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. Dabisha
    Mar 8, 2015
    0
    After more then 300 hours of frustrating, today I remove this garbage from my PC. When I thought that Creative Assembly touch the bottom with Shogun 2 TW, they sunk more deeper with Rome 2. RTS game? if in Rome 2 exist any strategy then pinball is strategic game too. AI is retarded, diplomacy does not exist at all, behave of AI faction in game is insane, when you control almost 3/4 of mapAfter more then 300 hours of frustrating, today I remove this garbage from my PC. When I thought that Creative Assembly touch the bottom with Shogun 2 TW, they sunk more deeper with Rome 2. RTS game? if in Rome 2 exist any strategy then pinball is strategic game too. AI is retarded, diplomacy does not exist at all, behave of AI faction in game is insane, when you control almost 3/4 of map "powerful" nation which holding one and only settlement offering you non aggression pact and ask money from you, every 2-3 turns, 2-3 small factions declare war on you, AI factions jumping over map and control one province in Asia minor and second in northern Europe, enemy units jumping over 5-6 territories to attack you, to get trade agreement you need a miracle, every turn is disrupt with some idiotic proposal and I could counting bad things until tomorrow. Grand campaign is insane too, objectives which you must fulfill are enormously, you need six month to finish single player grand campaign. They transform once great RTS game in some kind of shooting game.… Expand
  2. rBose
    Feb 28, 2015
    0
    Decided to give it another try after almost 2 years in the "patching" process where they have sprayed numerous doses of huge "improvements" that actually aren't there.

    I played day1 and stopped immediately once I witnessed how **** up the game is, I think it was released as a **** alpha and I played the latest version a few days ago, fully patched, the only thing I could definitely    Decided to give it another try after almost 2 years in the "patching" process where they have sprayed numerous doses of huge "improvements" that actually aren't there.

    I played day1 and stopped immediately once I witnessed how **** up the game is, I think it was released as a **** alpha and I played the latest version a few days ago, fully patched, the only thing I could definitely notice was the huge fps improvement, other that this nothing seems fixed.

    The AI is like a miniature retarded puppet that twitches and freezes whenever you give him orders, there are thousands of pathfinding issues.

    Uninstall and find something else to fill your time with, this **** is not even worth pirating.    … Expand
  3. Sansonite
    Feb 28, 2015
    9
    The score must change, because many people vote negative in the begining of the game, was horrible, but the game has been updated and fixed really nice, love this game so much, you will enjoy the fights between civilizations a far :D can play now coop campaigns, the score must be minimun 80- 85
  4. ttnordbo
    Feb 26, 2015
    0
    The total war series has dwindled and now they just pump new ones out with better grahpics and minimal additions otherwise. In fact, I much prefer playing medieval 2 total war these days, as its actually fun to play.
  5. sowingsadness
    Feb 22, 2015
    1
    Broken onslaught.
    No diplomacy.
    Strange boring stylistic.
    Very useless generals in battle.
    To strange power of veterans. Do not affect to the battle.

    Do not buy this game.
  6. simon665
    Feb 21, 2015
    4
    I very much looked forward to this game. I spent countless hours playing it. At one point, playing as Rome, I controlled all of Europe and most of North Africa. Just as I was getting ready to invade Greece, the number of rebellions in rear areas was simply out of control. In out of the places, like the northern Baltic, small settlements could rebel and create armies that were moreI very much looked forward to this game. I spent countless hours playing it. At one point, playing as Rome, I controlled all of Europe and most of North Africa. Just as I was getting ready to invade Greece, the number of rebellions in rear areas was simply out of control. In out of the places, like the northern Baltic, small settlements could rebel and create armies that were more powerful and larger than anything I could field. How elephants can magically show up here is beyond fantasy. Also, the covert actions were far more organized by my various enemies than could be believed. Within a few turns northern Italy, most of Spain and the Baltic states were lost to vast armies that magically appeared. It would have been nice to have been warned, but even if you were, these rear area revolts were simply too strong. A turn or two later Rome fell and I lost interest in this game. If I were to suggest an improvement to the game, I would allow the building or improvement of fortifications of settlements. This would have stopped the loss of far flung outposts because they were just too weak to defend against huge rebel armies. I will not go into the poor AI in the battles, many people have already done that. The Roman army was famous for building structures like forts and defenses, this is lacking in this game.… Expand
  7. Kotmalevich
    Feb 17, 2015
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Terrible mechanics, enemy agent a permanent stop my army and the enemy was able to capture two of my main city, after which I lost and then went out and departed this game. HOW? As a small bum could stop an army of thousands of people for 5 years? !!!! 1 day maybe 2 days, too, the week is almost impossible, but not f***ing 5 YEARS!… Expand
  8. remzi
    Feb 17, 2015
    0
    It's more like Total Fail, than Total War. No in depth diplomatic systems, no in depth political system, just random actions.

    My god, this was the worse Total War game I ever played, I really don't understand what's going with CA, Shogun 2 was really amazing and I thought I could only get better, but I didn't knew how creedy SEGA was, the ruined everything.
  9. vence
    Feb 12, 2015
    5
    This game is the perfect example for future generations of how a franchise with an epic legacy is run down to the ground, for what purpose ? to cater to console kids that want their games with no brain activity in them and to make more money, making ok money is not enough WE WANT MORE ALWAYS MORE $$$$
  10. citizen-ychoux
    Feb 12, 2015
    5
    Rome 2 at release was a shame. A broken product, served by an even more shameful DLC policy and PR management. It deserved all the hatred it got.

    More than 1 year after, 16 patches in, game is much better, but still not great. It has good features, is technically okay (not good, just okay), but its has just to many issues: 1/ AI far from good 2/ Politics useless and worthless 3/    Rome 2 at release was a shame. A broken product, served by an even more shameful DLC policy and PR management. It deserved all the hatred it got.

    More than 1 year after, 16 patches in, game is much better, but still not great. It has good features, is technically okay (not good, just okay), but its has just to many issues:

    1/ AI far from good
    2/ Politics useless and worthless
    3/ Terrible music
    4/ Way too much focus on units "magic abilities". Stop it CA, Total War is NOT a micromanagement game.
    5/ No atmosphere, no historical facts, no family tree, no description. Just barebone gameplay, and nothing more.

    Rome 2 could have been the best Total War ever. Without mods, it's one of the worst. With Divide et Impera, it's enjoyable, but it could have been so much better.    … Expand
  11. neigenoire
    Jan 29, 2015
    1
    I disliked the game because of the combat mostly. It just feels so weird and fake compared to the older titles (Medieval 2, Rome I). I can't really put my finger on it, but the battles just feel bad, the blobbing, the collisions, nothing feels or looks good... In M2 when your cav charged into the flanks of the enemy army, it felt impactful and snappy. In this game it looks very week andI disliked the game because of the combat mostly. It just feels so weird and fake compared to the older titles (Medieval 2, Rome I). I can't really put my finger on it, but the battles just feel bad, the blobbing, the collisions, nothing feels or looks good... In M2 when your cav charged into the flanks of the enemy army, it felt impactful and snappy. In this game it looks very week and not epic in any way whatsoever. Also, the AI acts very weirdly sometimes and generally feels like no progress has been done in that regard. All in all, not feeling this installation of TW.… Expand
  12. LaughingSam
    Jan 27, 2015
    3
    A very disappointing entry in the serious marginally improved by a years worth of patching. Sieges are still horrendous affairs, but not in the way we all hoped for, and naval battles are essentially unplayable. The political system may as well not exist for all the impact it has on your game, and why would you care about being emperor anyway when you've got no stinkin' family?!
  13. DamienOlivera
    Jan 27, 2015
    10
    Just like Rome wasn't built in a day, so was this game.

    This is by far my favorite Total War game. Everyone praises "Shogun II" but this is in my honest opinion, my favorite. It expands on so much and has so many new benefits that trump the older games. Of course there were going to be bugs in the beginning, what does one expect? It's pretty much every modern video game company    Just like Rome wasn't built in a day, so was this game.

    This is by far my favorite Total War game. Everyone praises "Shogun II" but this is in my honest opinion, my favorite.

    It expands on so much and has so many new benefits that trump the older games.

    Of course there were going to be bugs in the beginning, what does one expect?

    It's pretty much every modern video game company does: release it with so many glitches and so many bugs, that at times, it's unplayable.

    I have seen the glitches, I have seen the bugs on forums and so forth. And thus I just waited.

    And the wait was all worth it.

    I for one don't agree with video game companies doing releasing games that are not even playable and releasing it to the markets, but at the very least, this game was done with great ambition. And for that, I applaud them.

    For in the end, it is indeed my favorite Total War in the series.

    They fixed the AI, they fixed the bugs, and it runs beautifully. I have over 200 hours on it and still counting. And I will keep at it.    … Expand
  14. Atr0s
    Jan 22, 2015
    2
    Every problem was brought up unchanged from the previous game and added up with new ones thanks for many half-tested features. While some of these problems have been fixed, like the complete absence of AI to deal with specific but regular situations (like sieges) the problems intrinsic to the engine still stand. All big fights devolve into 1v1 duels like in Shogun II (no single unit can beEvery problem was brought up unchanged from the previous game and added up with new ones thanks for many half-tested features. While some of these problems have been fixed, like the complete absence of AI to deal with specific but regular situations (like sieges) the problems intrinsic to the engine still stand. All big fights devolve into 1v1 duels like in Shogun II (no single unit can be attacked by more than one unit), making melee battles last than it reasonably should (even if it's one elite survivor against a whole mob). The battle mechanics also changed unreasonably from the previous Rome title, turning pikemen in phalanx from the previous unpassable wall to a murder machine to anything that dares a frontal assault and making some hybrid units only able to use ammunition when charging. The siege machines also have an absurd degree of precision for its time, particularly when using first-person mode (you can actually point the general location you want your projectile to land, unlike Shogun II on which you had to guess its trajectory based on angle and distance). The naval battles, the first big "improvement" to the series (marines, for the first time, can disembark and help in land battles), also suffer from the same problems as land battles during boarding (1v1 duels), boarding can't be disengaged under any circumstance and several glitches still plague it (jumping marines for example, on which your tripulation jumped off ship as a boarding action, only to inexplicably fly high and drown by landing on the sea). If it wasn't enough, the ONLY thing worthwhile about voice acting in this game is Mark Strong as the narrator as they didn't bother with the factions languages (not even making a fake eastern/greek/latin/celtic-esque accent) unlike the previous titles.

    All in all, it's a poor Total War game. Stick to the previous titles as they didn't have as many killjoy bugs as this one. CA is offering here a bad product as the graphics will be nowhere as good as trailers show (tons of videos on Youtube to show what this game really looks like on Ultra, with often hilarious results when zooming in the individual units) and most official reviews were done by people paid to put up a good word for the game or too lazy to actually research the previous titles and evaluate the overall improvement (or lack of).    … Expand
  15. reviewobsession
    Jan 21, 2015
    5
    First, I agree with negative reviewers because they are right to be angry as customers who had to wait about one year to get their expensive game fixed.

    If you're not a Total War fan, buy this game. Don't be afraid of bad user reviews, CA fixed the game with too many patches and it's playable now. If you're a Total War fan, there are two things you should consider; "arcade campaign    First, I agree with negative reviewers because they are right to be angry as customers who had to wait about one year to get their expensive game fixed.

