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. Jonathan117
    Oct 27, 2013
    1
    Rome 2 was supposed to be the best TW game as of yet... this is sadly far from the truth, the game is broken in every way possible, even worse than Empire Total war. I can't stress this enough; DON'T SPEND YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS PIECE OF SH*T!
  2. Hseeker25
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    Nice for a beta test, but when do we actualy get the full working game, with all the normal features that we got in previous titles?
    Im unsure how this game got released in such a state, I remember having them more funding then normaly, did they spend it on booze? idk what the hell happend.

    Also most 10 user score are newly made acounts that only reviewed this game, very fishy.
  3. Demagogue
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    1000s of hours playing total war games from shogun 1. This has topped the disgrace of empire total war release by a hundred fold. AI so poor, buggy and crashed, unoptimised performance. No chance for a refund this is an alpha build scam Buy in 6 months to a year and dont be scammed.
  4. omonrise
    Jan 13, 2014
    1
    first, it is just offensive that in 10+ years of the franchise, the game mechanics hardly advanced at all. look at europa series - each new game, TONS of new stuff. here? not so much
    second, those gushing "professional" reviews make me sick. it just shows that there is no independent gaming press. seriously "I had difficulties in [insert here]" and then a 88 score?
    third, the game itself    first, it is just offensive that in 10+ years of the franchise, the game mechanics hardly advanced at all. look at europa series - each new game, TONS of new stuff. here? not so much
    second, those gushing "professional" reviews make me sick. it just shows that there is no independent gaming press. seriously "I had difficulties in [insert here]" and then a 88 score?
    third, the game itself is a beta, but even when it's patched, it will be a dumbed down version of shogun2, which was imho a dumbed down version of medieval 2.    … Expand
  5. dup
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This is not Total War this is Total Failure.
    To start with the most obvious: turn time takes FOREVER. You make your turn in 20 seconds and then have to wait for almost a minute until you can play again. And during the wait time you can just do nothing. You can not check you settlements or fill production queues. And my PC is well equipped and plays almost every game perfectly. The next    This is not Total War this is Total Failure.
    To start with the most obvious: turn time takes FOREVER. You make your turn in 20 seconds and then have to wait for almost a minute until you can play again. And during the wait time you can just do nothing. You can not check you settlements or fill production queues. And my PC is well equipped and plays almost every game perfectly. The next big thing is the AI. It is not just total stupid, but simply non-existing. Both on the world map, but foremost in the battles. Horse archers dismounting their horses and charging you walls equipped with bowmen?? This is too bad to be just stupid. Another thing is the lack of immersion. You do not get the feeling that any of your choices matters in some way. Somehow things are not well stitched together. More related things are: bad user interface, totally mis-formatted in-game help, and a general lack of polishing.
    Related to the previous games this is not a step backwards, but it is just an incomplete game full of bugs which totally misses the point of grand strategy. Rather play Empire, Shogun 2 or Rome 1 you will actually have fun with theses game.
    Without the bugs and playable game turns I would give it a 6/10 but like this the game is almost junk.    … Expand
  6. janki
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    A game sold in beta-state. Optimization is awfull. In battle units move waaaaay to fast. AI is dumb. A lots of good features that made the TW series good were removed. Where the hell is my family tree?
  7. evancv2011
    Dec 31, 2013
    1
    Wow. Kudos on this one CA.....this is the reason I choose not to pre-order games anymore. Even with the "patches" I wont be able to play it, leaves too much of a bad after taste.
  8. maksfighter
    Sep 3, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am very upset!!!! .Horrible optimization and miserable graphics first Rome looks better if this guano. Millions of bugs.Ai is very stupid.Developers cheated players.… Expand
  9. Xenophage
    Sep 3, 2013
    1
    I'm a big fan of the Total War series, but Rome 2 is a big step backwards. Like, 15 years backwards. Honestly, Medieval 2 had better graphics. Actually, I think they may have re-used the same graphical engine from the original Rome: Total War. It looks about like that, with the big difference of only running at 8 frames per second on my actually-not-that-bad Radeon 6870. Maybe thisI'm a big fan of the Total War series, but Rome 2 is a big step backwards. Like, 15 years backwards. Honestly, Medieval 2 had better graphics. Actually, I think they may have re-used the same graphical engine from the original Rome: Total War. It looks about like that, with the big difference of only running at 8 frames per second on my actually-not-that-bad Radeon 6870. Maybe this game has some neat stuff in it, but you can't see it through all the pixels. In any case, the historical accuracy is awesome, like other Total War games, and I did learn a few things before I punched my fist through my computer screen and pissed all over the motherboard. For instance, I had no idea Roman soldiers wore puke from head to toe before they went into battle. It probably would have been effective at avoiding confrontation, if their enemies weren't all non-descript pink naked blobs wielding what appear to be gray foam tubes, with the intelligence of lemmings. Yeah, the graphics make it difficult to view very much of the game, but I can at least see that the A.I. is more retarded than the pong game I programmed when I was 13. Seriously. I hate this game, and this game hates me, and will hate you if you buy it. Just do yourself a favor and go play Tetris on a web page or something.… Expand
  10. okizel
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I was waiting this game for years. I bought pre-order after watching commercials and reading developers interviews. Now I am feeling robbed and scammed. This game is nothing as it was promised by developers and actually it is much worse than previous TW games. Tons of bugs, simplified campaign map, many features removed, graphics are glitchy. Total disaster.
  11. Imod85
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    NEG: Too low morale, too fast unit movements & batttle speed, cluster-building, not keeping formations, 1-2 minutes waiting time after every turn, stupid AI. Battles hardly last longer than 4 minutes, it's a joke.

    POS: Province system, graphics, factions

    Summary: 2 points. Very disappointing
  12. Petar
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I feel scammed there's no other way to say it.
    The minimum and recommended requirements are a lie. The game is unplayable. After applying community-prorposed fixes, I can now actually barely play at 10-12 FPS. Won't comment on the many disappointments which other players report battle mechanics, removed gameplay features like family trees and so on.. but I have to say this is the    I feel scammed there's no other way to say it.
    The minimum and recommended requirements are a lie. The game is unplayable. After applying community-prorposed fixes, I can now actually barely play at 10-12 FPS. Won't comment on the many disappointments which other players report battle mechanics, removed gameplay features like family trees and so on.. but I have to say this is the biggest let down I have ever experienced from an entertainment product! Such a shame!    … Expand
  13. VRoll
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This one should be called Rome II or Rome II casual war doing a cap limit and do not even let the player have the number of army he want just drop down the total war mention I do not experienced any graphical issues but doing this game for being more realistic Just moving an army into water and poping it into a boat that sound not realistic at any point just a bunch of worst thinking that casual will have a great time of non thinking anything and enjoing a Star craft II from CA.Was quite impressed by shogun 2 total war battles fast with energy with a good feel on what your armies is doing, there is nothing, men full of bronze equipement run faster than ninja and kill so fast you hadn't any time to appreciate it seriously I really hope for a mod that retunr some point of this game to a rome 1 total war i didn't paid a game to play the way developper want to, i paid a game to play it and enjoy it the way i want Seeing 10/10 make me feel they havn't never played a total war game before or they not yet found the cap limit haha More people must come here to claim their dissatisfaction spending 60 bucks in this open beta game … Expand
  14. Fargo56
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    This game is horrible and total disrespect to customers. Amount of bugs is terrific, graphics look much worse than Shogun 2(released in 2011 Many gameplay features were removed. Oh god.. this game look very bad even comparing with Rome 1. Shame on you Creative Assembley!
  15. Swissrock86
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I am very disappointed. It seems they removed many things from the game:

    - missing wonderful Avatar mode from Shogun 2

    - economic system very simplified and lacksdepth

    - testudo also missing, it was in Rome 1

    - no family tree means no atmospheric roleplay

    in addtion to this: tons of bugs, poor optimization, really bad AI, very poor unintuitive UI.

    Not worth $60. Poor game.
  16. Georgissimo
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    This game failed its Total War predecessors. It is too fast paced, it´s hard to actually "feel" the game and immerse in to it, because of the new campaign, in which you just don´t give a what happens next. Diplomacy is ok but could stil use improvement (especially the trade agreements).
    But the battles! Oh my god, they suck balls. Even with high tier units, the battles tend to last at    This game failed its Total War predecessors. It is too fast paced, it´s hard to actually "feel" the game and immerse in to it, because of the new campaign, in which you just don´t give a what happens next. Diplomacy is ok but could stil use improvement (especially the trade agreements).
    But the battles! Oh my god, they suck balls. Even with high tier units, the battles tend to last at max like 5 minutes, and I am talking about 4000 against 4000 men battles. Every battle, be it an ambush, siege, or whatever, just ends in a Giant Big Blob. And the AI in siege battles, which was supposed to be really good, is freaking horrible! All the AI does is just rushes towards the Central Point. All hail the Central Point! All hail the worst game in the series! But seriously, let´s just pray for a patch. Unfortunately I believe, that there are just too many problems, that it will either take a year to be repaired, or won´t ever see the improvement.    … Expand
  17. lysm
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    This game is a HUGE letdown.
    The game was many performance issues, since crashes, freezes, low fps on pc's above the requirements and even on some med/high end machines.
    Even without counting the performance issues, the game is a residual of the other total war games. The battle system is awful, you have a capture the flag system and you run straight into it and let the armies fight    This game is a HUGE letdown.
    The game was many performance issues, since crashes, freezes, low fps on pc's above the requirements and even on some med/high end machines.

