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. LD9000
    Nov 10, 2014
    10
    AAA epicness all around.
    I loved the original Rome and played it a few times over, yet even on the hardest difficulty it was too easy - flaming arrows, pin enemy from front, hit in the back, rinse repeat and you can route even the largest army. I'm really liking the improved combat system, first of all, the operation above while still works, takes a lot more time I've seen ordinary units    AAA epicness all around.
    I loved the original Rome and played it a few times over, yet even on the hardest difficulty it was too easy - flaming arrows, pin enemy from front, hit in the back, rinse repeat and you can route even the largest army. I'm really liking the improved combat system, first of all, the operation above while still works, takes a lot more time I've seen ordinary units stay in battle for 2 minutes while surrounded.

    Additional game mechanics, such as restrictions on the number of armies, agents and fleets are awesome - it focuses on quality rather than quantity.

    Character advancement mechanics are superb - generals, spies and even entire legions get experience and useful traits.

    Simplified province and army management screen, which I originally saw in Shogun2 (and did not like) really works well here. An entire province shares it's recruitment, culture and food buildings.

    Performance wise, I have not had a single hiccup or crash, and even in a gate battle involving 5k units at the gate, I'm still getting 15FPS on "ultra" quality using 3 year old computer (i3 with GTX450).

    Overall, one of the best games I've ever played, cant stop playing it :)    … Expand
  2. Cioby
    Nov 28, 2014
    10
    Rome II was a game I wanted to buy from way before it got released. Even with the small bugs it had at the start, for me it was the best game of the series.
    If we're to compare, Rome 1 still has a **** of bugs and more annoying mechanics/gameplay than Rome 2 had at it's launch time.
    With the Emperor edition, most bugs are now gone, I haven't had a crash in months and I play while    Rome II was a game I wanted to buy from way before it got released. Even with the small bugs it had at the start, for me it was the best game of the series.
    If we're to compare, Rome 1 still has a **** of bugs and more annoying mechanics/gameplay than Rome 2 had at it's launch time.

    With the Emperor edition, most bugs are now gone, I haven't had a crash in months and I play while watching movies or while having other games on the background. For most people that desire something different, there are tons of mods out there that can change everything, the fact that you're too stupid to find them or make your own just proves how your poor opinion of the game shouldn't be taken into consideration. Yet I still prefer the vanilla version with only a few enhancements on visuals or extra troops mods.

    The fact that the game doesn't work on your configuration is not their fault but your manufacturer's. And the system requirements are not as awful as most will have you believe. The biggest plus to the original version is the fact that they fixed the multiplayer (a long time ago), with all the free content or reduced prices on DLCs, this game is much better than those that ask for 20-50$ for extra content.    … Expand
  3. jasper6333
    Sep 22, 2014
    10
    at launch total war rom 2 was a mess. a lot of bugs, ugly textures and a lot of features were missing. but between launch and emperor edition a lot of things have changed. they listened to the community and patched the ain game and now it is playable and a lot of fun.

    Rome 2 emperor edition is a really fun and enjoyable campaign with new factions to play, new units and new buildings.    at launch total war rom 2 was a mess. a lot of bugs, ugly textures and a lot of features were missing. but between launch and emperor edition a lot of things have changed. they listened to the community and patched the ain game and now it is playable and a lot of fun.

    Rome 2 emperor edition is a really fun and enjoyable campaign with new factions to play, new units and new buildings.

    there is one thing to say!

    everyone has to check this out old and new players! you won't rregret it!    … Expand
  4. hub
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Game is mostly fixed and is enjoyable. This is how it should have been at release 1 year ago.

