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. 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
  2. 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
  3. Yoke
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Total War fan since shogun. Loved Rome and Medieval2, was TWs prime time. Been downhill since ,and this launch is just a fiasco. Soooo much content missing I just feel so let down and missed chances with this game. Been wanting it for months
  4. SgtBash13
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    I don't normally submit reviews on games, however after awaiting this longly anticipated sequel to be released, I can't help but vent my frustration & disapointment to others. Rome 1 was surely one of CA's most fondly admired titles in the Total War series, therefore it was vital that more than ever CA stepped up & delivered a 2nd that we all craved for. Rome 2 however fails do to this,I don't normally submit reviews on games, however after awaiting this longly anticipated sequel to be released, I can't help but vent my frustration & disapointment to others. Rome 1 was surely one of CA's most fondly admired titles in the Total War series, therefore it was vital that more than ever CA stepped up & delivered a 2nd that we all craved for. Rome 2 however fails do to this, poor graphic performance & constant bugs equals a frustrating experience when you were promised (and expected) far far better. Shogun 2 is more than this ever will be & sadly the Total War series is in demise, like so many others.
    Typical Cash & Grab im afraid!    … Expand
  5. KeithMoonsLiver
    Sep 7, 2013
    3
    Total war games have always been rough at launch, but as someone who has played since medieval this is CA's worst effort yet. More concerning than the usual bugs and optimization issues is many of the gameplay decisions CA has made. They have been flirting with "dumbing down" or "consolfying" the series for awhile now, and I think this may be the point where they've finally stepped overTotal war games have always been rough at launch, but as someone who has played since medieval this is CA's worst effort yet. More concerning than the usual bugs and optimization issues is many of the gameplay decisions CA has made. They have been flirting with "dumbing down" or "consolfying" the series for awhile now, and I think this may be the point where they've finally stepped over the edge.

    The future of this game depends entirely on modders and how much CA is willing to support the modding community. I expect CA will fix most of the technical issues over the next few months, but it will take major overhaul mods to fix the parts of the game which are working as intended but simply poorly designed and not well thought out.

    My advice to anyone interested in this game: Wait. Forget about Rome 2 for awhile and go play something else. 12 months from now this game may have been patched and modded to the point where it's a very good gaming experience but as it stands now, it's not worth playing and certainly not worth paying anything near $60 for.    … Expand
  6. Electric123
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    If you have to pay 60 bucks which is more than average for new titles, and as it turns out you got the ability to take the occupation of a beta tester...not that big of a deal.
  7. BillyJ
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    I bought this game, with all promise, hope that it would be good I loved the original. I should of known as soon as i loaded the main CGI i started to drop frames that i would be disappointed. I played the game maybe for 30 minutes with frames dropping to 5-10 per second on the worst graphics settings. At that point i took the copy i bought from best buy and smashed it with a hammer. DoI bought this game, with all promise, hope that it would be good I loved the original. I should of known as soon as i loaded the main CGI i started to drop frames that i would be disappointed. I played the game maybe for 30 minutes with frames dropping to 5-10 per second on the worst graphics settings. At that point i took the copy i bought from best buy and smashed it with a hammer. Do not buy this game.… Expand
  8. peadora
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    It is simple, I pay full price for the game, the game crash everyturn and is not playable at all.
    A game that is not playable worth nothing 0
    Whoever lucky enough to be able to play the game without crash, well lucky you, please rate it base on your own gaming experience. But in my case, my gaming experience is 0. I would forgive them if they release this as a Beta, I would    It is simple, I pay full price for the game, the game crash everyturn and is not playable at all.
    A game that is not playable worth nothing 0

    Whoever lucky enough to be able to play the game without crash, well lucky you, please rate it base on your own gaming experience. But in my case, my gaming experience is 0.

    I would forgive them if they release this as a Beta, I would forgive them if my machine/system do not fit their spec, I would forgive them if those bugs is isolated and only happens to me. But no, the game is not ready and clearly they have not properly tested it before release. This is bad management and CA is trashing their name.    … Expand
  9. TWAddict
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    4 is probably a little unfair for the work that has gone into this game, as with previous TW games the history and research is very good HOWEVER the disappointment and genuine horror I am currently feeling at this moment makes me score this game so poorly. This coming from someone who has played over 900 hours on Empire, 800 hours on Napoleon and prior to steam probably 3 to 4 thousand4 is probably a little unfair for the work that has gone into this game, as with previous TW games the history and research is very good HOWEVER the disappointment and genuine horror I am currently feeling at this moment makes me score this game so poorly. This coming from someone who has played over 900 hours on Empire, 800 hours on Napoleon and prior to steam probably 3 to 4 thousand hours on Shogun1, Rome, Medieval 1 and 2 (plus all the add ons and many custom TW games). I should have waited, you see my playing time on Shogun 2 is only 44hrs, I tried to like it but grew to hate it. Unfortunately Rome 2 has some of the same stupid faults and traits, Shogun2 had warrior nuns, now we have Iceni onager ships please Hate the cartoony interface like shogun2, and the real time battle engine is just like shogun 2, far too fast to relish and enjoy like the set piece battles of its predecessors. Why spend all that time on detail and effects when your obviously pitching to the pre-adult txt-a-holic Michal Bay watching console playing demographic! What next Transformers Total War Wait let me plug three mice in and 2 keybards and I can click and smash them all together while watching the a whirling vortex of Ongager pirates and warrior nun spear laser cavalry.
    As for the AI, well AI has always been contentious in the TW series but at least in the older games such as Rome 1 and Medieval 2 while the AI sometimes sucked they were at least enjoyable and infinitely more playable. CA seem to be breaking what didn't need touching and making the bad bits even worse. Will have another crack at it soon now the patch seems to be out, although not today though, no not today, maybe tomorrow or next weekend, someday, anyway back to Napoleon or maybe Sid Meiers Gettysberg or Antietam, Xcom possibly, just something that doesn't make me feel like a moron.    … Expand
  10. Werg
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    A sad day for all TW fans. CA had rough releases before, but this tops it all. Their questionable design decisions threaten the very core that was TW.
  11. limonata
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    There are too many problems right now for this game to be considered playable.
    - The AI is absolutely terrible, every battle they simply bunch up together in the middle of your army. The siege AI is broken entirely and they often don't even move.
    - Naval battles are terrible. Ships become unresponsive and ignore orders, the boarding/ramming mechanism is bugged and often decides to do the    There are too many problems right now for this game to be considered playable.
    - The AI is absolutely terrible, every battle they simply bunch up together in the middle of your army. The siege AI is broken entirely and they often don't even move.
    - Naval battles are terrible. Ships become unresponsive and ignore orders, the boarding/ramming mechanism is bugged and often decides to do the wrong thing.
    - Ships become stuck and continue to attempt to row forward (they cannot row backwards), units become stuck walking into trees.
    - Capture points in the middle of field battles eliminate a lot of tactics and make it impossible to win with an inferior force.
    - Game is so badly optimized it makes me wonder if they even tested it on more than one computer, nVidia have even stated that they can do little with a new driver release and that the problems come from the terrible optimization.
    - Removal of the family tree it's not the end of the world but it is missed by a lot of people and it makes me wonder why they bothered to take it out? It means I have no attachment to my generals and means I don't care when they die.
    - Politics system is a complete waste of time, no one I know who plays the game even bothers to check the politics screen.
    - End turn time is abysmal and on a coop campaign it is much worse and has stopped all my friends from playing them.
    - Unit cards are terrible and the building cards are even worse what is wrong with a simple picture of the unit, like in every other total war game?
    - The UI is terrible and needs some serious work.

    If all they had done was take the first Rome and improve the graphics it would have been far better than what we have in Rome II. There are some good things about the game but they are overshadowed by everything that is wrong. It's possible that patches could save this game but it will be months and even then there is so much to be fixed I think it is doubtful.    … Expand
  12. Kratocokkos
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Horrible don't bother to buy it, bad optimisation bad graphics and ridiculous UI, i could run shogun 2 on max settings at high fps, this doesn't work on all low
  13. Pike22
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    They released it without even testing it properly, assuming no one would notice the uncomplete features, mechanics and even graphics engine which is poorly optimized. The reason I give this a 0 is so that they would stop living on pre-orders and on big expectations which are created by ads, but don't deliver.
  14. CaptianCron
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    Pretty great game, the campaign is quite solid I like the objective driven game play giving you the option guidance and rewards for developing Rome historically accurately. Graphics run great, the AI could use some tweaks but I don’t know a total war game that hasn't been seriously patched in that department after release. The UI takes some getting used to for old total war fans.Pretty great game, the campaign is quite solid I like the objective driven game play giving you the option guidance and rewards for developing Rome historically accurately. Graphics run great, the AI could use some tweaks but I don’t know a total war game that hasn't been seriously patched in that department after release. The UI takes some getting used to for old total war fans. Everything is there just streamlined with very different but still functional UI. In all loving it 12 hrs in.… Expand
  15. ADABUD
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Wow, looking at the critics reviews you would think they were playing a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT version of Rome, meaning that there version has had a years worth of updates ahead of the present time, Why do you with us CA SEGA?, Why do I have a BETA/DEMO version of Rome 2, I PAID for the FINAL Release, i'd like to see my moneys worth delivered when I pay for it, NOT after a years time
  16. danceswithfools
    Sep 7, 2013
    2
    Cash cow pure and simple.

    Total war shogun 2 is far better.

    dumb down UI and campaign.

    No mmo multiplayer mode.

    no campaign combat multiplayer mode.

    Bad graphics.

