Total War: Rome II

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Sep 2, 2013
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 3974 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,184 out of 3974
  2. Mixed: 613 out of 3974
  3. Negative: 2,177 out of 3974
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  1. ExTotalWarFan
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This is what happens when you decide to forsake your fanbase for the console kids. Rome 2 isn't a worthy successor to Rome 1 by any stretch of the imagination. Creative Assembly deserves to be shamed and Sega deserves to lose profit for releasing a casualized, unfinished game.
  2. MDLion
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    we all know the issue by now. the game is a stripped down console version and total war is dead. the critic reviews are total garbage and flat out lies.

    how can you mark a game so highly when its literally a broken game that's unfinished as well as missing all of the series features.

    shame on you all for that. shame on you.
  3. nihonsean
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This game is a complete disappointment. You can try to ignore the fact that the game has several serious technical issues (no crossfire/SLI support, occasionally crashes, extremely long load times). You cannot however ignore the fact that the game play is completely lacking: extremely dumb AI, no sieges (cities can simply be assaulted and taken instantly), 500 units that are mostly copiesThis game is a complete disappointment. You can try to ignore the fact that the game has several serious technical issues (no crossfire/SLI support, occasionally crashes, extremely long load times). You cannot however ignore the fact that the game play is completely lacking: extremely dumb AI, no sieges (cities can simply be assaulted and taken instantly), 500 units that are mostly copies of each other, bad music, and a horrible UI.

    It is pretty. But pretty will only get you so far.

    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME UNTIL THEY FIX IT. This is a beta release for money. Don't let them fool you, and don't buy what they professional critics are saying. No idea what game these guy played, but it wasn't this one.    … Expand
  4. Sheridan
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Having been a dedicated fan of the Total War series since 2006, starting off with the original Rome, this is likely to be where I leave the series that I used to love more than any other game. Up to Napoleon, every game felt like an improved experience.
    Every title was unique, and enjoyable at the very least. Shogun 2 became my first disappointment, the battle pace did not feel    Having been a dedicated fan of the Total War series since 2006, starting off with the original Rome, this is likely to be where I leave the series that I used to love more than any other game. Up to Napoleon, every game felt like an improved experience.
    Every title was unique, and enjoyable at the very least. Shogun 2 became my first disappointment, the battle pace did not feel comfortable (after 1000+ hours of multiplayer), although they did nail many other nice features in the game.

    I can hardly see how some other players have given such a positive feedback on the game that was meant to be the sequel to the original Rome let alone how 'professional' reviewers could choose to ignore to mention so many flaws to the customers. Rome 2 has one of the best campaigns in the game although many features are dumbed down far too much. When it comes to the core of the series that is the battles, the story is very different.
    Going from the disappointing battles to Shogun 2 to this was shocking the average battle lasts 3, sometimes 4 minutes. Battles with 5000 men on each side are over within 5. The tactical depth is no longer present, and the battles feel more pointless than ever before. They are nothing worth to play.    … Expand
  5. Mike_Mac
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Please, please DO NOT buy this game if you are a TW fan! As a TW fan from the beginning Rome 2 has come as a complete disappointment to me (and a waste of £30 that I could have made much better use of). Setting aside the release bugs the game's real problems rest deeper within the battle and campaign AI. CA for some reason have decided to remove nearly all of the tactics, management andPlease, please DO NOT buy this game if you are a TW fan! As a TW fan from the beginning Rome 2 has come as a complete disappointment to me (and a waste of £30 that I could have made much better use of). Setting aside the release bugs the game's real problems rest deeper within the battle and campaign AI. CA for some reason have decided to remove nearly all of the tactics, management and strategy aspects that gave depth and a long-term challenge to older TW games.

    Battles:
    Battles have degenerated into an arcade-like tic-tac-toe competition with no apparent impact from terrain or tactical positioning. They nearly always degenerate into a mass melee around the newly added 'capture points' in themselves one of the daftest inclusions to a strategy game, as they are placed completely without consideration to the terrain. The AI is woeful and the biggest attraction of the TW series its battles and your ability to snatch victory from defeat by intelligent generalship has now become its biggest downfall, as you watch yet another mass brawl erupt in the middle of the battle-field, where your input has little to no effect on the outcome.

    Campaign:
    Although some of the new features of Rome 2 are welcome agents are now much more interesting and some of the city management is a lot more streamlined the overall campaign is now both massively over-simplified. Many of the ability to manage the details of your cities are now gone and city management has been so pared down that you just don't feel engaged with what is going on, or able to act decisively to effect a change when a problem arises. The AI opponents are largely passive and are ridiculously easy to defeat (even on the most difficult setting). At the same time the multitude of minor factions mean that you wait for ages at the end of each turn for the computer to process their actions (I resorted to reading a book while waiting).

    In sum I cannot believe the same company that gave us the first Medieval and Rome Total Wars can in all good conscience release this game. After around 4 hours of play I realised that it wasn't getting any better, gave up and returned to Medieval 2. I doubt that I will play Rome 2 again, as there is only so much the independent modding scene can do to improve it (you can't polish a turd!!). In all honesty I therefore cannot give Rome 2 a score of more than 1/10. There are some good points nestled in there among the bad, but the game as a whole is a massive step backwards and represents a missed opportunity for CA.    … Expand
  6. themrchook
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Very poor optimisation, AI is poor and siege AI is just non-functioning with issues like enemy units just standing there or even more bizarrely wandering off in random directions until they just run into archer fire and die, simplified mechanics and game functionality when compared to Total War: Rome (seems to be the trend, would have like to have seen it broken for this game) but thisVery poor optimisation, AI is poor and siege AI is just non-functioning with issues like enemy units just standing there or even more bizarrely wandering off in random directions until they just run into archer fire and die, simplified mechanics and game functionality when compared to Total War: Rome (seems to be the trend, would have like to have seen it broken for this game) but this does not make the game more fun, punchy or exciting. Slightly updated graphics but nowhere near what I expected. I can forgive releasing with a few bugs and issues as this is normal but there are just such a large amount of them. This is why people pirate games, you don't deserve my money for this and you won't be getting it ever again.… Expand
  7. Radox0
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    I've enjoyed the Total War series immensely through the years: I even enjoyed Empire at release as I didn't really encounter any of the crashes others did, and the bugs that were there were play through-able Rome 2 on the other hand, is a half finished game; I hope they realise their mistakes and patch it relentlessly to get it up to scratch as I want this game to be a success but rightI've enjoyed the Total War series immensely through the years: I even enjoyed Empire at release as I didn't really encounter any of the crashes others did, and the bugs that were there were play through-able Rome 2 on the other hand, is a half finished game; I hope they realise their mistakes and patch it relentlessly to get it up to scratch as I want this game to be a success but right now, as it is, it's not even deserving of a 5/10 average score… Expand
  8. nguyenhoainam
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    When I first played Shogun: Total War, I thought "Damn! How is this game possible?" Shogun was well ahead of its time in terms of ideas, scale, quality... every aspects! It was just GREAT!!! So great you just cant believe it...

    I became a fan, played every games in the series... I think Rome is truly the pinnacle of them! Cant remember how much time I spent in that game, but I'm sure it    When I first played Shogun: Total War, I thought "Damn! How is this game possible?" Shogun was well ahead of its time in terms of ideas, scale, quality... every aspects! It was just GREAT!!! So great you just cant believe it...

    I became a fan, played every games in the series... I think Rome is truly the pinnacle of them! Cant remember how much time I spent in that game, but I'm sure it was plenty...

    Then came Medieval II, which I thought was great too. I just wasnt captivated by that era as much as by Rome's.

    Napoleon disappointed me, but I still believe that CA will come back with another masterpiece to revive the franchise!

    When they released Shogun II, I thought to myself Well, back to Japan is not half bad, though I would appreciate a new place to wage war though"

    And now, Rome II... Ok, I loved the first game and that era, just improve the graphics, the gameplay and I will spend countless time again in this game.

    But what have they done???

    - AI sucks
    - Graphics bugs
    - Gameplay lacks depth and options
    - Music and sounds is many steps backward
    - Multiplayer gone to (I play Steam version and let me remind you that Steam is argue-ably the best multiplay-experience provider out there, but it still sucks big time!)

    To sum it up, let me quote a comment some guy here said "CA put crap in a box and we spent 60$ for it"

    THAT'S HOW THEY TREATED US, LOYAL FANS OF THE FRANCHISE!

    **** YOU CA!!!    … Expand
  9. poerk55
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    I honestly can't find one thing that Rome 2 does better than Shogun 2. What the hell happened?

    I was so looking forward to a new total war game set in this era, but as it is this game is just entirely unsatisfying and broken in so many ways.
  10. Vastator
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    I can tolerate problems such pathetic AI on sieges, worst UI of the series, fast and arcadish battles, "WTF" diplomacy, because these things can (hopefully in several months) be modded or patched.

    But what i can't tolerate are the lies of the devs and the false advertisement made before the game release: they advertised the game to be optimized and playable on every PC, and they    I can tolerate problems such pathetic AI on sieges, worst UI of the series, fast and arcadish battles, "WTF" diplomacy, because these things can (hopefully in several months) be modded or patched.

    But what i can't tolerate are the lies of the devs and the false advertisement made before the game release: they advertised the game to be optimized and playable on every PC, and they declared those very low requirements: complete lie!! You can't play such a huge game on a single core or on a weak dual core (i have though a way stronger PC), there are many people that have been fooled of that, go and see on the support forums! They are seeking help because the game (CPU intensive) run on 10 FPS! They can't be helped with that hw, they have been fooled by the minimum reqs.

    They showed totally different "alpha footage" than actually is on the game (go and see the old carthage walkthrough and compare with the actual one, it's depressing!). And what about day one DLC? They said that they were making them because the core game was finished and there was time to make them!! WTF, "finished"????

    Let's not talk about the performance: no matter what settings i choose, when the melee start the game becomem unplayable due to lag and low FPS (and i can play B3, C3 and Shogun 2 on high/ultra). Turns take 3 minutes to finish, and the campaign map lags as hell.

    CA was my favorite game company. With this score i feel like killing my father. But my father has raped me with Rome II :(

    I'm so sad, so sad about the current state of the game that you can't imagine. I followed its development from the July 2012 with very high hopes. Now all is lost.

    Why this?? WHY!!??    … Expand
  11. SlickNick
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    The game as it stands is unplayable for the following reasons:
    1. UI
    2. UI
    3. UI
    4. UI
    5. UI
    6. Camera
    7. AI
    8. Lag

    Back to europa barbarium. Sigh.
  12. Ayreos
    Sep 8, 2013
    1
    Total War: Rome II does one thing right. It allows you to see which professional reviewers don't play the games they review for any significant amount of time or deliberately lie about their experiences playing them. This game is a hastily thrown together beta, and at least one year of full development away from being playable. The other comments cover the issues in exhaustive detail.Total War: Rome II does one thing right. It allows you to see which professional reviewers don't play the games they review for any significant amount of time or deliberately lie about their experiences playing them. This game is a hastily thrown together beta, and at least one year of full development away from being playable. The other comments cover the issues in exhaustive detail. Thank god i got to try it before purchasing. For anyone who did purchase it, i recommend asking a refund whenever applicable. Even though Steam policy doesn't support refunds, many European countries legally require a refund option regardless of agreements. For now, it's back to playing the first Rome: TW, with mods of course.… Expand
  13. jesterx7769
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    The new studio has ruined this game.

    -Graphics: I have a newly updated gfx card and good system that I can run every other game on highest settings like Grid 2, however in Rome 2 I get 20fps, seriously? This may be worth it if the gfx were good but the textures and gfx are horrible. Each unit is unique which isn't worth the sacrifice. The world map is also horrible I have no idea why it    The new studio has ruined this game.

    -Graphics: I have a newly updated gfx card and good system that I can run every other game on highest settings like Grid 2, however in Rome 2 I get 20fps, seriously? This may be worth it if the gfx were good but the textures and gfx are horrible. Each unit is unique which isn't worth the sacrifice. The world map is also horrible I have no idea why it looks so bad compared to games like Crusader Kings 2 or EU4.