    Even without counting the performance issues, the game is a residual of the other total war games. The battle system is awful, you have a capture the flag system and you run straight into it and let the armies fight you don't even need to care about tactics they will just pile up anyway and form a big chunk off units that appear to be deaf. The units moving on battle seem that they are running all the time and the cavalry seems like cars moving. AI is plentiful bad in battles and outside.
    There are some good points that I like, diplomacy is one of them.

    In conclusion, this game is not worth the money and seems unfinished. What is unacceptable since CA overhyped this so much, I personally feel rip off and regret completely from buying it.    … Expand
  18. 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
  19. VladimirRus
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    This game is one big false marketing. After watching all commercial videos, I was hoping to see Rome 2 at least as good as Shogun 2. However, developers just lied to us. Optimization and visual part of the game is bad. Gameplay doesn't feel like TW game.

    Rome 2: Total War is big disappointment for me. I want my money back!
  20. TomasB
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I used to play Rome Total War 1 a lot and it's an excellent game. Rome 2 however is terrible. Game looks like dirty beta or alpha because it is very buggy The game design is too plain simple and boring compared to Rome 1. UI just looks ugly. Campaign map is very casual with many things removed.

    I would like to get a refund.
  21. madstockman
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    After playing every single Total War game since its release i am incredibly disappointed with this release. There are many positives (scope, graphics, traditions, unit types, increased diplomacy) yet somehow by importing these features in the developers have lost so much of the Total War basics that it is actually massively shocking. The PR for this game was excellent and we were told thatAfter playing every single Total War game since its release i am incredibly disappointed with this release. There are many positives (scope, graphics, traditions, unit types, increased diplomacy) yet somehow by importing these features in the developers have lost so much of the Total War basics that it is actually massively shocking. The PR for this game was excellent and we were told that the developers had the biggest budget ever for a Total War game. With that in mind the fact that your 'epic battles' can be over in a couple of minutes due to poor testing of the combat system and units formations crumble when they meet an opposing force and battle lines turn into blobs is ridiculous. Also the campaign map, as beautiful as it is it has been dumbed down, no longer do you build farms and see farms appear upgraded on the map (Shogun 2) but you do see your cities get bigger. So big in fact that they take up a stupid amount of space. I appreciate as a Total War fanatic i could come across snobby, the mechanics of this game are really good. The game itself though has been released unfinished and unworthy of the epic reviews it has been given by the press. My thoughts are that they probably are not Total War fans and not played the previous titles. Playing the game for the first time id imagine it might appear pretty amazing but believe me, its not. This will need sorting out by the amazing Total War modding community and they don't even get paid for it. Thanks CA, i can only presume your next title will be even worse after this.… Expand
  22. VIET
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Rome Total War II!
    You dissapointed me greatly. I am a big fan of the total war series and I have longed for you since God-knows-when. But yesterday, you let me down greatly. Unlike what CA showed and promised in their huge campaign, you are a mess of lots of semmingly good things. Because I love the previous total war games so much, let me leave you some comment on the 4 hours I    Rome Total War II!
    You dissapointed me greatly. I am a big fan of the total war series and I have longed for you since God-knows-when. But yesterday, you let me down greatly. Unlike what CA showed and promised in their huge campaign, you are a mess of lots of semmingly good things. Because I love the previous total war games so much, let me leave you some comment on the 4 hours I spent on you yesterday:
    - Too many unnecessary changes about the managing tabs. The back ground of the tabs is dark and unattractive. The tech tree is broken and inconvenient to use. The city management is confusing and un-focusing. If in the previous games, I know precisely what I can get from getting up a certain building and therefore can plan my strategy for each province, now I know no longer, every thing I build, I have no idea what use would it be for my strategy.
    - The management of generals is dreadful. If in shogun, your generals add a huge value to your strategy and the managing tabs look so classical for shogun, here in Rome 2, because the game pace is so damn slow and the time past so fast, no general can survive more than 40 turns which is really not a lot considering the size of the map and the number of turns it would take to conquering just 1/4 of it. This all make general insignificant and just a sad unnecessary feature plus the managing tabs looks awful.
    - Recruitment is too goddam easy and fast and it makes the game boring.
    - the agents despite the interesting marketing story made up by CA, seem insignificant.
    - The strategy side of the game is slow, energy lacking and boring,
    - the tactic side has a lot of bugs and it does not show the unique characters of each nation army. though I ve just tried rome and sparta, both of which by the way are famous for their high military disciplines, in battle they just run into enemy army like mob. my phalanx keeps un-phalanxing every sec and just charge straight ahead with their swords without even a care of keeping formation. If in Shogun II, flanking, attacking from behind and timing are so crucial to defeat the enemy and the suspense atmosphere you have in battle and the victorious feeling after defeating a legendary-army, all of which makes total war games so enjoyable, in rome II you dont have any of those feeling and brainy features anymore.
    AND THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT I FEEL NO CONNECTION WITH MY GAME, NOT AT ALL. CA PAYS TOO MUCH ATTENTION ON MAKING THIS GAME LOOK NICE BUT CLEARLY THEY PAY LEAST ATTENTION ON MAKING THEM NICE.
    A LOT ON MARKETING AND SHOWING OFF BUT THE REAL CONTENT IS UNDER-DEVELOPED AND CARELESSLY MADE.

    A huge let-down in general    … Expand
  23. Ozil
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Genuinely awful game. I only gave it 1 because I suppose they've done some work on graphics but clearly nothing else. The website/magazine reviews have been bought and paid for again so ignore completely. Any user giving this 5 or higher is an idiot/child/idiot child and should be ignored completely.

    This game has absolutely zero depth. The AI is rubbish of the highest order, yet you    Genuinely awful game. I only gave it 1 because I suppose they've done some work on graphics but clearly nothing else. The website/magazine reviews have been bought and paid for again so ignore completely. Any user giving this 5 or higher is an idiot/child/idiot child and should be ignored completely.

    This game has absolutely zero depth. The AI is rubbish of the highest order, yet you will still spend most of your time waiting for the game to take the AI turns, even on decent rigs. The UI is horrendous and displays info in a painful fashion. Each turn is a pointless exercise in building things that create food and reduce order, then building things that raise order and reduce food. The "tactical" aspect is laughable and battles rarely last more than 5-8 minutes and consist of a series of insta-routs. Defensive battles now have a capture point rendering all tactical thinking irrelevant.

    Total War games (and I've played them all) have never been what you would call strategy masterpieces, but CA have somehow managed to remove every single aspect of decision making and choice from this. If you enjoy strategy can I suggest you play chess or Europa Universalis IV because Rome II is crap of the highest order.

    If I can help stop even 100 people from buying this then I'll be happy. TBH, this game wouldn't even be worth pirating.    … Expand
  24. SmokeScreen
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I tried liking this game but I just don't, and it looks like I'm not the only one who feels let down by Rome II.

    The graphics look amazing on the highest setting, but for some odd reason my GTX 660 can't handle more than medium graphics which makes the game look A LOT worse than Shogun 2, Napoleon and even Empire. Which doesn't make sense right?? I have no idea why that is, but it    I tried liking this game but I just don't, and it looks like I'm not the only one who feels let down by Rome II.

    The graphics look amazing on the highest setting, but for some odd reason my GTX 660 can't handle more than medium graphics which makes the game look A LOT worse than Shogun 2, Napoleon and even Empire. Which doesn't make sense right?? I have no idea why that is, but it really takes away from the whole experience.

    Biggest issue I have with the game though is the battles. In sieges no matter if you are attacking or defending the AI doesn't move, or if they do they just run around in circles...plane and simple, yet again the AI is beyond stupid.

    I don't like where CA took the Total War series with Shogun 2, it was just too arcadish for my taste. CA promised this wouldn't be the case with Rome II, but here we are...most of my battles are over in 4 minutes and it's like watching Usain Bolt when the units are running.

    This game is big disappointment.    … Expand
  25. abramacabro
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Unplayable. Simple waste of time and money.it just crashes 5 times every hour. Incredibly bad AI and battle interface. Not to mention the multiplayer side of the game is even worse.

    I strongly recommend to avoid this game.
  26. Derfel
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I am a big fan of Total War series, I bought every single game&dlc up to date. But I will never buy anything from CA. Rome II is a real disappointment. It's developed for 12 years old retarded CoD players.

    - Combat is too fast paced. Thousand of men die in a few minutes and even the most crowded battles are over in 3-4 minutes. (No I am serious) No tactics, no flanking, no retreating    I am a big fan of Total War series, I bought every single game&dlc up to date. But I will never buy anything from CA. Rome II is a real disappointment. It's developed for 12 years old retarded CoD players.