    The official forums are very active, developers regularly post and listen to feedback and make community requested changes every patch which is a rare sight these days from game developers.
  5. crazychameleon
    Sep 17, 2014
    10
    When rome ii was first released it was frankly terrible sadly. Now the game has totally cxhanged; seige AI is fixed, politics has been made useful and realistic and the unit balances are now quite good and realistic. It is now my favourite total war game and in my top 3 games ever after starting as one of the most dissapointing games. CA have just been fantastic. They could have easilyWhen rome ii was first released it was frankly terrible sadly. Now the game has totally cxhanged; seige AI is fixed, politics has been made useful and realistic and the unit balances are now quite good and realistic. It is now my favourite total war game and in my top 3 games ever after starting as one of the most dissapointing games. CA have just been fantastic. They could have easily stopped working on it after making a lot of money after release. However they have persevered and have transformed the game into one of the best strategy games out there.… Expand
  6. macaronero
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Good to see CA didn't abandon their fans. An all-around solid game, although still falling short of the best entries in the series. This version of the game is what should have been released a year ago.
  7. Sajuuk
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Let me start off by mentioning that I'm a 'veteran' to the Total War series, having played everything from Rome I (which is one of my favorites, along with Medieval II), up to the very controversial Rome II.

    At launch, this game was bug-ridden and it didn't look great. Many missing features and even more broken. But from crashes and de-syncs to 'working as intended', the developers have    Let me start off by mentioning that I'm a 'veteran' to the Total War series, having played everything from Rome I (which is one of my favorites, along with Medieval II), up to the very controversial Rome II.

    At launch, this game was bug-ridden and it didn't look great. Many missing features and even more broken. But from crashes and de-syncs to 'working as intended', the developers have come a LONG way.

    Whoever wrote or gave a negative review to Emperor Edition clearly didn't follow the forums or didn't play the game in its current state. The developers really listened to all the feedback on the forums and otherwise, kept communicating with the community, and did their best to fix this game.

    In its current state, this game features almost double the factions it had at launch, more units, three new Campaigns (which are really nice), tons of bug fixes, features and improvements, split between free and paid content.

    If anything, Emperor Edition (along with the Imperator Augustus) is Creative Assembly's attempt to make amends with the community and start anew. For that, I give them my best regards and this rating (a solid 10).

    This is definitely my favorite Total War game so far and it's worth checking out, returning players and new.    … Expand
  8. bol1414
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    This game has come a very long way since it's release. The amount of work CA has put into improving this game is unbelievable and the EE is a result of their hard work. I've never had so much fun playing a game as i've had with rome 2 and the EE really made great strides in gameplay. Definitely worth your time if you're considering picking up this game
  9. Valmont
    Sep 19, 2014
    10
    Rome II - Emperor Edition is basically the culprit of a year of hard work from CA and a year of beta testing by the community but it was totally worth the wait if you ask me.
    Basically Emperor Edition incorporates EVERY single MAYOR request from the community since Rome 2's lackluster launch last year.
    Here are some of the biggest changes: - Much much MUUUUCH better Siege Ai and Siege    Rome II - Emperor Edition is basically the culprit of a year of hard work from CA and a year of beta testing by the community but it was totally worth the wait if you ask me.
    Basically Emperor Edition incorporates EVERY single MAYOR request from the community since Rome 2's lackluster launch last year.
    Here are some of the biggest changes:
    - Much much MUUUUCH better Siege Ai and Siege Battles that became the most fun part of the game after being the worst part of the game last year.
    - Revamped and meaningful Politics mechanics that spices up not only late game but early and mid game too! Now if you don't take care of your politics you will have to pay the price in blood with perhaps several civil wars!
    - Numerous and Balanced Factions with varied units and distinctive enough gameplay that makes you want to try every faction.
    - New building chains that make natural resources very very valuable to the player and therefore conquering territories that contain them (Like iron for better armor and weapons).
    - Greatly improved Traits and Talents for Generals making them less generic and more interesting.
    - Highly optimized engine performance nearly doubling my FPS and reducing my loading times in half both in battles and on the campaign map.
    And of course LOTs of balancing and fine tuning here and there.
    The Emperor Edition is simply, a different beast! I encourage both, new players to buy the game and old players to fire up the game again... you've been missing the best parts of it and now it is the time to collect your money's worth in fun!    … Expand
  10. Lepidvs
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Looking at Rome 2: EE compared to Rome 2 on release will guarantee a 10. It has come a long way, and many things have been improved. CA has worked hard to solve many of the common complaints (fire at will, the ai in general, civil war/politics, too many special abilities, battlefield lighting, etc.) CA decided to fix Rome 2 as much as they could, unlike Empire, whose patching fizzled out.Looking at Rome 2: EE compared to Rome 2 on release will guarantee a 10. It has come a long way, and many things have been improved. CA has worked hard to solve many of the common complaints (fire at will, the ai in general, civil war/politics, too many special abilities, battlefield lighting, etc.) CA decided to fix Rome 2 as much as they could, unlike Empire, whose patching fizzled out. As a stand-alone game, EE would get an 8-9 from me, due to some current problems that may be eventually sorted out. I give it a 10 to balance out the random biased reviewers who make it their life's goal to insult Rome 2/CA.