    -The voicing and character models is bad

    -AI and such is the same as always, so is gameplay.

    Sadly it is just the graphical performance that makes this game completely unplayable. Another new studio has ruined a good franchise they are just using the name to get sales    … Expand
  14. psychoravin
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I wanted to like it but in this state I cant. I cant beiieve the differnce in scores of the pro reviewers and the fans such broad spread you know something is up when all the pro reviewers think so much of a game. wonder how much they got paid on prop up one of those streamlined games as such. I had two crashes and I've never had crash problems before with any game. I actually after aI wanted to like it but in this state I cant. I cant beiieve the differnce in scores of the pro reviewers and the fans such broad spread you know something is up when all the pro reviewers think so much of a game. wonder how much they got paid on prop up one of those streamlined games as such. I had two crashes and I've never had crash problems before with any game. I actually after a short session wanted to play something else like The Sims 3 how terrible. I even thought of playing the origional RTW but remembered how bad the ai was in that one and all the rest up to Shogun 2. I'd play Shogun 2 but I don't like asian games that much, but I do like challenge so I'd play SPARTAN or SACRIFICE. This one didn't make my interested list though I wanted it to so bad. Needs lots of work.… Expand
  15. naox
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    rome total war 2 is like windows vista. It needs patching (and promises will be made) but mostly people will have much lower expectations when next game in series will be released.
  16. jesperkjensen
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    I really looked forwards to the release of the Rome 2 Total War game which promised a great experience, new features and a challenging game. However, what I discovered was instead a really unstable game that crashes several times, a stupid AI, many bugs like ships going through land or the AI simply standing around, soldiers that can't leave their boats, land invasions that cannot be madeI really looked forwards to the release of the Rome 2 Total War game which promised a great experience, new features and a challenging game. However, what I discovered was instead a really unstable game that crashes several times, a stupid AI, many bugs like ships going through land or the AI simply standing around, soldiers that can't leave their boats, land invasions that cannot be made because a ship is blocking their port (WTF?), etc. etc. etc.. To me it seems that all their promises with this game were not held, and for this a think a bad review is in place.… Expand
  17. Romanium54
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    Developers need to remember that gameplay is the most important thing in a game. The graphics are only cool if they improve an already fun game. They don't make a game fun by themselves. No one will care about the graphics if they are too bored to ever star the game. Get it?
  18. DuskRaider
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    If you are expecting this to be like the previous CA games MTW2 or even RTW1, then do not purchase this game as it is totally different using none of the great features that were used in these games.
    The number of factions they have is good, but that's about it for me on this game.

    Very poor, I for one will never ever pre-order a CA game again.
  19. Kaje85
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    My concerns with this product are not technical, they are functional. Whilst the game does have it's bugs, they are easy enough to fix with patches over time the deeper issues with this game lie in the fact it is essentially a prettier total conversion mod for Empire Total War.
    Gone are the little quirks that made Shogun 2 a charismatic foray into the world of a Japanese warlord, instead    My concerns with this product are not technical, they are functional. Whilst the game does have it's bugs, they are easy enough to fix with patches over time the deeper issues with this game lie in the fact it is essentially a prettier total conversion mod for Empire Total War.
    Gone are the little quirks that made Shogun 2 a charismatic foray into the world of a Japanese warlord, instead we are back to a campaign mode with as much charm and tact as a Syrian politician.
    It feels like a gross afterthought, there's nothing to do other than for it to serve as something to look at between battles and the latter aren't that great either. A rock/paper/scissors game where the AI has the intelligence of a PE teacher.
    Seriously, a huge step back for Creative Assembly.    … Expand
  20. kopiko
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    In a nutshell, this game overpromised and underdeliver. Hell, even that is an understatement. I'm not gonna touch on the AI/FPS issues, nor the multiplayer component and just focus something so fundamentally wrong with the campaign. Here's the thing, if the game needs 1 min 30 secs to complete a campaign turn during the opening stages of the game on a Intel i7-3849QM 2.80GHz, 16gb ram,In a nutshell, this game overpromised and underdeliver. Hell, even that is an understatement. I'm not gonna touch on the AI/FPS issues, nor the multiplayer component and just focus something so fundamentally wrong with the campaign. Here's the thing, if the game needs 1 min 30 secs to complete a campaign turn during the opening stages of the game on a Intel i7-3849QM 2.80GHz, 16gb ram, something is very wrong.

    Simply put, it is far too ambitious for its own good. There is far too many minor factions to process and when it is finally your turn, you find that there is very little to do apart from moving your spy or pretend that you have something to build in your province. The kicker is the more you explore which you kinda have to do if you want establish more trade routes, hence more gold in your coffer the slower the turn gets! The total war series used to suck me in with me telling myself that my next turn will be my last one(which is obviously a lie) and when I finally dare to glance up at the clock, it is 5am, Now, I don't even want to click the 'end turn' button any more, I just don't know what I am supposed to do while I wait for the AI to finish their turns. Read a book? I probably can play a movie on my iPad as I wait. Maybe I can even walk the dog when I am about 75 turns in.

    The worst part is I don't think this is something patch-able. Sure, you can improve the framerates issues, maybe even inject a smarter thought process for the AI in a later patch, but the cutting down the waiting time for a campaign turn? That is bit rich all things considered. Unless they trim down the amount of minor factions or limit the size of the map(what are the chances eh?), I don't think any number of patch is gonna help. And that makes everything sad.    … Expand
  21. 39OakTree
    Sep 4, 2013
    2
    Beware the mindless drones are striking 10/10 for a halfsquezed on a platter. This game is not worth a green rating, its way to unpolished to receive even a yellow one unless youre a fanboy cretins ofcourse. how about some of you actually buy the game first and play an hour before posting this terribly uncritical comments that sound like diarriah in a kindergarten.
  22. Antiks
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    The attempt at simplifying the game not only took away from what made the series great but in some ways made it more complicated/less intuitive for people familiar with the Genre. Over all the game is alright but doesn't really live up to the standard set by the previous Rome title.

    The simplification of the cities takes away a lot from the crowds who like to experiment and specialize    The attempt at simplifying the game not only took away from what made the series great but in some ways made it more complicated/less intuitive for people familiar with the Genre. Over all the game is alright but doesn't really live up to the standard set by the previous Rome title.

    The simplification of the cities takes away a lot from the crowds who like to experiment and specialize different cities in different parts of their empire. Also, armies relying on a general to field and actually being recruited by the general in place takes away from having to manage the logisitics of your empire. This makes the game overall less of a simulation and more of an arcade title of the RTS fights. Research is also taken down to two very basic easily obtainable paths.

    For some these may be welcome changes but as someone who likes the empire building and civilization style large branching tech trees these are significant problems. The title is clearly made for a broader audience who don't want to have to get bogged down with the logistics and economy management of previous games.

    On top of changing the general game play these changes have made some things more difficult; the removal of some of the more detailed city/settlement management tools has made it in some cases extremely hard to understand why your city/province is unhappy.

    The combat remains more or less the same though it seems some what easier to route/destroy your enemies. It's possibly less tactical but I'm not sure if I'm confident in saying that yet only having played about 15 hours.

    There are significant wait times between turns but that is somewhat expected.

    The game has beautiful graphics.

    I would say if you liked the world map part of Rome, research, and auto completed most of your battles you could probably give this game a pass. If all you did was play for battles and were irritated by having to manage your empire then you may like the changes that were made.

    For people like myself and my group of friends I cannot recommend you play this game. Personally I'm more concerned with empire building than doing the little RTS battles, for me they were just the cherry on top that made Total War special.    … Expand
  23. tomezom
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    The worst gaming purchase I've ever made. Besides terrible beta state, fails to reach the bar raised by its predecessors in the art direction, music, and mechanics. It's lame AI, coupled with a purposedly dumbed down UI and city management (for console testing), linear gameplay and poor multiplayer makes this an incredible disappointing experience.
  24. Jay8329
    Sep 27, 2013
    2
    Update: The 3 released patches fixed a few things. The really long turns have gotten some what faster, "some" balancing has been done, and units hold their formations slightly longer than before. The most hilarious fix I read in the patch list was a fix for misspelled words..I could give a crap about that there are more pressing matters to focus on CA. With that being said, the 3 patchesUpdate: The 3 released patches fixed a few things. The really long turns have gotten some what faster, "some" balancing has been done, and units hold their formations slightly longer than before. The most hilarious fix I read in the patch list was a fix for misspelled words..I could give a crap about that there are more pressing matters to focus on CA. With that being said, the 3 patches still don't do it for me, but I'll bring my score up for the effort, but not by much. Still many missing features, no family tree. still buggy land and naval battles, still arcade like battles that end in 10mins now instead of 5 so I guess it's an improvement, Ai is still retarded and does the jig while getting slaughter by missle units and they still fail to engage 80% of the time, and we still have that ridiculous army limit!! Geez that is a crappy decision., etc, etc, ect, ect..
    Also, I got to love the sudden flood of naive brainless individuals giving this game 9-10s in an attempt to boost the rating and the user complaining about a 0 score. I gave this a 0 because it's BS I friggin paid $70 for a game in Alpha stage. It's like buying a computer only to find out the I have a really pretty monitor and tower but no guts. So to all those ppl "Go kick rocks!

    Rome II the Arcade game...or something!??? WTF is this garbage.
    0.) This takes the cake, half the total war fan base can't even play this junk because it fails to work. Many CTDs and freezes....worthless...someone should be fired and kicked square in the a$$ on the way out the door.
    1.) Your Units are set to run by default...so they are running all over the place like idiots every time you order a move.
    2.)No Family Tree- wtf, I thought this was Rome, a family tree is a pretty important part of the game...or maybe not, hell I don't know...retarded CA.
    3.) Has more bugs than Empires Total War ever did, and that's seriously saying something!
    4.) Serious limitation to recruitment- Now you can only recruit units through a General and only a General. No more recruiting units in your cities, which pretty much hamstrings your ability to recruit a garrison army that you feel is just right to hold that city on the border of your enemy. Now you have a preset "Generic Garrison". I guess I don't need more than 4 archer units to hold miles of walls...oh yeah that leads me to my next point.
    5.) You no longer have the option to build walls...yep that's right, no option to build walls in your smaller villages or towns. Walls are reserved for your "More important" capital cities. Well that's great and grand and all, but I guess my other towns are worthless and F***ed. I suppose my generic garrison army can handle it..... or not.
    6.) You are no longer allowed to detach any units from your Army unless you have another General right next to that particular Army/General you wish to exchange units with. So I guess CA figured it was wise to keep me from detaching half my army to garrison a city I just captured so that I can send my General on his marry little way to do something useful. Instead I have to park his a$$ in the city for 10 flippin turns (Which Equals 10 yrs btw) until the public order stabilizes...awesome!
    7.) Battles last a WHOPPING 3-5mins! No time for tactical maneuvers, not that it matters with this AI, it's over too fast. You just send all your guys into this blob of troops just like you would if you were playing good old Command and Conquer.
    8.) No fire at will options for your Legionaries. Instead your Legionaries throw their pilums every time you order them to engage then enemy, which is absolutely AWESOME when you send a unit to support another unit already engaged with the enemy and your Legionaries throw that SWEET volley of Pilums right into the backs of your own troops..Brilliant move!
    9.) No loose and tight formation options-guess we didn't need them
    10.) We got magic abilities just like Warhammer. (Remove all fatigue, better accuracy for archers, reload faster, and many more fun abilities from Middle Earth) Every single unit has some retarded special ability that you need to use as much as possible..so it turns into a classic click fest.
    11.) You can only trade out of one port, which is probably one of the many bugs, while your others just sit and be useless.
    12.) Countless other bugs, from Red skies to enemy units doing the jig while you pepper them with arrows all day, to the classic suicide generals getting impaled on spears.