    - Combat is too fast paced. Thousand of men die in a few minutes and even the most crowded battles are over in 3-4 minutes. (No I am serious) No tactics, no flanking, no retreating etc...
    - It's rushed. CA didn't even try to optimize it. Textures are like crap and it's laggy. It looks nothing like trailers.
    - They promised to support low end computers and laptops but it's not even working on high end PC's.
    - Navies are pointless. Your armies can just march into the sea and 20 ships will magically appear to transport them. They can easily destroy most of the warships.
    - They have removed a lot of useful features from past games.
    - It's an over-simplistic arcade-like game. Special abilities are terrible.
    - Day one dlc.
    - İncredibly stupid AI
    - Stupid UI made for consoles. (feel free to not believe this, you will see.)
    - No family tree, no veteran units, nothing we know from good old Total War games.

    I can expand this list but I am bored of this game. Sorry for grammar mistakes, I am not a native speaker    … Expand
  27. GERULA666
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    DONT BUY THIS GAME!!!

    The most anticipated game for 10 years now... I have played this series since 2004 and i am shocked this game is so bad. Horrible optimization and miserable graphics, first Rome looks better if this . Graphics are nothing like the Siege of Carthage video even on max settings, millions of bugs, Ai is very stupid, the multiplayer experience has been entirely    DONT BUY THIS GAME!!!

    The most anticipated game for 10 years now...

    I have played this series since 2004 and i am shocked this game is so bad.
    Horrible optimization and miserable graphics, first Rome looks better if this .
    Graphics are nothing like the Siege of Carthage video even on max settings, millions of bugs, Ai is very stupid, the multiplayer experience has been entirely ruined in this latest offering from Creative Assembly. They removed the Avatars, the veteran units and vet progression, the leaderboards, the clan battles, and much else.

    Was quite impressed by shogun 2 total war battles fast with energy with a good feel on what your armies is doing, there is nothing, men full of bronze equipement run faster than ninja and kill so fast you hadn't any time to appreciate it seriously.It is essentially a reskinned Rome1 that manages to run worse,look worse and feel worse even when they had a massive amount of money which seems to have went on PR and false reviews.
    Developers cheated players, it's basically a cash-grabbing rehash. Also, pre-order DLC? Really? I can't imagine the amount of pointless DLC they will add in the future...

    Rome 2 is a big step backwards. Like, 10 years backwards. Honestly, Medieval 2 had better graphics. Actually, I think they may have re-used the same graphical engine from the original Rome: Total War. It looks about like that!
    I'm done Creative Assembly you guys have pulled this crap too many times, finish your damn games, this game 4me is a waste of hard disk space and you just lost a customer!    … Expand
  28. Nymero
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Well the developers sure pulled the wool over my eyes. I wish they would of put all that money from advertising into the actual game! This game should be labeled as a "beta". The sad thing being, that it is beyond repair. It will take years of patches, and community mods to make this game worth playing.
  29. cyclopus
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Yesterday I spent damn five hours trying to finish prologue. It crashed like 30 times. This game is one huge bug.

    Don't buy it people. It is not worth current price.
  30. Devian
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Unplayable game too bad, because I was looking forward to it. My game crashed every hour, get black screens when i was in a battles, could not play through the prologue because it was unplayable, sound issues, framerate out of the roof... a real bummer this game. avoid it until it gets better
  31. Bluster67
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    I have enjoyed all of the total war games up until now. The biggest pain about this game is that it is virtually unplayable due to all the crashes and bugs. I have never been able to play this game for 30 minutes straight without crashing. AI is more stupid than it was in Empire. No Avatar mode which I liked in Shogun. For me developers are dead after this game.
  32. Kypdurron11
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    General Cap= bad idea
    Victory Point= You can win or lose battles just by avoiding people and sitting on random parts of the map...
    Confusing UI= I can handle a abundance of UI I've played wow with enough add-ons to fill the screen. This how ever was amazingly un-intuitive, confusing and just unpolished Lag ridden=I complete my move in campaign and spend the next 5 minutes waiting on AI    General Cap= bad idea
    Victory Point= You can win or lose battles just by avoiding people and sitting on random parts of the map...
    Confusing UI= I can handle a abundance of UI I've played wow with enough add-ons to fill the screen. This how ever was amazingly un-intuitive, confusing and just unpolished
    Lag ridden=I complete my move in campaign and spend the next 5 minutes waiting on AI so I can play again
    Overall Uninspired performance from this company, truly sad    … Expand
  33. Plasmaice
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Let me start off this review by saying that I am not new to Total War. I have payed and own Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Empire: Total War, Napoleon: Total War, Total War: Shogun 2, and now Total War: Rome II. Out of all those games Rome: Total War was my all time favorite Total War Game. I don't know if it was just my affectionLet me start off this review by saying that I am not new to Total War. I have payed and own Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Empire: Total War, Napoleon: Total War, Total War: Shogun 2, and now Total War: Rome II. Out of all those games Rome: Total War was my all time favorite Total War Game. I don't know if it was just my affection towards Roman culture or if I just enjoyed being in charge of one of the largest empires that the Mediterranean sea has ever seen.

    After discovering my favorite game and playing it for many years after I finally purchased Total War: Shogun 2. Though the game was quite a bit different from Rome I, I found it quite interesting the way that the game graphics changed after so many years. I did like how the units added that "rock, paper, scissors" effect. affect making some units strong, or weak, to other units. This make it just a bit harder to dominate other players. I did have quite a distaste for the new total tax system that they implemented. Even though they added this system, they still allowed player to see a total breakdown of how the economy and happiness worked in each providence. And if a player was having trouble keeping their income in the green, they could choose not to tax that providence. But one thing I still cant figure out is where does the Daimyo keeps his chair?

    When I heard about the release of Total War:Rome II I did not jump the gun and pre-order it right a way. Instead I did research about the game, most of which i would find out to be a official lie. After months I pre-ordered it until about 9 hours away from release. I was not able to play the game until after returned home (close to noon). When I first started campaign mode, I am not going to lie I had high hopes for this game. I was quickly put down. When I started it took me over 1 hour just for figure out how to get my generals out and start moving, I was playing as Athens and I was trying to see what special units I had. No need to spend 1 hour looking there are practically no difference between faction and their units. During that hour I sorta saw how to manage taxes. I though that it was for each territory that you owned. after I moved 3 of my generals to one of my neighboring territories and found out that you can not have more than one general in a army. I took the city and went to repair it, because i though it would be similar to Shogun II due to the campaign interface, by the way it is not. After that I realized that I was not able to manage taxes on an individual level but on a faction level. This would make it easy for those who just like to click the "end turn" button, but for experienced players, like my self where who like to micro manage every country to bring out the optimal profit from every country with out having to bring down all the total taxes because your new territory is unhappy with you taking over. I have since played over 7 hours trying to play this game and try to find a way to make it playable for players who want strategy. I have to agree with other player about the AI being one of the worst AI i have ever played with. I could list thousands of thing wrong with the AI but I will not in this review. Sadly I had any issues running ultra graphics on my computer. Probably because I have about 2.5 thousand US dollars invested in my custom build performance computer. So I have not experienced any lag, but i have noticed patches that come up un-rendered from time to time. I do not see the detail that they promised they would have in this game, even on ultra mode. The battle load times have been as long as they were in Shogun II in my option. but really... Units should not move that fast ever. To fix this issue for the most part you have to manually change the game speed down. This game is by far one of that saddest excesses for a Total War game that I have every seen. They should have produced a better quality product and when they overemphasize this being a tactics and strategy game, they better live up to what they say.

    I would not get this game for obvious reasons, underdeveloped, crippled AI, lacking diverse units, basic "cookie cutter" units for every faction, not even roman archers (which Romans had), there are so many critics hyping up this game, and painful campaign interface.

    There are only a few reason why critics would give this game a good review,
    1) They were paid and given a basic script to reword
    2) They must have been given the full copy of the game that no one else tends to have.
    3)They got the game and spend very little (under 10 minutes) looking at the game or just watched the trailer

    Don't buy this game if you can help it, it is not worth it right now. I do not think even a mod could save this game from this painful interface. I

    I rate this game low because that is where I feel it is, not because someone pays me.    … Expand
  34. armitage
    Sep 4, 2013
    1
    Horrible, just horrible. In the short term there are the many well documented and game destroying technical issues (pretty sure CA must not have any testers on staff at all on this evidence). These will be resolved through patches etc in time, but it defies belief that they have repeated the mistakes of ETW all over again.

    Of a greater concern is that CA have also dumbed down this game    Horrible, just horrible. In the short term there are the many well documented and game destroying technical issues (pretty sure CA must not have any testers on staff at all on this evidence). These will be resolved through patches etc in time, but it defies belief that they have repeated the mistakes of ETW all over again.

    Of a greater concern is that CA have also dumbed down this game to such an extent that it no longer really resembles the great strategic game (at both the campaign level and the battlefield level) that I and many others fell in love with more than a decade ago. It is hard to see how these seemingly deliberate and intentional design choices (some might say flaws) can be resolved through a patch.

    As sad as it it I would conclude that Rome 2 sees the the Total War franchise terminally ill and only a concerted effort by CA can turn it around and redeem it in the eyes of their loyal fans.    … Expand
  35. Pharaun3
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This game shows best, how greed destroys potential. In it's current state the game is an early alpha. Many graphic cards are not supported, Creative Assembly gives an explanation that NVidia didnt yet provide new drivers what the hell? So why was this game published in the first place when they knew it will not work on most machines? This of course has created numerous graphic issues andThis game shows best, how greed destroys potential. In it's current state the game is an early alpha. Many graphic cards are not supported, Creative Assembly gives an explanation that NVidia didnt yet provide new drivers what the hell? So why was this game published in the first place when they knew it will not work on most machines? This of course has created numerous graphic issues and glitches so half the preorder community cannot play which is unforgivable for a series this large.