    THE STUPIDEST AI EVER at high speed u can see it just randomly moving in any direction to look like its alive.
  17. BloodRaven199
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    I have a gtx 660 ti 2gb), i5 3450, 8 gb ram and I thought this would be enough to play the game on high settings. I was wrong...~20 fps on the campain map...that's ridiculous!! When I zoom in during a battle the fps drops down to 15 or less. So I have to play it on low/medium settings. And even then the fps aren't stable. I waited for the patch, which released on Friday, but it changedI have a gtx 660 ti 2gb), i5 3450, 8 gb ram and I thought this would be enough to play the game on high settings. I was wrong...~20 fps on the campain map...that's ridiculous!! When I zoom in during a battle the fps drops down to 15 or less. So I have to play it on low/medium settings. And even then the fps aren't stable. I waited for the patch, which released on Friday, but it changed nothing...
    The AI is just as as the performance. It happens very often, that one unit (sometimes even hurt) want to occupy one of my cities, which are well defended. On the battlefield the AI is a disappointment, too! 5 hours of playing and i have concluded...there is no fun playing this!    … Expand
  18. tux
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    worst game in the Total War series. nothing alive and warm remains of the first part. wacky icons, no clips, unrealistic morality, bad management, and more more
  19. D4v1d
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    This is the most horrible game i have ever played in my life. How can they sell this garbage for 60 dlls?
    Horrible AI
    Horrible UI
    Horrible Gameplay
    Horrible Graphics
    Horrible Optimization
    Horrible Support
    Horrible Presentation.
  20. 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?
  21. ashmurphy89
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Just started to play this game this morning and the first thing that came to mind was the graphics. I thought they must have been on low but no, they were set to very high and they looked terrible. Path finding is grim. AI is poor and the optimisation is rubbish. As a software developer it's hardly surprising such a bodge-it-and-scarper job was even released as this seems to be a trend inJust started to play this game this morning and the first thing that came to mind was the graphics. I thought they must have been on low but no, they were set to very high and they looked terrible. Path finding is grim. AI is poor and the optimisation is rubbish. As a software developer it's hardly surprising such a bodge-it-and-scarper job was even released as this seems to be a trend in the dev world. Hopefully this game will be patched and the devs will listen to the fans complaints.

    All in all a massive disappointment, I don't often pre order games and this is the final straw. Back to playing a finished game like Tomb Raider until patch number 15.    … Expand
  22. ozozio
    Sep 7, 2013
    5
    I Wanted to like this game.. I wanted to,, so Bad. But it has been a letdown. The problem with Rome 2 has less to do with the fact that it feels like a title from over ten years ago and more to do with the fact that it is full of poor design decisions, simplified game mechanics, and horrible UI. Overall, the game suffers from a lack optimization and tones of bugs.
  23. asc_one
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Even though CA had a 40% bigger budget than shogun 2 they proved their incompetence the last time for me. I won't fall for their garbage ever again. And that says a Total War Veteran since Rome 1 I bought every game of their franchise.

    And every time to release there were problems but this time those are unmatched. This game is broken and a total failure from my perspective.Nothing that    Even though CA had a 40% bigger budget than shogun 2 they proved their incompetence the last time for me. I won't fall for their garbage ever again. And that says a Total War Veteran since Rome 1 I bought every game of their franchise.

    And every time to release there were problems but this time those are unmatched. This game is broken and a total failure from my perspective.Nothing that is important works really. The Battle AI is completely broken it's worse than the AI of any TW game i've seen yet. The campaign AI is also a catastrophe diplomacy doesn't work at all and the ai keeps attacking with armies that are obviously inferior.
    The UI looks consolized,I HATE IT. You cannot have unlimited armies anymore nor can you have smaller units without a general. The family tree is GONE When a general dies you don't care a Guard button is missing ,loose formation is missing instead you have magic buttons like "whip" that buff your unit for a short time. Phalanx does not work, units just can't hold their goddamn formation you can say that to pretty much every formation in the game.

    I could go on ...

    I mean I have waited for a sequel for about 10 years to see this pile of This really has broken my heart Maybe it's a C&C 4 moment for the series. Anyway with a 40% bigger budget and CA just can't ´make a functioning game. I MEAN THEY DID IT 10 YEARS AGO BETTER WTF!
    And all of you apologists that say they can fix the game with patches i mean come on even you don't believe what you are talking about!And after all we paid already!

    THIS GAME IS CASUALIZED/STREAMLINED ****!

    I will never preorder a CA game ever They messed up hard and my confidence in this company is gone.    … Expand
  24. ekatonpl
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Disappointing stupid AI, horrible UI, disgusting and confusing unit cards, no optimalazion, lots of bugs this game is surely unfinished, propably also cut a lot to get money on new DLCs. It's a shame that CA published something like this and also kind of an insult.

    Paid way too much to be a beta tester now.
  25. Captain_Solo
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Ok let's rate this game At first about game graphics AWFUL Game looks like 6 year old (even more). Absolutely dumb AI and ugly small menus. It's not fun there's no gameplay Even On maximum graphics still the same sh*t Don't waste your money There are too much good games to play. Yeah there is music but they can't hold you longer
  26. rikasan
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    They actually killed the series for its simplifications for youngsters and casual players. Want to play real Total War? Play Shogun 2, Medieval 2, Rome 1.

    This game is a huge fail. Capture points and lack of family tree are worst decisions possible. UI is very dull. I feel disapointed.
  27. Agriphal
    Sep 7, 2013
    5
    I prior ordered the game in expectation of the kind of visuals likely to knock my socks off. The hype was very effective and I was suckered in, like the fool I am. I checked my computer specifications against the list provided by Creative Assembly and to my joy I found that I met the recommended specifications. Wonderful, I thought, I'm going to get the close to the top graphics. On MondayI prior ordered the game in expectation of the kind of visuals likely to knock my socks off. The hype was very effective and I was suckered in, like the fool I am. I checked my computer specifications against the list provided by Creative Assembly and to my joy I found that I met the recommended specifications. Wonderful, I thought, I'm going to get the close to the top graphics. On Monday I started playing. Well, tried to play. Strained my eyes trying to look at the screen that looked more like a slideshow than a computer game (frames for each second at ten or less). It turns out that you need the very best computer on the market to get anywhere near attractive graphics. Sad of heart I turned down the graphics and unit size to the lowest settings. Visually it looked worse than the first Rome game. Then I encountered the worst part. The units had almost zero weight. So, this game still carries on the tradition of floaty combat established by Empire Total War and perfected by Shogun Two. Back in Medieval Two time units felt like they actually had mass. They clashed with a crunch. It was the most satisfying part of the game. That is now ancient history (ironically). Overall this game is both unfinished and underwhelming. Even when all the patches are out, this game wont be worth the effort it takes to click "purchase". Or the time wasted downloading it. If you're a fan of this franchise, and you want more, get Medieval two Total War, and download one of the many excellent modifications out there.… Expand
  28. Raven76
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    I have been a fan of this series for very long time. I played all the original and in each you felt apart of SOmETHING. It captivated you in the feel and era especially the originally Rome and Medievals both. You felt your empire grow, your cities build you started from nothing until a golden age reigned or you died in that attempt. The thing is it was fun and you couldn't wait to do itI have been a fan of this series for very long time. I played all the original and in each you felt apart of SOmETHING. It captivated you in the feel and era especially the originally Rome and Medievals both. You felt your empire grow, your cities build you started from nothing until a golden age reigned or you died in that attempt. The thing is it was fun and you couldn't wait to do it again and again.
    This game is a piece of garbage when it come to obtaining that. If CA attempt was to create something dynamic and different they didn't even achieve this a two year old could have done better with their imagination and toys!!.
    Sadly Sega's acquisition of CA has again turned another beloved title into A MONEY MAKING VENTURE in which the original fans and those who could be, have been have been left in some perpetual zombie filled spectacle. The thing is any new people to this title would have to be kidding themselves into delirious stupidity in forking out money for this terrible product when such titles as Civ and others are out there- the only thing in CIV is the RTS battles then there would be no need for this garbage!!

    "CA" WE BESEECH you before you put out any other product SPEAK TO THE FANS, ASK THE FANS and tell SEGA to quit with the deadlines. The problem is when there are fools who will fork out cash me included but I make an oath now I will never buy another CA game until I feel you understand what the fans truly want) and there are no refunds it makes little SEGA is a huge company and if CA falls onto itself it means nothing in the long run of profits and profit making they'll just find something else that is beloved and was unique and fresh and RUIN IT only until they have milked it with subsequent sequels until they have totally dumbed it down
    WTF were you thinking of getting rid of Patricians Family TREE HUH??? what??? not to mention the kindgergarten drawings akin to shogun which shows me u use the same templates it was a quick shortcut I know and as for CITY MANAGEMENT it was one of the things that truly made the system so beloved so unique I give four because there is an occasional glimpse of what it meant to once play these games.....

    DISGUSTING    … Expand
  29. tbird1979
    Sep 7, 2013
    3
    Rome 2 Total Mess. This is the first game that I ever pre-purchased; it is now the last game that I will ever pre-purchase.

    To the Creative Assembly, I will say this; gamers know a poor game when they see it. The average score on metacritic and other review sites is going to continue to plummet, until you sort out the substance of this game. How could you forget that substance    Rome 2 Total Mess. This is the first game that I ever pre-purchased; it is now the last game that I will ever pre-purchase.

    To the Creative Assembly, I will say this; gamers know a poor game when they see it. The average score on metacritic and other review sites is going to continue to plummet, until you sort out the substance of this game. How could you forget that substance always beats style? I am off to play Napoleon or Shogun 2 once I've written this. Remember them? Two games which, although they certainly look good, both manage to place the emphasis on substance and usability for the gamer above style. Consequently, they manage to beat seven bells out of this badly put-together, un-enjoyable, cynical, money-gouge of a game.

    To anyone reading this who is considering buying Rome 2, I would strongly advise you not to, at least until the Creative Assembly fix it properly. Even then, exercise caution. The feel of this game is nothing like previous entries in the Total War series. If you didn't enjoy them, then you may be the kind of person who would like this. If like the rest of us, you thought the first Rome, Empire/Napoleon and Shogun 2 were masterpieces, then don't do it to yourself don't buy this game!    … Expand
  30. iamymr
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    This review spoils the prologue:

    I am depressed. From the moment this game was announced, I was so excited. The Carthage footage, checking the forum every week for a year to see the new factions. I love Shogun 2, and this was looking to be S2 and then some. Rome Total War is my second favorite TW game. Conquering northern Africa as my Scipio family, managing my family, doing cool    This review spoils the prologue:

    I am depressed. From the moment this game was announced, I was so excited. The Carthage footage, checking the forum every week for a year to see the new factions.

    I love Shogun 2, and this was looking to be S2 and then some. Rome Total War is my second favorite TW game. Conquering northern Africa as my Scipio family, managing my family, doing cool events, building up epic armies, managing settlements .
    R2 was going to be all this and more.
    So they led us to believe.