    All of these issues and retarded features, among a ton of other issues I really don't feel like listing because it would take 2-3 days, makes Rome II the worse game of the series so far and probably the death of the total war franchise. I sure do hope CA really enjoys this piece of crap, dumbed down, casual, console geared, kiddie game they have created. As for me, there is nothing Creative about this and it's gone into my coaster collection of sh!t games to be used to set my beverages on. At least I'll get some use out of my stolen    … Expand
  25. Samze
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    They messed it up, the AI is horrible, the interface sucks and the pc opt is just terrible, and the graphics looks like they took a step back, and what's up with the 1 general cap
  26. KebabRemover
    Sep 26, 2013
    0
    So I've selected "Very High" graphics just to make sure game runs smoothly and hoping to increase it later but I was incredibly surprised seeing graphics equality of Rome I with lags. My specs are: X4 955/6950 2gb/8gb ram. I'll wait for a patches but for now this isn't how surprise fans Creative Assembly!
  27. RalexSteele
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I have enjoyed a lot of the TW games in the past, and I have some very fond memories of some of my campaigns. The battles were always exciting, and I felt like every decision I made had a huge effect on the outcome. At times, I even won battles where I was outnumbered 10:1 with tactics and luck.

    Rome II takes that all away. The battles are chaotic, and controls seem sluggish,    I have enjoyed a lot of the TW games in the past, and I have some very fond memories of some of my campaigns. The battles were always exciting, and I felt like every decision I made had a huge effect on the outcome. At times, I even won battles where I was outnumbered 10:1 with tactics and luck.

    Rome II takes that all away. The battles are chaotic, and controls seem sluggish, unresponsive, and ultimately pointless. You fair just as well by sending your troops on a full frontal assault as a tactical skirmish.

    Multiplayer... it's broken. Desyncs, problems with spectating, and save game problems.
    I have a beast of a PC and this game is so badly optimized that my gpu jumps 20 degrees C on menu screens, and runs at 97% load during the game in any screen. Meanwhile, I can run BF3, Crysis, and Metro and stay under 30% load and not have any heat spikes. Not to mention rome 2 seems to like tormenting cores 1 and 7, but refuses to use 2,3,4,5,6, or 8 for more than 2-5%

    The gameplay doesn't save it either: spend 30 seconds managing your empire through ugly buttons in the clunky AI, then end turn and wait 4-10 minutes for the AI to finish up all the turns for the other nations. (Keep in mind, that's 4-10 minutes on a top of the line machine I don't want to guess how long on a mediocre or aging system)

    Spend your money elsewhere hell, buy a nice dinner, you'll enjoy that more and longer.    … Expand
  28. Type4101
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    Rome II is proof that the current system of "professional" reviewers is utterly broken or corrupt. As commercial magazines and websites (who rely on advertising money from game makers) pass out 8's and 9's to this newest entry of the Total War Series, long-time players and fans weep tears of sadness. Gone is the tactical depth the series was famous for. Gone is the strategic depth thatRome II is proof that the current system of "professional" reviewers is utterly broken or corrupt. As commercial magazines and websites (who rely on advertising money from game makers) pass out 8's and 9's to this newest entry of the Total War Series, long-time players and fans weep tears of sadness. Gone is the tactical depth the series was famous for. Gone is the strategic depth that the series was famous for. This game is a step backward in almost every way, and fans know it. Dumbed down, and made into an arcade-like casual game, Rome II may sadly mark the end of the Total War Series. If consumers keep buying dumbed down versions of previously awesome games, and reviewers keep showering them with fake praise, then the industry as a whole is spiraling down the toilet. If you haven't played a Total War Game, and want to know why they are beloved by fans around the world, try Rome I, Medieval 2, or Shogun 2. Farewell Total War Series. I will miss you.… Expand
  29. iopuge
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    i would love this game if only the price would be 5 dollars. No way I will pay 80 bucks for this glitchy crap.

    This horrible game has serious problems:

    - AI is not working properly

    - UI is retarded

    - Optimization was lost somewhere in CA office

    -Only 4 historic battles. WTF? Lazy developers!

    -Graphics are awful

    WANT MY MONEY BACK!!
  30. Clownageddon
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    I have bought and played all TW game including expansions except the Alexander one. I have tested most mods for MTWII and RTW and a few for the other ones.

    I have a mediocre gaming rig, but the game runs perfectly on ultra for me. 15 hours of play logged. Not one hickup. Its beautiful, with good framerate and lodsa eyecandy, even if i HATE the BIG! user interface and the UGGLY BIG unit    I have bought and played all TW game including expansions except the Alexander one. I have tested most mods for MTWII and RTW and a few for the other ones.

    I have a mediocre gaming rig, but the game runs perfectly on ultra for me. 15 hours of play logged. Not one hickup. Its beautiful, with good framerate and lodsa eyecandy, even if i HATE the BIG! user interface and the UGGLY BIG unit cards. So this rewiev is not biased by technical performance on my system.

    The game sucks. A huge leap backwards. Instead of writing the same thing over and over again, read the other 0 score reviews out there to se why. But to sum up:

    Its a dumbed down, arcadey, eye candy wrapped console port with way better marketing budget than the testing and development budget put together. Calling this a strategy game is just laughable.

    I am now done with this series. The good times of playing TW will not come back. TY CA. In total, you have provided me with countless hours of great fun, even if i got a bit sad in the end there, starting with NTW and ETW. Good luck on your expansion into the console market and i hope your new costumer base is as faithful, forgiving and naive as the old one.    … Expand
  31. Scottyprophet
    Sep 4, 2013
    2
    Really big disappointment. I don't have any of the graphical lag problems that many people are complaining. It's not like any Total war game from the series... the campaign map is actually pretty nice and an improvement on Rome 1 but the battles really let the game down.

    Firstly the AI is really bad and predictable... secondly the strategy element it gone as you just charge your men in    Really big disappointment. I don't have any of the graphical lag problems that many people are complaining. It's not like any Total war game from the series... the campaign map is actually pretty nice and an improvement on Rome 1 but the battles really let the game down.

    Firstly the AI is really bad and predictable... secondly the strategy element it gone as you just charge your men in and hope you rout the enemy army and thirdly the battles don't last more than 6 minutes most of the time and 3 minutes is your men marching which means (like point 2) there is no time for any flanking moves etc, armies don't hold formation anyway so it all ends up in a big blob of fighting.

    Won't even go into the customizing generals part because they die in 20 turns (because turns are yearly and not seasons anymore). You find yourself just giving your next general the same stuff and not really caring because he will be dead soon anyway.. rinse and repeat.

    Co-op campaign? Great idea.. sadly me and a friend waited 3 minutes after each turn for the AI to run its course on the 114 or whatever factions... over 300 turns that's a lot of time just sat there staring at circles.

    Advise: Save your money until CA can fix the game or play the Superior Medieval total war    … Expand
  32. Ahenobarbus
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    As a long time Total War fan, I'm very disappointed with this mess. The developers have managed to mess up almost everything from their older titles and replace it with something worse.

    The UI is unintuitive, uninformative and difficult to use eg. the old Shogun2 tech tree was a full page where you could compare options, now you have a little box that shows 1 option at a time. Unit    As a long time Total War fan, I'm very disappointed with this mess. The developers have managed to mess up almost everything from their older titles and replace it with something worse.

    The UI is unintuitive, uninformative and difficult to use eg. the old Shogun2 tech tree was a full page where you could compare options, now you have a little box that shows 1 option at a time. Unit cards are not as clear at a glance as in the past. Numbers of troops in each unit is now only shown by a mouseover.

    Diplomacy on any level above Normal is absurd, friendly factions wont even accept your help when their last settlement is besieged. Trade agreements are rejected because no reason.

    Developers are clearly obsessed with fire, you have flaming arrows, flaming javelins, horse archers have flaming arrows how Artillery has explosive ammunition what ).

    I don't even want to go into the battles, suffice it to say that what everyone is saying is true. They are ridiculously fast, with no formation holding within the unit Magical abilities are annoying, luckily you probably wont have time to even use them. No skill whatsoever appears necessary to destroy enemy even when outnumbered ).

    I'm fortunate in that my machine is not one of those suffering from major lag running most on High/Very High ).

    I still give it a 4 because hidden under it all is what could be a good game, but it looks like serious work is going to be needed before it measures up to previous Total War titles.    … Expand
  33. petterb
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Waited a long time for this game and havent been this dissapointed since Orion 3. The strategic part of the game is way too simple. Technology is too simple. Diplomacy is too simple. AI is far from good enough. Too bad i didnt read the reviews before actually buying the game. Im a huge fan of the Total War series, but this is the series low.
  34. Megatanis
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    eheheh reviews average score: 8.1
    user average score: 4.0
    I hope this is the final word on the "are official reviewers biased or are they not" issue. Rome total war 2 on release is unplayable, simple as that. I am using a 2.7ghz dual core, 4gb ram and 1gb video card (specified RECOMENDED requirements on the box, not minimum) at medium graphics (options are from low to ultra high,    eheheh reviews average score: 8.1
    user average score: 4.0
    I hope this is the final word on the "are official reviewers biased or are they not" issue.
    Rome total war 2 on release is unplayable, simple as that. I am using a 2.7ghz dual core, 4gb ram and 1gb video card (specified RECOMENDED requirements on the box, not minimum) at medium graphics (options are from low to ultra high, medium is 2/5). Loading times are unbearable. Whole thing is glitchy as hell, on this same rig I could play Shogun 2 at decent graphics and reasonable loading times.
    Really, do they test this stuff before release, or do they think we all have a 2000$ last gen pc?
    So, not able to judge game (the few things I saw are nothing special compared to previous iterations) since it is literally unplayable.
    Needless to say I play total war series since shogun 1..oh well I guess I'll have to find a better job so I can afford a rig that can run RTW2.
    I'll give it a 1 because of the latin quote at the end of the cool (but nothing special) intro     … Expand
  35. fox294
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    Really liked Rome 1. After a few hours of Rome 2 I'm about ready to quit. Almost every single mechanic is either a downgrade or a side-step from the original. It's just not much fun at all, and it's riddled with performance issues. Shame.
  36. BurningTemplar
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    First, I have to explain the difference between an alpha game and a beta game.
    -Alpha: The game is not finished at all and full, bugs, poorly optimized, messed IA and also not balanced.
    -Beta: The game works pretty well, there are some bugs, the IA is at last playable, optimization is ok and the same for the balancing. Rome 2: Total War, is in a pre-alpha stage. -There is no fu***ng    First, I have to explain the difference between an alpha game and a beta game.
    -Alpha: The game is not finished at all and full, bugs, poorly optimized, messed IA and also not balanced.
    -Beta: The game works pretty well, there are some bugs, the IA is at last playable, optimization is ok and the same for the balancing.
    Rome 2: Total War, is in a pre-alpha stage.
    -There is no fu***ng AI, I can defeat 10 armies with few men. -In a battle, 1200 vs 5000 I won losing 300 guys. Also they don't know how to siege and how to defend settlements. The campaign AI is a little better but still crap.
    -The bugs are thousands, watch lastest Angry Joe videos and you will notice dat.
    -Who designed campaign UI? Rly, why didn't they fired this guy and the AI one?
    -They paid critics to make good reviews.
    -Balance? What is balance? R2TW does not know what that thing is.
    In the end, R2TW is in worst stage than R1TW when it came out, and R1TW was in a rly, rly bad state.    … Expand
  37. Leving
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    Perhaps the worst game in the Total War series. Poor graphical optimization combined with weak, campaign mechanics and real time battles signal a major step back for Total War.
  38. MichalZ
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Its slow even on most power full PC(low fps, frame drops, lag, freezes), buggy to the point of being unplayable and full of glitches even using latest drivers and patches. It's sold as full game but its technically a beta. You are paying for early access to beta version of the game.
  39. ZOLTAN
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    If you are expecting Total War Rome 2 having played the first one then you will be disappointed. This is some new game based in the same era without the complexity or depth of play of the old one.