    Besides the graphics, the Ai is worst of all of the game series. No more charges with his general head on to your spearmen now he doesnt do anything. I played a few good hours and the Ai does nothing. Even in a siege situation he positioned his archers on walls yes but kept giving them move orders and such so hey cannot fire... On top of that the campaign Ai is even worse every turn an army with a win chance 1% keeps attacking, and after its defeat it attacks AGAIN. It's like he wants to die.

    Considering that someone was lucky and ran the game, and he doesnt mind the Ai, the game is ok. It's a generally good game, but the Ai, graphics, unintuitive UI and silly bugs destroy it into oblivion. If not the fact that its a Total War, it would be never bought and quickly forgotten.

    But the worst offence of all is the company tactic Release an alpha and make people test it for us so we save money on game testers, and then patch ti into working shape. This way we make money quicker and finish it with less hassle." This is unacceptable. On a side note giving out a DLC on the FIRST DAY is a terrible cash jump, but announcing more payable DLC when the game doesnt work for half the community, is PR suicide.

    Do not buy this game until christmas, it will be probably patched into shape then.    … Expand
  36. BabbyConsoleRts
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Pre-ordered this game for a pretty penny hoping to get an improved Shogun but lo and behold we got a watered down piece of and soon to be console RTS. At least that would explain why they took all of the depth from the campaign map/city management and left battles a simple matter of auto resolving every battle like a preschool version of Europa Universalis. On the rare occasion that youPre-ordered this game for a pretty penny hoping to get an improved Shogun but lo and behold we got a watered down piece of and soon to be console RTS. At least that would explain why they took all of the depth from the campaign map/city management and left battles a simple matter of auto resolving every battle like a preschool version of Europa Universalis. On the rare occasion that you have to join the battle you'll have the pleasure of routing the enemy without so much as moving an inch if you have any artillery because they won't move either! No artillery to be found? I'm sure right clicking the enemy once for victory with your infantry or calvary is going to keep you busy forever!

    Sad that they throw away the goodwill of their hardcore fans who have bought title after title with this dribble. Save your money pc, and inevitably, Xbox and PS owners.    … Expand
  37. ajax_7
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    First ever game I pre-ordered, having played every total war since Rome 1. I've loved every single one of them, sure they all have flaws but nothing that sticks out too much. Rome 2 has been an enormous step down, a huge disappointment and a waste of money. I wish I could take it back and wait for the next release. Multiplayer is disgraceful, I would prefer to play Rome 1. The UI isFirst ever game I pre-ordered, having played every total war since Rome 1. I've loved every single one of them, sure they all have flaws but nothing that sticks out too much. Rome 2 has been an enormous step down, a huge disappointment and a waste of money. I wish I could take it back and wait for the next release. Multiplayer is disgraceful, I would prefer to play Rome 1. The UI is horrible to navigate around and the army choices are limited. Having come from the outstanding multiplayer of Shogun 2, I won't be playing Rome multiplayer at all. The turn times have been an issue in all Total War games excepting Shogun 2, but in this release they are ridiculous. I can quite literally write a page of work while I'm waiting, my only fear somebody will initiate diplomacy and halt the process until I respond. The AI are terrible as always, and the campaign game feels cut down and shabby. The UI is hard to work with, there are limited management options and nothing really flows or makes sense. In battle, there are a huge amount of bugs but the ones that stick out are faulty attack orders and the complete stripping down of the UI. No fire at will, no guard mode etc. The unit cards are hard to read and take up almost half the screen. The graphics, at my current settings (Medium-High) are worse than Shogun which I can run on high, and the frame rate is slower. I thought that there must be a glitch when I saw my first battle lasted 5 minutes but no, every single battle takes 5 minutes or less. Politics is useless, there are no more events and overall there is no real flavour to the game. There are some good points, multiplayer loading times are vastly improved and the scope of the game is impressive, but unfortunately the good is lost in a sea of disappointment. It's an incomplete money grab, and CA have toyed with their fans including me who were so keyed up for the launch. I've learned a bit of a Roman life lesson; trust nobody and never jump into anything.… Expand
  38. dementium
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Such a huge disappointment!

    I was an avid fan of the TW series, having played every game since the first Shogun. Rome 2 is by far the worst TW game. Ok some TW games had awful AI at first, some had limited unit variety, some had very annoying bugs, broken mechanics etc. Rome 2 has all of these combined, and more! - Campaign AI is extremely inconsistent. It removes all its forces from    Such a huge disappointment!

    I was an avid fan of the TW series, having played every game since the first Shogun. Rome 2 is by far the worst TW game. Ok some TW games had awful AI at first, some had limited unit variety, some had very annoying bugs, broken mechanics etc. Rome 2 has all of these combined, and more!

    - Campaign AI is extremely inconsistent. It removes all its forces from its last remaining settlement. Then after I capture it, the pathetic guys start attacking my 2000-man army with 200 soldiers each turn. For some reason, noone, even friendly states/tribes accepts trade agreements, even though they will also benefit hugely from them.

    - If you autoresolve town defenses (against let's say rebel forces), there will always be some remaining soldiers in the enemy, which in turn will harass you again next turn. This forces you to play the boring battles in real time.

    - Optimization is non-existent. Loading times extremely long in some systems. Loads of graphical glitches etc. These will eventually get fixed with patches I guess. But I hate this approach when companies release unfinished games and the game gets completed 6 months later after 20 patches.

    - The most important part: HORRIBLE UI. Technology screen is a disaster, looks like a f2p ipad game. Skill selection screen is awful. Unit cards unintuitive and much more! The only explanation for this ridiculous UI is that they are planning to port the game to consoles in the future. RIP CA!

    - Battles are too fast. 10000 people battles are finished in 3-4 minutes. Tactics don't seem to be important anymore. Just blob your units and attack.

    - Navies are mostly unnecessary. Just move your armies onto sea and ram every ship you see with your army. Another cruel joke.

    I could go on but what's the point? It seems CA shifted their target audience towards more casual gamers, like many other companies in the recent years. Spending tons of money on marketing instead of finishing the game before releasing it. Bravo!

    Just a final note: I will never spend another cent on a CA game. Au revoir!    … Expand
  39. ravineh
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This game is in a BETA state. Might be worth purchasing in a half year after a lot of patches and modding for half the price. DONT buy it now, if you can- get a refund. It's time developers learned thier lesson.
  40. califfo93
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    for ITALIAN users, and even the SPANISH ones: SEGA or CREATIVE ASSEMBLY have cheated us by writing on the packaging and on STEAM (except the change made on September 3 after its release) that the game would be "COMPLETELY IN ITALIAN" or "FULLY iN SPANISH "in breach of Article 20 of Legislative Decree 206/2005 which speaks of false advertising that is" any advertising which in any way,for ITALIAN users, and even the SPANISH ones: SEGA or CREATIVE ASSEMBLY have cheated us by writing on the packaging and on STEAM (except the change made on September 3 after its release) that the game would be "COMPLETELY IN ITALIAN" or "FULLY iN SPANISH "in breach of Article 20 of Legislative Decree 206/2005 which speaks of false advertising that is" any advertising which in any way, including its presentation, is likely to mislead the natural or legal persons to whom it is addressed or whom it reaches and which, because of its deceptive nature, is likely to affect their economic behavior or which, for this reason, it is likely to injure a competitor so if CA will not solve the issue, it will be resolved by a judge.… Expand
  41. Adventure_Pal
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    I bought every Total War game and expansion, starting with the formidable original Shogun TW. I pre-ordered Rome II, though I had my doubts, remembering Empire, for that matter. Rome II is, unfortunately, worse than I imagined, buggy and impossible to play on a machine that should not have any problem.

    This is very, very disappointing. Sorry, CA, but somebody should really take    I bought every Total War game and expansion, starting with the formidable original Shogun TW. I pre-ordered Rome II, though I had my doubts, remembering Empire, for that matter. Rome II is, unfortunately, worse than I imagined, buggy and impossible to play on a machine that should not have any problem.

    This is very, very disappointing. Sorry, CA, but somebody should really take responsibility for this crappy release.    … Expand
  42. ExTotalWarFan
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This is what happens when you decide to forsake your fanbase for the console kids. Rome 2 isn't a worthy successor to Rome 1 by any stretch of the imagination. Creative Assembly deserves to be shamed and Sega deserves to lose profit for releasing a casualized, unfinished game.
  43. nihonsean
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    This game is a complete disappointment. You can try to ignore the fact that the game has several serious technical issues (no crossfire/SLI support, occasionally crashes, extremely long load times). You cannot however ignore the fact that the game play is completely lacking: extremely dumb AI, no sieges (cities can simply be assaulted and taken instantly), 500 units that are mostly copiesThis game is a complete disappointment. You can try to ignore the fact that the game has several serious technical issues (no crossfire/SLI support, occasionally crashes, extremely long load times). You cannot however ignore the fact that the game play is completely lacking: extremely dumb AI, no sieges (cities can simply be assaulted and taken instantly), 500 units that are mostly copies of each other, bad music, and a horrible UI.