    However, all these comparisons to the old games annoy me because Rome 1 and Medieval 2 had their fair share of problems: the world's greatest superpower from Roman to Medieval times were Rebels, who own half the known world (talk about immersion loss); the abysmal diplomatic ai (offers 5000 gold for peace with France, who has only one town left...Response: NO!!!); Medieval 2's horribly bugged two-handers and the clunky infantry/cavalry charges); Rome 1's innately arcade nature (neon colors, sprinting infantry, OP cavalry, etc.) There are many more, but they wouldn't be relevant to my review.    … Expand
  11. MK32
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Ignore the trolls, most of the negative reviews are reviews on the first few months after lunch of the original version. Right now, its an amazing game. Definitely worth my 60$
  12. venombgr
    Sep 19, 2014
    10
    Year later 15 patches and the Emperor edition made the game great, only the late roman empire expansion to be released and this will be the best total war.
  13. RepublicanMe
    Sep 19, 2014
    10
    Game went from being the worst in the series to being the best in the same year. By far, the best game that carries the name "Total War." Everything is fixed, and the game is very enjoyable to play.
  14. reginald
    Sep 20, 2014
    10
    The game in the current state is amazing. Best total war game out there. Great graphics, but you need a good computer, great gameplay and balance too. CA have worked tremendously hard to fix the game and if you're looking for a good historical strategy game, this is the one for you. Don't pay attention to trolls.
  15. Mrlori95
    Sep 25, 2014
    10
    It is a new game compared with the base edition released last year, great job! The campaign is extremely fun and after everything has been patched/fixed, the Campaign is the funnest of all total wars. Multiplayer is very fun and very much alive. There's basically evryhting You would want from a total war. 28 Factions, 4 campaign packs, a huge diverse roster for all factions, historical battles.
  16. marmil86
    Oct 5, 2014
    10
    It is great game, improving vastly from its release in all aspects. Developers listened to the fan base and made top total war game ever. I m especially satisfied with the AI, which proves to be a new generation challenging. Great job!
  17. rondg95
    Oct 18, 2014
    10
    I bought TW Rome II in May '14 and had been following up the development of the game by CA since it's release in June '13. CA have ceaselessly worked to improve the game and have delivered a masterpiece with the release of the Emperor Edition. With almost all issues fixed and all major changes requested by the community effected, TW Rome II becomes the true successor of the classic game TWI bought TW Rome II in May '14 and had been following up the development of the game by CA since it's release in June '13. CA have ceaselessly worked to improve the game and have delivered a masterpiece with the release of the Emperor Edition. With almost all issues fixed and all major changes requested by the community effected, TW Rome II becomes the true successor of the classic game TW Rome was.… Expand
  18. RoyCohn
    Feb 12, 2015
    10
    Great game - played most of the other Total War games and I have to say: this one has the most potential. Modding makes a huge difference and the fact that they took the time to fix bugs in the Emperor Edition is also great. It's a challenging game that will keep you hooked for months to come. I'm still trying to figure stuff out, play around with all the mechanics, and I've been playingGreat game - played most of the other Total War games and I have to say: this one has the most potential. Modding makes a huge difference and the fact that they took the time to fix bugs in the Emperor Edition is also great. It's a challenging game that will keep you hooked for months to come. I'm still trying to figure stuff out, play around with all the mechanics, and I've been playing it for almost a month now.… Expand
  19. Surg3on
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    Much improved from the original. Graphics are best in series if you have the PC to run them. AI is best in series (note I didn't say it was perfect). Variety is best in series (so many different factions with vastly different unit rosters). Campaign map is best in series. If you get this game on special there is nothing to complain about anymore.