    The information you require to make your decisions is hard to find thanks to a bad UI but that's OK as there are no real bad decisions in this game. During battle you can and you can spend    If you are expecting Total War Rome 2 having played the first one then you will be disappointed. This is some new game based in the same era without the complexity or depth of play of the old one.

    The information you require to make your decisions is hard to find thanks to a bad UI but that's OK as there are no real bad decisions in this game. During battle you can and you can spend your time watching the game play rather than worrying about playing it and use your magic abilities like fast reload for your missile troops with infinite ammo.

    They have taken away a lot of the realism and management completely and introduced pretty graphics.    … Expand
  40. Landwulf
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    Huge dissapointment after months of excitment, too much marketing too little work, total war is one of the few strategy games that i still enjoy the most and it's going the wrong way by hyping people and then selling the beta version of the game.
  41. Falrinth
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Well for me and all my numerous friends who were hyped for Rome 2 this game is huge disapointment. It looks and works worse than shogun 2. Looks like half trough development phase. Shaders not working, AA not working properly, performance is horrible at i5,i7 and to date GPUs while shogun 2 looked much sweeter and FPS high and smooth. The look of this game doesnt look at all, not even 20%Well for me and all my numerous friends who were hyped for Rome 2 this game is huge disapointment. It looks and works worse than shogun 2. Looks like half trough development phase. Shaders not working, AA not working properly, performance is horrible at i5,i7 and to date GPUs while shogun 2 looked much sweeter and FPS high and smooth. The look of this game doesnt look at all, not even 20% of how its shown on "screenshots" from producer. On top of that numerous game braking bugs, broken AI, horrible placeholder interface, bugs, battle speed silly fast, awkward camera, awkward units behavior, fights looking far worse than shogun 2... well i dont know where to stop, but this game is just cr... compared to predecesor. No fun at all to play... Ah, and btw. shaders seems to be broken aswell no difference which one i choose at system that can handle them all it all looks like if there would be some cr.. shader on.… Expand
  42. Styrr
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Last time I ever made a pre-purchase... every game i did this was a mess... and i have to say Rome 2 is the worst of all.
    I really loved the TW series from the beginning and loved it up to shogun 2 (even though I missed the variety of the previous titles) but Rome 2 is just a big disappointment.
    I won't complain about the bugs and the performance issues as I'm pretty sure this will get    Last time I ever made a pre-purchase... every game i did this was a mess... and i have to say Rome 2 is the worst of all.
    I really loved the TW series from the beginning and loved it up to shogun 2 (even though I missed the variety of the previous titles) but Rome 2 is just a big disappointment.
    I won't complain about the bugs and the performance issues as I'm pretty sure this will get fixed in time. I even can live with the crappy AI since I'm used to it. But the casualization is horrible:
    - no immersion (family tree?)
    - battles are absolutely mindless and superfast paced. As soon as the units are engaged there is no tactics anymore
    - who's idea has been the army limit? what a crap...
    - campaign map management is simplified very much
    - pretty sure cash-cow DLCs for things that should've been in a full price title will follow (not that 65eur wasn't a hell load of cash for a game already)

    I'm back to Medieval 2: Stainless Steel and Rome: Europa Barbarorum. The good old days when gameplay was more important than hollywood (and they even messed this one up)    … Expand
  43. Maximus44
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Over 25 hours played.

    The game is total junk and should have not ever been released in its current state. Like others had said terrible UI, same units for all factions besides Rome and Egypt, same music over and over again, lack of artwork even for the loading screens. Terrible avatar type graphics. Lack of wonders. Do they have any effects by the way as we were promised? No    Over 25 hours played.

    The game is total junk and should have not ever been released in its current state. Like others had said terrible UI, same units for all factions besides Rome and Egypt, same music over and over again, lack of artwork even for the loading screens. Terrible avatar type graphics. Lack of wonders. Do they have any effects by the way as we were promised? No notification as was shown by CA when you take a region that has a wonder. Generals with ships that are better than full navies. Longer than usual turn times. No seasons. One turn per year. Each faction feels the same. No sense of accomplishment. Generals die too quickly. I won't even mention the terrible AI. Diplomacy is still not right. This is an obvious cash cow for SEGA. Wait for an expansion maybe that actually works instead of buying this mess. Oh and the sound. Could you not include more than just a few songs? Rome 1 had many more beautiful songs. One could write for hours on the flaws of the game.

    Some positives such as the edicts, army traditions, large map, and the province system, but everything else brings the score down.    … Expand
  44. Tamlynn
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    I would rather play RTW1, particularly with the Europa Barbarorum mod. For someone who absolutely loved the original and played it for many, many years, this is a heartbreaking fail. No need to list all of the problems, as they are covered in so many of the other reviews just adding my voice to the chorus. Not sure what game the critics were playing, but the massive discrepancy betweenI would rather play RTW1, particularly with the Europa Barbarorum mod. For someone who absolutely loved the original and played it for many, many years, this is a heartbreaking fail. No need to list all of the problems, as they are covered in so many of the other reviews just adding my voice to the chorus. Not sure what game the critics were playing, but the massive discrepancy between their reviews and actual user reviews suggests that most of them are either bought or incompetent. Both CA and the critics have utterly failed. This is probably the last straw for me... Don't see myself ever buying another CA title again.… Expand
  45. AstraL
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I'm shocked, did not expect this from Creative Assembly, game simply is unplayable, 15-25 fps on strategic map on minimal settings...
    CA give me back my money!
  46. wobblydoggy
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    A bit gutted really, I obviously as others had been waiting for this release for quite some time. Initially I found the game unplayable due to the unlimited video memory option not being ticked in advanced settings. Once I had done that I could play on extreme though still a bit laggy on the campaign map. I also found the campaign to be extremely shallow... What happened to the cut scenesA bit gutted really, I obviously as others had been waiting for this release for quite some time. Initially I found the game unplayable due to the unlimited video memory option not being ticked in advanced settings. Once I had done that I could play on extreme though still a bit laggy on the campaign map. I also found the campaign to be extremely shallow... What happened to the cut scenes from medieval total war, they were great. It seems in general the serious has begun to degrade. The battlefield quality isn't anywhere near as good as I had been led to believe. I suppose I shouldn't have bought on launch day so partly to blame. Game is a bit rubbish as it stands.… Expand
  47. Damascus
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    This 0/10 is for the price of Rome II and for exploiting the DLC-concept far beyond the point of shame. At this point it doesn't even matter what the game has to offer.
  48. Dumdas
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's very simple...the game simply doesn't work for a lot of people! Currently more than 7000 people seems to be unable to even launch the game (based on the amount of views on this thread in the official forum). CA seems to be in the woods as they have not posted a single reply or comment on this thread yet. Not even a confirmation that they are looking into it...It's like buying a car that doesn't start and then being ignored by the car saleman...would you put up with this?
    I just want my money back....    … Expand
  49. chivo88
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    This game need serious patching and modding because at current states its just a garbage. I don't understand what SEGA and CA were thinking releasing it now.

    Zero score for such poor performance. Sorry guys but I cant give anythyng higher than this because it is not the first time. Empire was same crap.
  50. janki
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    A game sold in beta-state. Optimization is awfull. In battle units move waaaaay to fast. AI is dumb. A lots of good features that made the TW series good were removed. Where the hell is my family tree?
  51. brizec
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    I've been a supporter of the TW franchise since it's inception, and this installment has been the biggest disappointment of the series.

    It seems, like so many other companies making games these days, that all the development money was spent on nice looking trailers and PR to hype the game, and the actual game was ignored. It plays like an alpha stage game. The battles are messy, the    I've been a supporter of the TW franchise since it's inception, and this installment has been the biggest disappointment of the series.

    It seems, like so many other companies making games these days, that all the development money was spent on nice looking trailers and PR to hype the game, and the actual game was ignored. It plays like an alpha stage game. The battles are messy, the amount of bugs is ridiculous. The user interface is awful, I have a hard time understanding how some people enjoy this game. First Rome has much better gameplay.    … Expand
  52. Argon
    Sep 8, 2013
    1
    Tested on i7 2600, GTX 770, 16gb RAM on HIGH and EXTREME graphics quality:

    - Graphics are horrible, the Anti alaising is completely messed up (Empire TW looks better... seriously) - AI is not reliable, often attacks an army of 16 units with only 1 unit on campaign map and just stands around until you get closer in real time mode - FPS drops are common, triggered i.e. by pressing    Tested on i7 2600, GTX 770, 16gb RAM on HIGH and EXTREME graphics quality:

    - Graphics are horrible, the Anti alaising is completely messed up (Empire TW looks better... seriously)
    - AI is not reliable, often attacks an army of 16 units with only 1 unit on campaign map and just stands around until you get closer in real time mode
    - FPS drops are common, triggered i.e. by pressing spacebar during combat
    - Multiplayer Campaign unplayable, processing the moves of the AI factions takes around 3min EACH turn
    - UI is confusing, the art style is appealing but gets in the way of things

    I'm sick of beta testing games that I paid 50€ for. No for Sega until patched properly!    … Expand
  53. Antonivs
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I waited 9 years for this game. I pre-ordered the CE. I wanted to love this game. But after several hours of single player game play and several failures at Co-op; I just stopped playing. Maybe it will be playable in a month or two.
  54. Carnifex
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    As the old saying goes; Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I'm not sure what might e said about the fourth or fifth time.

    Total War: Rome 2 was probably the biggest "Not again" moment I've had in recent years. While the series was hit and miss in general depending on what time period was offered and how that changed overall gameplay Total War: Rome was generally    As the old saying goes; Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I'm not sure what might e said about the fourth or fifth time.

    Total War: Rome 2 was probably the biggest "Not again" moment I've had in recent years. While the series was hit and miss in general depending on what time period was offered and how that changed overall gameplay Total War: Rome was generally considered one of the best in the series.

    Total War: Rome 2 had a lot to live up to and unfortunately it didn't. The fact that Creative Assembly hasn't exactly reinvented the wheel as far as combat mechanics and tactics over the last what, ten years(?), should make for a very rich and refined experience now. The problem is the same UI issues, A.I. issues, overall poor performance that plagued previous installments are back. This time around there are so many bugs and issues that the game is almost laughably broken.

    The whole "wait for the patch" mentality has worn thin for me, especially on a big budget game that clearly was shoved out to meet a release window. This was an utter disappointment to a series I was once a big fan of. 3/10    … Expand
  55. durrdurrdurr
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    Poorly optimized.
    No guard mode.
    Clueless AI.
    The battles are over too quickly.
    No family tree.
    You can't change to loose or tight formation.

    Stick to Rome: Total war or its mods.
  56. Necromonger
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Extremely disapointed and i see revieuws of this game scoring 9 and 9.5
    Do game revieuwers get payed these days ?
    This game isnt even in Beta stage, seriously what an abomination... I got a beast of a system and it runs crap, crashes, textures bugs, politics what politics ? insane wait times per turn... I wait a few months to the modders can fix this game as the originel is    Extremely disapointed and i see revieuws of this game scoring 9 and 9.5
    Do game revieuwers get payed these days ?

    This game isnt even in Beta stage, seriously what an abomination...

    I got a beast of a system and it runs crap, crashes, textures bugs, politics what politics ?
    insane wait times per turn...

    I wait a few months to the modders can fix this game as the originel is just to bad to play.    … Expand
  57. Raye
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    I've played Total War for over 10 years now and I can honestly say that this release is just as bad as Empire, if not worse. They have slowly taken the winning formula for Total War and dumbed it down for the masses. 'Casual gamers', the console and phone game generation have been the downfall of many a great PC game series. From top to bottom this game is purely sacrilegious to any TotalI've played Total War for over 10 years now and I can honestly say that this release is just as bad as Empire, if not worse. They have slowly taken the winning formula for Total War and dumbed it down for the masses. 'Casual gamers', the console and phone game generation have been the downfall of many a great PC game series. From top to bottom this game is purely sacrilegious to any Total War fan who values depth and tactical battles. They have taken away all of our control and implemented gimmicks to please the casual gamer. I will provide some insight into the fundamental flaws at the core of the games design rather than elaborate on the myriad of optimization problems and bugs the game suffers from at this time.