    If you're not a Total War fan, buy this game. Don't be afraid of bad user reviews, CA fixed the game with too many patches and it's playable now.

    If you're a Total War fan, there are two things you should consider; "arcade campaign gameplay" and "succesful battle mechanics"(after many patches and tons of scripting). Arcade campaign is too easy because there is no time limit, logistic planning, senate politics and complex city management. I think it's not bad to try new mechanics as a game developer but they lost depth in these systems. On the other hand I have to say diplomacy is much better than older games in the series. Battle system works very good. Battle AI is better than old ROME. Campaign AI is broken so you have to install mods. Nothing to say about graphics and sound, they are great. But UI is still terrible and I'm afraid they won't change it. In spite of problems I'm sure you won't regret when you buy this game because of its epic battles (but don't except challenging campaign and get ready for strange frustrating bugs) Just wait for 70% discount    … Expand
  16. Perun
    Jan 18, 2015
    0
    I have no idea why all "critics" give this game so high scores
    Becasue its huge ass AAA game? So it will get high scores no matter what
    Why only Quarter to Three saw how idiotic game is??? How horrible it is compared to older titles, I dont even start with bugs and crashes, slowdowns and glitches, because after one **** year this game is at least playable (but why would anyone play it    I have no idea why all "critics" give this game so high scores
    Becasue its huge ass AAA game? So it will get high scores no matter what
    Why only Quarter to Three saw how idiotic game is???
    How horrible it is compared to older titles, I dont even start with bugs and crashes, slowdowns and glitches, because after one **** year this game is at least playable (but why would anyone play it is for another story)

    Next game will be Warhammer total war, what the **** this game series died after Medieval 2, with horrible new Warscape engine and transition to causal audience (which is idiotic and half retarded by that scores and sales)
    Empire -idiotic ai, at least enine was good for ranged combat
    Shogun -polished warscape, still retarded melee and arcade-ish combat where your soldiers just mix together into one huge mess
    Rome 2 -total crap (badum tsss)

    I give this game 2 points, one is for funny glitches I had during my short gameplay and one is for hope ...who knows maybe they will return to roots and to their core base ...who am I kidding? its Sega, they will always target wides possible audience and will care about their pockets    … Expand
  17. TheIxianKing
    Dec 31, 2014
    7
    I really liked the game and the whole idea of a faction conquering all the others! Some game mechanics like the civil war or the sieges were really awesome and made the game always interesting. Despite the advantages of the game there are some draw backs too. First fo all, the A.I. of the game isn't really good...
    When it comes to the campaign map, it doesn't think like an army but like a    I really liked the game and the whole idea of a faction conquering all the others! Some game mechanics like the civil war or the sieges were really awesome and made the game always interesting. Despite the advantages of the game there are some draw backs too. First fo all, the A.I. of the game isn't really good...
    When it comes to the campaign map, it doesn't think like an army but like a very sophisticated machine! What I mean is that the game will position its armies like it knew how far your army can go or what units it has! It's a game that you will really like and enjoy! (play with Seleucid or Bactria!!!)    … Expand
  18. ChromeRun
    Dec 28, 2014
    9
    This game has definitely improved to a point to which now it can be considered playable and also fun. I would recommend the game in its current stage.
  19. Shurkhan
    Dec 27, 2014
    1
    This is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a wayThis is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a way around this, but like I said, it is confusing, and not interesting enough to really want to learn it. It might be okay if you aren't expecting a game that is ANYTHING like the original Rome Total War or Medieval Total War. The battle are similar, but the campaign is an entirely different game. I am very disappointed that CA decided to move away from something that really worked.… Expand
  20. Gutenisse
    Dec 26, 2014
    10
    According to Steam, I have played 835 hours of Rome II and I love it. I have never played a game as long as this and I have been playing computer games since the early '90.

    I really liked Rome I, Medieval II and Shogun II, but Rome II excels them all in every way, except the UI, but I got used to it after a few hours. The graphics and sounds are superb and the combat is excellent.    According to Steam, I have played 835 hours of Rome II and I love it. I have never played a game as long as this and I have been playing computer games since the early '90.

    I really liked Rome I, Medieval II and Shogun II, but Rome II excels them all in every way, except the UI, but I got used to it after a few hours.

    The graphics and sounds are superb and the combat is excellent. The AI has been improved over time and is good enough for me, playing on Very Hard.    … Expand
  21. LosingStreak
    Dec 25, 2014
    2
    I gave this game a year to fix itself from the terrible release state but it still has glaring problems.

    Bad UI that fails at showing you unit status whilst at the same time blocking a big part of the screen Poor optimization Confusing unit cards Stale battles due to scripted kill moves Units don't feel like they have weight when they collide Politics suck and is a useless gimmick    I gave this game a year to fix itself from the terrible release state but it still has glaring problems.

    Bad UI that fails at showing you unit status whilst at the same time blocking a big part of the screen
    Poor optimization
    Confusing unit cards
    Stale battles due to scripted kill moves
    Units don't feel like they have weight when they collide
    Politics suck and is a useless gimmick
    No avatar conquest mode    … Expand
  22. orctown-troll
    Dec 20, 2014
    7
    If it runs at all the game is GOOD. The map is big and beautiful. The tactical battles are fun. After that, sad to say there are numerous problems with this game design, so it is not the great game it might have been. I won't get into the details, since others have covered them, but obvious bad points include: instant transports for armies... clunky region development..... excessiveIf it runs at all the game is GOOD. The map is big and beautiful. The tactical battles are fun. After that, sad to say there are numerous problems with this game design, so it is not the great game it might have been. I won't get into the details, since others have covered them, but obvious bad points include: instant transports for armies... clunky region development..... excessive DLC....crappy optimization.… Expand
  23. SamuelDT
    Dec 10, 2014
    8
    Great Game! I am not understanding all the bad reviews. I think this game is quite comparable with the original Rome. Better Graphics. I was almost through the campaign. Long game, can take a bit long each turn. The interface may take a little while to adjust from the differences in the interface in the first Total War Rome.

    I am excited to play again with the Emperor Edition and    Great Game! I am not understanding all the bad reviews. I think this game is quite comparable with the original Rome. Better Graphics. I was almost through the campaign. Long game, can take a bit long each turn. The interface may take a little while to adjust from the differences in the interface in the first Total War Rome.

    I am excited to play again with the Emperor Edition and finally complete the campaign when I have the time.

    I think I would rather play this latest Rome II instead of the original just because of the difference in graphics and visually appealing in battles watching a large line of hundreds of spear-men guarding hundreds of archers coloring the sky with arrows.    … Expand
  24. cylian3
    Dec 8, 2014
    0
    Boy am I glad I didn't pay for this game. Despicable launch issues and disgusting day 1 DLC's aside, Rome 2 is a cancerous mess that took the overall excellent concept from Shogun 2 and fundamentally ruined it entirely. The AI is a bunch of dumb bricks, Tech trees are linear as all hell, generals and agents die every other week from "natural causes" leaving any real character developmentBoy am I glad I didn't pay for this game. Despicable launch issues and disgusting day 1 DLC's aside, Rome 2 is a cancerous mess that took the overall excellent concept from Shogun 2 and fundamentally ruined it entirely. The AI is a bunch of dumb bricks, Tech trees are linear as all hell, generals and agents die every other week from "natural causes" leaving any real character development to be absolutely pointless as the developers had to make the disgusting new "Family" features be used somehow, city expansion through warring is absolutely retarded as the game DEMANDS you need to rush-build culture and religious buildings to avoid, and I'm not kidding now, a whopping -75 to a -100 out of a possible +100 "Unhappiness" in cities you occupy as peacefully as possible. ON THE NORMAL DIFFICULTY LEVEL.

    To put it into a comparison, stacking a maximum sized grand army with the most hardiest of units lead by a fearsome general into a city's garrison will net you about 15-20 happiness. Build 2-3 very expensive buildings that help the population's happiness and you might bump that up into maybe the 30 mark.. Exempt the city from paying taxes and you got another 20. This still leaves you with a -50 city unhappiness and rebels WILL flood your gates. IT. IS. INSANE. I played as the Germanic barbarians, conquered 3 cities, rushed every singe stability & happiness building I had on all of them while specializing in construction (to make these happiness & stability buildings better), declared peace, lowered taxes to the minimum for about 30-45 years (turns) and I STILL HAD MASSIVE REBEL & SLAVE UPRISINGS EVERY YEAR.

    The new UI is a crystal clear example on why you shouldn't try to fix what ain't broken. The battle unit controls have been hamstered by making one M1 click be the command for units to get in a line (removing your ability to De-select all units as was commonly wanted in Shogun 2 while having Mouse button 2 + drag be that EXACT EXISTING COMMAND FROM THE PREVIOUS GAMES), they removed the convenient control ball you had on the bottom left where you could tell selected units to turn in unison, back away or more forward mere inches. While a bit confusing to beginners, it was FUNCTIONAL. What did they get to replace it? Calling this a replacement would be an overstatement since you can no longer do any real precise movements but what we got instead is an ball-busting charade of moronic and messy "Formations" that pretty much only adhere to all your units on the board at once. Flanking? Ambushes? Tactics? What's that?

    And don't even get me started on the camera. You have either the choice of watching from space with a telescope, being unable to see anything clearly or zoom in and have your nipples be plowing the ground and your nose stuck in a random soldier's armpit. While the camera in Shogun 2 was nowhere near perfect, this one makes a bad situation even worse as If you are all the way down on the ground, It will "Lock" itself onto there and require you to tell it to go up TWICE. Fail to do that over and over again flawlessly in the midst of battle and the camera will instead just change the angle of staring into a random armpit to a nearby sweaty blood-stained crotch of your fellow soldier because the developers thought It would be a good idea to leave the camera design to some random guy off the street with Alzheimer's sniffing paint.

    Moving past that, the AI diplomacy reminds me of whining children, constantly pestering you about wanting free money, military access, alliances and trade agreements every other 5 years. While not bad in itself as you can conquer them to make them shut up, IT CANNOT BE TURNED OFF OR AVOIDED IN ANY WAY DURING THE LOADING SCREENS. And If you conquer the annoying spammers, you'll get new borders with other spammers! An endless cycle of annoyance created as a place-holder for actual AI relationships due to lazy design.

    I could keep on pouring sewer on this game but I don't want to spill any on my shoes so I'll simply suggest everyone to avoid it.. Unless you enjoy swimming in feces.    … Expand
  25. Wraithcat
    Dec 4, 2014
    5
    After playing nearly 60 hours on this game, I can say that it is really an enormous disappointment. Having bought the Emperor edition (which represented the FIFTEENTH major patch to the game!), I figured that all of the bugs would have been ironed out and that there would be a decent core game. The diamond would have been polished.

    How wrong I was. Playing with the Romans, who should    After playing nearly 60 hours on this game, I can say that it is really an enormous disappointment. Having bought the Emperor edition (which represented the FIFTEENTH major patch to the game!), I figured that all of the bugs would have been ironed out and that there would be a decent core game. The diamond would have been polished.

    How wrong I was.

