
    Despite all the patches the Emperor Edition provided, Rome 2 suffers foremost from poor pacing. There are a myriad of reasons, most of them concerning the sprawling size of the campaign map and related mechanics to manage it all. I will leave it to others to analyze what went wrong in that respect, and instead will give the underwhelming template each of my games followed to illustrate why all this amounted to a less than great Total War experience.

    The early-game is where I’ve had the most fun with Rome 2. It presents a genuine struggle to survive with limited resources and military capabilities. Each battle determines the fate of your faction as the player attempts to secure the often precarious starting position. Threats emerge from all sides, and only through calculated diplomacy, strategic army placement, and battlefield success will the player emerge stronger. The mid-game that follows is an expansion and consolidation phase. Your faction’s annihilation is no longer in question, with securing borders and establishing alliances becoming your main assignment. Factors like food, politics, happiness, and wealth technically limit your growth, but feel tedious to manage and done almost as an afterthought.

    The mid-game really serves as a stepping stone to the late-game, where once you have secured a strong position, you challenge your largest rivals in a bid to gain land. What should be an exciting climax is instead a dull affair even at hard difficulties, as the steamroll begins. The AI doesn’t seem to form large empires, use agents effectively, or place armies in strategic defensive positions. Auto-Resolve became the norm with few battles needing to actually be played. And it lasts a long time, at least if you play for the victory conditions. The game may be yours with 60 settlements, but you will have another 40 to grind through, while managing a huge empire where the right decision is often obvious and unrewarding. Thinking of pacing overall, the early-game ends rather quickly, going into the consolidating mid-game which builds an excitement to conquer the world. All the preparation of the mid-game takes some time but is done so in anticipation of what surely will be a great clash for ultimate domination. That promise though remains undelivered, as the late-game offers little-to-no climax, instead proffering more consolidation on a grander scale.

    Maybe it was the faction I was playing (Arverni, Octavian, Julia), maybe I should have played Very Hard or Legendary, or maybe I should even just stuck with overhaul mods. But something with Rome 2 just feels incomplete, like CA was almost onto something great but didn’t quite deliver. I have had fun with this game, but would not put it on my list of the greatest Total War games. Ultimately it is more interesting as where a Total War game can go wrong, and I can only hope that CA is paying attention for their next installments    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Ragequit.gr
    Oct 13, 2014
    89
    The technical part remains somewhat problematic, but the rest of the game is of outstanding quality. In terms of grand strategy, it's one of the best games and it can deservedly stand next to its ancestors in the same series. Too bad that, as it seems, the publishers did not give the appropriate time frame to the developers. The potential was there, only more time was needed.
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  2. Softpedia
    Sep 17, 2014
    90
    Emperor Edition really shows how much the title from The Creative Assembly has evolved since it was originally delivered and the way the entire experience has been updated based on the needs of the community and the cool ideas of the development team.
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