    GAMEPLAY:
    A huge number of features that were available even in Total War: Rome are missing both conceptually and mechanically. I will try and break down the problems point by point as they relate to gameplay.

    -No family tree.

    -No 'Loose' or 'Tight' generic formation commands. Can't spread to avoid enemy fire?!

    -No 'Guard' command, your units cannot be instructed to maintain their position and formation at all costs.Even the most disciplined melee troops devolve into a blob during melee combat.

    -You cannot toggle fire at will on infantry with javelins, they only fire when they charge. Some unfortunate tactical consequences are that they cannot throw javelins to break an enemy charge and then receive the broken charge, they cannot fire on skirmishers and cavalry harassing them, and if you move reserves to reinforce a battle line they will AUTOMATICALLY throw their javelins into the backs of your own men who are already engaged. WTF CA?

    -Troops have inappropriate context based behavior or a complete lack thereof. IE. They will stand in position and take arrows to the face from archers ten feet away (as if instructed to guard, but still lose unit cohesion in melee) and will not chase routing enemies. During a melee blob if a unit of men destroy their immediate foe (target) they will not engage nearby enemies. They will stand there watching their comrades get hacked apart five feet away.

    -Auto run breaks unit cohesion.

    -BATTLES ARE WAY TOO FAST! The battles last a few minutes generally. You spend three minutes walking to the enemy force. Your lines meet and devolve into a chaotic blob and the melee is typically over in about 30-50 seconds as one side routes. If you were inclined to flank the blob you typically don't even have time to move a single flanking unit around into position before the melee is decided. You're far better served simply committing the unit into the blob of doom right away and spamming the 'magic' combat buffs/abilities your men have. Speaking of..

    -MAGIC COMBAT ABILITIES! You can hit a button and suddenly your men charge with more force than usual or you can magically remove all fatigue? Get your voodoo out of my Total War. Abilities should have a justifiable function that makes sense.

    -Units run entirely too fast, especially with tactical map speed buffs on roads for certain units and while charging. I would seriously estimate that your men can charge at nearly 30mph.. Again, wtf?

    -Diplomacy has improved so far as the campaign AI actually interacting with you in ways beyond declaring war but it is almost always on their terms. If you prefer passive diplomacy you wont notice the problem but if you want to proactively cultivate an environment of success with your neighbors you will fail. The AI refuses to accept logical treaties of any kind without bribes, very unfortunate.

    -Magic boats appear when you move an army into the ocean... Magic.... Boats.... These transport ships are free and can be used to great effect in naval battles. Building and maintaining an incredibly expensive navy is rendered void of strategic value and ineffective. You can recruit a bunch of militia and march them into the sea and ram your enemies navy to death without much difficulty. Horrid.

    -The campaign AI is atrocious even on the highest difficulty setting. The AI nations will maintain small armies and play passively. If they do field large armies the majority of the time they will consist of almost all slingers or other skirmishers. This causes most battles to involve a 10 second melee blob of doom then 10 minutes of you chasing down skirmishers at random. Epic disciplined and mechanized meat grinding battles? I bought the wrong game.

    -Unit size is locked. Why do I have smaller unit sizes than the original decade old game?

    -One turn per year. Good luck utilizing the fresh general development ideas cause all your generals will die of old age very quickly assuming they survive even one blob of death thanks to the extremely high kill rates.

    -The UI is beyond inconvenient. It is a mess of sub menus and obscure iconography. You play the game through a figurative maze, not a streamlined UI for 2013.

    -The awesome in game encyclopedia of the legacy Total War games? Still gone.    … Expand
  58. conantbh
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    This game was rushed. Abysmal optimisation, cardboard IA, first grader UI, broken replays, and totally lack of features such guard mode, chat lobby, multypler modes, family tree etc. We are lacking at least 6 to 12 months in development.
  59. MrPedantic
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Cons: Game-breaking bugs. AI terrible. UI unintuitive & weird. Battles supremely disappointing. Alt-tab seizure-inducing.
    Pros: Graphics better. Prologue decent
    DO NOT BUY. The game gets worse the more you play it. The Prologue is a nice start. I liked the way it walks you through most of what you need to know for the Campaign. However, even here there were glimpses of    Cons: Game-breaking bugs. AI terrible. UI unintuitive & weird. Battles supremely disappointing. Alt-tab seizure-inducing.
    Pros: Graphics better. Prologue decent

    DO NOT BUY.

    The game gets worse the more you play it. The Prologue is a nice start. I liked the way it walks you through most of what you need to know for the Campaign. However, even here there were glimpses of trouble. I gave up after bugs prevented me from finishing the Prologue 2 times. The thing with the Prologue is that you can't finish a turn unless you finish the objective they identify, and sometimes a bug prevents you from fulfilling the objective until the next turn...yeah.

    Then you get to the Campaign, and the bugs just multiply like, well...bugs. Even the proper "features" that were supposed to be newly-added into the game are terrible, almost to a fault. Battle objectives suck, and are totally irrelevant to any kind of strategy and yet can still decide the outcome of battles. Agents are arbitrarily grouped into 3 for no real reason that I can comprehend. The game's encyclopaedia is slow, not really informative, and if the game had been done properly, almost entirely unnecessary anyway. I could keep going, about the AI, the UI, the performance issues, the interaction between armies and navies, the interaction between embarked armies and the coastline, the graphical glitches, the collision errors, and so on. Turns take several minutes (due to 117 in-game factions), random frame hangs will occur for no apparent reason, and

    One particular category of failure that should be mentioned is with regard to cinematics. The intro movie is low-res, low-texture, low-polygon, and feels like low-setting gameplay rather than a beautiful, inspiring pre-rendered piece of art designed as a fitting intro to a wonderful game. Though I guess in its current state it sort of fits. In-game, cinematics are almost completely lacking. As opposed to the original RTW, where cinematics were in every construction card, and Shogun 2, where agents got beautiful, varied cinematics depicting their actions, the only cinematics I have seen thus far have been for family deaths. Even here, it is hugely disappointing. The cinematic is a short clip, maybe 10 seconds long, with no sound and having almost no meaningful content whatsoever.

    I'm giving this a 2/10 because despite its flaws, it has SOME redeeming qualities. The graphics are decent (not spectacular, but decent), the campaign map is far more reflective of reality, the cinematic view, so far as I've used it, seems a welcome and interesting addition, and at least it has few of the bugs in the original Rome: Total War. Unfortunately, they seem to have been replaced with a completely different, much more debilitating set of new bugs.    … Expand
  60. graduation
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    They released the first patch and that made things a lot more worse. Shame on you CA, shame on your heads.
    I mean you cant be serious... Red Skies? WTF
  61. Krakenzzz
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    60 bucks? For the copy of this? Really? Terrible performance, insane battle speed, it feels even faster than in Shogun2, same casual-oriented primitive campaign, now with a new CA`s top decision as ridiculous 1 turn 1 year. Crappy dlc politics, with cutted greek states, expect a of others. Thats the first impressions.
  62. happpening
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    I was really looking forwards to this game and it has been extremely disappointing. For a start, the graphics are shocking. The very vast majority of users are going to have to play on low and even on extreme is looks absolutely nothing like advertised. The vegetation isn't even finished, it is still in alpha. The UI is far too big and confusing. Unit AI is absolutely shocking. There areI was really looking forwards to this game and it has been extremely disappointing. For a start, the graphics are shocking. The very vast majority of users are going to have to play on low and even on extreme is looks absolutely nothing like advertised. The vegetation isn't even finished, it is still in alpha. The UI is far too big and confusing. Unit AI is absolutely shocking. There are bugs everywhere.
    Do not buy this game until these issues are addressed, it is not worth the time or effort.    … Expand
  63. califfo93
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    for ITALIAN users, and even the SPANISH ones: SEGA or CREATIVE ASSEMBLY have cheated us by writing on the packaging and on STEAM (except the change made on September 3 after its release) that the game would be "COMPLETELY IN ITALIAN" or "FULLY iN SPANISH "in breach of Article 20 of Legislative Decree 206/2005 which speaks of false advertising that is" any advertising which in any way,for ITALIAN users, and even the SPANISH ones: SEGA or CREATIVE ASSEMBLY have cheated us by writing on the packaging and on STEAM (except the change made on September 3 after its release) that the game would be "COMPLETELY IN ITALIAN" or "FULLY iN SPANISH "in breach of Article 20 of Legislative Decree 206/2005 which speaks of false advertising that is" any advertising which in any way, including its presentation, is likely to mislead the natural or legal persons to whom it is addressed or whom it reaches and which, because of its deceptive nature, is likely to affect their economic behavior or which, for this reason, it is likely to injure a competitor so if CA will not solve the issue, it will be resolved by a judge.… Expand
  64. sergez
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Fails of the Year 2013.
    What a disappointment, I really have nothing good to say. Worst game design. Looks worse than Shogun 2.
    Horrible UI, AI, textures, unit cards.
    Patches will not help.
    Poor game.
  65. eatsam
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    Simply not fair to charge 55 dollars for a broken game. I still give it a 4/10 because it might get better through the months.
    Some features are just bad though and not broken. Like the messy battles and arcade-like campaign. Stupid traits etc.
  66. ers
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Great series of games turned into casual wear for school children. Do not be surprised if the next game will be released on consoles. This is not a strategy, it is not total war
  67. bilwit
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Terrible game. Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise. In Shogun 2, the clans/matchmaking/map persistence/veteran units actually provided a modern framework that brought Total War into the competitive multiplayer gaming scene. They have since completely removed it and brought it back to 1998 lobby-only style. The reasoning behind this is that CA is currently working on a F2P gameTerrible game. Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise. In Shogun 2, the clans/matchmaking/map persistence/veteran units actually provided a modern framework that brought Total War into the competitive multiplayer gaming scene. They have since completely removed it and brought it back to 1998 lobby-only style. The reasoning behind this is that CA is currently working on a F2P game that's almost nothing like actual TW battles. Does this make any sense to anyone? I want to play TW battles in a meaningful and dynamic way which was teased with the Shogun 2 system, not some TW/MOBA hybrid. Also, the graphics are really, really bad even with everything set to "extreme." Anti-Aliasing doesn't even work at all which is extremely apparent in battles.… Expand
  68. cyclopus
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Yesterday I spent damn five hours trying to finish prologue. It crashed like 30 times. This game is one huge bug.

    Don't buy it people. It is not worth current price.
  69. clarkethepigeon
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    Having had this game since release I have only been able to clock up around 5 hours of play time according to Steam (and I suspect much of this has been time spent fiddling in options menus in an attempt to make the game playable). In this time I have established several things:

    Firstly, the graphics are absolutely jaw-droppingly awful. If you haven't seen the regiments of low-res    Having had this game since release I have only been able to clock up around 5 hours of play time according to Steam (and I suspect much of this has been time spent fiddling in options menus in an attempt to make the game playable). In this time I have established several things:

    Firstly, the graphics are absolutely jaw-droppingly awful. If you haven't seen the regiments of low-res potatoes in the game's community hub on steam then I suggest that you do so before you even considering purchasing this game. I don't know how it managed it, but I'm convinced that Medieval 2 looked better than this, let alone Empire or Shogun. The game is horribly optimised and only seems to recognise one of the cores in my processor, leading to extremely high temperatures and an unbearable amount of fan noise, and though my machine is a good deal more powerful than it needs to be to run Rome 2 at a high level the game lags horribly even in the campaign map. Bizarrely, the actual battles tend to run more smoothly though it tends to descend to a conflict between a few hundred sprites on glitchy black patches of terrain before long. In the graphics and presentation stakes, then, Rome 2 gets an absolute panning.

    Secondly, the actual meat of the game is simplistic and fails to engage the interest of the player. Campaign decisions are far inferior to previous iterations of the franchise and the sense of developing one's own cities has been removed with the strange decision to massively simplify the whole process. The fact that there are so many tiny factions plays havoc with diplomacy (the faction lists are just too long to sift through and relationships with neighbouring states will tend to be short) especially given that they persist even when they don't own any cities (armies belonging to a faction without any territory still count as a faction) which leaves the campaign map cluttered and frustrating, especially since the number of armies that the player controls is capped; you will spend a great deal of time simply chasing these around your territory.