    Negatives:Family Tree still missing and    Much improved from the original. Graphics are best in series if you have the PC to run them. AI is best in series (note I didn't say it was perfect). Variety is best in series (so many different factions with vastly different unit rosters). Campaign map is best in series. If you get this game on special there is nothing to complain about anymore.

    Negatives:Family Tree still missing and with bribes the player can end up with a stupid number of agents. As with every TW ever the AI can glitch out every now and then (especially sieges).

    Other:PC requirements are high but that is life as a PC gamer.    … Expand
  20. sloakz
    Sep 21, 2014
    9
    A great game now, A much better game than one year ago. The new included Imperator campaign is fantastic. Lots of patches later and minus the family tree its the Rome game i was after.
  21. Axlyss
    Dec 30, 2014
    9
    The game is fixed enough at this time to actually play and yes have fun.
    Campaigns are awesome including the new Augustus campaign (its new to me).
    The A.I still holds it back and so do the battlefield maps which still seem to be randomly generated..
    Other than that its Rome 2 WITHOUT the A.I that bunch up into balls. Rome2 A.I clump still not as bad as rome 1..
  22. Axeface
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    Hundreds or even thousands of hours of grand strategy gameplay. Emperor Edition is one of the best Total War games to date. Yes it had a rocky first year, but it's time to forget the past and move on. 15 patches later and there is still more content on the way - don't miss out.
  23. Z0dd
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    For me its the best TW Title now!

    At release it really had it's issues and bugs, the AI also wasn't what the developers had announced in the preview videos. But CA worked really hard to fix that game and to fit it to the expectations of the community. They fixed all the performance issues, the bugs and a lot of game play mechanics. The actions of the AI now are a lot smarter, on the    For me its the best TW Title now!

    At release it really had it's issues and bugs, the AI also wasn't what the developers had announced in the preview videos. But CA worked really hard to fix that game and to fit it to the expectations of the community.
    They fixed all the performance issues, the bugs and a lot of game play mechanics. The actions of the AI now are a lot smarter, on the Campaign-map and in the Heat of the Battle. With the new politic system, you can avoid civil wars or if you mismanage your politics, have a lot of them.

    With the Emperor Edition I finally got the game I wanted for release, better late then never I have to say.
    I have played that franchise for 13 years now, I started with the release of Medieval 1 and ended with Shogun 2 as my former favorite.

    But now I got my new number 1 , because of his huge Grand Campaign, the big unit roster and many factions, the smarter AI then in previous titles, and the brilliant graphics.    … Expand
  24. akkf32
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    First off, its a great game. The campaign is extremely fun and after everything has been patched/fixed, the Campaign is the funnest of all total wars. Multiplayer is very fun and very much alive. There's basically evryhting You would want from a total war. 28 Factions, 4 campaign packs, a huge diverse roster for all factions, historical battles.
    No more BUGS. Yes, no more of them. Amazing    First off, its a great game. The campaign is extremely fun and after everything has been patched/fixed, the Campaign is the funnest of all total wars. Multiplayer is very fun and very much alive. There's basically evryhting You would want from a total war. 28 Factions, 4 campaign packs, a huge diverse roster for all factions, historical battles.
    No more BUGS. Yes, no more of them. Amazing graphics, No lag whatsoever, much smarter AI than that of ROME 2 (first version). If you liked the original Rome Total War, you will love this one. Definitely wothy of a rome 1 sequel.    … Expand
  25. Hildor
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    Rome 2 is not the game it was. When it was released in September, it was rightly hammered with a metacritic score that made devs across the world wince. With the worst AI in the series, minute long battles and optimization that would make a grown man weep, it came as a crushing betrayal for those who preordered en mass.