    The game's development was very tightly kept secret. There were only about 10 gameplay footage videos or so, with various CA/Rally Point "presentation" ones being the most prominent.
    With what I did see, the UI looked a little meh. I wasn't in love with the unit cards or the city management, but I would reserve judgment until it came out.

    3AM EST, September 3rd. My body is ready. The 9.9 gig download is ready to be unpacked and be played immediately.
    4am EST. Apparently it takes an hour for me to unpack this thing. Okay. I'm still going strong.

    I boot up the game, I watch the epic intro. Awesome. First thing I do is go to settings. I have an old Macbook pro with a 330m graphics card (bare minimum.) The game had me in Very High settings. That can't be right. I'll do medium.
    And then I start the prologue. My first impression. Why am I playing an N64 game? Why are Rome 1's graphics better? Oh well, let's actually play!
    I beat up some Samnites or whatever, I kill some catapults. My allies are yapping. Yada yada yada, I'll get there eventually, let me cross this river.
    "Sir, we are overrun!" DEFEAT!
    Uh what? It was timed? Hurm. Okay.
    So I replay the prologue, this time rushing to past that stupid river. Cutscene here cutscene there, and I beat it. Cool.

    Prologue 2 starts. City Management. All right. I learn about buildings and stances and reinforcements cool.
    I expand all my land to see what I can build. This is a mistake. If you expand your land and not build anything, you get punished via slums that appear. But you have to expand first to see what you can build. But you have no idea how much the buildings cost. This is stupid.
    I have to attack a port or something. I put my army in the water, and some boats magically appear (and count towards my unit upkeep, thanks, so now I'm making negative money.)
    "Merge with the navy." All right. Hold on I'm getting attacked by these boats, I'll wait a turn. Nope. Since I didn't merge then and there, I have some annoying checkbox that won't go away. So I reload. And the screen gets stuck. I can't move, I can't click on anything, I can't interact This is not a good first impression.
    I am barely making enough money, I sort of stop caring. I eventually have to siege some capital city or something. I build what looks like the Rams from the first game. BIG MISTAKE. They are just wooden shields or something. I reload realizing my mistake. But the game FORCES you to attack that turn. If you move away, you can't do anything. Crap. So I reload again earlier (glad I saved often.) I build stupid ladders this time. And I beat the prologue. Yay. (Irony: I can apparently take out gates with units. Thanks for telling me this game.)
    I did not get an achievement. It's called like Quaestor or something. So I reload and do it AGAIN. No achievement. And I view the prologue screen and it says Prologue 3, which I just beat, is still locked.

    Aye aye aye.

    I do an actual game. It's pretty cool. I choose Cornelia Rome. I get a negative penalty to Latin Culture. All right. I won't spread any culture.
    Food problems. Public order problems. I have 2 armies. If I want to move back and upgrade/buy units from Rome, I have to move the whole army. I do that, I get attacked by a two stack army from the north. Okay. I have to WASTE a general to act as a courier to move troops around. Sheesh.
    No family system. No sons, no daughters. There was some random thing about an adopted son. I said, sure he's mine. And nothing happened. It said "General" in green as a reward, but I didn't get a new son. Okay that's bugged.
    I was looking at some traits. The tooltip didn't show up. Bugged.
    I was doing a naval battle. I have a ship with like 40 dudes. Let's board this enemy. He gets stuck, and I lose all my units. Bugged.
    Province screen? Don't like it. You have client allies in the other three? Sorry you can't issue an edict.
    Cities have limited slots. And all the buildings are boring and lame. And there are like 60 of them. Let's have 4 different docks with barely any change in stats.
    Can't do 1v1 custom battles. Generals have to be present. Custom battles have limited slots for some units.
    Units are just reskins of each other. Iberian Swordsman! Cool! Nope, just reskinned Hastati. :(
    And the turn times! 2-5 minutes waiting for these other factions that I don't care about.

    So depressed. I am going to go play the older games. Oh Shogun 2. My dear love. You never let me down.    … Expand
  31. Adingetorix
    Sep 7, 2013
    8
    The best game in the entire Total War lineup. Creative Assembly have outdone themselves with the attention to details and overall ambience in the game.
  32. oliver1h
    Sep 7, 2013
    3
    I expected a lot from the famous "Total War: Rome" title, but unfortunately my expectations were not met (by a good roman mile...)! The AI is average at best. This has a negative effect on everything. They way they move, fight, form alliances, negotiate with your fraction (For example if you have a lot of money, they will demand some from you for everything. Do you want to trade? PAY! DoI expected a lot from the famous "Total War: Rome" title, but unfortunately my expectations were not met (by a good roman mile...)! The AI is average at best. This has a negative effect on everything. They way they move, fight, form alliances, negotiate with your fraction (For example if you have a lot of money, they will demand some from you for everything. Do you want to trade? PAY! Do you want an alliance? SHARE YOUR MONEY!). The strategy part of the game is rather simple too. There are a few types of building, and research. The most "difficult" things is to keep in mind the balance of 'public order', 'food' etc. Other than that you need to build armies and conquer land. "Paradox Game" titles, which are made by 1/100 of the budget used on "Rome 2" can do much better strategy game. I was expecting more. Not recommended!… Expand
  33. Rolby
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    this game doesnt even look a little bit like the Carthage or Teutoburg gameplay trailer. it is full of bugs and glitches and all characters look like they have some face disease. this game is just horrible compared to shogun 2. they went downhill, and not even a little bit. there is almost no technology anymore and u all the technology u have, u discover in 1 turn. it feels like a pre-betathis game doesnt even look a little bit like the Carthage or Teutoburg gameplay trailer. it is full of bugs and glitches and all characters look like they have some face disease. this game is just horrible compared to shogun 2. they went downhill, and not even a little bit. there is almost no technology anymore and u all the technology u have, u discover in 1 turn. it feels like a pre-beta game, it's just that bad. they made stuff simpler so dumb people could play it too, but they took away all the good stuff by doing that. i hope they will decide that it was a bad fault to release rome 2 yet, give us our money back, and work on it for another year to make it a GOOD game. like the first rome.… Expand
  34. pepevlad
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Yeah not very good. Missing the best part of online from shogun 2 and its very buggy/boring. The battles also last little over 5 minutes due to the AI doing nothing but rushing in a mob or sitting there waiting to die.
  35. LazerLuke
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    I can rant and rave for days about how terrible and disappointing this game was, but i'd rather sum it up in one sentence. I made a meta critic account for the first time in my life just to rate this game a ZERO.
  36. CRC
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Countless glitches and technical issues like buttons not working.
    AWFUL A.I. (Even for a TW game.) You could probably win by just randomly banging your head against your keyboard. I wish I was joking.
    Very slow load times. Laaaaaaaag. Control Points in open-field battles almost completely throw strategy out the window. Graphics are "meh" even on max settings. Nothing like what we had    Countless glitches and technical issues like buttons not working.
    AWFUL A.I. (Even for a TW game.) You could probably win by just randomly banging your head against your keyboard. I wish I was joking.
    Very slow load times.
    Laaaaaaaag.
    Control Points in open-field battles almost completely throw strategy out the window.
    Graphics are "meh" even on max settings. Nothing like what we had been shown.
    Unit cards can end up taking up half the screen.
    Since 1 turn 1 year now, your generals start dropping like flies after only a few dozen turns.
    No family tree.
    No guard mode.

    I'm probably missing some things, but those are my major issues with this game. It has great potential, but in the state that it's in, it isn't worth anywhere near $60, and it certainly doesn't deserve the critical acclaim that it's getting. My advice is to wait until some patches and/or mods come out that fix it. Until then, steer clear of this buggy mess.    … Expand
  37. bud389
    Sep 6, 2013
    8
    So far, my experience with Rome 2 is of disappointment, but not at the AI (Which for me is working quite fine), instead it is at the horrendous optimization which Creative Assembly promised would be widely scaleable. I can't even pump out decent FPS at Very High (Which is essentially the "Normal" of the graphics options), and any changes I do make to the graphics settings seems to haveSo far, my experience with Rome 2 is of disappointment, but not at the AI (Which for me is working quite fine), instead it is at the horrendous optimization which Creative Assembly promised would be widely scaleable. I can't even pump out decent FPS at Very High (Which is essentially the "Normal" of the graphics options), and any changes I do make to the graphics settings seems to have absolutely no effect on the outcome of how it looks. Just awful. I could go on and on about the optimization, but I think I made that clear. My other disappointment was how slow-paced it's become, with turns taking well over a minute long to resolve once you get to your 25-30th turn, which means that around 10-15% of your gameplay experience (depending on how long you take to end each turn), will end up being just the resolve action of clicking the "End Turn" button.

    Those problems aside, I have encountered next to no AI or gameplay glitches, and when it works, it works perfectly fine. The campaign AI is unreasonably aggressive and hard to diplomatically communicate with though, rarely if ever coming to a "moderate" or "high" chance of success, and even then if it's only a moderate chance, you'll still more than likely fail in your diplomacy.

    But, there is a silver lining here; CONTENT. Rome 2 has literally HUNDREDS of unique units, and the units that are shared between factions, are designed to fit around the factions themselves, so no simple color-swaps here like in Rome 1, Empire, or Shogun 2. There's also numerous types of agents at your disposal this time, each with unique abilities, such as poisoning garrisoned enemy units with your spy, quelling public dissent with your hero, or causing political intrigue with a diplomatic agent.

    On top of all this, they've given increased options in easy-to-access, pre-made battle formations to put your troops into, organized by type and rank. There have also been some improvements to the economic aspect, as it's been streamlined, but the depth of how it can be affected, or how you can affect it, has been increased.

    Combat based gameplay has reached its pinnacle, as you can now have a truly combined Naval/Land assault on armies or cities, leading to some very grand-scale battles. Great strides have also been made to make simply attacking a factions city as quickly as possible something NOT to focus on at first, instead, drawing out their forces and fighting them in pitched battle, which removes the very arcadey feel of the previous installments where you simply went from base to base, fighting siege to siege. They've also added depth to the auto-resolve function, where you can focus on different styles of combat to insure a higher chance of victory, or a higher percentage of troops left.