    Playing with the Romans, who should be a good starting faction, the first thing I really noticed was the incredible lack of in game information. The in game encyclopedia is simply awful. It a **** to navigate, and many of its entries simply don't contain the sort of information that you need when playing a complex game of this sort. For example, For example, if I click on a particular skill during a character level up, I get only that skill with no way of knowing what it might lead to, meaning I have to manually access a separate entry containing this info

    The search function is useless and doesn't allow the player to click through to a more detailed explanation. When I went to try and look up information about Traditions, I came up with two entries, but no way of clicking through to the actual Encyclopedia article on the topic itself.

    The way provinces are arbitrarily organised into groupings of 2-4 cities is unhistorical and frustrating as well. It inhibits the ability of the player to successfully manage their gameplay as they see fit.

    For example, Southern Italy and Sicily form the province of Magna Graecia, which contains a provincial capital (Brundisium), along with three other cities, one of which is Syracuse.

    Syracuse was founded by the Ancient Greeks and was still held by the Greeks at the emergence of the Roman period. It was a powerful, independent city state in its own right and not simply a Greek imposition on a Roman province.

    Because the game registers the city as part of a mostly Roman province, it is going to suffer major cultural issues because the province isn't entirely Roman, or Greek. Initially as the Romans, I chose to ally with Syracuse, thereby ensuring that one of my major provinces suffered a permanent hit to its unhappiness. In my second game as the Romans, I killed them off straight away, but this left a very bad taste in my mouth. Good game design wouldn't force Railroad the player into there being only one correct strategic choice to make. I should be able to live and let live with my allies without suffering negative gameplay effects.

    Another issue, is the stupidity of naval combat. There are two major problems here. Firstly is the unhistorical treatment of ranged weapons in the game. In ancient times, ballistas and catapults were fitted to ships, but were incredibly and inaccurate. Not in RTW2, however, where they are the killer app. A Navy made up of 50% ballistas and another 50% of ships to just float around and confuse the enemy can easily win battles without any significant losses. Ramming might be historical, but it is for chumps.

    A major issue that really ruins the game is that the IA doesn't know the difference between attack ships and transports and that transports can actually be used to ram other ships. The IA will happily send a whole Army to attack a navy, despite having absolutely no chance of winning. Sure, on land, those Royal Spartan Hoplites are a force to be reckoned with, but on sea they are about the equivalent of a mob and die far easier. But the IA continually sends its armies to attack my navies, fails to run when I attack their transport fleets and almost never backs up its transports with a proper escort.

    Another issue with the Navy IA, is that LAND UNITS can reinforce naval battles, meaning an automatic loss to the navy being attacked unless it is stupid enough to land. I was blockading a town with my Navy and realised that I was suffering attrition, so I decided to hightail it out of there as my army was going to be there in two turns. As I left, I was attacked by a couple of ships in the port. It took me less than a minute of game play to kill them, but I lost the battle, and was force to retreat on the campaign map because the battle took place within the Armies reinforcement zone, despite being on the sea. Had I landed my crews, I would have been slaughtered, but they couldn't touch me and certainly couldn't reinforce a Naval battle and shouldn't have been part of the equation to begin with.

    There is also a limitation on Armies that you can field and the requirement that every army MUST have a general. The practical effect of this is that it means that you can't simply shuffle units around to reinforce your armies as needed. Instead, you have to take one whole army over to the other army and reinforce in person.

    For example, Romans have no archers, so if you want those Cretan Archers, you have to either send your entire army over to Crete to get them, or assign a general specifically to take them to armies that need them. Either way its a micromanagement nightmare.    … Expand
  26. 75alex
    Nov 28, 2014
    9
    I didn't buy Rome 2 at release, because I saw it wasn't even playable, but I have to say CA did a fantastic job with patches, and since Emperor Edition the game is really enjoyable. I have played every Total War since Empire, and it is better than all three of them. The grand campaign is sick because the map, despite a few flaws is awesome, and the units are both well made and balanced,I didn't buy Rome 2 at release, because I saw it wasn't even playable, but I have to say CA did a fantastic job with patches, and since Emperor Edition the game is really enjoyable. I have played every Total War since Empire, and it is better than all three of them. The grand campaign is sick because the map, despite a few flaws is awesome, and the units are both well made and balanced, especially with mods like Radious installed. The game is way more complex as well, building cities is actually a quite realistic and fun thing to do, and combat has improved a lot, especially combat AI. The AI is actually clever now, aside from a few bugs here and there, but that and all the combat related issues come from the Warscape engine, that dates back to Empire. The same goes for the lags in large battles like sieges or bridge. I think Attila Total War will be an even better game as it brings lots of new and old missed features (like family tree), as well as the hordes system which we know for know very little about.… Expand
  27. herbertbracke
    Nov 28, 2014
    1
    I really liked the first rme total war, medieval total war, shogun, empire and even napoleon.
    But now they lost me completely, this game is bad. period.
    it feels like you're playing beta all the time, the graphics are really crappy (and i have a geforce gtx 880), the ai does stupid maneuvers,...

    it's crap basicly
  28. heime2003
    Nov 16, 2014
    2
    i didnt think creative assembly could messed it up cuz they are good develpers and has good record
    but it was slap to fans face. everything in this game is steps back from rome 1
    not to mention huge framemate problems, every moments u have to fight glitches, non responsiveness and bugs instead of units. even high end computers cant run this game on high setting without lag or    i didnt think creative assembly could messed it up cuz they are good develpers and has good record
    but it was slap to fans face. everything in this game is steps back from rome 1
    not to mention huge framemate problems, every moments u have to fight glitches, non responsiveness and bugs instead of units.
    even high end computers cant run this game on high setting without lag or stuttering. thinking the game looks not better than rome1 i wonder dev leave programming of the game to their interns
    biggest let down. luckily i didnt upgrade my com to play this which saved me $$$ and bitter disappointment    … Expand
  29. Truth_
    Nov 5, 2014
    4
    There are thousands of reviews and thus I do not expect this to be seen. And there is little to nothing I can say that wasn't said, or wasn't said better, elsewhere. I am simply posting to add my score.

    I was mad just the same as everyone else. The difference, however, is that I was expecting it. I was expecting graphical and technical glitches galore. I was expecting bad AI. And    There are thousands of reviews and thus I do not expect this to be seen. And there is little to nothing I can say that wasn't said, or wasn't said better, elsewhere. I am simply posting to add my score.

    I was mad just the same as everyone else. The difference, however, is that I was expecting it. I was expecting graphical and technical glitches galore. I was expecting bad AI. And I even expected, although hoped against, the game's mechanics that weren't pulled out in Shogun 2 weren't further widdled or dumbed down. And I got what I expected.

    There is little variety to troops between factions, there's little variety to the gameworld, there's no role-playing/story elements like was promised, economy is incredibly simple and easy, AI is horrible on the campaign map and in battle, and multiplayer did not work for the longest time.

    In all, it seems all facets of the game are worse. If only the probably hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars spent on motion capture, that doesn't even seem that great or functional, was spent on making a better game.

    Note: Kudos for releasing free factions with each DLC expansion. And kudos for patching the game constantly (although that wins little points as there should have been fewer problems to begin with).

    Objectively I want to rate this game a "5" as it's playable and has fun elements of other Total War games I've enjoyed... but for some reason I just can't have fun playing this game. Unfortunately I must give it a "4".

    The game is clearly inferior to prior titles. I do not expect this to change. My only wonder is if this will affect future sales of new titles.    … Expand
  30. dyselehrt
    Nov 2, 2014
    5
    I have some 600 hours put into this game at the moment, and I will play it for many more to come. However, I would not recommend others to buy the game for the vanilla version since I do not think it is that much fun. It has improved in the latest patches yes, but it is still really not that good. If you do get this game though, do it for the mods. There are some incredible mods out thereI have some 600 hours put into this game at the moment, and I will play it for many more to come. However, I would not recommend others to buy the game for the vanilla version since I do not think it is that much fun. It has improved in the latest patches yes, but it is still really not that good. If you do get this game though, do it for the mods. There are some incredible mods out there which lifts the game immensely. But no matter what the AI will still be dumb as ****

    I suggest waiting for Attila since it feels like Rome 2 has been test-version of something greater to come. However, make sure not to pre-purchase it. You never know with Creative Assembly nowadays...    … Expand
  31. martinai
    Oct 31, 2014
    8
    The free Emperor edition made me believe in humanity, The Creative Assembly, and their SEGA overlords once again. The game is now officially playable. It took them more than a year from release to do it, but they did it, and I'm having fun playing it, for the first time. So my review score has gone from a zero to an eight score.
    I'm not happy about the fact that they wasted my time and    The free Emperor edition made me believe in humanity, The Creative Assembly, and their SEGA overlords once again. The game is now officially playable. It took them more than a year from release to do it, but they did it, and I'm having fun playing it, for the first time. So my review score has gone from a zero to an eight score.
    I'm not happy about the fact that they wasted my time and took my money to let me beta-test their product, but I am, however, grateful that they acknowledged the error of their ways and fixed the game.
    Another gesture could be to send a free toy ballistae to all of hose who bought the game on release - just an idea.    … Expand
  32. vanzi
    Oct 31, 2014
    7
    After all the patches that were released and the even better job of modders (DeI, Radious), the game is in a definitely playable state. Performance is A LOT better than it was on release. The AI is still pretty dumb though and I'm personally not a fan of some of the changes they've made to the game (especially the province system and army movement only with general). All that said, I'mAfter all the patches that were released and the even better job of modders (DeI, Radious), the game is in a definitely playable state. Performance is A LOT better than it was on release. The AI is still pretty dumb though and I'm personally not a fan of some of the changes they've made to the game (especially the province system and army movement only with general). All that said, I'm having a lot of fun playing with Divide et Impera and I've spent over 400 hours in game.… Expand
  33. morswin
    Oct 25, 2014
    8
    After a year of patching and free upgrade to emperor edition the game is finally what it was supposed to be in the first place. I just wish there could be some cut scenes (first shogun assassination movies :)) or voice records to random events, so the world would feel a bit more alive. Battle mechanics were improved and game engine was evidently optimized. AI still makes mistakes, one timeAfter a year of patching and free upgrade to emperor edition the game is finally what it was supposed to be in the first place. I just wish there could be some cut scenes (first shogun assassination movies :)) or voice records to random events, so the world would feel a bit more alive. Battle mechanics were improved and game engine was evidently optimized. AI still makes mistakes, one time it attempted to lad on a beach where 2 units of my batistas were stationed, each volley would take down one of the transport ships...… Expand
  34. EmineNc3
    Oct 22, 2014
    4
    Its been a little over a year since my last review and little has changed.
    The same stupid flaws of the game remain, all thats been done to improve things is add more DLCs to make more money.
    The game is the same as Empire, was an absolute nightmare.. that was their OPEN BETA... When Napoleon came out, it was much improved.. errors from Empire fixed etc. Now Attila is coming out, Rome    Its been a little over a year since my last review and little has changed.
    The same stupid flaws of the game remain, all thats been done to improve things is add more DLCs to make more money.
    The game is the same as Empire, was an absolute nightmare.. that was their OPEN BETA...
    When Napoleon came out, it was much improved.. errors from Empire fixed etc.
    Now Attila is coming out, Rome 2 support is basically at a finish.
    The next game will be the Full Release, as Rome 2 was the Beta    … Expand
  35. Maeglin
    Oct 17, 2014
    8
    To be honest my rating is based on Rome 2 as it is now. If I had written this review after it came out, or even half a year later it would have been much lower.