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

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

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

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

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

    In sum I cannot believe the same company that gave us the first Medieval and Rome Total Wars can in all good conscience release this game. After around 4 hours of play I realised that it wasn't getting any better, gave up and returned to Medieval 2. I doubt that I will play Rome 2 again, as there is only so much the independent modding scene can do to improve it (you can't polish a turd!!). In all honesty I therefore cannot give Rome 2 a score of more than 1/10. There are some good points nestled in there among the bad, but the game as a whole is a massive step backwards and represents a missed opportunity for CA.    … Expand
  46. mosilvers
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    No SLI/Crossfire support at release. It's 2013; catch a clue game developers. Make games that support multiple GPUs and can support more than one core of a CPU.
  47. skorostrel
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Do not buy this product. It is unfinished, and is simply a re-skinning of a game that launched many, many years ago. The bugs and issues with the old game (Rome 1) have not been fixed some of them have actually gotten worse!

    This was an over-hyped product that was never finished, properly tested, or suitable for release. Perhaps a year from now it might be worth looking at again.
  48. whuu
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    AI is horrible. A huge amount of bugs. I hope there wil be hope with future patches and modding or else i will probably be done with that company. they should have invested in beta testing because this is like alpha version.
  49. naox
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    rome total war 2 is like windows vista. It needs patching (and promises will be made) but mostly people will have much lower expectations when next game in series will be released.
  50. hedgeknight86
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Total War is my favorite games series. Not just strategy games, but in all of gaming. However, with the release of Rome 2 I realized I paid $60 for a game that isn't finished. This is just unacceptable.
  51. Abspara
    Sep 5, 2013
    1
    Horrible AI

    Sluggish graphics

    Poorly optimized

    Lacks any of the soul of other Total War games.

    An abysmal launch that is characteristic of Creative Assembly.

    Paid reviewers got paid to give this game high marks. The average joe who had to spend $60.00 on this got taken advantage of. Avoid at all costs!
  52. singakes
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    lag, bad optimization, idiot AI, suck graphic etc... what happen CA?? and when release fix patch? this game beta version?? in the history of Total war series very horrible
  53. jedi72it
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    As a long time follower and enthusiast of Total War serie, i must admit that this is the worst "thing" i have ever seen.

    The devs had a splendid opportunity to make ROME 1 better....they instead were only able to destroy its glory. Cons: - Sci-fi UI, without ANY sort of differences between cultures (No Immersion, it's all like controlling from your speaceship...), and way too many    As a long time follower and enthusiast of Total War serie, i must admit that this is the worst "thing" i have ever seen.

    The devs had a splendid opportunity to make ROME 1 better....they instead were only able to destroy its glory.

    Cons:

    - Sci-fi UI, without ANY sort of differences between cultures (No Immersion, it's all like controlling from your speaceship...), and way too many abstract subslidingmenus.

    - No Family tree, no story to create, and in the end all armies will be the same.

    - 3 minutes battles???????

    - Capture the flag???????

    - Brain Dead AI???????

    - i don't enumerate all the technical bugs and glitches...there are too many and in every aspect of the game.....

    - this game lacks any "spirit" and any real challenge, you can actually see online casual players burning through Legendary difficulty like hot knife in butter.......

    CONGRATS CA AND SEGA, you were able to utterly destroy and annihilate one of the Glories in PC gaming history.

    I fear this is my last Total War.    … Expand
  54. Jaguar_Paw91
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    In past times, when you buy game, that is that. You know what you get for your money. Today, every game must release patch in 2 week period. What that tell us? They build games for profit now, not for the gamers. They all have sweet advertising, buy our game it is the best. This game just sucks. I have monster pc, but i cant play it on high, frps drops everywhere, even on campaign map, theIn past times, when you buy game, that is that. You know what you get for your money. Today, every game must release patch in 2 week period. What that tell us? They build games for profit now, not for the gamers. They all have sweet advertising, buy our game it is the best. This game just sucks. I have monster pc, but i cant play it on high, frps drops everywhere, even on campaign map, the longest battle was 6 min, that is just funny and not good. You cant have trade agreement with no one, even if you are "same blood" people. Maybe some people dont have problems with graphics, but everyone have problems with in-game setup. People who say this is good game simply lie, maybe they are paid from SEGA to talk such lies, but core of the problem is simply this game isnt FINISH… Expand
  55. jesperkjensen
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    I really looked forwards to the release of the Rome 2 Total War game which promised a great experience, new features and a challenging game. However, what I discovered was instead a really unstable game that crashes several times, a stupid AI, many bugs like ships going through land or the AI simply standing around, soldiers that can't leave their boats, land invasions that cannot be madeI really looked forwards to the release of the Rome 2 Total War game which promised a great experience, new features and a challenging game. However, what I discovered was instead a really unstable game that crashes several times, a stupid AI, many bugs like ships going through land or the AI simply standing around, soldiers that can't leave their boats, land invasions that cannot be made because a ship is blocking their port (WTF?), etc. etc. etc.. To me it seems that all their promises with this game were not held, and for this a think a bad review is in place.… Expand
  56. brizec
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    I've been a supporter of the TW franchise since it's inception, and this installment has been the biggest disappointment of the series.

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

    It seems, like so many other companies making games these days, that all the development money was spent on nice looking trailers and PR to hype the game, and the actual game was ignored. It plays like an alpha stage game. The battles are messy, the amount of bugs is ridiculous. The user interface is awful, I have a hard time understanding how some people enjoy this game. First Rome has much better gameplay.    … Expand
  57. carthoris
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    Dear customers, you've been brainwashed by the marketing team.At least they're doing their job properly ...but we know its Rome Total MESS !!
    Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise and a well orchestrated PR campaign releasing a broken product that is not fit for purpose like ..robbing people? CA you should be ashamed Not only they have removed features for no other reason than    Dear customers, you've been brainwashed by the marketing team.At least they're doing their job properly ...but we know its Rome Total MESS !!
    Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise and a well orchestrated PR campaign releasing a broken product that is not fit for purpose like ..robbing people? CA you should be ashamed Not only they have removed features for no other reason than to attempt a horrid console cashgrab, but the features that DO remain have been completely dumbed down, broken and ruined.How can you mark a game so highly when its literally a broken game that's unfinished as well as missing all of the series features?How?    … Expand
  58. asir
    Sep 6, 2013
    1
    When will gamers learn? There have been dozens of huge disappointments just like this (SimCity comes to mind recently on PC) yet you people keep buying them. This is a terrible, glitch riddled, derivative game, released WAY WAY too early.

    The only way to change this horrible trend in the industry is to STOP BUYING THE GAMES.
  59. Romanium54
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    Developers need to remember that gameplay is the most important thing in a game. The graphics are only cool if they improve an already fun game. They don't make a game fun by themselves. No one will care about the graphics if they are too bored to ever star the game. Get it?
  60. clarkethepigeon
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    Having had this game since release I have only been able to clock up around 5 hours of play time according to Steam (and I suspect much of this has been time spent fiddling in options menus in an attempt to make the game playable). In this time I have established several things:

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

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

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

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

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

    For its broad ambition being its only redeeming feature, I give this game a 1.    … Expand
  61. sakuma
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    This game is bad and when I say bad I mean "ok that back to Shogun 2 and don't look back" bad. I can't think of something to save in this game if not the graphics and even that I feel like I was duped. The UI sucks combat is too short and simple the management disappeared no more variety in battle always the same brownish terrain in summer, 15 armies? seriously? naval battle imbalancedThis game is bad and when I say bad I mean "ok that back to Shogun 2 and don't look back" bad. I can't think of something to save in this game if not the graphics and even that I feel like I was duped. The UI sucks combat is too short and simple the management disappeared no more variety in battle always the same brownish terrain in summer, 15 armies? seriously? naval battle imbalanced in the beginning "look my land army crushes your navy!" I don't know how this could be improved... At least totally change the UI but I won't by any other Total war after such a debacle and I loved CA i played TW since Rome the first I loved the mods but It all disappeared with Sega and I won't come back! You shouldn't either.… Expand
  62. JohnDeer
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    I played this game for almost 25 hours so far. I could not play longer. This game has many issues. I am not talking about performance issues, surprisingly I did not have many. I am talking about flowed gameplay issues terrible AI, Victory Points which kill all tactics in the battle, lack of family tree, 3-5 minutes waiting for turns etc. i don't know if this can be fixed in futureI played this game for almost 25 hours so far. I could not play longer. This game has many issues. I am not talking about performance issues, surprisingly I did not have many. I am talking about flowed gameplay issues terrible AI, Victory Points which kill all tactics in the battle, lack of family tree, 3-5 minutes waiting for turns etc. i don't know if this can be fixed in future patches, I hope so, but for now this game will go to shelf for a few months.… Expand
  63. ironbrigade
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    The worse battles in any tw series. They added magic special buffs to this game, you click a button and magi adds morale or takes away fatigue, makes unit better at x and o etc. The game is just a click fest and even the largest battles are over in 2-3 minutes. units run around like gazelle,no strategy,no fun.
  64. DuskRaider
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    If you are expecting this to be like the previous CA games MTW2 or even RTW1, then do not purchase this game as it is totally different using none of the great features that were used in these games.
    The number of factions they have is good, but that's about it for me on this game.