    Another major problem with the campaign is the lack of focus on naval warfare (it simply isn't worth it) and the fact that you will find yourself autoresolving battles a good 90% of the time. In one campaign as Athens I conquered the entirety of Greece and Turkey without once having any kind of evenly matched pitched battle before becoming bored and giving up. There is nothing about the campaign that is compelling.

    Lastly, the AI is appalling in both the tactical and strategic portions of the game. Battles are easily won against overwhelming odds in the tactical sphere (all custom battles since the campaign gives very few opportunities for this) due to poor decision making and incredible gullibility on the part of AI generals (ok, its a Total War game; I didn't expect any less) and this cheapens any kind of strategic planning that you might employ in the campaign. Worse, from the strategic standpoint the AI does crazy things like retreating its army stacks away from its last city as my army approached (allowing me to easily capture the city with no resistance and to then confront the remnants one by one), or simply walking away from the contested area completely and not even attempting to put up a fight. This completely kills any kind of immersion you might have in the game when combined with the graphics and framerate issues that so many people are experiencing.

    For its broad ambition being its only redeeming feature, I give this game a 1.    … Expand
  70. Fumes
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    I have been a fan of the Total War series since the original Shogun. Every game have had its share of problems (AI problems being at the forefront) at launch, but they were salvageable through patching and modding. Rome II however is such a huge step-back on pretty much everything except scale and graphics that I have little hope of seeing this game ever measuring up to any of the previousI have been a fan of the Total War series since the original Shogun. Every game have had its share of problems (AI problems being at the forefront) at launch, but they were salvageable through patching and modding. Rome II however is such a huge step-back on pretty much everything except scale and graphics that I have little hope of seeing this game ever measuring up to any of the previous titles. In fact I would prefer to play the original modded Rome. The game is essentially a beta to the shame of CA and Sega. I will not be buying any more Total War games on release.… Expand
  71. Kadaeux
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Thank god I played this at a friends rather than buy it right away. tedious to the point of boredom mid-late game. 30 60 second turns followed by 5 minute AI turns. AI is terrible in every way. CA hit the nail on the head with the provincial and building system, but EVERYTHING else is just wrong. The 'faction' system for the Romans is something you can nearly ignore completely and itThank god I played this at a friends rather than buy it right away. tedious to the point of boredom mid-late game. 30 60 second turns followed by 5 minute AI turns. AI is terrible in every way. CA hit the nail on the head with the provincial and building system, but EVERYTHING else is just wrong. The 'faction' system for the Romans is something you can nearly ignore completely and it won't affect your game in the slightest. There was no point where I had to do anything with the diplomacy system other than declare war on small neighbors, rinse and repeat. There were no big enemy alliances to stunt my growth. It was a slow, boring, monotonous game. A long wait for this game, and a large disappointment.… Expand
  72. nikaianik
    Sep 3, 2013
    0
    Broken AI.
    Horrible Ui.
    Poorly optimized.
    Huge random FPS drops even in strong rigs.
    Confusing unit cards.
    Cap on armies and generals.
    One year per turn and only one season.
    One major step back from Shogun 2 in general.

    Stay away from this game until major patches and mods fix the game and wait for a demo
  73. Tytos
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    As a player of the TW series since Shogun1, here is my opinion.

    The good: - beautiful campaign map - nice soundtrack - lots of factions (though only a few playable) - smarter AI (still not smart enough) The bad: - no balance at all - battles are over in 3-5 minutes - no bit of realism whatsoever - very poor optimization - Multiplayer minimalized compared to Shogun2 -    As a player of the TW series since Shogun1, here is my opinion.

    The good:
    - beautiful campaign map
    - nice soundtrack
    - lots of factions (though only a few playable)
    - smarter AI (still not smart enough)

    The bad:
    - no balance at all
    - battles are over in 3-5 minutes
    - no bit of realism whatsoever
    - very poor optimization
    - Multiplayer minimalized compared to Shogun2
    - Interface
    - Drop hacking in MP still an issue
    - bugs/glitches
    - very hard to mod
    - turn timers

    Overall the worst TW release so far, this tops even the Empire TW disaster.    … Expand
  74. Selcer
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    I want to start out with: This game works fine on my system. The sad fact is they took my favorite title in the franchise and turned it into a shambling patchwork abomination of bad ideas. They have added nothing to the original franchise. They have only stripped everything great about a total war series game and replaced it with a game that looks like it could be played on facebook inI want to start out with: This game works fine on my system. The sad fact is they took my favorite title in the franchise and turned it into a shambling patchwork abomination of bad ideas. They have added nothing to the original franchise. They have only stripped everything great about a total war series game and replaced it with a game that looks like it could be played on facebook in flash or a web browser.

    Without going into major detail the game has been simplified into basically a really bad RTS game. No longer will you weight the consequences of capturing a settlement with a lacking economy or raiding outlying buildings of your neighbor. Everything has been lumped together and simplified without any thought to the imbalances between factions this could cause. The battles themselves (which is all you'll be doing) end up as a blob of troops fighting where the opposition breaks and runs early regardless of odds. And like running your enemies down for xp afterwards? Hope you enjoy scanning the map for each individual troop because there is no mini map. I could go on and on but I will sum it up as this:

    Even when this game works flawlessly (which it doesnt for many), it is still an incredibly simple and boring game lacking all the details that makes a total war game unique.

    This game is a crime against nature only to be enjoyed by 12 year olds on their parents ipads.    … Expand
  75. Fedozzo
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    This game is commercial garbage.
    Unplayable, graphics and gameplay simplified, arcadized and NO tactic at all.
    Capture point? WTF is this, a hsitorical strategy serious game or a arcade-console-casual game?
    It's pure it's the worst abort I everseen in my gaming life, is the biggest delusion of the year.
    DON'T BUY THIS ALPHA-ARCADE-PIECEOF**** and install Rome I.
  76. hhslf
    Sep 3, 2013
    4
    Awful performance, probably the worst Total War AI ever (and that's saying a lot), graphics are nothing like the Siege of Carthage video even on max settings (probably mostly due to performance issues), a lot of reskinned units (every faction gets skirmishers, light infantry, heavy infantry etc., they're not functionally different in any way), battle formations collapse on contact becauseAwful performance, probably the worst Total War AI ever (and that's saying a lot), graphics are nothing like the Siege of Carthage video even on max settings (probably mostly due to performance issues), a lot of reskinned units (every faction gets skirmishers, light infantry, heavy infantry etc., they're not functionally different in any way), battle formations collapse on contact because you have less control over your units, and battles are over too quickly. Another horrendously botched Creative Assembly launch, they should have learned by now not to release unfinished games. I'm sure that performance and graphics issues will be patched in time (but with CA's record I expect it to take months). The major issue for me is that the game has been made more casual, CA has clearly made an effort to attract a larger audience by making the game more cinematic and less historic and layered. I've come to this conclusion because tactics are less important due to formations collapsing almost instantly (even hoplites and Roman legions quickly descend into a blob of hacking one on one animations), no fire at will mode for many units with javelins (such as Roman heavy infantry, you won't be able to control when they throw their pila, they do it only on a charge now), no guard mode (meaning your units will mindlessly chase hostiles they've driven off even if you don't want them to), and very quick battle times (if you know a thing or two about tactics you will make any difficulty AI route in under 10 minutes, even fighting against full stack armies). In short CA have made the change to more casual game play, this accompanied by a buggy launch has made R2TW lackluster at this point. If you're interested in battle tactics more than seeing epic Hollywood battles (which will get boring quickly), you should look to other Total War games. Rome 1 is still very playable, extremely deep and satisfying, especially with all the love and care modders have added.… Expand
  77. ConorEngelb
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Rome 2 is a dumbed down version of Rome 1. The UI is a mess and the whole game feels gawky to me. Sure the graphics are nicer but I prefer original Rome gameplay.
  78. jkaiser
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Terrible not even playable, i get 4 FPS and i was able to run shogun on ultra. The game badly needs optimizing and the limitations on armies is stupid and a step backwards for the franchise
  79. JoshW
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I've played it for 8 hours before uninstalling it but I really tried to like the game. It should be called Total Wait: Rome II... Seriously, ending turns takes somewhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Terrible AI, boring gameplay. It's got nothing to do with Shogun 2. I've actually played all games, since the original Shogun and it felt like Activision bought this franchise (BlizzardI've played it for 8 hours before uninstalling it but I really tried to like the game. It should be called Total Wait: Rome II... Seriously, ending turns takes somewhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Terrible AI, boring gameplay. It's got nothing to do with Shogun 2. I've actually played all games, since the original Shogun and it felt like Activision bought this franchise (Blizzard someone?). This game has disappointed me as much as Diablo 3 did. Total Waste of 60 bucks...… Expand
  80. VotingForSticks
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    Rome 2 is unfortunately a disappointment. Essentially the battles are a disorganized mess and over in 5 minutes. I don't feel I am a general in this game as victory is assured by simply clicking attack, with the scope for strategy and tactics severely limited.

    The strategy map on the other hand is quite easy to deal with, and the strategy AI certainly has improved over Shogun 2. However    Rome 2 is unfortunately a disappointment. Essentially the battles are a disorganized mess and over in 5 minutes. I don't feel I am a general in this game as victory is assured by simply clicking attack, with the scope for strategy and tactics severely limited.

    The strategy map on the other hand is quite easy to deal with, and the strategy AI certainly has improved over Shogun 2. However the user interface is a bit clunky.

    The game as a whole is fairly bug free, however it is poorly optimized. My computer exceeds the recommended specs but still struggles to run this game in the lowest graphical settings. Overall, if you are looking for a good Total War style/strategy game, don't buy this game!    … Expand
  81. Allentrorn99
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Such a disappointment since there was so much hype I paid full price, in fact pre purchased and they just over complicated the UI. The new mechanics are horrible. what happened? If you played Shogun 2 this would be considered a big slap to your face. All of these dishonest reviews that hide the fact that it's obviously bugged a lot. No cut scenes to make it immersed like Shogun 2.Such a disappointment since there was so much hype I paid full price, in fact pre purchased and they just over complicated the UI. The new mechanics are horrible. what happened? If you played Shogun 2 this would be considered a big slap to your face. All of these dishonest reviews that hide the fact that it's obviously bugged a lot. No cut scenes to make it immersed like Shogun 2. Creative Assembly said they had 40% more of a budget in this game. I wonder what they spent it on definitely not the game maybe instead on the photo editing they used on the pics they released. Or the trailers maybe even for their hotels or casinos. Everything they said that built up our expectations are lies, ALL OF THEM!!! Well I know these bugs can be patched but they should of known when they released it. It seems Creative Assembly used their interns to do the A.I. Well... "Rome wasn't built in a day," but it seems this game was made in a day.… Expand
  82. Lex_Luger
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    This game has a massive cpu bottleneck. No cpu at stock speed is fast enough to run this game, espeically siege battles involving capitol cities.

    From what i hear this game only uses 4 threads. Hyperthreaded 4 core cpu's run faster with hyperthreading turned off. If the game is bottlenecking on fast 4 core cpu's, dont even think about trying to run this game with 2 core cpu. Also, since    This game has a massive cpu bottleneck. No cpu at stock speed is fast enough to run this game, espeically siege battles involving capitol cities.

    From what i hear this game only uses 4 threads. Hyperthreaded 4 core cpu's run faster with hyperthreading turned off. If the game is bottlenecking on fast 4 core cpu's, dont even think about trying to run this game with 2 core cpu. Also, since game can only use 4 threads, AMD 8000 series FX cpu's dont stand a chance unless overclocked to the moon.

    To put it into perspective, my intel 2500k processor at 4.8 had a bottleneck on the main cpu thread. It was running at 100 percent, with other 3 cores running at about 60 percent. So a intel 2500k at 4.8 isnt fast enough to run siege battle properly in this game.