    Right now it is very enjoyable with a decent AI and the two player campaign is really great and good for hours of game-play. Did Sega screw up on this title and brought it out way to soon? Sure and they disappointed everyone    To be honest my rating is based on Rome 2 as it is now. If I had written this review after it came out, or even half a year later it would have been much lower.

    Right now it is very enjoyable with a decent AI and the two player campaign is really great and good for hours of game-play.

    Did Sega screw up on this title and brought it out way to soon? Sure and they disappointed everyone who loved Shogun or who started playing it for the first time. What I learned is that i will never, ever, buy any Total war game anymore within the first 3 months after it comes out. As with every title they need more patches to make it playable. And it are always the same bugs , AI, Siege battles and failing diplomacy.

    But if you are willing to wait that long and have the patience, I must say you are in for a treat. There are so many factions to play with in Rome and no game is or feels the same. The AI, even after all the updates, is still a bit to passive but they will surprise you and inconvenience you when you least expect it. The graphics are stunning and the battles are very challenging. It provides more diversity beween factions then Shogun and has a more surprising diplomacy system. The world is huge and finally there are a lot more options on and around the sea which adds to the atmosphere of conquering.

    Despite all it's flaws it is becomming the most addictive Total war game for me, after having spend hundreds of hours on Shogun 2 and all the games before it so that is why the high rating.    … Expand
  36. notorious_pog
    Oct 12, 2014
    3
    The game's still not fixed a year after release, CA flat out lied about many features that either haven't been added, or don't work. The best part is they want to sell you an expansion for many of these fixes. Despicable.
  37. ZacharyE
    Oct 11, 2014
    0
    After a year; nothing but bugs and shallow game play. I've spent more time trying to make the game work than playing it, while my computer can run any other game on max settings fine. I'm done with Total War and Sega (after playing and buying every game since Medieval II).
  38. Tannumber17
    Oct 10, 2014
    0
    it's just a terrible terrible game. the AI is complete derp and when i tell my units to skirmish they hurr derp durr around until the enemy kills them. any time a give an order to a unit one or two guys will obey the order and the rest of the unit will derp looking at the cool things in between their toes until the enemy charges them from behind. I should be able to build walls around allit's just a terrible terrible game. the AI is complete derp and when i tell my units to skirmish they hurr derp durr around until the enemy kills them. any time a give an order to a unit one or two guys will obey the order and the rest of the unit will derp looking at the cool things in between their toes until the enemy charges them from behind. I should be able to build walls around all of my cities. i should be able to manage garrisons. if some enemy agent comes and flexes their muscles at my army the whole army can't move or reinforce the next turn; that literally makes zero sense, "our friends are dying 2 inches to the left but we can't help because of that guys muscles". this game is seriously embarrassing and CA should never be allowed to make another game ever again. literally the most frustrating game i have ever played. I will not be buying the next total war game.… Expand
  39. InsaneCarduelis
    Oct 9, 2014
    3
    Bugs, too long time spent by wainting, too big promises, boring. UI is horibble. Where is good options like for example guard button. And it's not cheap game. The worst strategy I played.
  40. ThePurpleOrange
    Oct 7, 2014
    9
    After the fifteenth "Emperor Edition" patch, along with the mods: Divide et Impera; GEM - Graphical Enhancement Mod; and Bullgod's Unit Cards, I am thoroughly enjoying playing Total War: Rome 2 and I do recommend it to previous Total War fans.

    The game is now almost unrecognisable from the shambles that it was at release and I have increased my previous rating of a 4 to a 9.
  41. Szlomka
    Oct 1, 2014
    0
    The cradle has truly fallen here. A year has passed, numerous obnoxious DLC's have been released and more money has been asked for, yet we are still left with BUGS THAT ARE HERE NOT EVEN SINCE THE RELEASE BUT SINCE EMPIRE TOTAL WAR. I suppose they are called "features" these days. Ever since SEGA took over as publisher the series has been in decline, by my standards, culminating in thisThe cradle has truly fallen here. A year has passed, numerous obnoxious DLC's have been released and more money has been asked for, yet we are still left with BUGS THAT ARE HERE NOT EVEN SINCE THE RELEASE BUT SINCE EMPIRE TOTAL WAR. I suppose they are called "features" these days. Ever since SEGA took over as publisher the series has been in decline, by my standards, culminating in this sinking of Rome. The theme here is: release a product with content withheld, then force the saddened customer to be drip fed all the proper parts of the game via DLC. The series before SEGA stepped in , lacked only proper multiplayer servers, the rest worked and was a pleasure to play, a work of love. Post SEGA... multiplayer stability is as always not here but the single player experience has been destroyed as well, particularly in this release. The multiplayer campaign suffers from the exact same problems in all it's iterations starting with the beta in empire and throughout Napoleon, Shogun II and now Rome II. There are no bugs in Total War: Rome II, the game itself is a giant Scolopendra on Your hdd.… Expand
  42. metalmania96
    Sep 30, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not know how the game has been improved since i played it on September 2013, but the first time I played it was the worst game I ever played, not even TW series. The first impression I had made me never play this "game" never again.… Expand
  43. ESKIMUZ
    Sep 29, 2014
    2
    I don't understand how such an experienced team like this could fails so hard in understanding what the fans wanted and to delivery. The only thing that makes this playable are mods, and they are made from Fans. I hope that the director, Tim Heaton, got fired for this failrure, he and his idic "90 metascore". Look where it brought you, fool.
  44. pierrem
    Sep 25, 2014
    0
    This game is mostly made of frustration. Frustration of having a game that could have been great, but made terribly bad by stupid new features. Frustration of having paid full price for a beta version, that was solded -50% before it was even reasonably working.
    To sum up:
    - limitation in armies number; therefore you can't leave a garrison, and this is made worse by the fact that armies    This game is mostly made of frustration. Frustration of having a game that could have been great, but made terribly bad by stupid new features. Frustration of having paid full price for a beta version, that was solded -50% before it was even reasonably working.
    To sum up:
    - limitation in armies number; therefore you can't leave a garrison, and this is made worse by the fact that armies walk a huge distance in a single turn, by the possibility the AI has to always refuse battles, by the possibility of taking a city within the turn. You simply chase flies (5 units armies) with hammers (full stacks), for the hammers cannot be splitted, the flies fly too fast to be hit, but can still take one of your cities; which you'll retake next turn while another city falls. So you get humbled by ridiculously bad armies because you can't fight them.
    - My elephants replenish within a few turns if I'm in Britain. The local elephants are known worldwide.
    - Navies are useless (so the joint battles feature has no use)
    - Battles are boring (but at least as of 09/2014, UI is correct, was not reasonnable before)
    - Politics are stupid & useless
    - "decisive event" : the worst ever. You get a rebellion... Like 12+ full stacks of high level veterans of the best units you can recruit (even if it was unlocked last turn and you don't possess any) appear out of thin air, while you possess 3 full stacks. Well the AI is so bad you can win if they did not appear in your capital, but... so ridiculous!
    - Bad AI, not nearly as good as the Shogun 2 AI
    Try Shogun2, especially FOTS instead. or Rome TW!    … Expand
  45. TheReaper1221
    Sep 23, 2014
    9
    As of September 2014, this game has been fixed. It is now one of the best total war games out there. Don't know what this talk of the UI is, it's the best UI yet, far better than the abomination that is napoleon. The AI has improved greatly, Far fewer bugs, turn times are short, the game is now much better optimized. Basically, it has followed the path of every Total War game sinceAs of September 2014, this game has been fixed. It is now one of the best total war games out there. Don't know what this talk of the UI is, it's the best UI yet, far better than the abomination that is napoleon. The AI has improved greatly, Far fewer bugs, turn times are short, the game is now much better optimized. Basically, it has followed the path of every Total War game since Medieval 1, released as a shambles, then fixed. Happened in Shogun 2, Napoleon, Empire, Medieval 2, and Rome 1.

    The whole system with regions, and especially the building trees are a MASSIVE improvement over every previous total war game. The building trees make sense, as do the tech trees. The politics system is somewhat interesting, but I wish it played a far larger role in the game. At this point, pretty much everything you do in the politics system is to lessen the impact of the inevitable civil war. Don't get me wrong, getting hit by a civil war is a huge deal, but I would like for there to be more purpose to the politics system, some real and immediate advantage to having more senate support, and things like that.

    I would like to point out that the AI in all the total war games has always been awful, and that it has been improving since shogun 2. Rome 2 after patches has helped it dramatically, as they did with Shogun 2.

    A couple minor gripes:
    The tooltips need to have a slight pause on the campaign map, as of right now, there is constantly a tooltip up at all times, which gets really annoying.

    It would be nice to have an easier indication of how many troops you replenish per turn, in the form of perhaps some sort of second color on the units health bar.

    Wet ground just looks bad.

    AI can still be a little derpy, splitting their army in half to chase your cavalry (exploit this heavily for fun and profit), as well as making basic, but idiotic tactical mistakes. For example, with a superior force on a river crossing with 2 crossing points, they sometimes leave one crossing completely unattended, allowing an easy superflank, and total destruction by an inferior force. However, these aren't gamebreaking, the AI works fine, It just makes big mistakes, that no reasonable player would ever make. It needs to make some mistakes of course, so that it can be beaten, but not the ones that just make you cringe.    … Expand
  46. Bordin74
    Sep 22, 2014
    8
    This game was a bitter disappointment for me but after a year of patches it's now worth a 8. The Emperor edition with a lot of extra stuff for free is a must buy!
  47. Oxu90
    Sep 22, 2014
    10
    After 15 patches, multiple DLC and EMPIRE edition coming out (with augustus dlc) i would rate this game a 9 and best of the series.

    True some bugs exists, but at the moment it has less bugs than any other VANILLA totalwar game to date. Almost all complains of release version has been addressed and even politics and civil war got major overhaul. Rome 2 is most supported totalwar game to    After 15 patches, multiple DLC and EMPIRE edition coming out (with augustus dlc) i would rate this game a 9 and best of the series.

    True some bugs exists, but at the moment it has less bugs than any other VANILLA totalwar game to date. Almost all complains of release version has been addressed and even politics and civil war got major overhaul. Rome 2 is most supported totalwar game to date and i would argue that it is also game that CA has listened it's fans most(after release).