    With a few patches, I'm sure this game could reach the 9 or 10 out of 10 it deserves.    … Expand
  38. Angry_Tomano
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Sadly a disappointment. Poor performance, Poor AI, Late game turns take 5+ minutes waiting for the AI to finish their turns, Naval battles are a failure. AI does not know how to attack, i have seen indie games that are more polished and entertaining than this, Overall a poor effort for a AAA title, QA should feel bad, because they are bad.
  39. bbnj
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Words cannot express how broken this game is, beyond performance problems making computer turns easily last 10 minutes. 6 turns where you just wanted to do some reasearch? One hour! But that could be magically fixed sooo:

    So the UI design is on par with the rest of the game. One of the keywords here is 'streamline', if you know what I mean. In other TW games you could plan your    Words cannot express how broken this game is, beyond performance problems making computer turns easily last 10 minutes. 6 turns where you just wanted to do some reasearch? One hour! But that could be magically fixed sooo:

    So the UI design is on par with the rest of the game. One of the keywords here is 'streamline', if you know what I mean.

    In other TW games you could plan your economy. In this one you get a black box number representing various territories which tells you almost nothing. But that's ok, because generals have been 'streamlined' too so now they are mostly anonymous, replaceable, disposable units. Gone are family trees. Gotta streamline. Which is probably for the best because seasons have been 'streamlined' too, and now a turn is one year instead of a season. Guess how long generals live. Trained uinits on the other hand are immortal.

    Do you like naval battles? TWR has naval battles! In fact you can grab any unit, move it to sea and it instantly spawns a battle capable transport. For free.

    Did I mention trained units? Its fun' you can as usual kill stuff and they get xp and level up and improve their skills. This has been 'streamlined' too. Before if a high xp unit got nailed down to a man, reinforcements would bring down the xp of the unit (since they would start with 0). Now they don't. As long as a man survives, reinforcements are as skilled up as that man. Gotta streamline.

    Streamlined too was the guard button. Who cares if their archers decide to leave their defensive positions and chase that unit all over the map. Indeed, who cares? The speed of the units is so fast most battles are over in 5 minutes.

    Which is telling, movement speed. By default clicking on an enemy unit makes yours charge. Which has the nasty habit of breaking formation. I'll repeat this so it sinks in: the default action breaks unit formation and "tires" the unit. This should have easily been Total War: Blob.

    Then we have lovely "features" like capture the flag points, general magic "spells/skills", totally broken AI, even worse AI at sieges, drooling moron AI levels at the campaign map even when it "cheats"...

    I wish I could like this game. Or even tolerate it. Unfortunately I don't see how they could manage to salvage this through patches. Not sure what happened through the development, but it ended up in an unmitigated disaster. It's sad that the company that gave us Shogun more than 10 years ago ended up doing this piece of excrement.    … Expand
  40. purpleparthian
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Rome Lite is an arcade game designed for the casual player. Boring things like strategy and depth have been done away with, and by mid-2014, once it's been patched, it will look very pretty and be good for several hours of gameplay. Take no notice of all these reports of bugs, for they are immaterial and transient; what really matters is the vanity and incompetence of the design team.Rome Lite is an arcade game designed for the casual player. Boring things like strategy and depth have been done away with, and by mid-2014, once it's been patched, it will look very pretty and be good for several hours of gameplay. Take no notice of all these reports of bugs, for they are immaterial and transient; what really matters is the vanity and incompetence of the design team. Given these two qualities, no way will Sega CA allow full modding tools to allow enthusiasts to create a beautiful sequel to one of the greatest games of all time.… Expand
  41. garrett1f
    Sep 6, 2013
    8
    Everyone is bashing on this game because of the glitches present at the launch. People, look past the glitches and look at the game itself. It's still the deep total war experience we all know and love, they didn't change anything drastic or completely ruin the game. Now these glitches SHOULD NOT be here at this point in development, but a few patches should hopefully fix them. StopEveryone is bashing on this game because of the glitches present at the launch. People, look past the glitches and look at the game itself. It's still the deep total war experience we all know and love, they didn't change anything drastic or completely ruin the game. Now these glitches SHOULD NOT be here at this point in development, but a few patches should hopefully fix them. Stop calling this the worst game ever just because of glitches. Those can be ironed out. It's not like they changed the total war formula entirely or anything, the game itself is still great, and one of the best total war games I've played. The only fault I've had with this is that the AI is still pretty awful. Sending slingers in to charge my Spartans, running a full charge and turning back just at the last second, etc. I'm sure the AI can be fixed to some extent by patches or by the community. The game isn't perfect, but by no means does it deserve a zero like some of you have been giving it. Glitches can be fixed.… Expand
  42. Sfaxon
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Amazing. Has some bugs, but after the first patch a huge improvement. Also, the developers seem dedicated to fixing the bugs by promising a patch a week. A very very deep game with tons of stuff to do. The graphics are better than many movies out right now. Just epic. Its amazing how much they have improved upon the original.
  43. Denta-80
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Horrible UI.
    Horrendously confusing unit cards.
    Poorly optimized.
    Fix the triremes.
    Where is my guard button.
    Make a unit card that covers half my screen.

    2/10 for releasing.

    Glad I paid 60$ for beta testing.
  44. Baldos
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    I have owned and played every TW game since the original Shogun. I have played each game for hundreds of hours. However I am VERY disappointed with Rome 2. I have no bugs and the game runs very well on My new PC (i5-3570K, GTX 770, SSD ungraded to play Rome 2). BUT the game is DUMBED DOWN. The IA is worse than Empire, cities can only build 4-6 buildings, the faction/ internal politics isI have owned and played every TW game since the original Shogun. I have played each game for hundreds of hours. However I am VERY disappointed with Rome 2. I have no bugs and the game runs very well on My new PC (i5-3570K, GTX 770, SSD ungraded to play Rome 2). BUT the game is DUMBED DOWN. The IA is worse than Empire, cities can only build 4-6 buildings, the faction/ internal politics is senseless, the documentation is useless. I don't even know what I can build in the future. The aux barracks show every unit in the game as available when that is not the case.....just dumb;(… Expand
  45. Davohn
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    I enjoyed the prologue, and the first few turns of the campaign, but the turn times are far too long which basically breaks the campaign before you even start talking about the tech trees etc.

    The battles themselves are fun and when some technical issues are fixed I can see the historical battles and multiplayer being worthwhile, but unless there is some serious optimization, the    I enjoyed the prologue, and the first few turns of the campaign, but the turn times are far too long which basically breaks the campaign before you even start talking about the tech trees etc.

    The battles themselves are fun and when some technical issues are fixed I can see the historical battles and multiplayer being worthwhile, but unless there is some serious optimization, the campaign is just an excercise in waiting.    … Expand
  46. setr_zero
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Poorly optimized,. The AI is STILL worse than the AI the TW mod community put out. Gameplay is dumbed down and without nuance.

    Creative assembly, stop outsourcing your god damned games to the modders, or at least pay them for fixing your games.
  47. SgtSmith95
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    game looks great.
    In its trailers. Be assured this is A BETA game. with a huge proportion of players suffering from vomit inducing graphical errors to heartbreaking comparability problems.
    CA are now starting to make amends but their updates have cause some problems whilst fixing others. Now onto the gameplay. If you like previous Total War games then this is not for you. The devs in    game looks great.
    In its trailers. Be assured this is A BETA game. with a huge proportion of players suffering from vomit inducing graphical errors to heartbreaking comparability problems.
    CA are now starting to make amends but their updates have cause some problems whilst fixing others.

    Now onto the gameplay.
    If you like previous Total War games then this is not for you. The devs in their urine soaked underwear were obviously held hostage by SEGA to release the game prematurely and to change so many tried and tested great points about the series and turn it into an arcadic casual gamer version of an RTS. With all battles now having CTF in it throwing away the reason to use ambushes and terrain to your advantage. They removed a beautiful and intuitive UI with a hideous number crunching interfave that to be honest make me fell like i am playing Europa Universals (which uis a good game but should not be in a TW series game)

    Units route within 5 minutes of combat. That is however if you are ever lucky in the campaign to enter combat the AI is passive and runs away or is just plain broken at times and that is on the hardest difficulty Legendary. On normal it will ZERG rush you and that is because on the higher difficulty it analyses dangerous situation and never wants to enter a fight because it may loose. The siege battle are worst instead ogf having great epic battles with ladders and towers the AI will only try to burn your gates or naval assault which was cool the first few times but is just annoying as the AI demands to land as far away from you as possible.
    Testudo is usless against arrows hoplites and phalanxes no longer hold back enemies they just broke all unit capabilities but instead gave you magical powers to give them small buffs here and there at certain points wich is just lazy.

    The sound
    It is simply brilliant the soundtrack gives pacing and the voices of troops banter when you zoom close is very amusing at times with 300 references everywhere. Example of such i i had 1 unit of spartans attacked by a full stack of Parthians when in the battle i heard a spartan say "There are so many sir"
    then another say in response "THIS IS MADNESS"

    Graphics
    i was lucky enough to have a very powerful rig which meant that i was stricken with all the biggest graphical glitches ever. Yep that's right this game worked better for worse computers. I eventually managed to fix my game thanks to some trickery in script files and task manager and just simple fiddling with options in the game.
    For instance to help me i had to run in windowed mode. disabled alpha vegetation, disabled SSAIO and distortion effects. turn shadows down to low. and tick unlimited virtual memory. Then disable in task manager set Rome 2 to high prioity. There are a few more steps but they get pretty lengthy so to summarize this section after these steps i got the game running on extreme settings at 35-53fps which is decent but i should be pulling at least 70fps with crossfire on my eyefinity setup.
    (Oh btw install the latest beta drivers AMD is 13.10 that lets me use crossfire on rome 2 if you dont get it your crossfire will cause massive drops in fps due to bad optimization.)

