Total War: Rome II

I have only one thing to say about this game: caveat emptor! [Oct 2013]

The sporadic moments of greatness, when you’re storming enemy walls or have finally brokered a peace agreement, are swallowed by tedium. With patience, your inner imperialist is satisfied as you skillfully cultivate a sprawling empire. It’s too bad you have to put up with so much to get there.

And here’s the rub: every addition, every sub-system, every mechanic is subservient to War. War is what Total War is really about. Everything else not directly related to conflict comes across as ancillary. Rome II is a game for warmongers, on both the campaign map and, obviously, on the battlefield. When peace is happening, nothing is happening. When war is happening, Rome comes alive.

The faction system is a major disappointment. [Issue#140, p.92]

Rome II is bigger and more than its predecessor on all fronts but more is not always better. While the battles are more cinematically grand than ever, the strategic map is bogged down by more illusion of choice than previously. There is lots of fun to be had here but several annoying design decisions do their best to try and keep me from having it.

There is no doubt: This Total War has its moments where it shines in size, content and strategic power. But in the end you won’t remember all the things it succeeds at, but the plethora of annoying little things, where the Roman conquest falls short.

It’s big and beautiful, but it’s also too swollen, too slow, and too buggy to sustain its lofty ambition.

For all that the game may have promised, it isn't such a big step forward for the series. It's Total War done a bit bigger, a bit better and a bit different. Its borders hold firm.

The silliness of turning history into a tactical land grab is worth mentioning in order to point out that the Total War series, and much more Total War: Rome 2, won't appeal to everyone with its tedium exchange.

At its core, Rome II is not a bad game, but it does feel horribly rushed.

Rome 2 is one of the biggest strategy games ever made, but right now it’s not worth your money or time. Software bugs, the worst AI in the Total War series, dubious game design elements, crippled multiplayer… The inevitable string of updates will fix some of these problems, and there will be user mods to take care of the rest. Unfortunately, all of this will take months, so, if you are not in a hurry, wait until at least next spring.

A bloated, unwieldy mess. A game whose lofty ambitions are only matched by the gravity of its failures. Well, at least it is pretty. [Nov 2013, p.64]

Rome II is somewhat of a disappointment. The great battles the series is known for are still here, but they are far too easy to master. The series AI has always been a problem and that still remains. Instead it’s the game outside of the battles that draws you in with the politics and diplomacy of the Roman empire.