    For those that have never played Totalwar game before, i would say that dont be afraid of these "0" reviews, those are just plain stupid as game itself is top quality and brings shame to many games that can be completed in 3 hours

    Oh and there is EXCELLENT mods out there for everybodys tastes, easily accessed from STEAM workshop

    Greetings
    - somebody that has played 1000 hours    … Expand
  48. kwak926
    Sep 21, 2014
    10
    Emperor Edition released NOW, so it is not a suck game in this time

    Fixed Unit AI behavior, Improved Graphic Optimization, Pretty many of MODs through Steam Workshop
  49. LordSolar
    Sep 20, 2014
    9
    Although this game was quite bad when it was released, it has become a pretty good game because of CA's continued patching. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
  50. bigbonees
    Sep 19, 2014
    9
    After a year of the originl realese, the emperor edition is the game what rome 2 should been. They fixed the AI, all the bugs, the graphical errors and improved the performance.
  51. aetherium_wars
    Sep 18, 2014
    10
    Apesar do lançamento ter sido uma grande decepção, muito foi-se arrumado no jogo. A I.A. do jogo está muito mais desafiadora e inteligente do que antes; Dezenas de bugs foram consertados, não há mais o porque de ficar se criticando o jogo por coisas do seu passado. Então nota: 10/10
  52. tumbidragon
    Sep 16, 2014
    7
    After a complete farcical release, Rome 2 a year on is now an actual good game. 15 patches has seen vast improvements to optimization and game play. We now have three great campaign in CIG, HATG and EE. Battles are no longer decided within 2-5 minutes and I have had some last ~20mins with the new unit re-balancing to morale and armor!
    Unfortunately It still lacks the depth in which so    After a complete farcical release, Rome 2 a year on is now an actual good game. 15 patches has seen vast improvements to optimization and game play. We now have three great campaign in CIG, HATG and EE. Battles are no longer decided within 2-5 minutes and I have had some last ~20mins with the new unit re-balancing to morale and armor!
    Unfortunately It still lacks the depth in which so many were hoping they would deliver. The "new" political system is nothing more than a updated graphic to the UI so that you are able to track what is happening easier. But you could hardly call it immersive or in depth. Diplomacy is still hit and miss and just outright random sometimes (specifically trade agreements). There are also still major path finding issues atop walls when you have multiple units stationed on them. Also AI is still.. meh.

    Upon release I would of given this 3/10. But now I could unabashedly give it a 7/10 (but not forgiven nor forgotten CA!).    … Expand
  53. Startrance
    Sep 16, 2014
    10
    This is by far the best total war game i ever played, the strategy, the graphics, i have played this game for about 100 hours never had a single bugg or glitch everything just runs smooth with a solid framerate.

    Haters gonna hate
  54. herr_rosa88
    Sep 13, 2014
    4
    Rome II is a total letdown to all Total war fans. I have bought every game since Medieval Total War (except for Napoleon) and this game is the only game in the series absolutely deteste. Despite loads of patches Rome II is still a buggy mess. The few good things about RTW do mostly exist in the previous games and the game offers nothing new except revisiting the period.

    The bad aspects    Rome II is a total letdown to all Total war fans. I have bought every game since Medieval Total War (except for Napoleon) and this game is the only game in the series absolutely deteste. Despite loads of patches Rome II is still a buggy mess. The few good things about RTW do mostly exist in the previous games and the game offers nothing new except revisiting the period.

    The bad aspects of this game are plentiful:
    - The collision detection is awful, which makes the battles look rather like orgies.
    - All buildings requires so much food that you barely can build anything interesting.
    - The guard button has been taken away which forces you to baby-sit your units.
    - The city expands so much in the campaign map when you build that it covers a huge chunk of the region.
    - The character interfaces in the campaign looks cheap and horrendously ugly.
    - The game is just unpolished in it's wholesome and there are loads of glitches where ever you look.

    Do not even pick this game up at a big discount!    … Expand
  55. Sencho
    Sep 9, 2014
    4
    The first Rome Total War is one of my all time favorite games. With eager anticipation I pre-ordered Rome 2 on Steam after many years of waiting. However, I immediately had trouble running the game after the release, not a unique experience of course. I consoled myself with the fact that my pc was old and that it was at fault that the game was nearly unplayable.

    Fast forward almost    The first Rome Total War is one of my all time favorite games. With eager anticipation I pre-ordered Rome 2 on Steam after many years of waiting. However, I immediately had trouble running the game after the release, not a unique experience of course. I consoled myself with the fact that my pc was old and that it was at fault that the game was nearly unplayable.

    Fast forward almost exactly a year later. After getting enough money together for a new gaming PC, I eagerly installed Rome 2 to finally have a real crack at the game. Sad to say, after 4 hours of play I find myself very disappointed. Even after a year of patches I find the campaign AI to be erratic and units in battle glitchy. The weird looking faces on the campaign map characters still happens and I generally feel that things are still a mess. I hope Creative Assembly learns from the mistakes it made with this game. It wasn't ready for release a year ago and, in view of the current state of the game, I think its still not at a place where it should be released had it been delayed until this year. Creative Assembly has been a company that has shown true vision over the years, I hope they haven't lost that.    … Expand
  56. Dirtdice
    Sep 5, 2014
    2
    terrible game
    is a light RTS for those that want spectacle with little depth.
    The AI is terrible, something that the developers keep saying they improve but each new tittle added to franchise shows them for the charlatans this company has become. They falsely advertise their games since medieval total war. Multiple patches later have fix nothing of worth except some bugs here and there,    terrible game
    is a light RTS for those that want spectacle with little depth.
    The AI is terrible, something that the developers keep saying they improve but each new tittle added to franchise shows them for the charlatans this company has become. They falsely advertise their games since medieval total war.
    Multiple patches later have fix nothing of worth except some bugs here and there, but the core game still remains broken. Unfortunately there seems to be a market for those that prefer strategy with little challenge so I doubt any fallowing tittle will see an improvement.    … Expand
  57. sradao
    Sep 5, 2014
    10
    Sweet and fun fun game at all! Forget about the bad ratings from initial users, because after the patch most issues has gone, making this game still the best game from all of the Total War family. The DLCs are great too, so buy it and enjoy this really recommended game!
  58. ekiprkl
    Sep 4, 2014
    0
    Well done, CA. I give up. Empire was a **** up which I can forgive because of the new engine, but now our relationship needs to end. You can't fix this.

    - terrible graphics and optimization (how did you manage make it worse than in shogun?) - UI is total and absolute **** on the battles. Unit cards tell you nothing and the new top view is practically useless. - still no unit    Well done, CA. I give up. Empire was a **** up which I can forgive because of the new engine, but now our relationship needs to end. You can't fix this.

    - terrible graphics and optimization (how did you manage make it worse than in shogun?)
    - UI is total and absolute **** on the battles. Unit cards tell you nothing and the new top view is practically useless.
    - still no unit collisions. Oh how fun it is when everything devolves into a mass of retards. Third game with this engine, ****ing fix it already
    - still desyncs on coop campaign (again, third game with this engine)
    - AI is worse than ever before
    - DLC whoring. Make real expansions not this bull****.
    - stop dumbing down every ****ing thing. This is not a console game. There is no reason for it. Add features not take them away.

    The most damning thing is the fact that by now the game has been out quite a while and it's still only marginally better. You can't or won't fix this, just like you did with Empire. I gave you a second change with Shogun, not going to give you a third one.

    My advice: buy original Rome Total War, both of the Medieval Total Wars and Shogun. Don't touch anything else. Or on a second thought, just stop funding CA alltogether.    … Expand
  59. MightyMeegosh
    Sep 2, 2014
    3
    Total War: Rome 2 was released a year ago tomorrow, and it is still broken.

    I'm a huge Total War fan. I've played every Total War game to date. Most I have logged hundreds of hours into with no regrets, until today. I was nearly half way through a promising new Macedonian grand campaign, when my controlled Athens fell under siege. It was a big surprise attack with massive game    Total War: Rome 2 was released a year ago tomorrow, and it is still broken.

    I'm a huge Total War fan. I've played every Total War game to date. Most I have logged hundreds of hours into with no regrets, until today.

    I was nearly half way through a promising new Macedonian grand campaign, when my controlled Athens fell under siege. It was a big surprise attack with massive game changing consequences on the line. The enemy brought several full army’s for a beach landing invasion of my Greek city. I had a full garrison complement and a veteran army to defend the city. It was sure to be a bloody, glorious day, win or lose. About 10 minutes into the battle the game started to stutter. A known problem since the games launch. It wasn't as bad as I had seen in before so I tried to play through it. The games stuttering increased the more I played. Like struggling in quicksand, it only got worse. Since the stuttering was also slowing down in game time, I had been playing this single battle for well over an hour. And it wasn't enjoyable one bit. My only option left was to quit the game. Which I did. But after seeing this game breaking bug/flaw one to many times. I decided to uninstall the game for good.

    This is just the straw that broke the camels back. There were countless glitches and flaws in this game that made it a broken and/or bad game. I know that such glitches have plagued the Total War series since its inception, but they never ruined the experience quite like this before.

    Total War: Rome 2 is a truly shameful display.    … Expand
  60. wvjoeball
    Sep 1, 2014
    1
    so let me get this straight. you have a slave revolt in a small town early in the game and a rebel army resulting has 7 full calvary units and 18 fully armed and trained units. where did they get the horses? the city didnt even have a stable. thats retarded. wouldnt a slave revolt be composed of disorganized but highly motivated mobs not a fully functioning well armed and trainedso let me get this straight. you have a slave revolt in a small town early in the game and a rebel army resulting has 7 full calvary units and 18 fully armed and trained units. where did they get the horses? the city didnt even have a stable. thats retarded. wouldnt a slave revolt be composed of disorganized but highly motivated mobs not a fully functioning well armed and trained army. loved tw1. this is beyond awful… Expand
  61. tykeman3
    Aug 29, 2014
    1
    this game has destroyed my views of total war..... that is all you need

    BUT i need 150 words so don't buy this game all of the bugs at launch made it unplayable but even with all the patches i think it is number 12 now the core game play is just no where near as good as shogun 2 ..... and all the meta scores giving it an amazing reviews seem a little suspicious to me =/
  62. Groundducky
    Aug 28, 2014
    5
    I have been playing the Total War series since the original Shogun. Often with each game there has been at least to some extent a jump in features, graphics and gameplay as each new game has been released with so far the pinnacle of the series being Shogun 2. Rome 2 however has been a major disappointment. The gameplay trailers originally shown made the game look much better than theI have been playing the Total War series since the original Shogun. Often with each game there has been at least to some extent a jump in features, graphics and gameplay as each new game has been released with so far the pinnacle of the series being Shogun 2. Rome 2 however has been a major disappointment. The gameplay trailers originally shown made the game look much better than the version we have even now, even with mods. Everything was hyped about the content of the game, the graphics, that the game will actually perform well. Almost all of this turned out to be a total lie by CA with them taking ~14 patches just to get the game to a state that it should have been on release. But of course while they have been making the game playable they haven’t stopped giving us lovely DLC to buy from new units to mini campaigns.
    Many people point to Empire being the worst of the total war games but at least with Empire the game had the excuse of being the first Total war to be set in the gunpowder age. The mechanics in Rome 2 are not that different to the ones used in Shogun so I do not understand how they managed to get it all so wrong. Although I am now enjoying the game this is mainly due to mods I suppose on consolation is at least CA are supporting mods again.
    If it is your first Total War, get Shogun 2. If you loved Rome 1 just don’t buy this.    … Expand
  63. Lucelin
    Aug 22, 2014
    4
    So Rome 2, Worse than i had hoped for, pretty much sums it up. But I suppose i should add more. My first experience was an all night download update after the initial install, followed by another 6 hour download, followed by another one.

    Then i couldn't load the game because the steam "auto start" screen wouldn't open to the correct size. Once i finally got to play it, it was weird. I    So Rome 2, Worse than i had hoped for, pretty much sums it up. But I suppose i should add more. My first experience was an all night download update after the initial install, followed by another 6 hour download, followed by another one.