    Very poor, I for one will never ever pre-order a CA game again.
  65. dihnekis
    Oct 3, 2013
    1
    This game is so insulting. I cannot believe that I spent $34 on this, luckily getting it on sale. Seriously, one of the worst financial decisions of my life. I was broke, but loved the first RTW and hadn't played much from CA since then, so I went ahead and bought it. The game is just broken. Technical glitches are not even half of the problem. The AI is so unbelievably terrible, there isThis game is so insulting. I cannot believe that I spent $34 on this, luckily getting it on sale. Seriously, one of the worst financial decisions of my life. I was broke, but loved the first RTW and hadn't played much from CA since then, so I went ahead and bought it. The game is just broken. Technical glitches are not even half of the problem. The AI is so unbelievably terrible, there is no challenge, etc. I'm done with this piece of trash.… Expand
  66. Geordan
    Sep 7, 2013
    1
    Almost nothing redeems the flawed structure and tacky feel of this game. I got Medieval 1 when I was 7 and have loved every total war game since (Empire was ok). But this game just sucks, it's no so much the slowness as much as the arcade and disjointed layout and of course bad AI. Anyone who honestly says they enjoy this game/alpha is pretty stupid.
  67. tommyboss
    Sep 8, 2013
    1
    A beta game.
    Broken AI.
    Horrible Ui.
    Poorly optimized.
    Confusing unit cards.
    One year per turn.
    One season.
    NO ITALIAN LANGUAGE.
    50 euros wasted! ridiculous
  68. Stellen
    Sep 8, 2013
    1
    Truly dreadful game, it's as if no-one ever play-tested it. It plays like game written by some third rate company, trying to make a Total War clone, but running out of money half way through and just dumping it on the market unfinished.
  69. Argon
    Sep 8, 2013
    1
    Tested on i7 2600, GTX 770, 16gb RAM on HIGH and EXTREME graphics quality:

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

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

    I'm sick of beta testing games that I paid 50€ for. No for Sega until patched properly!    … Expand
  70. Cainga
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    I feel Rome 2 is a very poor total war title. I am doing this because reading these forums I feel like many people are content with the game. I personally find that hard to believe. I have played every game in the total war series for anyone who is wondering what I am comparing it too.

    The game has a few pros/features that I think are excellent additions: 1. The new top down birds eye    I feel Rome 2 is a very poor total war title. I am doing this because reading these forums I feel like many people are content with the game. I personally find that hard to believe. I have played every game in the total war series for anyone who is wondering what I am comparing it too.

    The game has a few pros/features that I think are excellent additions:
    1. The new top down birds eye view accessed via the tab key. This is a great idea for managing large battles.
    2. The region concept on the campaign map where multiple cities give you control of a region. This is a brilliant addition and adds depth and complexity to the game.

    Now for the cons, sadly this is a much longer list.
    1. No seasons, these have been in every total war game and add depth ad complexity to the game. Attacking in the wrong season has serious consequences. There is absolutely no good reason to remove this long standing feature.
    2. VASTLY reduced options regarding defense on the campaign map. Spending your precious resources on walls and towers was always something to balance with the rest of your empires needs but it paid huge dividends when your town came under siege. Now some cities have walls some don't and regardless you cant modify them.
    3. Generals skill trees/abilities: In previous installments in the Total War Series generals who had won many battles had numerous perks and skills that were sometimes quite unique. Losing a veteran was a huge deal as it would be a long time indeed before you had another commander that was his equal. Rome 2's generals all follow the same skill set and come and go so easily its like they are another regular unit card. There is no need to care about them.
    4. Family/Clan management is basically non existent now. Where it was once a deep and involved part of the game.
    5. Agents no longer have cutsceens. While not a vital part of the game by any means, every previous iteration of the game had this and they added to your immersion.
    6. The encyclopedia is now bare bones containing minimal information and no historical references. All the previous Total War games included a substantial amount of history about a unit or advance. Really added to the games depth.
    7. The AI is poor and borderline incapable of doing its job. I at least believe this can and will be patched.
    8. The battles are over in a few minutes. No more epic battles here just 5 minutes, 10 if you are lucky and things will be decided. Why the sudden shift in the scope of battles?

    In summary I believe that all the technical bugs will be fixed in the coming months. The problem I see is that several reason why Rome 2 is a poor game boils down to features that were intentionally removed. I doubt they will be addressing anything like this in the patches. Thus in the end we are left with a hollow "Rome Lite" when we should of had their best work to date. Am I missing something here is this really the game the rest of you were looking for? Or are you as disappointed as I am?    … Expand
  71. werwortmann
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    Has so much potential,
    But AI is everything in the end.
    Got bored on my first campaign try, AI just sits pretty and takes it up the A.
    I still play Rome 1, guess I should do campaign number 500 on that one.
    Vote this down to stop them from destroying this great series with similar future releases.
  72. jojo1983
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    I don't know why people give good reviews. There is no depth in gaming experience. After a couple hours of playing its bored. My views are:

    Good: - nice campaign map, many factions - province system is better - good music Negatives: - Terrible campaign and battle AI, but that is fixable - no family tree and seasons; characters are quiekly dead (after 30 turns) and you have no    I don't know why people give good reviews. There is no depth in gaming experience. After a couple hours of playing its bored. My views are:

    Good:
    - nice campaign map, many factions
    - province system is better
    - good music

    Negatives:
    - Terrible campaign and battle AI, but that is fixable
    - no family tree and seasons; characters are quiekly dead (after 30 turns) and you have no feeling with a person, there are not enough marriages. When I play with pontus Mithridates is soon dead and there is no heir, strange in the Mithridates dynasty Is the same with other dynasties. The gravitas is not a additional value but a step backwards.
    - the army system, when a army is demolised you can recruit the same army again included the positive traits and good troops. It's more spamming of armys then a good gaming experience
    - the flags in open battles, but that it's fixable
    - the fast battles, avergae 5 minutes 1 minute active battles and 4 minutes when the troops met each other

    I hope that Sega or CA listen to this views, its also on the forums. Roma total war 2 has potentialin the future but in this form its boring to play.    … Expand
  73. tomezom
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    The worst gaming purchase I've ever made. Besides terrible beta state, fails to reach the bar raised by its predecessors in the art direction, music, and mechanics. It's lame AI, coupled with a purposedly dumbed down UI and city management (for console testing), linear gameplay and poor multiplayer makes this an incredible disappointing experience.
  74. saviwise
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A complete and utter disappointment after 35 hours play (i.e. the equivalent of a working week)

    The good: Interesting province idea, big map, many factions, the new stance system works ok.

    The not so good: Awful AI, boring graphics (not like the trailers), unit types play the same, family tree removed and marriage options not properly implemented, over-powered free transport ships, flawed and limited tech and build trees, implementation of the province vs city idea is abysmal (you can build a maximum of five buildings in Rome), battles resemble the WWE Royal Rumbles but with more garish costumes, different agent action types pointless, generals die after 20 turns, no seasons or winter weather, random attrition travelling on the map, no roads, no buildable walls or defenses in towns, HORRIBLE UI, units have magic powers that can be spammed indefinitely (but can't they stay in formation), formation movement buttons removed from battle map, Varus give me back my guard button, legionary fire at will button and defensive pilum removed, testudo doesn't work, phalanx formation for the Greeks doesn't work, units run at 40mph, battles over in 4 minutes (big ones), few videos in game those that appear are random, random politics and events outside of the player's influence, co-op campaign doesn't work, diplomacy doesn't work, single player campaign doesn't work no one will attack you even on hard very hard, over simplified and boring economic system, slow-opening encyclopedia (web pages load faster), poorly implemented mouse over information, poorly implemented general system reduces you to few big armies but the AI pointlessly throws a multitude of tiny armies at your cities, horrible massive unit cards, unattractive icons and unit card images, lacks the historic polish and informational depth of the previous games .

    Apparently many people are also experiencing technical issues. Doesn't support SLI (or Crossfire so I've read) either.

    I could go on. I really wish I hadn't pre-ordered this game. I know people who took time off work to play this this week. Creative Labs, EA, Sega Shame on you.    … Expand
  75. Ciroc384
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    Rome 2 is actually not a bad game for casual young player. But for me as dedicated player of the Total War series this is the greatest disappointment in gaming history. Graphics are nice, but gameplay lacks heart and soul. I would never thought I will write negative review for Rome 2. If this game was named differently and was not released by CA, I would rate it probably 5/10. But IRome 2 is actually not a bad game for casual young player. But for me as dedicated player of the Total War series this is the greatest disappointment in gaming history. Graphics are nice, but gameplay lacks heart and soul. I would never thought I will write negative review for Rome 2. If this game was named differently and was not released by CA, I would rate it probably 5/10. But I consider it also the biggest scam. 60$ for this is simply too much. Replayability is at zero … Expand
  76. KunsM
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    First off, I am a HUGE fan of the Total War franchise. The first Rome was my overall favorite game for several years when it came out. I cannot say the same for Rome 2.