    To summaries in all now. As a veteran of the series (Shogun 1 for those of you wanting to know) i am truly disappointed in this game m it was the same case for empire but empire was a new field of warfare and a new engine. This game just feels like it is broken and i can only give it those 3 marks due to it having spartans and for CA being ther with 24 hour support with theit devs working day and night on massive future patches which give me hope for this game as shogun 2 did not work properly for mw at first until a patch came in i was first gen FX cpu back then and TW games hate multi threading in AMD's architecture but thankfully patches and beta Bios later all was fixed. so i still hold out hope and may re-review this game in a month or so after patching and extensive multiplayer testing (multiplayer completely broke as in not even working for me right now) but some people are loving it)

    This is just a simple case of a big company pulling strings and rushing it out before the more mainstream games come out. They needed more time and should have released an actual open beta so they could get tens of thousands of rigs tested for comparability issues. and could have responded to fans and our constructive criticism like in shogun 2.    … Expand
  48. 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.
  49. kozzy420
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Fantastic game, yes the AI could be better but other than that it is fantastic. One of the best in the series imo and will only get better in the future with updates. Alot of the changes I like but they do take some time to get use to, I think once people play the game for more than 5-10 hours they will relize the game is pretty awesome.

    It seems like people forget about the launches of    Fantastic game, yes the AI could be better but other than that it is fantastic. One of the best in the series imo and will only get better in the future with updates. Alot of the changes I like but they do take some time to get use to, I think once people play the game for more than 5-10 hours they will relize the game is pretty awesome.

    It seems like people forget about the launches of Empire and Shogun2, people had said they hated the games on release then after some patches they love it.

    Whats here now is great and can only get better in the future, optimization and AI can ALWAYS be improved, these are things the series could always do better.    … Expand
  50. 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.
  51. Radox0
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    I've enjoyed the Total War series immensely through the years: I even enjoyed Empire at release as I didn't really encounter any of the crashes others did, and the bugs that were there were play through-able Rome 2 on the other hand, is a half finished game; I hope they realise their mistakes and patch it relentlessly to get it up to scratch as I want this game to be a success but rightI've enjoyed the Total War series immensely through the years: I even enjoyed Empire at release as I didn't really encounter any of the crashes others did, and the bugs that were there were play through-able Rome 2 on the other hand, is a half finished game; I hope they realise their mistakes and patch it relentlessly to get it up to scratch as I want this game to be a success but right now, as it is, it's not even deserving of a 5/10 average score… Expand
  52. Carnifex
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    As the old saying goes; Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I'm not sure what might e said about the fourth or fifth time.

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

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

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

    The whole "wait for the patch" mentality has worn thin for me, especially on a big budget game that clearly was shoved out to meet a release window. This was an utter disappointment to a series I was once a big fan of. 3/10    … Expand
  53. ecapone1
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    I WAS a big fan of the total war series (played every game since the first one), but unfortunately although I'm not an expert, I have to admit this game is really bad. AI is no AI at all, multiplayer simply doesn't work, coop campaign neither. CA has released this game far too early. I would have waited another year to get a good game, but THIS game is just UNACCEPTABLE. Goodbye CA.
  54. ers
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Great series of games turned into casual wear for school children. Do not be surprised if the next game will be released on consoles. This is not a strategy, it is not total war
  55. Toxicwire
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    The game is good and everyone is complaining and moaning about the game, yet they should know almost every Total War game is broken when it comes out and people are giving it bad review scores because they did not get to play it because of a bug or just bugs in the game. The UI is NOT horrible, just need to get used to it because they redid the whole UI in the game which they never haveThe game is good and everyone is complaining and moaning about the game, yet they should know almost every Total War game is broken when it comes out and people are giving it bad review scores because they did not get to play it because of a bug or just bugs in the game. The UI is NOT horrible, just need to get used to it because they redid the whole UI in the game which they never have done that for a Total War game. Unit cards are a little confusing but they tell you what you need to know with cool art design, the game is NOT poorly optimized. I will give credit to the poor AI, but they are not that poor, they are mediocre for a Total War game. I rate this game a 10 for this game is one of the best games I have played from Total War and a game I plan on to log hours into, it's a great game. There aren't many bugs but some many push you away, but it's called UPDATING and PATCHING, not run off and cry like a girl to a review site and give it a bad score because your navy got destroyed by terrible AI. It's sickening that I see these guys rate the game so poorly with a lot of them having terrible excuses. Personally I had no trouble in my game with crashes, or anything that will corrupt a game or mess it up. Me and my steam friends have already logged around 200-300 hours just within 4 days. Great game in my opinion.… Expand
  56. BurningTemplar
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    First, I have to explain the difference between an alpha game and a beta game.
    -Alpha: The game is not finished at all and full, bugs, poorly optimized, messed IA and also not balanced.
    -Beta: The game works pretty well, there are some bugs, the IA is at last playable, optimization is ok and the same for the balancing. Rome 2: Total War, is in a pre-alpha stage. -There is no fu***ng    First, I have to explain the difference between an alpha game and a beta game.
    -Alpha: The game is not finished at all and full, bugs, poorly optimized, messed IA and also not balanced.
    -Beta: The game works pretty well, there are some bugs, the IA is at last playable, optimization is ok and the same for the balancing.
    Rome 2: Total War, is in a pre-alpha stage.
    -There is no fu***ng AI, I can defeat 10 armies with few men. -In a battle, 1200 vs 5000 I won losing 300 guys. Also they don't know how to siege and how to defend settlements. The campaign AI is a little better but still crap.
    -The bugs are thousands, watch lastest Angry Joe videos and you will notice dat.
    -Who designed campaign UI? Rly, why didn't they fired this guy and the AI one?
    -They paid critics to make good reviews.
    -Balance? What is balance? R2TW does not know what that thing is.
    In the end, R2TW is in worst stage than R1TW when it came out, and R1TW was in a rly, rly bad state.    … Expand
  57. Adamman
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    -Good Graphics
    -Ai are a little clunky but ok
    -Economy model is great
    -very many bugs and glitches but with Creative Assembly's track record they will be fixed eventually
    -overall a very very good game you earned those 60$ i payed for you as long as you can fix some of these glitches but with your track record Creative Assembly i know you will
  58. mody
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    Its a must not buy game...broken,full of bugs, awfull performance and a dull A.I...13 hours of gameplay and the only thing i can say its that C.A has tottaly failed its a shame for the company... the patch haven't changed anything significant...very dissapointing and a waste of hard earned money...
  59. happpening
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    I was really looking forwards to this game and it has been extremely disappointing. For a start, the graphics are shocking. The very vast majority of users are going to have to play on low and even on extreme is looks absolutely nothing like advertised. The vegetation isn't even finished, it is still in alpha. The UI is far too big and confusing. Unit AI is absolutely shocking. There areI was really looking forwards to this game and it has been extremely disappointing. For a start, the graphics are shocking. The very vast majority of users are going to have to play on low and even on extreme is looks absolutely nothing like advertised. The vegetation isn't even finished, it is still in alpha. The UI is far too big and confusing. Unit AI is absolutely shocking. There are bugs everywhere.
    Do not buy this game until these issues are addressed, it is not worth the time or effort.    … Expand
  60. StaticSmoke
    Sep 6, 2013
    9
    Real review, already 40 hours of playtime, hope below helps. TLDR Great game with some bugs that are frustrating but don't ruin the experience more than bringing it from a 9 to an 8.

    Overall, Rome II is an excellent game that is enormously fun. The campaign is compelling, and the battles are epic. I found myself not being able to pull away, even with some annoying bugs. The game of    Real review, already 40 hours of playtime, hope below helps. TLDR Great game with some bugs that are frustrating but don't ruin the experience more than bringing it from a 9 to an 8.

    Overall, Rome II is an excellent game that is enormously fun. The campaign is compelling, and the battles are epic. I found myself not being able to pull away, even with some annoying bugs. The game of course breaks into two parts, the campaign map and actual battles. The campaign map is huge, leaving plenty of room for strategically planning the marches of your army. This matters because you're limited to a certain number of armies based on how many provinces you control and while slightly limiting, it also forces a greater amount of thinking and strategy. The management of cities is not complicated at all, but takes a little time to get the hang of. It's essentially a balancing act of money making buildings, food producing buildings and population happiness buildings. Overall it works well, and once you have an expansive empire will be thankful it's not much more complicated. The technology tree is like previous games, pick a perk you want and wait so many turns to research it, one perk at a time. And diplomacy is improved since shogun II, but you'll still find yourself ignoring it for the most part after you have some trade agreements set up. The fun comes from strategically planning your armies marches. So far, Ive yet to run into a real bug on the campaign map, although your agents which are assassins, diplomats and champions are painfully bad at their jobs, and even though they say they have a 50% chance of success, will fail over and over and over again to a point that clearly something is broken in the system. I also haven't tried co-op campaign yet which was broken in shogun II.

    Now the battles. You'll get what you expect, epic battles with ai that is sometimes fully functional and will beat the crap out of you. But other times, the ai can be incredibly dumb, and you'll enjoy your victory but it will feel hollow. It is very hit or miss. On the open battlefields the ai seems fine. When they are sieging a castle though, with you defending, the ai is broken. I've repeatedly reenacted 300 at the castle gates, armies of several thousand fleeing from one squad of my Greek hoplites (yea i chose athens not sparta) that held the line. It's very epic, but at the same time the ai could of gone around to different gates, or picked away at my units with archers, but they don't, they just charge into your spear choke point. But the battle ends, and you'll hold your city against all odds and its soon forgotten or even cherished as your campaign continues. The other issue during ai sieges is sometimes, they will just stare you down outside the city gates, leaving you fast forwarding the entire battle, and the fast forward button is painfully slow in those circumstances. Once again, these bugs are sporadic and will hopefully be fixed, but they do detract a little bit.