    Then i couldn't load the game because the steam "auto start" screen wouldn't open to the correct size. Once i finally got to play it, it was weird. I have played and own all the total war games, and i was confused. Took me a couple of solid days of play to get my head around the city building.

    The combat mechanics are nothing we haven't seen before. The AI is nothing we haven't seen before. The gazillion factions make turn ending take forever. The graphics use massive resources(again nothing new there) but load times are acceptable.

    Naval combat is just impossible to enjoy and I have just resorted to auto resolve. A real step backwards Creative Assembly.

    Attacking siege battles are also incredibly difficult as the auto build siege equipment just doesn't really do anything except let your troops get killed. Again I have resorted to auto resolve and again a step backwards Creative Assembly.

    What's with all the army formations that no one uses, just learn from your mistakes from Shogun 2, don't repeat them.

    Diplomacy again nothing we haven't seen before

    Did the developers at Creative Assembly have a stroke?

    Anyone notice the massive sore difference between the critic score and the user score. Clearly the critics enjoy getting payed and not playing computer games.

    Most people believe that you can't polish a turd, but Creative Assembly have sure done a mighty fine job of polishing this one.    … Expand
  64. Eboles
    Aug 14, 2014
    4
    This game is a joke, after shogun 2 this game is big fail in several aspects. The game is really bad optimized, you can use a good pc but you will have low fps. The battles are ridicously short, two armies of 2000 each can finish the battle in like 5 minutes and the naval battles are a **** chaos.

    The unit cards are really ugly and confusing, the cities building system is a bit    This game is a joke, after shogun 2 this game is big fail in several aspects. The game is really bad optimized, you can use a good pc but you will have low fps. The battles are ridicously short, two armies of 2000 each can finish the battle in like 5 minutes and the naval battles are a **** chaos.

    The unit cards are really ugly and confusing, the cities building system is a bit confusing too, no more cinematics when a battle starts or when an agent try to do some action.

    The diplomacy is really broken too, IA factions dont know when they are losing a war and wont accept peace with you. The AI is really bad too, the AI factions camp all the time in their cities or will do kamikaze attacks....

    I would continue with this review telling you all the fails of this game, CA really should say thx to the modders community because they saved this stupid broken game. I got it for 13€ and im not sure this worth it...but for 54€? hell no , dont worth your money.    … Expand
  65. lareth
    Aug 14, 2014
    2
    So many negatives compared to the positives.

    + The fight and movement system is alright. (except for sieges) Graphics are not as good as they said, but they are alright. - Streamlining is the worst thing in this game, and it covers everything from techs, politics to battle. Release was horrible, but with all the patches the game didn't become good in the end. It is almost    So many negatives compared to the positives.

    +
    The fight and movement system is alright. (except for sieges)
    Graphics are not as good as they said, but they are alright.

    -
    Streamlining is the worst thing in this game, and it covers everything from techs, politics to battle.
    Release was horrible, but with all the patches the game didn't become good in the end.
    It is almost unmoddable, not counting making new units and stat changing. So it can't get any better.

    They released this to get money. That's it, and no amount of PR and lies can change that.    … Expand
  66. DudeWithGun
    Aug 2, 2014
    3
    Still broken nearly a year later. I bought this game at launch, multiplayer was poor at best due to all the crashes and the game breaking bugs. Plus the campaign had unintelligent AI and ridiculous bugs, one of which made it so after I hit end turn around turn 90ish it didn't do anything, even if I went back to turn 60 and tried something else, it just ended once I got back to turn 90ish.Still broken nearly a year later. I bought this game at launch, multiplayer was poor at best due to all the crashes and the game breaking bugs. Plus the campaign had unintelligent AI and ridiculous bugs, one of which made it so after I hit end turn around turn 90ish it didn't do anything, even if I went back to turn 60 and tried something else, it just ended once I got back to turn 90ish. So I uninstalled and WAITED AN ENTIRE YEAR to try again. So I re-installed a few days ago and everything seemed great, campaign ran smoothly, hell even the AI kind of knew how to fight battles now. Which was a big plus since before they'd just derp around your walls like it was a kid wearing a chastity belt in a whore house. They still pile up during village battles like it was a big orgy and you weren't invited, but whatever.

    So I siege Carthage, which was under control of Syracuse (Good job making major factions still awful after a whole year CA, I always knew that generic faction that was wiped from history would make a comeback and rule the world someday) and look at that, 2 massive army stacks are protecting it, which is normal on hard+ difficulty. So I start the battle, and everything seems great for about 5 minutes, it's a huge battle, everyone is getting ready to die and then suddenly CRIPPLING unit lag sets in like my grandmothers alzheimer's and no one can remember how to even **** move. My FPS is still around 35fps and the camera is fine, it's the units that are moving at a snails pace and stuttering helplessly. So I pray to the Total War gods and turn my settings to Low, still doesn't work. I set it to max speed, no change, everyone just stutters about occasionally dying.

    You know for a game based on warfare with massive armies numbering in the tens of thousands, you'd think they'd figure out a way to have 3000 vs 3000 work. Also the DLC I bought - Blood and Gore, isn't working right now, apparently the last patch broke it. CA charged you for blood in a game solely about killing people in huge battles that don't work, and lookit that blood doesn't work either, no wonder everyone just stuttered about like zombies.

    /delete local content
    again.    … Expand
  67. orangefalcon40
    Aug 1, 2014
    4
    I'm a big fan of the Total War series. The original Rome was great and that got me started, then Medieval 2 was a triumph. I loved Empire and Napoleon was OK but Shogun2 was not as good, killed my laptop (Core 2 Duo, 4Gb Ram, 1Gb NVidea graphics card supporting direct x 10) and Rome 2 is unplayable on it, I'm having to play it on my wife's desktop PC. What really annoys me, even more thanI'm a big fan of the Total War series. The original Rome was great and that got me started, then Medieval 2 was a triumph. I loved Empire and Napoleon was OK but Shogun2 was not as good, killed my laptop (Core 2 Duo, 4Gb Ram, 1Gb NVidea graphics card supporting direct x 10) and Rome 2 is unplayable on it, I'm having to play it on my wife's desktop PC. What really annoys me, even more than my inability to garrison my towns with units of my own choosing (GRRR) is the difficulty in changing the orientation of a unit. I had one battle where I was attacked in a fort and had barricades to erect but could I rotate them 90 degrees to block the side entrances? No. Then there's the crashes and the slow downs.....… Expand
  68. shaarapollo
    Jul 31, 2014
    0
    Hardcore Total War fan since the first Total War: Shogun.

    I played Shogun, Rome, Medieval II (+ Americas) and Shogun II. I played all those titles for so many hours, they were an obsession. I probably spent more time on these games than I'm going to spend with my unborn children. Rome II is an abomination. I built my PC just so I could play it. The agony. The horrible mess it is...    Hardcore Total War fan since the first Total War: Shogun.

    I played Shogun, Rome, Medieval II (+ Americas) and Shogun II. I played all those titles for so many hours, they were an obsession. I probably spent more time on these games than I'm going to spend with my unborn children.

    Rome II is an abomination. I built my PC just so I could play it. The agony. The horrible mess it is... Every other reviewer has already nailed the issues so I won't reiterate. The biggest regret is that I bought it. I will never buy another CA title until I see they've fixed their issues.

    How far will I go for Rome? As far as giving it a 0 and wanting a refund. That's how far.    … Expand
  69. stocean
    Jul 30, 2014
    9
    Okay, I've been following the game for almost a year now. It was no doubt in a terrible state at launch. However, through continuous efforts in improving the game by both the developers and fans alike, the game is in a much much better shape now that I think it deserves a better score than this.

    Yes, it's not acceptable to release an unfinished product and it should be criticized. On    Okay, I've been following the game for almost a year now. It was no doubt in a terrible state at launch. However, through continuous efforts in improving the game by both the developers and fans alike, the game is in a much much better shape now that I think it deserves a better score than this.

    Yes, it's not acceptable to release an unfinished product and it should be criticized. On the other hand, however, if developers admit their faults, put tons of effort in improving and fixing their product, it should be recognized and credited.

    I believe now with almost 14 patches and numerous DLCs and/or user made mods, the game not only has tons of contents to offer, but also performs much better and the AI got improved by a great margin(still not perfect, but much better).Overall I think this game, at the current state, deserves a spot in any RTS/Total fan's library.    … Expand
  70. Ostrovid
    Jul 27, 2014
    3
    Bad AI? YES / Worse than before? TRUE / What about seasons? BUY DLC / Sieging? STILL FRUSTRATING / Usable formations? WITH MOD / Nice units? DETAILED BUT UGLY / Worth buying? HELL NO
  71. Santious
    Jul 26, 2014
    10
    The game is awesome. I really don't know why so many low scores. I bought the game last month and so far have not seen any bug. The AI is not stupid, and the game runs perfectly. The campaign map is beautiful and sooo many features, totally complex. Well, 10/10.
  72. mikos
    Jul 25, 2014
    0
    È quasi passato un anno ma questo titolo dopo ben 14 patch, fa veramente cacare, uno schifo totale. Città come Siracusa senza mura, unità stupide e banali come catapulte di nidi d'ape o scorpioni, flotte inutili perché gli eserciti vanno via mare senza bisogno di imbarcarsi, localizzazione mezza italiana e mezza inglese "soldati romani che parlano in inglese" at your order, immaginate,È quasi passato un anno ma questo titolo dopo ben 14 patch, fa veramente cacare, uno schifo totale. Città come Siracusa senza mura, unità stupide e banali come catapulte di nidi d'ape o scorpioni, flotte inutili perché gli eserciti vanno via mare senza bisogno di imbarcarsi, localizzazione mezza italiana e mezza inglese "soldati romani che parlano in inglese" at your order, immaginate, soldi buttati. Un aborto completo proprio. schifo schifo schifo… Expand
  73. Sofos
    Jul 25, 2014
    10
    I really dont understand why people are not happy with one of the best titles of the series. The strategy level of the game is really the best ever and the adition of limited number of generals/admirals a very good adition by far.
    Do not listen to the wining and grab a copy today. You owe it to yourself.
  74. Razema
    Jul 25, 2014
    0
    I have loved and owned every Total war game sense Rome 1. But i must say this is the worst one i have ever played. I love total war and i just hope the next one will be better because this one has just made my insides hurt.
  75. jerkbot
    Jul 24, 2014
    0
    TW Rome II is a truly awful experience. Any person seeking to experience a renaissance of their time with the original TW Rome is in for a let down in almost every possible area.
    On a strategic level, the TW franchise has always been less complex than say, a dedicated turn based game like Civilization is, but Rome II takes the previous incarnation of Rome and dumbs it down in every    TW Rome II is a truly awful experience. Any person seeking to experience a renaissance of their time with the original TW Rome is in for a let down in almost every possible area.
    On a strategic level, the TW franchise has always been less complex than say, a dedicated turn based game like Civilization is, but Rome II takes the previous incarnation of Rome and dumbs it down in every interesting respect. There is no family tree control. No Senate activity relevant to the player whatsoever.
    Although there are three types of agents, all of them have such similar abilities and skill trees they might as well have only had one "mega agent" available to create. Speaking of agents, generals are now only useful in a military capacity. No more specialising generals for administration. If this was not enough to make you bored with your generals and agents early, they nature of the game is such that generals and agents are only likely to be alive for about twenty turns before they die from old age. You could almost say they are a metaphor for this franchise, if this is the direction they continue in. Twenty turns is certainly about as long as most players will want to play it anyway.
    On the tactical side, the units are boring. There is no reason to make any type of unit in any faction apart from a single top tier unit. Forget about balancing infantry, cavalry, ranged and siege units. Just make your faction's top unit. Even the lowest rated RTS game rewards combined arms, but not TW Rome II! Let's talk about the naval side. Rome II makes transport ships the epitome of naval warfare in this game. Dedicated naval warships need not apply. Just step your army into the water and auto that otherwise utterly broken sea battle.
    Which brings me to the battles in general. After months of patches, they are still awful. The worst in the series. Don't worry about the AI not being Hannibal like in its genius. Worry about the AI literally not getting off the boats so you cannot defeat them unless the timer is one and you happen to be defending. SO much else is bad about this game but I am running out of space. Do not buy. The only thing you can learn from this game is how corrupt game review publications have become.    … Expand
  76. tillhopesdies
    Jul 20, 2014
    3
    low score is not the result of the battles , I think they are the best in terms of moral , how long a unit lasts is important for strategy and I think it was way to short in shogun 2 and the detail is beautiful. I think the thought gone into the fighting is really good. however . a game that is this buggy and lags this much in a siege makes the game unfinished. my score reflects this. morelow score is not the result of the battles , I think they are the best in terms of moral , how long a unit lasts is important for strategy and I think it was way to short in shogun 2 and the detail is beautiful. I think the thought gone into the fighting is really good. however . a game that is this buggy and lags this much in a siege makes the game unfinished. my score reflects this. more importantly however ! this game lacks all character. rome 1 has this simply by having different colours. seeing your towns buildings change in size (noticibly) in the (see town option with your civilans in it) and huge temples ,being able to choose your own king by the family tree. the game should be trying to preserve the children it captured bye making more character within the game like from Rome 1 by allowing and supporting our own story lines , being able to pretend that I was the son of a king who removed me from the throne and so i took my reputation and money and used it to buy and bribe an army of mercenaries , which I then invaded the gual making the empire twice as big. and then "pretending" I made my own civil was against my hated brother. this and the feel of power I had, but with out feeling like I was just easily rolling over everything , boring and unchallenging. rome 2 naval is by far the best I have seen , besides empire total war. I love ramming ships ! but after my 30 hours (enjoying about the first hour) and then it becoming a chore and thinking (if I wanted more fun and character, I would just go sleep and dream about it instead) I see ca thought we wanted better battles, I see there dedication to it. however , balancing issues and the complete lack of any reason to want you to care enough to keep playing to fight the battles. maybe im just getting old, maybe the younger audience , who I assume don't even play p.c any more , would like it better, maybe im loosing my imagination, or maybe ROME TOTAL WAR has failed to spark my imagination and from the negative reviews , ill assume its the later.… Expand
  77. MoonflowerDarsh
    Jul 19, 2014
    1
    Been with the TW series since Rome 1. I am a scholar interested in the time periods pre-ancient greek/roman as well as the ancient greek/roman period.