    Game is huge failure. I can't really think of anything good about this game, so I'll focus on the bad. Features that existed in previous games are gone. They removed family tree and made city management very simply.    First off, I am a HUGE fan of the Total War franchise. The first Rome was my overall favorite game for several years when it came out. I cannot say the same for Rome 2.

    Game is huge failure. I can't really think of anything good about this game, so I'll focus on the bad. Features that existed in previous games are gone. They removed family tree and made city management very simply. Units now have ridiculous magical abilities. Map look huge but empty. Graphics way to cartonish. UI is awful.

    I am very disappointed.    … Expand
  77. Nathanshawn
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    Worst Total War release yet. How can you possibly give this a 81/100? The AI is completely retarded. Optimization is horrible. The only good things that have improved over previous Total War games in the combined naval and land battles, and even that is wrecked by the glitches that happen.
  78. rogerxing0318
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    I'm pretty sure this game is unplayable, I don't understand how the critic reviews are so high, are they getting bribed or something??
    the game should be a pre-alpha.
  79. thedawn
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    Low fps, texture issues( black spots, and texture popping on the campaign map and battle map), bad AI way to passive one the campaign map, and just poorly coded, poor optimazation (shogun 2 was way better optimized), battles last like 2 or 3 minutes, they turn in huge blobs with no strategy needed, bad path finding, now for some reason routing enemys canot be runed down and be killed,Low fps, texture issues( black spots, and texture popping on the campaign map and battle map), bad AI way to passive one the campaign map, and just poorly coded, poor optimazation (shogun 2 was way better optimized), battles last like 2 or 3 minutes, they turn in huge blobs with no strategy needed, bad path finding, now for some reason routing enemys canot be runed down and be killed, there is no family tree, the different houses for Rome and Chartage make no inpackt on gameplay, the internal politicks system makes absolutely no inpackt on gameply i completely ignored it in my campagne, and nothing happened, in terms of some penalties or riots, i thought it will come to a civil war or something. Turns now last a year, making genearls die like flys, coop does not work, and crashes..............and much more what has been said here, and on the forums.

    The pre pre pre-alpha of the Cartage siege looks supperior to this!    … Expand
  80. danrose93
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    First of all, cannot really run the game, downloaded patches but still terrible animations and FPS quality.
    Also the features in the game are poor, like squalor levels that really ruin your game play experience. also flaming torches that make rams and ladders pointless. Not a fun game, until future patches sort things out.
  81. EckSi
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I am fan of the TW series at heart. For my credentials as a critic, I currently have over 100 hours in game, have beaten a campaign, and am one of the top of the leaderboards in multiplayers (Xtreme Chaos).

    Rome 2 feels entirely dumbed down when compared to the previous title, Shogun 2. The terrible campaign&battle AI, the lack of unit customization, the lack of general customization,    I am fan of the TW series at heart. For my credentials as a critic, I currently have over 100 hours in game, have beaten a campaign, and am one of the top of the leaderboards in multiplayers (Xtreme Chaos).

    Rome 2 feels entirely dumbed down when compared to the previous title, Shogun 2. The terrible campaign&battle AI, the lack of unit customization, the lack of general customization, banners, etc.

    Shogun 2 took the series two steps forward. Then Rome 2 came and took three steps back. While the graphics may have improved visually, there are still many many bugs and graphics related issues like water floating a battlefield etc. that it makes the game feel unfinished and untested.

    I would have been more than happy to volunteer my time and test this game for free so that the game could be passable on release, but CA and SEGA didn't feel like quality took a priority to advertising.

    Lastly, the moderating on their online forums are terrible. They cherrypick what threads do or do not stay, they keep horrendous and troll praisers yet they delete and ban valid criticisms. I'm looking at you, Sasu.    … Expand
  82. Huber
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    Huge step back =(

    Played this game 10 hours looking for the promised experience, but it lacks strategy, depth and is bugged as hell. Here the things that bothers me the most: - family trees removed no connection to my nation - passive campaign AI - too easy, too fast and too acardish battles with lack of strategy - UI is horrible (why didn´t they just copy the perfect Shogun    Huge step back =(

    Played this game 10 hours looking for the promised experience, but it lacks strategy, depth and is bugged as hell.

    Here the things that bothers me the most:

    - family trees removed no connection to my nation
    - passive campaign AI
    - too easy, too fast and too acardish battles with lack of strategy
    - UI is horrible (why didn´t they just copy the perfect Shogun II ???)
    - the sound is boring compared to the other TW Games
    - bugs everywhere

    This game really feels like a beta!!!

    I do like the campaign graphic and it´s maybe the best TW game to start with, if you are new to the series, but TW veterans will be disappointed.    … Expand
  83. fox32145
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    pure dump...ter I played over 10 hours, I will adjust my 10/10 to a 4/10. The AI is just too stupid, a donkey i a compliment to them! I can defeat 3 armys with 1 on legendery! The AI is killing the game.. Also, i have lag... while I can run all other newest games on ultra settings! I have to tune down alot
  84. Matty92
    Sep 25, 2013
    1
    Very disappointed with this game fan of all total war games but even after patches this is still a bad game doesn't have the full total war fell just going from settlement to settlement attacking not very many land battles and when you do get one you end up in massive mosh pit for 1 or 2 min top. The old Rome was ten time the game this is.
  85. mav3003
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    The core concept of the game is there but too many optimization and bug issues sit high above this game...in fact they are crushing Rome2 it deserves a poor rateing..the AI seems like its been programmed by a rabbit too many promises never delivered...if you havn't figured out yet what is wrong with this game then your not much of a fan...Hopefully with patches this game may rise but iThe core concept of the game is there but too many optimization and bug issues sit high above this game...in fact they are crushing Rome2 it deserves a poor rateing..the AI seems like its been programmed by a rabbit too many promises never delivered...if you havn't figured out yet what is wrong with this game then your not much of a fan...Hopefully with patches this game may rise but i have my doubts maybe a DLC adding some new stuff with some fixes may change its value...they have a lot of work in front of them..lets hope they are up to it.… Expand
  86. Thunderlion59
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    Look, It's time for gamers to realize that some companys are trying to fu## us. I'm tired of it, 40% bigger budget my A##. Crappy AI, and a total downgrade to the past entrys in the franchise. I really am wondering if the critics actually tested the game or watched a trailer. This game has so much potential, but this is completely unacceptable. I actually gave this game a 1/10 because ILook, It's time for gamers to realize that some companys are trying to fu## us. I'm tired of it, 40% bigger budget my A##. Crappy AI, and a total downgrade to the past entrys in the franchise. I really am wondering if the critics actually tested the game or watched a trailer. This game has so much potential, but this is completely unacceptable. I actually gave this game a 1/10 because I remember the good days that made this my favorite strategy franchise. Please. stand up for gamers. Don't buy this game it is stripped down and not worth it.… Expand
  87. Werve
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    This game is unplayable and not entertaining. It is an early beta, unstable and buggy. A big let down for most fans of the series. It clearly shows the bad side of modern game industry practices and lack of inspired professionalism. Not recommended.
  88. Antonivs
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I waited 9 years for this game. I pre-ordered the CE. I wanted to love this game. But after several hours of single player game play and several failures at Co-op; I just stopped playing. Maybe it will be playable in a month or two.
  89. Ceaugo
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    Hey Shprax this is not about gaming Rigs. I do have an I7 core gaming rig with dual video cards on SLI, 32 megs of ram and a 64 bit OS. Which does nothing to enhance a mediocre game. Only 36 critics and 494 reviewers gave somewhat positive reviews. That's 530 people out of 1716 reviews. That's is 70% of true gamers that voiced their opinions for a faulty game that they truly care about.Hey Shprax this is not about gaming Rigs. I do have an I7 core gaming rig with dual video cards on SLI, 32 megs of ram and a 64 bit OS. Which does nothing to enhance a mediocre game. Only 36 critics and 494 reviewers gave somewhat positive reviews. That's 530 people out of 1716 reviews. That's is 70% of true gamers that voiced their opinions for a faulty game that they truly care about. Maybe you got the game version that the critics got along with some perks. out of curiosity.Do you work for CA??… Expand
  90. discipulo
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Horrível a jogabilidade e o desempenho do jogo. A única nota positiva vai para as batalhas navais que agora podem ser controladas assim como as batalhas campais. No geral, o jogo ficou devendo e muito para o seu antecessor, Rome Total War e Medieval II Total War.… Expand
  91. labbey
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    I am extremely disappointed in the game. FPS is 10-15 max in battles and just as bad in campaign on my ultra high end pc.

    Within an hour of trying to get the game working, anyone can see, this is not a completed product.
  92. melaa
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    Just terrible. To purchase a full price game, pre-ordered I may add, and it's clearly a beta test that other's will benefit from our testing by buying it at half price 6 months away.

    The AI is bad. The FPS issues and graphics incompatibility issues (With a high end pc and gpu) are just ridiculous. The worst game release of the decade. Still not fixed!
  93. Tooharsh
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    I love Total War, I really do. But this game... I don't know if it is proper to call THIS a game.
    I played this for about 30 hours and the more I played, I became more disappointed.
    Huge amount of bugs, crashes, extremely stupid AI, poor optimization, minor UI issues like hidden skill tree for your characters and etc., etc. Now patches every week... CA promised us so much and gave    I love Total War, I really do. But this game... I don't know if it is proper to call THIS a game.
    I played this for about 30 hours and the more I played, I became more disappointed.