    Overall, I find myself loving the game, loving the game, hating the ai during a siege battle, then loving the game again. There are bugs, that once again will hopefully be ironed out, but regardless of what they detract the overall experience is a blast, and well worth it if you're ready to plan your conquest of the known world while twiddling your thumbs at work waiting to go home. I'd give the game a 9/10, but the bugs although not game breaking are frustrating enough to bring it down to an 8. I also have to mention that there is some credence to the complaints that its a rehash, just like every total war game that's come after shogun... but they haven't changed the formula because its not broken, and so if you like the total war series, you will most likely enjoy this game.
    Ps meta critic mobile sucks and will only let me submit this review at 9/10 even though I want to give it an 8 out of 10, oh well ill counter some trolls.    … Expand
  61. FuglyDuckling
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Amazing game, but not polished well. Thankfully my rig can handle it but for people who cant the patch they promised needs to hurry up. Its much better than a re skinned Shogun 2 or Rome its an entirely new game.
  62. Roller_101
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    This game is a disaster. A lof of technical issues (no AA, no SLI support, very bad framerate considering how ugly it is, etc), very confusing and awful menus (tech tree menu and unit cards are just super nasty, etc), strange design decisions (NO FAMILY TREE, idotic skills for armie casual simplified province thing, etc and VERY imbalanced. Currently this game plays like unplayable beta.This game is a disaster. A lof of technical issues (no AA, no SLI support, very bad framerate considering how ugly it is, etc), very confusing and awful menus (tech tree menu and unit cards are just super nasty, etc), strange design decisions (NO FAMILY TREE, idotic skills for armie casual simplified province thing, etc and VERY imbalanced. Currently this game plays like unplayable beta. AVOID AT ALL COST!… Expand
  63. Ujio
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Huge disappointment. I play Total War games since the first Medieval and I had high hopes for this game, but in vain. It is much worse than Shogun 2 in just about everything. I don't even know if it is salvageable with patches and mods cause it has too much oversimplified and stupid "new" stuff. I'll keep playing the fantastic and complete Shogun 2 and I hope that some talented moddersHuge disappointment. I play Total War games since the first Medieval and I had high hopes for this game, but in vain. It is much worse than Shogun 2 in just about everything. I don't even know if it is salvageable with patches and mods cause it has too much oversimplified and stupid "new" stuff. I'll keep playing the fantastic and complete Shogun 2 and I hope that some talented modders will find a way to save Rome 2.… Expand
  64. gamertens
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Core 2 Duo E7500@2.93 GHZ, 3 GB RAM, ATI HD RADEON 6570 GDDR5. Good enough to run the game on high settings at 1366*768 as mentioned in official pc requirements. Tried latest drivers both non beta and beta.
    Well I received quite a shock when I tried all my might and couldn't get the fps to rise above 10-11 fps even on the lowest settings. Seeing that people with much better rigs are    Core 2 Duo E7500@2.93 GHZ, 3 GB RAM, ATI HD RADEON 6570 GDDR5. Good enough to run the game on high settings at 1366*768 as mentioned in official pc requirements. Tried latest drivers both non beta and beta.
    Well I received quite a shock when I tried all my might and couldn't get the fps to rise above 10-11 fps even on the lowest settings. Seeing that people with much better rigs are having same problem so the least I can say about it is its unplayable and a terribly optimized game. Waste of time and money for me. Waiting for the proper patches to be released which could take a few weeks. Though they released one patch today but it didn't work. Still waiting for a solution and hoping they sort it out.
    Right now its unplayable. If you haven't bought it yet, don't buy it right now. Wait for xmas when it has been optimized and its price reduced. Dunno how they get away with it.    … Expand
  65. fox294
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    Really liked Rome 1. After a few hours of Rome 2 I'm about ready to quit. Almost every single mechanic is either a downgrade or a side-step from the original. It's just not much fun at all, and it's riddled with performance issues. Shame.
  66. Usser
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Waited for years for this game, and i am not disappointed, though the AI lacks a bit still. But that is the only problem i have with the game.So i would say, buy the game if you liked all the other Total War games.
  67. Caesar_Flavus
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    Well I believe that all the positive reviews were written by company employees or some test group guys? most positive reviews state nothing and look like advertisement: "buy it buy it buy it!" Now about the game, IMHO Napoleon and Shogun were much better. There is no more good old TW experience here, I just don't know how to describe it. Game design looks bad and they removed many goodWell I believe that all the positive reviews were written by company employees or some test group guys? most positive reviews state nothing and look like advertisement: "buy it buy it buy it!" Now about the game, IMHO Napoleon and Shogun were much better. There is no more good old TW experience here, I just don't know how to describe it. Game design looks bad and they removed many good things such as family tree. I d recommend to play Rome 1 with Roma surrectum 2 mod, you ll get more fun.… Expand
  68. 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?
  69. 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
  70. DukeJon
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Clearly a game that was released before it was ready, though wait a few weeks/months and the patches/mods will clear up all the problems. Not worth a 10, but certainly not worth all these zeroes either, hence my score.
  71. crokotay857
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    Not worth buying. I don't know why but this game bore me so much. Removed family tree and adding army cap was a bad move in my opinion. I think they really need to make patch fast. Graphics and UI look much worse than Shogun 2 and that piss me off too.
  72. Typo
    Sep 6, 2013
    6
    So after logging about 10 hours into the game it is safe to say that there are issues with RTW2 but, unlike some on this board (which I understand after dealing with these issues for all of the recent TW games) I still see a very bright future for RTW2.

    The biggest issue I have is that the learning curve, because publishers have gone away from printed manuals, is very steep. I found    So after logging about 10 hours into the game it is safe to say that there are issues with RTW2 but, unlike some on this board (which I understand after dealing with these issues for all of the recent TW games) I still see a very bright future for RTW2.

    The biggest issue I have is that the learning curve, because publishers have gone away from printed manuals, is very steep. I found myself stumbling about as the Iceni not really understanding or knowing the effects of putting an army in "Raid" would be. I couldn't grasp for awhile how to manage population growth (it makes you choose, essentially, which settlement to expand instead of being able to do every settlement whenever) or how to split armies. However, once you do figure these things out, it becomes apparent what RTW2 was going for, authenticity.

    I know there are skeptics out there who just wanted a more awesome Shogun 2 with Rome or a high end Medieval II with stellar graphics and I'm not excusing CA for not delivering on that end (that being said, my machine, which is not top of the line, has run the game without crashes and enjoyable level graphics. Crashes which, on the same machine, I still experience with Shogun 2) but I think I can see that CA was going for which was a motif of authenticity. Those unit cards you hate? Those are based of black-figure vases from Ancient Greece that were treasured across the classical world. Armies weren't individual units that were recruited and sent out the were raised en masse and meaningful, empire defining clashes were mammoth affairs, not dozens of smaller armies running about (that is what the Raid stance implies). Contending with internal political rivals was a way of life for nearly every political unit from those times. These were choices CA made to convey a sense of realism and reality of many of the classical world's most prominent leaders.

    Again, if we want to talk about AI, bugs, and disappointing graphics, I couldn't agree more. CA most certainly should've put more time and effort into those areas to make sure they were the best they could be. But did anyone really find the AI that atrocious its worthy of a 0? I still command my armies with the same sense of ability as I have in any other TW iteration (minus Empire's of course) and with just as much enjoyment.

    What I'm saying is this game makes you put in the time. You aren't going to get high end units within 50 turns. You aren't going to wipe out half of the Eastern Mediterranean and start a new campaign because you are bored (admittedly, aided by the army and fleet cap limits) you will have to build trust with allies slowly throw NA pacts, trade agreements, defensive alliances, etc. RTW2 is about actually building an empire not flexing muscles instantaneously.

    In the end does this game have its issues? Yes. Should these have been resolve prior to release? Absolutely. But I can't sit here in good conscience and bash a game where I was able to crush Epirus with a fleet based army while my Athenian allies attacked from land. I can't bash a game where I was able to defend my Iceni city from two armies but pulling them into a choke point, watching them break on my shield wall, and then run them down with skirmishers and chariots. Where my generals are in just as much danger from the enemy as they are, truly, from rivals within their own faction. Or where you have to make a snap decision as a leader about a celebrity citizen. Or a game that allows me to "Raid" and destabilize an entire hostile region inciting civil wars to soften it up for my true thrust.

    Rome 2 is a flawed game but, when, not if, these issues get corrected I think the players who stick around, learn, and dig are going to find a very enjoyable gaming experience. Its these gems of gameplay mentioned above that have left me with a sense of hope for RTW2 future and, hopefully, you revisit it and see some of them for yourself as well.    … Expand
  73. Kolombus
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    Ok, where to start... bought the game and well, disappointing is the first word that comes to mind. It feels unfinished, almost rushed. The ingredients of a great game are there, but it just doesn't deliver on any level as previous TW titles did.
  74. Morogath
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    Just to clear it up: I've been a TW fan since the start.. In all honesty: this is probably the worst title in the whole series. Why? Good question.... Extrem performance issues on my high-end PC, the AI is stupid as bread.. every round there is some single unit attacking one of my gigantic armies... I mean really... Even the campaign-map AI is too dumb for this world on hard difficulty.Just to clear it up: I've been a TW fan since the start.. In all honesty: this is probably the worst title in the whole series. Why? Good question.... Extrem performance issues on my high-end PC, the AI is stupid as bread.. every round there is some single unit attacking one of my gigantic armies... I mean really... Even the campaign-map AI is too dumb for this world on hard difficulty. What was CA doing while developing? This is the first time that i regret having paid for a TW game. The politicial plunder is unmotivating, not really well explained and straight up boring. Sorry for the harsh words, but I'm just so extremely disappointed.… Expand
  75. StuG
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    BAI: 2. Quite stupid, too bugs
    CAI: 4. Low engagement, diplomacy same of napoleon, arcade-feeling
    Graphics: 4. Nice to see at ultra/extreme but far too many resources needed for what it offers User Interface: 6. I like it, the units/city panel icons are nice but too big, a bit confusing in general Management: 4. Arcadey and i say it all Average: 4. 55 euros is a robbery: 20 for the    BAI: 2. Quite stupid, too bugs
    CAI: 4. Low engagement, diplomacy same of napoleon, arcade-feeling
    Graphics: 4. Nice to see at ultra/extreme but far too many resources needed for what it offers
    User Interface: 6. I like it, the units/city panel icons are nice but too big, a bit confusing in general
    Management: 4. Arcadey and i say it all

    Average: 4. 55 euros is a robbery: 20 for the game, 25 for the patches

    CA MUST fix it and give FULL support to the mod community or this will be their last game many people buy.

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

    Back to europa barbarium. Sigh.
  77. Kela-Appi
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Despite minor problems this still is the next Total War game that I have been waiting for so long. And as known, CA will fix most of the problems in the near future.