    With those things in mind as well as my expectations set fairly high thanks to CA advertising and marketing... I can say that Rome 2 was absolutely disappointing. I have to agree with other users and long-time fans who know what they are    Been with the TW series since Rome 1. I am a scholar interested in the time periods pre-ancient greek/roman as well as the ancient greek/roman period.

    With those things in mind as well as my expectations set fairly high thanks to CA advertising and marketing... I can say that Rome 2 was absolutely disappointing. I have to agree with other users and long-time fans who know what they are talking about--CA released a beta, and made their base pay full price. It's shameful.    … Expand
  78. TenchuuKhan
    Jul 19, 2014
    3
    Coming from MTW, M2TW, ETW, S2TW giving this some 20 hours now I must say that I still can't get warm with it.
    The UI is just horrible, every time you have to click down 3 sub-menus until you are where you have to go. Which is quite the case with Agents because they need an Upgrade like every turn.
    Town management is just stiff and better don't get anything wrong because your people will    Coming from MTW, M2TW, ETW, S2TW giving this some 20 hours now I must say that I still can't get warm with it.
    The UI is just horrible, every time you have to click down 3 sub-menus until you are where you have to go. Which is quite the case with Agents because they need an Upgrade like every turn.
    Town management is just stiff and better don't get anything wrong because your people will freak out and **** up your game in only a few turns. This is especially fun once you have a few regions and your people freak out for no apparent reason and destroy your game.

    Whatever they were trying to do with this, it doesn't work for me... at all. It's like it tries to be a different game borrowing concepts from CIV... just in the worst way possible    … Expand
  79. hgcfjghklihj
    Jul 16, 2014
    0
    So this game is poorly optimized and runs difficult even on high end PCs.The AI i soo stupid that makes the player wanna leave the game.Oh there's a ton of glitches and the graphics feel empty even on high resolution.On the campain map the turns take forever to pass and the city management is the worst of the entire series..Want more? never play this game!
  80. TheXand
    Jul 13, 2014
    0
    12 patches later and halfway into 2014 and the game still runs poorly, with the fps plummeting when units enter into melee (like the old Shogun 2 bug before patches ironed that out). I have an R9 270 and an i5 2500K so make of that what you will.
  81. metamoth
    Jul 11, 2014
    7
    I used to wonder why in spite of all the very good professional reviews there were so many criticisms and negative feedback from users. Then when I bought this game at a steam sale a couple of months back I realised why... cos they are all true. And yet... I've had an enjoyable 89 hours with this game thus far. There are many good things about it that perhaps is lost amidst the criticism.I used to wonder why in spite of all the very good professional reviews there were so many criticisms and negative feedback from users. Then when I bought this game at a steam sale a couple of months back I realised why... cos they are all true. And yet... I've had an enjoyable 89 hours with this game thus far. There are many good things about it that perhaps is lost amidst the criticism. The campaign map is a thing of beauty. It is the best in a TW game so far. The graphics, especially of towns and cities are very good if you have the right equipment to play at ultra settings. The field battles (not siege battles) are comparable to the best TW games. Diplomacy is definitely way more interesting than past TW games. If you are a fan of ancient history you will find much to like in R2 as it is populated with lots of ancient nations. The strategic situation is ever changing with public order, political intrigues and rebellions giving you something else to worry about apart from how to fight your enemies. Naval battles are some of the most enjoyable for me. Ramming ships just doesn't get old. Still the game is far from perfect as you can read from the negative reviews, but for me it is very fun to play. If CA finally makes siege battles challenging I'll be more than happy with this game.… Expand
  82. Agostinos
    Jul 1, 2014
    3
    After 13 patches and several mods tested, this game still sucks. It is flawed by design and working as intended!
    Dont you ever buy this if you want a strategy game. If you think of it as an app you might get if for some €€ at steam, install it, play it for some minutes, quit bored and annoyed and aswell deinstall that 20gb of massie failure.
    Unfortunately i paid the whole price and i    After 13 patches and several mods tested, this game still sucks. It is flawed by design and working as intended!
    Dont you ever buy this if you want a strategy game. If you think of it as an app you might get if for some €€ at steam, install it, play it for some minutes, quit bored and annoyed and aswell deinstall that 20gb of massie failure.
    Unfortunately i paid the whole price and i will never ever again play something from CA.    … Expand
  83. Clifton_Dupler
    Jun 27, 2014
    8
    It's Getting better with the patches and all. However they (C.A.) should have never released this game when they did. I mean they added "Up Hill Advantage" in a later patch!!!!!!! THAT'S something they should have added from the beginning like every other Total War. Basic fundamentals guys!

    Anyway it's getting good with the patches and it's only $20.13 on Steam till June 30th has    It's Getting better with the patches and all. However they (C.A.) should have never released this game when they did. I mean they added "Up Hill Advantage" in a later patch!!!!!!! THAT'S something they should have added from the beginning like every other Total War. Basic fundamentals guys!

    Anyway it's getting good with the patches and it's only $20.13 on Steam till June 30th has been for 8 days now. "Steam's Summer Adventure" Everything's half off.    … Expand
  84. Canicula
    Jun 19, 2014
    2
    I've sat and watched the slow, grinding destruction of what was a fine, interesting and absorbing game model into this, this tablet worthy mulch that is barely worthy of being allied to the Total War name. It's still got enough little bits that make you remember what CA used to produce, but the bulk of the game is simplified, dumbed down, rationalised. It's not a good strategy gameI've sat and watched the slow, grinding destruction of what was a fine, interesting and absorbing game model into this, this tablet worthy mulch that is barely worthy of being allied to the Total War name. It's still got enough little bits that make you remember what CA used to produce, but the bulk of the game is simplified, dumbed down, rationalised. It's not a good strategy game anymore. It's got big bits missing that have to be added with mods, which while always the case with CA games, thinking of Medieval 2 and the dire coding that contained, but the basis of the game was worthy, it inspired people to mod it because they wanted to get to the back of the game and have what they could see it would match up to.

    This is a mirage of a game, it's literally made to be played on tablets, it's one step up from the pretty flash game.    … Expand
  85. bastianravenx
    Jun 19, 2014
    2
    HUGE disappoint when you play total war shogun and switch to this game like angel from heaven going to hell UI like crap. I played almost 20 hours just to find myself how bad this game
    such a let down people
  86. urbinofacundo
    Jun 19, 2014
    1
    I had such high expectations for this game... I've played almost the entire franchise and tried to keep an open mind, but after only 10 hrs. I'm done with this garbage even after patch 13 it's just a clumsy MOSH PIT SIMULATOR:

    Positive things: - looks good (i have a nice pc and it makes my video cards burn! idk if It will look good on an average pc) Meh! things: (things that might    I had such high expectations for this game... I've played almost the entire franchise and tried to keep an open mind, but after only 10 hrs. I'm done with this garbage even after patch 13 it's just a clumsy MOSH PIT SIMULATOR:

    Positive things:
    - looks good (i have a nice pc and it makes my video cards burn! idk if It will look good on an average pc)

    Meh! things: (things that might have potential)
    - you can control the turrets when defending a city
    - when and if you manage to see the individual movements of the soldiers, they look ok... focus on IF, its impossible to distinguish anything in the mosh pit.

    - Negative things: EVERYTHING ELSE... it's impressive how awful, boring, frustrating this game can be (and let me remind you that I've played this garbage for only 10 hrs, after spending at least 1400 hrs on the whole franchise)

    THE BATTLES:
    First: no matter what you do and how you play it will end up in an awful mosh pit.
    I guess they finally achieved all the "balance" they were looking for (idk who was the imbecile that said that all the units must be "balanced"... if you spend a ton of money and technology on elite units and cavalry, they should at least run over some peasants like grass right?) but nope! now you just attack with whatever you want: cavalry, spearmen, archers, peasants, the general, your dog, your underwear, whatever.... just throw it all into a the big mosh pit, it doesn't make any difference at all.. plus on top of it, you will win, its how easy this thing is! now you can understand the comments about the UI and the awful cards: the units are all the same: archers are useless they don't do any damage at all, cavalry is also useless, the only use for cavalry is when you try to reach another mosh pit a little faster. To enjoy this crap, simply forget everything you know about tactics, strategy, history, total war, and simply pretend you are playing a really crappy RTS game just without having to train each soldier individually.... did it mention that all the units are the same? no difference between a infantry, cavalry, archers, if you want your archers to get a kill, simply throw them in the mosh pit, otherwise they won't do a s**t.