    What I think happened is the game was compiled with SSE 2.0 instuction set in order to ensure max compatibility. Problem is SSE 4 has been out since 2008 and no cpu that isnt a quad has any business trying to run this game. I think if game was recompilied using the most modern instruction set like AVX, people with high end cpu's should be fine. Of course I could be wrong and game is already using latest cpu instructions, but I doubt it.

    Also Creative Assembly has already come out and blamed AMD and Nvidia for poor graphics drivers, which I believe is completly untrue. Yes, you need new drivers for crossfire and SLI, but single cards wont be seeing massive performance increase from new driver alone. CA has done this many times in the past. Medieval 2 had a problem with blob shadows on Nvidia dx10 hardware. CA came out and blamed nvidia for over a year until finally THEY FIXED the problem with the medieval 2 expansion kingdoms. (and never patched fix into main game)

    It wouldnt be the first game to include a AVX exec, as GRID 2 already has one, and it runs fine.    … Expand
  83. uziel
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    ehhhh.... poor graphics (ugly sometimes water, trees, commanders`s faces), poor performance, too fast foot mobile units, sometimes stupid AI. rest is good
  84. Matrosen
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I have played this series since 2004 and i am shocked this game is so bad.It is essentially a reskinned Shogun II that manages to run worse,look worse and feel worse even when they had a massive amount of money which seems to have went on PR and false reviews

    Firstly the promise of slower grittier battles never happened and battles are so fast they are over in no time at all giving the    I have played this series since 2004 and i am shocked this game is so bad.It is essentially a reskinned Shogun II that manages to run worse,look worse and feel worse even when they had a massive amount of money which seems to have went on PR and false reviews

    Firstly the promise of slower grittier battles never happened and battles are so fast they are over in no time at all giving the user a huge load time wait and feeling underwhelmed.Units are also quite small and unmoddable at around 160 per unit.And the unit movement speeds are just insane with horses running with wild cheetas.There is a huge ugly and intrusive UI blocking most of the up close action when you control 40 units which is supposed to be a huge new feature.    … Expand
  85. RichDE
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I paid 55 euros for horrible beta with tons of bugs? Nice. Ok, I can handle that, not first time.

    But wait.... why they removed tons of thing such as: Avatar mode, Family Tree(minor thing but fun), WALLS, normal economy??? An UI is UGLY.

    0/10. Shogun 2 is way better game!
  86. velvetpetanimal
    Sep 3, 2013
    2
    Horrible UI.
    Horrendously confusing unit cards.
    Poorly optimized.
    Fix the triremes.
    Where is my guard button.
    Make a unit card that covers half my screen.

    2/10 for releasing.

    Glad I paid 60$ for beta testing.
  87. EroOu
    Sep 3, 2013
    4
    As a long time Total War fan, I was disappointed by this title to say the least.
    Unlike some, I have had absolutely no technical problems, and I'm not basing my judgement on something as petty as that. The technical problems always get fixed later.
    However, I found some of the new "features" quite counter intuitive. For example, the amount of armies you can field is limited (this    As a long time Total War fan, I was disappointed by this title to say the least.
    Unlike some, I have had absolutely no technical problems, and I'm not basing my judgement on something as petty as that. The technical problems always get fixed later.

    However, I found some of the new "features" quite counter intuitive. For example, the amount of armies you can field is limited (this penalizes good players who know how to divide their forces and encourages players to rely on mass.) You can no longer divide an army, not without first starting a new one in the nearest town, then moving that close enough to transfer units. If you want to have specific type of unit in your army, you need to start your own FedEx company (and by doing that, you're committing part of your army capacity, just to get the units you want in the front lines.)

    The information was obviously designed for the GUI, not the other way around. Someone thought that making everything small and inconveniently placed (I got standard GUI scale, 1600x1080) was a good idea. For example, the economy summary that used to fit in one page for easy one look glance, is not in a small box with a scrollbar. Same amount of information, horribly inconvenient to access.
    Unit information cards that used to pop up where you howered over with the mouse are now in the far left corner of the screen, whereas the units you're examining are on bottom center. You'll be looking like MeGusta going through your unit capabilities.
    And what about the tech tree? It is divided to 6 branches, just so you wouldn't notice how boring it is. Shogun 2 FotS had interesting tech tree, interesting and diverse technologies, easy one glance look and you could plan it all out. Now you need to go to 6 different branches, and nothing seems worth researching. But I guess that is just my personal opinion. Someone could think that researching {+Income, -Cost} 5 times in a row for agriculture is interesting and diverse tech tree.

    And of course the AI is derping worse than a mad horse on weed. But I trust that will get fixed, eventually.    … Expand
  88. WillensKraft
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    The AI is still not able to attack or defend a Town properly, even on 'Legendary'.
    - AI pathfinding is still up.
    - The optimization is horrible, it looks worse than Shogun2 but the framerate is unacceptable, even on high end rigs that play BF3/Metro 2033/Crysis3/ArmA3 on ultra with mostly over 60 frames. - Day 1 DLC. That is always a negative thing. - Texture bug, selecting "Extreme"    The AI is still not able to attack or defend a Town properly, even on 'Legendary'.
    - AI pathfinding is still up.
    - The optimization is horrible, it looks worse than Shogun2 but the framerate is unacceptable, even on high end rigs that play BF3/Metro 2033/Crysis3/ArmA3 on ultra with mostly over 60 frames.
    - Day 1 DLC. That is always a negative thing.
    - Texture bug, selecting "Extreme" settings does nothing although I have 3GB Vram and yes, I enabled "unlimited Vram" in the settings. Doesn't do ****
    - Round endings/CPU calculations for the AI factions: >2.5min in the mid/late game, this is a problem from Empire TW and hasn't been fixed since then (Empire, Napoleon, Shogun2, FotS). It only gets worse because they increased the factions.
    - No SLI/CFX support.
    - Day 1 patch, releasing unfinished software.
    (-) possible DLCs in the feature.
    - UI is just a massive joke. Is this ment to be played with a Gamepad?! Shogun 2 was good. Don't change what ain't broken CA.
    -Unit cards look as if they hired cavemen to draw them. They look terrible and they are useless if want to know how each unit looks like.
    - Battles take less than 5 minutes, enemys rout after less than a minute after they started fighting.
    - For some reason the Roman Legions turn into massive blobs upon contact although that's what made the Roman army special and superior unlike the barbarian factions.
    -They removed alot of features such as lose or tight formations, hold ground etc
    - Random flag in a ground battle as defender. Who had this brilliant idea?! Imagine You are outnumbered 3:1..what would you do? Go on a Hill and defend it? Oh you can't because there is a ****ing flag randomly spawning, mostly on open ground that changes this great tactical franchise into a capture the flag blob war with no strategy what so ****ing ever.
    - Testudo formation is broken, you take less casulties charging towards the enemy.
    - The campaign AI is just ridiculous, I'm 130 turns in and not a single time someone declared war on me and I don't even bothered building fortifications on my borders. This game is called Total War. Also the trade AI will refuse to accept win-win offers.
    - alot of people who pre-ordered this on amazon don't got their free DLC code. SEGA says it's the retailers fault, they say SEGA never gave them codes.
    - MP is completly broken, desync errors everywhere. We already had this error in Empire.. but it was rare..
    - COOP campaign is unplayable, for some unknown reason the AI turns take almost 3 times longer than in the SP.
    - the free transport ships from the Campaign map are OP compared to expansive Navy ships from your harbour. Just head-on ram them with your transporter and they break!
    - Naval combat in general is unbalanced and bugged.

    As a "true" fan of Rome 1 with over 1500h playtime I am more than disappointed. This is a step backwards from Shogun 2 and even worse than Empire TWs release.

    Sadly I joined the hype and waisted 55€ (~80 USD).    … Expand
  89. Affiliator
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    If one would somehow extract the residue of gold atoms in the sweat of my arm pit and make a tiny gold nugget out of it, it would be worth more than the value of this game right now.

    I am a sweaty man.
  90. ecapone1
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    I WAS a big fan of the total war series (played every game since the first one), but unfortunately although I'm not an expert, I have to admit this game is really bad. AI is no AI at all, multiplayer simply doesn't work, coop campaign neither. CA has released this game far too early. I would have waited another year to get a good game, but THIS game is just UNACCEPTABLE. Goodbye CA.
  91. ChingPowWingWow
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    This is going to be a very detailed review of the game, it was a huge disappointment so far for me. For readabilitys sake this is the things that I (and most other people) hate about the game

    -Retarded AI -Capture Points, The AI will neglect your army and go to the capture points straight and even sometimes break throuh your superior forces -Graphic issues (CA has announced a patch on    This is going to be a very detailed review of the game, it was a huge disappointment so far for me. For readabilitys sake this is the things that I (and most other people) hate about the game

    -Retarded AI
    -Capture Points, The AI will neglect your army and go to the capture points straight and even sometimes break throuh your superior forces
    -Graphic issues (CA has announced a patch on that one though), soldiers faces look incredibly stupid even on ultra
    -Balance Issues (Some factions are so overpowered that there is simply no fun found in battling with or against them)
    -Formations break after a few seconds (Even in phalanx the soldiers will break out of formation and shuffle around the map weirdly)
    -Insane battle speed (The battles are over even faster than in Shogun 2, I had no battle over 10 minutes so far)
    -Immersive Feeling Lost (No family tree, Recruitable generals, etc.)
    -Bugs (Roman units can't throw pila except when attacking, Phalanx units can't attack or will go out of phalanx)
    -Ridiculously bad UI (It takes up half of your screen and is totally dumbed down, there isn't even loose formation or guard mode!)
    -The power bar is out of control, the balance of forces is totally against you on the campaign map, but on the battlefield your power bar occupies 90%, what is that?)

    Me and most other people feel this way, I was overly excited. This game stil has some potential though, as long as CA decides to get on their asses and fix all those gamebreaking things.
    I give it a 4/10 as it is right now and will look forward to future patches and user overhauls. I really hope that this game gets fixed, at the moment it is absolutely unplayable for me.    … Expand
  92. Jokkie
    Sep 8, 2013
    2
    The only people who like this game are the same type of people that liked Star Wars: Episode I when it came out.

    ::Greek States are DLC ("free" if you pre-ordered). That right there is a huge warning sign seeing as Greeks were very relevant in Roman history, but are sold as a DLC faction. ::Unit card art, although a cool concept, are not varied and small enough for the player's    The only people who like this game are the same type of people that liked Star Wars: Episode I when it came out.

    ::Greek States are DLC ("free" if you pre-ordered). That right there is a huge warning sign seeing as Greeks were very relevant in Roman history, but are sold as a DLC faction.

    ::Unit card art, although a cool concept, are not varied and small enough for the player's peripheral vision. This is especially important seeing as they placed great emphasis on unit abilities; which feel more like activating abilities for your MMO character.

    ::I press enter to chat, but nothing happens. You have to open a separate chat box which takes up the already limited space on your screen. It should be easy and convenient.

    ::The battle flow doesn't feel right. The walking speed and double time speed don't match up. Units also rout too easily, but the rout doesn't affect nearby units enough.

    ::The graphics scale horribly. The lower settings for Rome 2 will look much worse than Shogun 2 at max.

    ::No guard mode or loose formation.

    ::No faction intro or agent videos.

    ::Terrible online balance. They made it way too easy to acquire powerful units, making for boring army compositions. Players who try to bring something different to the table will get punished. Army compositions usually consist of heavy melee infantry with cav, no ranged or specialty units.

    I could go on and on.