    Huge amount of bugs, crashes, extremely stupid AI, poor optimization, minor UI issues like hidden skill tree for your characters and etc., etc. Now patches every week...

    CA promised us so much and gave us so little... They fed us with gameplay videos and interviews, teasing. And then they released this. What a mockery.
    I feel like I was betrayed.

    Disappointment of the year, no doubt.    … Expand
  94. Coolz
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    the only good thing about this Total War game is the campaing map size and the number of factions. Rest of the game has taken major steps back. No more family tree, AI is horrible on all aspects, open field battles have capture points, navy has lost it's meaning and moving armies is way too easy, cities are dumbed down and they no longer feel like cities, most battles are sillythe only good thing about this Total War game is the campaing map size and the number of factions. Rest of the game has taken major steps back. No more family tree, AI is horrible on all aspects, open field battles have capture points, navy has lost it's meaning and moving armies is way too easy, cities are dumbed down and they no longer feel like cities, most battles are silly "city-battles" (not sieges really), politics they promised are the most offensive slap into the fans' faces, units are now dumbed down so bad that no unit feels special, battles take less than 5 mins and have lost all epic feeling, diplomacy is meaningless, all provinces feel even more the same than before, agents and generals die too fast and you have no connection with any of them... I could go on with this but I think you get the idea.

    This game is made for the dumb casual players who play the game for 50 hours and then move to the next game. There's no more any dept in this game, no epic feeling and it's so mainstreamed that I almost feel anger towards the devs who made this pile of crap. But then again all companies have their serious flops and this is one of them. Now their only hope is marketing to get this game sold, not the actual game.    … Expand
  95. Silenus
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    My God, where do you begin with this game? Awful performance, dreadful AI, poorly balanced units and broken features.

    I feel like a complete fool for pre-ordering this.
  96. gamir96
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    Total war is about WAR!! no battles at all unless I attack a city. or the AI attacks my city with 1 unit in suicide missions.100% siege battles.dumb AI. no family tree, no immersion to the game. it feels shallow. no politics no senate,nothing that makes the game enjoyable. diplomacy is a joke. navy is useless cause you can magically take your army to the sea and it will transform in to aTotal war is about WAR!! no battles at all unless I attack a city. or the AI attacks my city with 1 unit in suicide missions.100% siege battles.dumb AI. no family tree, no immersion to the game. it feels shallow. no politics no senate,nothing that makes the game enjoyable. diplomacy is a joke. navy is useless cause you can magically take your army to the sea and it will transform in to a navy. open field battles have a FLAG?! that you have to capture or defend!!! that alone takes off all the enjoyment of battles of previous total war games. buggy to the point of just leaving the game alone. very poor choice of features. basically the game is crap regardless of the fixes the are going to do. I spend 60 bucks pre order for this THING CA I will never ever pre order again. thanks for the worst ever total war game. a decade waiting for this game and you did THAT?! shame on you. keep my money maybe you can enjoy it, I will not.… Expand
  97. braggfatt
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    AI terrible
    Bad management of the faction are not present: family tree, princesses, merchants etc etc...)
    Armies must be recruited IN THE CITY
    I would like to move armies even without general
    City ​​management too simple
    Unit cards no comment...
    Battles? duration 5-10 minutes. My army 5-10 casualties,at worst 50-60. Enemy army 2000-3000
    .....
    thanks Sega and Creative assembly!
  98. Huberto
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    Hugely misguided effort, which tries to be Starcraft or maybe a commercial sellout but is just a boring pointless game. It also happens to be bug riddled with terrible AI and has numerous unfinished features to boot. Buyer beware. This is the strategy turd of the year!!!
  99. fishplease
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Granted, large PC releases usually have a "breaking in" period where the teething troubles are ironed out it's difficult to test every aspect of a game this large without delaying the release by a year and some launch issues are always to be expected. This, however, is too much. To release a game which is at best unoptimised, at worst unplayable and in all cases unfinished to pre-orderingGranted, large PC releases usually have a "breaking in" period where the teething troubles are ironed out it's difficult to test every aspect of a game this large without delaying the release by a year and some launch issues are always to be expected. This, however, is too much. To release a game which is at best unoptimised, at worst unplayable and in all cases unfinished to pre-ordering customers (the franchise's most loyal fans) is disgraceful, especially considering that the finished article will be available at knock-down price in a few months. You could fool me into thinking that this is a beta version intended to work out all the bugs in preparation for a more lucrative console version of the game.

    Even disregarding the game's complete unplayability for all but a handful of users, Rome II feels dumbed-down in comparison to previous releases and is obviously intended for a console port at a later date. Land battles often take longer to load than they do to fight, and the implementation of "victory points" (capture the flag) in field battles is a monumental which ruins what should be the best part of the game. Unit special abilities, originally limited to the general's ability to rally his troops, have now been extended to the point that every unit has two or three the micromanagement of abilities in battle is nigh-impossible and their very inclusion adds to the impression that the game is being groomed for a console release. Infantry moves too fast and even the most disciplined units (legionnaires, hoplites etc.) break formation as soon as contact with the enemy is made. The guard mode button has been removed, meaning that units will chase after any enemy they rout regardless of the tactical situation. I can't comment on siege battles as the game freezes every time I attempt one. The unit cards deserve a special mention they all look like Roman frescoes, which adds a bit of authenticity but falls flat on its face when you realise that they all look the same. Confusing your levy spearmen with your crack assault troops in the (brief) heat of battle is not an infrequent occurrence.

    Naval battles are woeful. Armies can now move over the sea, spawning transports when they do so. These transports are stronger than most dedicated naval vessels (since they hold about three times as many troops each) making the maintenance of large fleets futile. Even when two large fleets meet there is little by way of tactical finesse involved simply point each ship in the direction of an enemy and hope for the best. Ships seem to randomly rout regardless of their circumstances, and naval combat is over as quickly as land combat.

    The campaign has moved backward. Character attributes are never explained (except by looking them up in the clunky in-game encyclopaedia). The politics system is never explained in tutorials. Agents all seem to do the same thing. The character development system, which was pretty good in Shogun 2, is redundant now that generals' life expectancies are typically 20-30 turns. Limiting factions to a certain number of armies depending on their size prevents the strategic distribution of forces on the campaign map you can't, for example, take a settlement with a full army and leave a few units behind to defend it while you move on to the next one. Once you capture a settlement, constructing buildings of any type is difficult when every building seems to reduce public order. "The peasants are revolting because you've built a new shield-maker!" Seriously?

    I won't go in to how bad the campaign AI is, but suffice it to say that I played through an entire campaign and was not attacked once. Not once.

    All that said, my biggest irritation with RTWII is not the game itself but the reviews. It is abundantly clear that none of the critics giving this game 80%+ have actually played it. "Plays smooth" really? Have these critics been paid off? Is that where CA's testing budget went? Only a couple (notably the Guardian here in the UK) have had the bottle to tell it like it is. I hope this debacle gives CA a bloody nose and makes them reconsider making their foray into the dumbed-down console market at the expense of the loyal players who got them where they are in the first place.

    The graphics are very pretty though.    … Expand
  100. Konda
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Firstly, I created my account to review this game. I usually dont review games here, but I felt I owed it to you all to do this.
    Firstly the positives. The attrition while maintaining siege is good, although its not been done very well. You seem to lose standard amount of men each turn, instead of getting random results (disease for example).
    Negatives... well, let me start off by saying    Firstly, I created my account to review this game. I usually dont review games here, but I felt I owed it to you all to do this.
    Firstly the positives. The attrition while maintaining siege is good, although its not been done very well. You seem to lose standard amount of men each turn, instead of getting random results (disease for example).
    Negatives... well, let me start off by saying that the game is horribly optimized, buggy, the multiplayer coop is unplayable etc. Its all that, true, but I dont even care. If there was a gem below all this rubbish I would be able to live with it.

    But no, this is not a gem. Its horrible. The victory points in battles are completely ridiculous, and remove a lot of realism from the battles (CTF anyone?). The AI is dreadful no matter what it does... in amphibious assaults it just stands in the beach until the time runs out. Guard button is not there anymore, making battles a horrible point and click babysitting fest. The user interface is incredibly bad, considering that the Shogun 2's was pretty damn good. The tech tree is just pointlessly difficult to use. There are no more family trees. The game has no more seasons, as 1 turn 1 year, so youre not going to be attached to your characters for long anyway. The main problem however is the terrible army management. You have a limited number of armies, so you can have 3 x 2000 men armies, but not 4 x 500 men armies. Makes no sense whatsoever. Individual units cannot move from, lets say, city A to reinforce city B without a general anymore. You cant divide your armies. You cannot recruit from towns that dont have a general. I could literally go on forever. Literally.

    Im sorry people, this game is a total mess. Even if you ignore the horrible optimization and bugs, the game itself has nothing to offer when compared to older Total Wars, it actually has less to offer. Please people, do yourself and everyone else a favor, and dont give your hard earned money to these moneygrubbing idiots.

    I'll give the game 1/10 as it is, and 2/10 when its optimized. Shame... a real shame.
    And by the way, the site that gave it 100/100 should consider stopping game reviews completely.    … 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

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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.
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  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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