    Ohh another thing that find extremely stupid is that an enemy unit that is not in the range of view of your army, just disappears.. so you have to use an entire unit to explore the battlefield all the time (like you need an entire unit to SEE the enemy). If you wanted to put this crap in the game you should 've used the freaking retinue! remember? runner, shieldbearer, etc. Anyway... they put everything and i do mean EVERYTHING imaginable to make you hate this POS

    THE CAMPAIGN MAP

    I wont say much about this because I still don't understand it nor I will try to, just some highlights:
    - You start with cavemen technology (you can't build a RAM! unless you come up with that technology!!!! ohhh an I don't remember even being close to the be able to build a siege tower). I m glad they didn't make you start researching things as "fire" or "the wheel" or even "stone hatches" for that matter.

    - The bonus you get from technology is useless and stupid (like - 0.000005% recruiting costs or + 0.00000000001% more damage for infantry units) u know to keep the units "balanced" because god saves us from the day when 2 cheap peasant units wont be able to take down a roman legion.

    - Fleets are useless just get some peasants to build a high end war quality boat and sail wherever you want.

    - the last thing i remember (because i do wanna forget this experience) is that i was boring as hell soooo much useless crap to see and soooo little interesting things to do.

    I wanted to do this review with a cold head, not when I was angry, so i waited a few days before writing this ... but just thinking about what this game was supposed to be and we got, makes angry ooohhh and the little price tag: 60$ + all the dlc's now i see why they didn't include a demo.... to catch idiots like me and many others.

    I always defend video games when some people say that is a waste of time and money... but in this case this game truly is a waste of everything.. hell I don't even criticize people that play angry birds or any other casual game.. but i wonder what is wrong with people that actually play this POS and LIKE IT???    … Expand
  87. Boney_N
    Jun 17, 2014
    5
    On the plus side: the graphics that are really cool and....that's it. The rest, especially when you have played the original Rome before, is rather mediocre. Battles are over in a minute after all units entangle into a large blob, no real roman tactics like coordinated pilum throwing available. AI really (empirelike) baaad, Battles take place often in cities that for some reason not fullyOn the plus side: the graphics that are really cool and....that's it. The rest, especially when you have played the original Rome before, is rather mediocre. Battles are over in a minute after all units entangle into a large blob, no real roman tactics like coordinated pilum throwing available. AI really (empirelike) baaad, Battles take place often in cities that for some reason not fully walled. Battlefleets are not useful and too expensive since transport fleets not really much worse in combat, I could go on but that should give an impression. The game could be so much better but is just average… Expand
  88. MisterFro9
    Jun 11, 2014
    7
    The game has come A LONG way since release. It was a huge disappointment at first, and there are still many things that would be nice to be fixed, but it is definitely fun as hell. With a few more tweaks this could have an amazing multiplayer scene.
  89. gwm6102
    Jun 8, 2014
    1
    It's just unplayable and boring. Almost every aspect of this game doesn't make the grade. I enjoy a challenge, but the conquest map is just too massive. And, it finally becomes so repetitive - conquer city, move units around, rest, conquer city, move units around, rest........... Such a disappointment after Shogun 2, which I still dust off and play sometimes.
  90. Jomanponer
    Jun 8, 2014
    9
    I think it was a great game could be a ten but a few issues. AI is too easy not a challenge to play campaign. More diverse units and elephants and chariots I find to be to powerful. Campaign is good except for AI but the diplomacy and everything else is fine. I gave it a 9/10 for being rome total war 2 but for being a total war game I would give it a 5/10. I think that CA rushed this gameI think it was a great game could be a ten but a few issues. AI is too easy not a challenge to play campaign. More diverse units and elephants and chariots I find to be to powerful. Campaign is good except for AI but the diplomacy and everything else is fine. I gave it a 9/10 for being rome total war 2 but for being a total war game I would give it a 5/10. I think that CA rushed this game I still think they have potential to make the greatest total war game and the best strategy game ever, which I think their other games are. I think it has improved in campaign in the fact of how you manage everything, and I like the size of the maps and the tons of different battle setting such as coastal battles and such. I just think when it comes to AI and actually fighting it falls short and the other games to me looked more polish, and are much better to play fights on also I think they went backwards on graphics as well. It doesn't really deserve a nine I am just being easy on the fact that fighting battle are not fun and are stupidly easy because I think how the campaign works its an improvement.… Expand
  91. rjbangueses
    Jun 5, 2014
    1
    After playing Rome TW for so much time i can only say this about the sequel: Boring, broken piece of crap.

    AI is actually worse than the first Rome, congratulations CA.
  92. kirkwall
    Jun 5, 2014
    8
    I have been a fan of the Total War series since it's inception with Shogun. I loved the first Rome and eagerly looked forward to Rome 2.

    Overall it's a good game but had two shortcomings for which I deducted one point each: 1# eliminated the stellar aspects where the patriarch (the player) had decision making power over who his offspring married. This choice included viewing character    I have been a fan of the Total War series since it's inception with Shogun. I loved the first Rome and eagerly looked forward to Rome 2.

    Overall it's a good game but had two shortcomings for which I deducted one point each:
    1# eliminated the stellar aspects where the patriarch (the player) had decision making power over who his offspring married. This choice included viewing character qualities and talents. In short it affected the genetic capabilities of future offspring.

    2# the later and advanced game stages became redundant and mechanical.    … Expand
  93. Marin99
    Jun 4, 2014
    10
    The best strategy game ever.
    Amazing graphics
    Real great strategy possibility's
    Really good options war
    Although the diplomacy and building options aren't good enough
    I definitely advise you to buy it.
    and the game is hard enough to net get boring
  94. GameCommenter
    Jun 2, 2014
    10
    Ever since the game was published, it was BS. There was bad AI, many glitches that really pissed off gamers including me but as the times goes, the game(patched) and became the best total game ever!!!

    Go to www.youtube.com/user/lionheartx10 for awesome rome total war 2 walkthrough
  95. TurianHero
    Jun 1, 2014
    9
    after all the patches and dlc Total War Rome 2 is by far one of the best total war games i have played. From historical accuracy to the vast number of drastically different factions and to the amount of detail in the game. I like many, had major issues upon launch but since then CA has fixed most of the issues and giving away free dlc for those who bared with them and stuck around. I amafter all the patches and dlc Total War Rome 2 is by far one of the best total war games i have played. From historical accuracy to the vast number of drastically different factions and to the amount of detail in the game. I like many, had major issues upon launch but since then CA has fixed most of the issues and giving away free dlc for those who bared with them and stuck around. I am very impressed with the game even though it started in ruff water.… Expand
  96. YGrognard
    May 29, 2014
    0
    It's the worst Total War game over the entire Total War series I've ever payed, and I have played them all since the original Shogun more than 10 years ago.

    Being a hardcore Total War fan, it was the biggest disappointment in all my years of gaming.
  97. smeeeee
    May 27, 2014
    5
    Total War: Rome II was a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. The game lagged quite a lot on my computer, the epic battles Creative Assembly promised weren't all that great, and I found it hard to implement strategy when I could hardly figure out what the heck was going on. Plus, OP units like the Italian Noble Cavalry of the Etruscan League/Samnites are a) easy to get, b) probablyTotal War: Rome II was a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. The game lagged quite a lot on my computer, the epic battles Creative Assembly promised weren't all that great, and I found it hard to implement strategy when I could hardly figure out what the heck was going on. Plus, OP units like the Italian Noble Cavalry of the Etruscan League/Samnites are a) easy to get, b) probably the most powerful cavalry in the game.… Expand
  98. Faidin
    May 26, 2014
    10
    The game had a horrible release - it just flat out wasn't finished. Now though, this is a very solid - very fun - total war game. The size and scope of this game is just epic - right now this is one of my favorite all time games and I think it will just keep getting better. My only complaint is that the AI is still a little soft in battles - but on the campaign playing Legendary, it'sThe game had a horrible release - it just flat out wasn't finished. Now though, this is a very solid - very fun - total war game. The size and scope of this game is just epic - right now this is one of my favorite all time games and I think it will just keep getting better. My only complaint is that the AI is still a little soft in battles - but on the campaign playing Legendary, it's quite a challenge!… Expand
  99. Airlick
    May 22, 2014
    10
    I know it's been 9 months since the game released, I actually played it on launch and enjoyed it even back then, when the game truly was a bugged piece of junk. Right now it's GREAT. The grand majority of bugs has been fixed. Why are people hating on the game so much? The most important thing is: HATEWAGON. They read that the majority of people hates the game (even if they are simply lyingI know it's been 9 months since the game released, I actually played it on launch and enjoyed it even back then, when the game truly was a bugged piece of junk. Right now it's GREAT. The grand majority of bugs has been fixed. Why are people hating on the game so much? The most important thing is: HATEWAGON. They read that the majority of people hates the game (even if they are simply lying or stupid) and they just spit out more of their hateful comments.

    Just don't listen to it. Diplomacy got very good in comparison to previous installments, you can actually make alliances now. In the previous games there was no way you could ever make a new ally at some point in the game. In Rome 2, you can pretty much ally with half of the world if you play it well. You don't have to zerg every other faction in game anymore.

    Stupid AI? The only bad thing about AI is the sieges, AI is truly broken during sieges, it will literally let you slaughter its whole army with archers and will never move out of the city plaza. This is truly bad. But aside of that, CA made a major step forward with AI, in comparison to the previous installments. It's actually trying to flank your units now, it's abusing archers during non-siege battles if you don't have archers yourself (it just won't attack you until it blows all missiles, like it did in the previous games), it's playing well during ambushes...

    There's literally not a single major flaw that Rome 2 has. People are just hating for no reason, maybe they expected Shogun 2.5, but the game is simply different than the previous installments.

    Just don't listen to the **** spewed in other comments. If you enjoyed Shogun 2 or any previous Total War game, you'll love Rome 2 as well. It is a DIFFERENT game, yes, it's not the same old Total War, but it's a step in the right direction. I don't know if CA is planning to release more Total War games, I know they are working on a Warhammer Fantasy game, and I really wouldn't mind if it was similar to Rome 2.    … Expand
  100. BlackFox81
    May 22, 2014
    0
    This game came out almost 10 months ago with 12 patches and boat load of DLC that is mostly more crap on top of a broken game....And guess what this game still sucks and really there is no difference from release too 12 patches later....Rome 2 is is total Garbage if you love total war games you will hate this unless you are brain dead. And anyone who gives this game a 7-10 is either slowThis game came out almost 10 months ago with 12 patches and boat load of DLC that is mostly more crap on top of a broken game....And guess what this game still sucks and really there is no difference from release too 12 patches later....Rome 2 is is total Garbage if you love total war games you will hate this unless you are brain dead. And anyone who gives this game a 7-10 is either slow or still in denial that CA could make such a terrible money whoring game to an otherwise great series
    I give it a 0 because when a i buy a total war game i expect a good to great game not a big pile of dog crap that i paid 5o dollars for    … Expand
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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.
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  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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