    But, as I said, this is a different game. After 15 patches CA have    Rome 2 is not the game it was. When it was released in September, it was rightly hammered with a metacritic score that made devs across the world wince. With the worst AI in the series, minute long battles and optimization that would make a grown man weep, it came as a crushing betrayal for those who preordered en mass.

    But, as I said, this is a different game. After 15 patches CA have delivered the sequel that R1 deserved ;

    -SAI and CAI are the best that TW has ever seen - and I defy anyone who would disagree with that.
    -Battles are lengthy and satisfying in a way that R2's release could never deliver
    -Units hold formation, and can fire at will :D
    -Politics is worthwhile, with a punishing, but avoidable civil war mechanic
    -The RAI does a pretty decent job of staying alive these days
    -Optimization is much improved - obviously this changes on the machine, but I've gained about 15 fps in the benchmarks since release
    -Combined battles are awesome. No two ways about it
    -Transport fleets are made out of paper mache. 10/10 CA
    -The score is thematic and suitably epic - of course, if you don't like it (which brings me onto my next point), there are

    MODS! CA have been excellent with their support for the modding community, releasing the assembly kit which has allowed for complete overhauls of the game. Chances are, if there's an element of R2 you dislike, there's a mod for that. Want to play 4tpy? Get the mod. Want to listen to the R1 soundtrack while hacking your way through Europe? There's a mod for that to. Feel the need to crush the Romans as the great Pyrrhus? You get the idea. With startpos and music tools, workshop support and CA's mod awards, they really have ensured that the community can make it's contribution. Of course, campaign tools would be nice :)

    And not to mention you get a great new campaign, for free :) If you haven't got the game, don't be put off by the release reviews - it's really a world away from then. If you abandoned it in disgust on Sep 5th, it more than merits another try by now. And if you feel you could do aspects of R2 better, download the AK and PFM and join the modding community, or simply look to see if others have had the same idea. Chances are they have

    I've played the game for 500+ hours since release, but I suspect my fun with Total War, Rome 2, has only really just begun. This is just the end of the beginning

    Hildor , creator of several mods you probably haven't heard of, prolific forum-poster and lifelong believer in CA's ability to turn "turds" into gems    … Expand
  26. Svenskaormen
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    Emperor Edition gives you a new experience if you haven't played Rome in a while.
    TW:R2 had a really bad release but don't let that ruin it, its definitely one of the top 3 of CA total war games to date.
    The game still lacks some depth but its not a huge game breaker its still enjoyable and offers a good variation of factions, units and cultures. I see people saying its the worst    Emperor Edition gives you a new experience if you haven't played Rome in a while.
    TW:R2 had a really bad release but don't let that ruin it, its definitely one of the top 3 of CA total war games to date.

    The game still lacks some depth but its not a huge game breaker its still enjoyable and offers a good variation of factions, units and cultures.

    I see people saying its the worst game of the TW series and that is something I cant understand. Empire had more bugs then Rome II had on its release and it still got some of them since CA didn't fix them.

    Anyway from a 6/10 I now rate this game 8.8/10    … Expand
  27. Tomice
    Sep 19, 2014
    9
    I'm very torn while writing this review.

    On one hand, this game has gotten extremely good with patch 15 (the Emperor Edition). It is stable & practically bug-free on my rig (Dell 7720 notebook) and a whole lot of fun. The dev's have listened to fan feedback intensively, optimized balance and gameplay and added a lot of free content. The AI, usually the weakest point in any strategy    I'm very torn while writing this review.