    There is some thing I dislike however. For some reason, the encyclopedia seems much more complicated and it is sometime hard to figure out what buildings recruit what units and other requirements. About performance have to    Despite minor problems this still is the next Total War game that I have been waiting for so long. And as known, CA will fix most of the problems in the near future.

    There is some thing I dislike however. For some reason, the encyclopedia seems much more complicated and it is sometime hard to figure out what buildings recruit what units and other requirements. About performance have to say that there is lag sometime, but this far I haven't experienced any crashes.

    9/10 because it's not perfect, but the this far the best TW game. Hopefully they will fix everything soon so that people don't get too angry.    … Expand
  78. Mortensus
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Wow, i'm a big fan of the total war series, i have played hundreds hours on every game since Rome 1, on every DLC, and i wanted so much to love this one! here were so much announcements, but it appears it was mostly false advertising...
    The AI was never very good in any total war, but at least, if you played "fair" and don't used and abused of some tricks, you could have great challenges,    Wow, i'm a big fan of the total war series, i have played hundreds hours on every game since Rome 1, on every DLC, and i wanted so much to love this one! here were so much announcements, but it appears it was mostly false advertising...
    The AI was never very good in any total war, but at least, if you played "fair" and don't used and abused of some tricks, you could have great challenges, especially in napoleon and shogun 2 You could enjoy from time to time some epic battles if you played in very hard or legendary, be it a victory or not, that was something quite unique in my video game experience.
    Rome 2 was advertised as putting that at another scale.

    But the problem is... the AI is dumber than in any previous total wars i played, even Rome 1.
    On the campaign map the AI can't build balanced armies, balanced settlements, and on the field, it's worse...
    Either they storm you and try to outnumber you by throwing everything in a big melee (clash of 12000 men's, i dreamed of that... i had 2200 mens against 10000... and i won with less than 500 losses because the AI just throw everything in a big mass, you flank that mass, and they almost instantly routed... not fun at all... no strategy involved, it's absolutely not "epic"...) or if there is a wall between you and them, you can just take a break of one hour or fast forward the battle, because either they will not even try to approach the walls, they will not use their siege weapons, and if you kill the unit trying to ignite the door (yes, you can take Rome or Carthage just by putting a damn door on fire with some torches your soldier throw at it, like in shogun 2.. )
    Well, i'm very disappointed, there is many little things i don't like very much in the game, but they are often design choices, and well, i have to do with that until someone mod them, and there is also some things that are well thoughts, like the province system, the nice campaign map... but the AI!! It's the meat of the game! How could it be possible they never realised there was such a big problem before releasing that game (and advertising that it was the best AI ever...)???
    Until the AI is not fixed, i can't rate this game over 0, because it's supposed to be a strategy game, and there is obviously no strategy nor fun at all in the solo campaign (i don't play multi, so i can't rate that)

    And sorry for my bad bad english...    … Expand
  79. kopiko
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    In a nutshell, this game overpromised and underdeliver. Hell, even that is an understatement. I'm not gonna touch on the AI/FPS issues, nor the multiplayer component and just focus something so fundamentally wrong with the campaign. Here's the thing, if the game needs 1 min 30 secs to complete a campaign turn during the opening stages of the game on a Intel i7-3849QM 2.80GHz, 16gb ram,In a nutshell, this game overpromised and underdeliver. Hell, even that is an understatement. I'm not gonna touch on the AI/FPS issues, nor the multiplayer component and just focus something so fundamentally wrong with the campaign. Here's the thing, if the game needs 1 min 30 secs to complete a campaign turn during the opening stages of the game on a Intel i7-3849QM 2.80GHz, 16gb ram, something is very wrong.

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

    The worst part is I don't think this is something patch-able. Sure, you can improve the framerates issues, maybe even inject a smarter thought process for the AI in a later patch, but the cutting down the waiting time for a campaign turn? That is bit rich all things considered. Unless they trim down the amount of minor factions or limit the size of the map(what are the chances eh?), I don't think any number of patch is gonna help. And that makes everything sad.    … Expand
  80. Kadaeux
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Thank god I played this at a friends rather than buy it right away. tedious to the point of boredom mid-late game. 30 60 second turns followed by 5 minute AI turns. AI is terrible in every way. CA hit the nail on the head with the provincial and building system, but EVERYTHING else is just wrong. The 'faction' system for the Romans is something you can nearly ignore completely and itThank god I played this at a friends rather than buy it right away. tedious to the point of boredom mid-late game. 30 60 second turns followed by 5 minute AI turns. AI is terrible in every way. CA hit the nail on the head with the provincial and building system, but EVERYTHING else is just wrong. The 'faction' system for the Romans is something you can nearly ignore completely and it won't affect your game in the slightest. There was no point where I had to do anything with the diplomacy system other than declare war on small neighbors, rinse and repeat. There were no big enemy alliances to stunt my growth. It was a slow, boring, monotonous game. A long wait for this game, and a large disappointment.… Expand
  81. fernandus
    Sep 6, 2013
    6
    Hi guys.
    How to start Well, i am a huge TW fan, i´ve played every single game of the franchise. This one is NOT the biggest f*** up CA did with TW, BUT, i expected more.
    When i started the game for the first time, the first thing i noticed was the POOR graphics... WTF I ran Shogun 2 in the highest quality and now THIS I remember CA people saying this will not need NASA rigs, folks    Hi guys.
    How to start Well, i am a huge TW fan, i´ve played every single game of the franchise. This one is NOT the biggest f*** up CA did with TW, BUT, i expected more.
    When i started the game for the first time, the first thing i noticed was the POOR graphics... WTF I ran Shogun 2 in the highest quality and now THIS I remember CA people saying this will not need NASA rigs, folks who ran Shogun 2 will be fine, lovely BS I´m playing Rome 2 like Rome 1.... very disapointing, the rest of the issues will be fixed.... i hope.
    finishing... CA don´t release a BETA game pls     … Expand
  82. Ezio91
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    last week I was convinced of having the best total war and strategic game ever, but all I find is a game full of bugs, when setting down the details of mid low with a dual core 3ghz, 4gb ram GTX460 1GB and I do not reach even 20 fps on average it's absolutely unplayable. I refuse to play. I hope within 10 days the situation better or will be the last total war that I have purchased
  83. Myriokephalon
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    The game is choppy on many high end machines (in my case, a 7850 and an Ivy Bridge core i7) on any setting, which is simply unacceptable, but the biggest issue is that CA turned the game into more of a typical RTS. Battles are much more like slaughter fests now; it's more about killing your opponents troops instead of making them flee. And this might be the worst AI Creative Assembly hasThe game is choppy on many high end machines (in my case, a 7850 and an Ivy Bridge core i7) on any setting, which is simply unacceptable, but the biggest issue is that CA turned the game into more of a typical RTS. Battles are much more like slaughter fests now; it's more about killing your opponents troops instead of making them flee. And this might be the worst AI Creative Assembly has ever shipped, which is an impressive accomplishment. The UI is remarkably hard to use and the grouping of towns into provinces makes it much harder to see what's going on with taxes and public order, not easier as I'm sure they intended. I'm sure they'll patch some of the technical problems away, but the same can't be said for the just bad design. It's depressing that CA would take a such a huge step back again after getting so much right with Shogun II.

    I'd ask for my money back, but I know I that's not going to happen, so I'll just avoid ever buying a CA game again.

    Note to critics: I'm glad you were spared most of the technical issues that we players are getting. At least I hope you aren't just omitting any mention of them. But next time, please bother to play the game for more than half an hour before you start writing, because that's the only way I can explain these inexplicably excellent reviews. This is the kind of game for which we have user reviews, because the critics sure as hell didn't do their job this time.    … Expand
  84. tomtucker09
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    A flawed product. Even discounting the terrible performance issues (which will no doubt be ironed out over the course of the next 6 months, as per Creative Assembly's Standard Operating Protocols), I felt like this game didn't capture the 'soul' that it's original did.

    Ironic, since Shogun 2 did this very well in my opinion it truly immersed you in the time period and the 'zeitgeist',    A flawed product. Even discounting the terrible performance issues (which will no doubt be ironed out over the course of the next 6 months, as per Creative Assembly's Standard Operating Protocols), I felt like this game didn't capture the 'soul' that it's original did.

    Ironic, since Shogun 2 did this very well in my opinion it truly immersed you in the time period and the 'zeitgeist', while providing an enjoyable game experience. Rome 2 on the other hand... meh. Maybe the mod community can make this the engrossing epic is should have been. The battles are particularly bad the AI is terrible, and the fights are just brawls with no real tactics involved. They're over so fast that there's no opportunity to flank, or skirmish, or anything really. Want to use a classical Hellenistic 'hammer and anvil' tactic? Or recreate a Roman legionary maniple formation? Don't bother, it's pointless. Doesn't matter which faction you are: form a straight line, and march that line towards the enemy. Rinse and repeat.

    Too many resources went to marketing this one, and not enough to actual design (or even proper beta testing). I'd only recommend buying this if you are a Total War maniac, with money to burn and even then, expect a lackluster experience.    … Expand
  85. Netrum
    Sep 6, 2013
    9
    Yes the game may not be perfect on release. But if you can look past that its awesome.
    Rome 2 will become the best total war game ever made.
    Yes even better then empire. :P
    And hopefully Darth comes back to mod the crap out of the game. :P
  86. 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
  87. nopistons420
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    easily the largest, most ambitious, and most fun total war game to date. from graphics to game-play to sound audio this is a masterpiece from Creative Assembly.
  88. graduation
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    They released the first patch and that made things a lot more worse. Shame on you CA, shame on your heads.
    I mean you cant be serious... Red Skies? WTF
  89. astralheights
    Sep 6, 2013
    5
    On first impulse, I was going to give this game a 0. But, after some thought, I decided to give the game a 5. Why? Because it is an average RTS game. As a Total War game it deserves an even lower score.

    Read other reviews for the host of problems. I'm sure the graphical issues will be resolved. Many other issues will be resolved. But, how do you fix the fact that the battles aren't    On first impulse, I was going to give this game a 0. But, after some thought, I decided to give the game a 5. Why? Because it is an average RTS game. As a Total War game it deserves an even lower score.

    Read other reviews for the host of problems. I'm sure the graphical issues will be resolved. Many other issues will be resolved.