    Save your money. This isn't a kick starter project. I put a score of 2 for the cool animations, which is pretty much the only enjoyment I got out of this beta mix alpha.    … Expand
  93. supercrackpuppy
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    I have waited years for this game ever since it's announcement and i am surly disappointed we have the modern version of empire total war it sucks. Where to begin they have taken out core features of the total war franchise i can't move army's and units independent of generals on the campaign map anymore. Therefore i can not leave a garrison force in cities to protect them i have lost 2I have waited years for this game ever since it's announcement and i am surly disappointed we have the modern version of empire total war it sucks. Where to begin they have taken out core features of the total war franchise i can't move army's and units independent of generals on the campaign map anymore. Therefore i can not leave a garrison force in cities to protect them i have lost 2 cities to this already. You have a max number of armys and they all need generals the new imperium system sucks. As-long as my economy can support them i should be able to have as many army's as i dame well please. Also not mentioning the Ai is not effected bye this system at all i found myself the roman empire only able to have 4 army's while a 1 province county is sporting 6 massive army's. Now lets get to the technical stuff the game is poorly optimized. I have a 2600k i7 quad core a gtx 660 ti and 6 gigs of ram pretty standard mid range build. The optimization is so bad that i cannot run the game on anything higher than low without getting under ten frames. And get this on low i am lucky if i hold 20 to 25 frames not to mention constant lag spikes. I have had units run through enemy units and not engage there was one battle were i could not get my units to engage they were not routing they would not move. I have also experienced major texture issues and before anyone asks no my graphics card is not having artafacting this only occurs in Rome 2. Overall i am extremely disappointed and this game was over hyped and is not worth 60 in it's current state. Most of the technical issues will be fixed after a year of patches. At this point i am so fed up and want a refund. I will now go play other strategy games that surpass this like erurope universallis IV and Hearts of iron 3. Also on a side note i am a vet to the total war series i have been hear since shogun total war the first one… Expand
  94. Bangell
    Sep 3, 2013
    2
    This is not a game this is a beta. With optimisation issues that make it unplayable more often than not, Rome 2 is so broken it's a disgrace it was allowed to be released in this state. Aside from the frankly game-breaking performance issues, the gameplay is a real step down from previous titles. The AI is as incompetent as ever. The campaign map has been taken in completely the wrongThis is not a game this is a beta. With optimisation issues that make it unplayable more often than not, Rome 2 is so broken it's a disgrace it was allowed to be released in this state. Aside from the frankly game-breaking performance issues, the gameplay is a real step down from previous titles. The AI is as incompetent as ever. The campaign map has been taken in completely the wrong direction, with all areas of gameplay dumbed down, and soul-sapping load times rubbing it in. Battles are simply no fun to play. Combat is resolved in minutes, with units destroying each other near-instantaneously. The array of stupid unit abilities emphasises the arcade-like nature of the battles.

    I won't go into the host of minor complaints with the game. Creative Assembly have released an unfinished product that you SHOULD NOT BUY. Those of us who have bought the game now wait for CA to fix the performance issues and independent modders to fix the gameplay. You decide for yourself if this is the state a game should be in at release, and whether this is the sort of product that you should pay for.    … Expand
  95. rotwfighter
    Sep 3, 2013
    3
    The reviewing companies were obviously paid off. What CA has released is a bug riddled, unoriginal waste of hard disk space. The few positive changes made by Shogun 2 have been reverted, high end systems can't even play it (not because of graphical requirements but because of some error), AI is broken-- as usual to the point where non aggression pacts or trade agreements are basicallyThe reviewing companies were obviously paid off. What CA has released is a bug riddled, unoriginal waste of hard disk space. The few positive changes made by Shogun 2 have been reverted, high end systems can't even play it (not because of graphical requirements but because of some error), AI is broken-- as usual to the point where non aggression pacts or trade agreements are basically impossible to negotiate. All in all, it's the same old wine in a new bottle. I'm off to play the Shogun 2 Sekigahara campaign till patches fix Rome 2. See you all in 2014.… Expand
  96. harry74
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    After playing all day I need to admit that this game is very different what developers promised. Optimization doesnt exist at and graphics look not great. Gameplay is very messy and many things just missing. I regret preordering this game. I was fooled by their marketing campaign.
  97. ILoveKitKats
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Have a 780 GTX, i7 3770k, 16GB RAM. Can't run on extreme/ultra at all, in battles it drops to 10 FPS. I put it between medium and very high and I manage stable 30 FPS in fights. Disappointing. Campaign map has FPS drops consistently also. Using Xsplit I was above to see that after an hour I'd dropped over 10,000 frames. Without Xsplit I have the same FPS issues.

    Tried all fixes    Have a 780 GTX, i7 3770k, 16GB RAM. Can't run on extreme/ultra at all, in battles it drops to 10 FPS. I put it between medium and very high and I manage stable 30 FPS in fights. Disappointing. Campaign map has FPS drops consistently also. Using Xsplit I was above to see that after an hour I'd dropped over 10,000 frames. Without Xsplit I have the same FPS issues.

    Tried all fixes configurations possible, doesn't work and the game has no release SLI support. New UI is bloated, pretentious and non-informative. Non-decipherable Egyptian icons for every button leave you hovering over every button to know what it does. Lack of information bad space management leave it frustrating.

    In battle UI, unit cards take up 30%+ of the screen and use the same bad Egyptian art-style, makes the game unplayable.

    Also false advertisement, the two game play YouTube videos released compare nothing to the game, highest settings don't reflect what you can pull even with a 780 GTX or a titan. Perhaps with SLI support you can but dual SLI titans to run this game on highest settings? I can max out any other game on the market...

    Shambles of a game, suspect it's still in beta and we're just doing mass testing. I've played nearly every other total war and the UI is just a game ruining feature, Shogun 2 kept all the information correct while having their "Stylistic" UI that they wanted. They should have kept the same thing, nobody complained so why fix what isn't broken.

    I'd recommend you save your money if you can, they've claimed they'll patch the game but that doesn't excuse releasing and incomplete game.

    0/10: Avoid at all costs.    … Expand
  98. Woopya
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Let me start by saying I am a fan of the previous TW games for about 5 years. This however, barely qualifies. They tried to streamline the game and failed miserably. Since getting the game a couple days ago they have patched more than a couple times. I would like to be clear here: if your game is not ready to be played, don't release it. This game is full of bugs. Most notably the game hasLet me start by saying I am a fan of the previous TW games for about 5 years. This however, barely qualifies. They tried to streamline the game and failed miserably. Since getting the game a couple days ago they have patched more than a couple times. I would like to be clear here: if your game is not ready to be played, don't release it. This game is full of bugs. Most notably the game has a nice little feature where out of nowhere it "alt tabs" out of the game. This is not something only I am experiencing either. It wouldn't be a problem if you could simply alt tab back, but often you cannot.

    As for the game itself, wow I don't know what to say. In my heart I think that they realized they should try to hurry this game out prior to the new consoles systems due out in a couple months. I am not sure why because traditional TW fans would not be affected by consoles. I feel when Im playing it that the various nation "campaigns" are a lot more scripted than previous games and I hate it. It ruins replayablity. I kept Medieval Tw on my Comp for years and loves Shogun 2. I would play either 1 of those with my butt cheeks before I would play this money grab garbage. Releases this bad ruin great titles and make customers like me not want to trust those developers again.    … Expand
  99. m0ngy
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Well, I've been (trying to) play this for a day and a night, and I can officially confirm this game is an absolute POS. I don't even had too many technical problems, a few, but my opinion is based solely on the experience of the game thus far. Here are some of my observations;

    i. Where the hell are the seasons? Even Rome I had seasons, and that was ten years ago! ii. OK, so the turns    Well, I've been (trying to) play this for a day and a night, and I can officially confirm this game is an absolute POS. I don't even had too many technical problems, a few, but my opinion is based solely on the experience of the game thus far. Here are some of my observations;

    i. Where the hell are the seasons? Even Rome I had seasons, and that was ten years ago!

    ii. OK, so the turns advance a whole year, which means my generals drop like flies. Just when they increase rank and you think they're getting somewhere, boom, they're dead. Awesome... NOT!

    iii. Battle are just blob on blob, there's far less battle strategy than I've ever seen in any TW game, and I've been playing since the original Shogun. They just end up in a huge, blob on blob sh!t fight, where's the strategy in that??

    iv. Do units get tired anymore? Who knows, they've dropped that all altogether!

    v. Do units slow down according to the terrain? Apparently not, because they appear to advance up hills at lightning speed. Gone are the days of having a decent missile squad up the hill raining death, great, how fun?

    vi. The new interface for combining units is appallingly bad, who the hell thought this garbage up? What was wrong with dragging and dropping, how can you go wrong with that? What where you thinking CA, FFS??

    vii. Again, what the hell is up with food? I'm a master of Civ, the only compatible game. One of the best things about Civ is you know what you're going to get when you build something, or neglect to build something, it's all right there in the numbers. In Rome II, indeed most TW games, the 'economy' and 'food' remain completely ephemeral. You don't really have clue what's going on most of the time. Instead of planning your economy and carefully balancing your unit count with building upgrades, you're just running around fixing things after the fact, the entire time. Oh, that cities unhappy and the citizens are rioting, for no apparent reason! Who knows why these things happen in the TW universe, they just do, and there's sweet FA you can do to pre-empt it. This entirely reactionary approach means you're spending most of your time putting out spot fires, so to speak, instead of getting down to business and taking territory.

    viii. The 'help tool' or dictionary isn't very helpful either.

    ix. The unit cards are garbage, just more poorly presented, useless information.

    x. And the AI... LOL, the poor old AI... I actually feel sorry for it, I really do. I'd buy this AI flowers and give it a hug, God knows it needs one. Easily the worst AI of any TW game I've ever seen, and that's saying something.

    xi. No guard mode! WTF? How the hell could they have removed guard mode? So, now my units will midlessly chase down fleeing enemy instead of holding formation with the rest of my army? Great, more micro management, and they're actually saying the AI's improved in the marketing spiel? Can I get my money back for false advertising? I'd upload this crap back to Steam if I could.

    xii. Very limited armies and units. In every other TW game you could field as many units and armies as your population could support, which was a lot. You could also divide up your armies as you liked; leave half to garrison the town, and take the rest out on an expedition to scout around... Not anymore, none of it, it's all gone, everything has been simplified specifically to cater for idiot noobs. What a sick joke.

    I could go on... and on... it's a HUGE step back from Shogun II, a massive, unfathomable dumbing-down for casual gamers. All the years of technical and gameplay innovation and that led up to and was perfectly distilled in Shogun II is GONE. It's just GONE, forget about it, it may as well have never happened.

    You know, there's a reason why EA has 'won' the worst corporation in America award two years in a row. They're greedy scum, and this is a prefect example. They've simply rehashed the old Rome, jazzed-up the graphics a bit, screwed-up the interface (severely), and sold it as something new. EA/CA have clearly attempted to 'casualize' one of the few remaining strategy franchises that had any depth, any soul left at all. Gone are the layers of depth and refinement forged over so many years and various iterations, in favour of streamlining and easy conversion to Xbox One. I mean, really, we all shoulda seen it coming, it was only a matter of time.

    Well, shame on you CA for releasing this un-optimized filth, and shame on me for falling for the unbelievable marketing hype surrounding this absolute POS game.

    Please, don't buy this game. Don't reward CA/EA for treating their customers like mugs and releasing a half finished product simply because they know we'll buy it. I pre-ordered it, but you have the benefit of reading posts and review such as this, honest reviews, not the paid-off drivel spouted by so many 'professional' review sites. Just don't do it, have some self control.

    I'm going to try and get a refund through Paypal. Dispute opened...    … Expand
  100. ShimazduRio
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    So far the biggest disappointment of 2013. Instead of improving and adding new features to the game, CA made everything more casual. I don't understand all these talks about huge budget, this game is lame shadow of old TW games.

    People don't buy this game. It is very bad!
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
7
#7 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 71
  3. Negative: 7 out of 71
  1. Worth Playing
    Nov 18, 2013
    74
    The game is far less polished than Shogun 2, and a few more patches will help, but Rome II is still a flawed game that is underwhelming when compared to previous titles in the franchise.
    Read full review
  2. PCGamesN
    Nov 6, 2013
    70
    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.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 28, 2013
    40
    If you will play literally anything featuring Total War and Rome in the same title and don't value your time, this is for you. [Nov 2013, p.80]
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