    On one hand, this game has gotten extremely good with patch 15 (the Emperor Edition). It is stable & practically bug-free on my rig (Dell 7720 notebook) and a whole lot of fun. The dev's have listened to fan feedback intensively, optimized balance and gameplay and added a lot of free content. The AI, usually the weakest point in any strategy game, is pretty decent and offers a challenge even late into the game. All together, it has become the game a realistic mind could have hoped for at release.

    Then again, it still isn't perfect. While quite a few issues are minor and hard to correct without changing fundamental gameplay principles, there still remain a few really annoying things. As example, the autocalc feature, used to prevent you from having to fight battles you would win in any case, is still relatively broken. You might win losing only 5 of the 2000 "men" you bring, but those 5 may happen to be half of your your super-elite armored elephants.

    Nevertheless, the game now rightfully deserves AAA status and will get 9/10 from me. The amount of patching and support the game has gotten since release lets me hope that the last remaining problems will be sorted out soon.

    What has to be mentioned, though, is that the game was released in a state that was an insult to any paying customer. The AI was so incompetent, it often just passed out completely and didn't know what to do, its army standing in front of your walled city like petrified. You won by watching the timer run out! On a larger scale it failed as well. Instead of fighting famous empires of antiquity, you watched how Rome or Carthage were wiped out by the next best random tribe. Just to watch how that tribe was beaten by some other and so on. After a few turns, you had the only empire worth speaking of, while the rest of map was in chaos and offered no resistance to your invasions at all. Provinces were without life or character, you could make Arabia your grain basket without problem. CIties like Rome were nothing special, any random small town could be just as important.

    Those and many other problems have all been sorted out, but I payed full preorder price a year ago for a game that wasn't fun until now, and which I barely touched in the meantime.

    I didn't let this influence my score, mostly because so many others have rated this game lower than it deserves in its current state. But I have hopefully learned my lesson and can't see myself preordering games anytime soon.    … Expand
  28. puddingkip
    Sep 19, 2014
    9
    Unlike many others I enjoyed Rome 2 at release, but I was a bit disappointed as I had expected more. But now after a year of patching Rome 2 had everything I originally wanted, and more I have come to love whilst playing Rome 2.

    I rate this game 9/10 because it is the best strategy game I ever played. It isn't 10/10 due to the fact that this edition should have been the original Rome 2
  29. DukeMcFishy
    Sep 20, 2014
    9
    After a horrible launch of the game it has matured like a fine wine.
    Most bugs and optimization problems have been ironed out, the new campaign is much more interesting and overall it is now an enjoyable experience.
    The devs could have taken the loss and moved on and let us the consumer out to dry, but they didn't. They spend a lot of resources on fixing the game and addressing some of    After a horrible launch of the game it has matured like a fine wine.
    Most bugs and optimization problems have been ironed out, the new campaign is much more interesting and overall it is now an enjoyable experience.

    The devs could have taken the loss and moved on and let us the consumer out to dry, but they didn't. They spend a lot of resources on fixing the game and addressing some of the complaints and given us a free new campaign. This are signs of a developer that truly cares about their product and their customers. Well done CA. I have a lot of respect for that.

    Total War Rome 2. It began as a horror, but ended up in a love story.    … Expand
  30. MaximusHirstius
    Oct 5, 2014
    9
    When the game was first released I was horrified at the condition it was in. I remember when it was so glitchy that I couldn't even land my troops on the beach. However, after just over a year I can finally say I would recommend this game to anyone. I feel that the AI has considerably improved including the siege AI which was a big pain, no more bugs, the game is beautiful, politics systemWhen the game was first released I was horrified at the condition it was in. I remember when it was so glitchy that I couldn't even land my troops on the beach. However, after just over a year I can finally say I would recommend this game to anyone. I feel that the AI has considerably improved including the siege AI which was a big pain, no more bugs, the game is beautiful, politics system has improved and actually feels more important now, game difficulty at Legendary is now a good challenge and CA have been brilliant since the beginning to improve the game the best they could. Although its not the most perfect game in the series, its certainly up there. 9/10… Expand
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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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