    But, how do you fix the fact that the battles aren't tactical? I buy Rome: Total War so that I can set up the Roman war machine and put my enemies through the meat grinder! I want every one of my legionaries to thrust their gladius into the stomachs of the enemy! How can I do this without legendary Roman organization and discipline? When is that going to be fixed. How will that ever be fixed? Answer to the former: Don't know that it ever will be. To the latter: I don't know that it can be. But, if only this issue were fixed, I could play the game, and happily too. As it stands, I can't. If I wanted a turn-based game without tactics I could have played Civ or a Paradox game.

    Will never again pre-order a Total War game.    … Expand
  90. MichalZ
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    Its slow even on most power full PC(low fps, frame drops, lag, freezes), buggy to the point of being unplayable and full of glitches even using latest drivers and patches. It's sold as full game but its technically a beta. You are paying for early access to beta version of the game.
  91. matthiasgaming
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    Total War is the only series I buy every game at (or near) full price. I am disappointed that this game randomly crashes within 30 minutes of play. This is on a newer laptop with a fresh install the OS. The game is slow and clunky. I hope a big patch comes soon. It's also noteworthy the difference between the user score and the critic score. What game are they playing? It's not theTotal War is the only series I buy every game at (or near) full price. I am disappointed that this game randomly crashes within 30 minutes of play. This is on a newer laptop with a fresh install the OS. The game is slow and clunky. I hope a big patch comes soon. It's also noteworthy the difference between the user score and the critic score. What game are they playing? It's not the same one I'm playing.… Expand
  92. SirFondlebottom
    Sep 6, 2013
    3
    I think a bullet point list best summarizes my problems with this dumbed down excrement. In no particular order:

    -No Guard button. I mean... what? -No ships needed. Your army will summon ships out of thin air to move over water, removing the natural obstacle that is water. -No seasons, everything is done by year. It takes a year to march through that small valley. -Agents block    I think a bullet point list best summarizes my problems with this dumbed down excrement. In no particular order:

    -No Guard button. I mean... what?

    -No ships needed. Your army will summon ships out of thin air to move over water, removing the natural obstacle that is water.

    -No seasons, everything is done by year. It takes a year to march through that small valley.

    -Agents block army movement. That invisible Spy you have? Yep, he just blocked a 3000 man army from moving through that pass.

    -About 150+ factions that lead to pointless mini wars dragging out the turns way worse than any preceding Total War instalment. You can turn off Show AI Turns, and it will still take up a good portion of your time and make you miss important movement, to boot!

    -Capture points, on open field battles. Apparently made to balance ship landings. Well you just killed the whole terrain factor of the open field battles, I think that far outweighs what little you actually, truthfully gained by creating the ship landings feature to begin with. This is so aggravating that it validates removing ships altogether from the game, including the sea battles.

    -The AI cannot handle ship landings to begin with. Whenever it receives reinforcements in form of ships it will fail miserably to utilize them, giving you a free victory.

    -Playing on Very Hard, this game has a difficulty comparable to Shogun 2 Normal, possibly less. The AI is incredibly timid and will simply not exploit your weakness. It will leave your undefended villages without walls be. It will ignore your open flanks and go for the capture flag like a retard and lose because of it. For what it's worth I've completed Shogun 2 on Legendary several times, I expected SOMETHING from the AI in this one. At least an attack? Try damnit?

    -Diplomacy is worthless: It may be because I'm playing on Very Hard and am getting demodifiers, but who knows, not like the AI ever agreed to anything even if it clearly was in it's best interest to do so. Pile up gold and riches, have long standing relations, it will not help. They will still pester you and demand payment tribute even though you have vast armies compared to their little village. Did I mention there's 150+ of the tards?

    -No family tree. No leader. I mean this literally, you have no family tree and you recruit generals willy nilly out of thin air.

    -Complex politics promised. I've yet to see any kind of politics. I mean there's not even a family tree as mentioned above, how am I supposed to have complex politics?

    -Unbalanced army traits. You can customize and grab the obvious good trait line, or go with the options for flair I guess.

    -Army MUST HAVE general. You cannot hunt down that 160man band of rebels without a general. Your general recruits out of thin air. You cannot recruit units and have them walk from your town to the general, they themselves must have a general to move. You can't train extra garrison. No logistics. You cannot intercept enemy reinforcements from a city.

    -Problems in your little village? Well it affects your whole province. Want to exempt from tax? Done for the whole province, let alone finding the button to do so is a quest in itself. Only Province capital can have walls, so only one in 3 villages will have walls and you can't pick which. Since you need Population to build improvements, you therefore have the choice to improve behind safe walls, or let all your important stuff be in the better located but worse defended village, since population is by province.

    -Can't garrison vs. Public Order problems, the effect is extremely small, not to mention doing that garrison requires a general of which you have a limited amount able to be had.

    -Worst UI in the Total War series, everything requires several button clicks instead of say right clicking once on that village.

    -Tech tree UI is 100% worthless. What was one perfectly perspicuous tree on one popup page, you now have 4 buttons that switch between 4 branches of a tree that is smaller than the predecessors.

    -Everything, and I do mean everything, needs to be inspected in the encyclopaedia. What you can build in a city depends on faction and actual city, meaning you visit the encyclopaedia each time to look at your options. Don't forget that it is browser based and seems to be requiring an internet connection, I have load times on the pages.

    -Want that advanced popup that will actually tell you what the damned thing does? Better wait for that fade-in and delay-to-show in the first place.

    -I cannot stress enough how useless the UI is. General gained a trait? How neat! Now which one is it? Is it this army? No wait it's not showing me when having the army selected. How about hovering the general unit? Ah no it simply shows the general unit type. If I press this detail button? Oh no that was the army detail page, which does not show general name either, how weird! Oh it was the third button!

    -Coop MP broken. Constant desynchs and longer AI turn time    … Expand
  93. TheBigLev
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    I simply do not understand all the whining about this game it is simply amazing, and easily the best Total War I have played (which is all of them). It takes the changes made in Shogun 2 and finally brings them to completion, combining it with the theme of Antiquity in a way that simply has to be played to be appreciated. If you dislike this game then I suggest moving on from the strategyI simply do not understand all the whining about this game it is simply amazing, and easily the best Total War I have played (which is all of them). It takes the changes made in Shogun 2 and finally brings them to completion, combining it with the theme of Antiquity in a way that simply has to be played to be appreciated. If you dislike this game then I suggest moving on from the strategy genre because clearly you are looking for something else.… Expand
  94. Anastasi
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    This is the best total war game i have ever played. Fantastic cities. Hard battles.Really hard challenge...sure you will need good pc. But this game deserves the best pc you can buy. Awesome graphics and gameplay. Good diplomacy and rpg elements. Rome i love you.And btw nice in game events.yes ai could be better but mods will help us with it.
  95. NoseBagUK
    Sep 6, 2013
    9
    Excellent game, sure the AI could be better, and it could be a bit more optimized, but name one game with anything like the scope and ambition of Rome 2? Crusader kings and Europa Universalis maybe be solid and deep games but lets face it they are a pretty interface for a spreadsheet.

    Rome 2's battles are visually epic and the campaign map is fun to play.

    loving it!!
  96. Hner
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    After more than 20 hours of playing I gotta change my initial rating. In its current state I'd give it a solid 4/10. Too many bad design decisions and on top of that a plethora of bugs and performance issues.

    In its core it's a dumbed down version of the original Rome TW with a pretty campaign map.
  97. ibuyonlyquality
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Launching Second Shortcoming of the Year. Retarded UI, poor optimization, no SLI. Yes, I was talking about CoH2. Applies to this title also. Support better game developers, there are a few.
  98. Southern_Hunter
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    CA have produced a compelling and interesting strategic game, with a completely broken tactical battle engine. Until modders are given the tools to do the work that CA should have done to produce a workable battle system, this is best avoided.
  99. 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
  100. AtlasKnight
    Sep 6, 2013
    9
    After playing the game for a decent amount of time I feel it is my duty to say that I have experienced none of the 'horrendous bugs' reported by so many other players. There is nothing complicated about the UI, the artwork is stylized and inspired and all it requires is a simple mouse over. Honestly half the things people complain about here are trivial, telling us more about theAfter playing the game for a decent amount of time I feel it is my duty to say that I have experienced none of the 'horrendous bugs' reported by so many other players. There is nothing complicated about the UI, the artwork is stylized and inspired and all it requires is a simple mouse over. Honestly half the things people complain about here are trivial, telling us more about the excruciating impatience and lack of intelligence of the gaming community surrounding this game. I for one feel this game has it's merits in the improvements and simplifications made to the campaign map stage compared to its predecessor. The ability to manage an entire province at one rather than each individual town simplifies and shortens the grinding process in building a great empire tremendously providing a more enjoyable and less long-winded gameplay experience. Diplomacy is also greatly improved and the removal of the irritating SPQR faction has eliminated the aggravating decision to betray your fellow Romans and take the glory for yourself or sit around doing nothing and being unable to expand anywhere without Mr senator throwing a fit. To this I say bravo Creative Assembly, you make me feel like I am actually in control of my empire now. Finances have been made easier to manage and keep on top of now too.

    To address all the complaints about AI, there have been no problems with my copy. AI seems to be functioning perfectly fine, at the very least on par with the first game, if not, exceeding that. The enemies have given me some rather exhilarating battles already both in campaign and skirmish. So guys you keep can keep complaining, but I am having a great time with this game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 71
  3. Negative: 7 out of 71
  1. Worth Playing
    Nov 18, 2013
    74
    The game is far less polished than Shogun 2, and a few more patches will help, but Rome II is still a flawed game that is underwhelming when compared to previous titles in the franchise.
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  2. PCGamesN
    Nov 6, 2013
    70
    And here’s the rub: every addition, every sub-system, every mechanic is subservient to War. War is what Total War is really about. Everything else not directly related to conflict comes across as ancillary. Rome II is a game for warmongers, on both the campaign map and, obviously, on the battlefield. When peace is happening, nothing is happening. When war is happening, Rome comes alive.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 28, 2013
    40
    If you will play literally anything featuring Total War and Rome in the same title and don't value your time, this is for you. [Nov 2013, p.80]
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