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. udarshen
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    Worst AI i have ever seen from any strategy game. I guess CA used all its bigger budget to bribe critical reviewers. Don't buy this game now. You have been warned. It is unplayable. Even if you can play it, the game mechanics is uninteresting. It is also overpriced. It should be listed $6 instead of $60. I have wasted the money. I just treat the loss as I accidentally dropped the money inWorst AI i have ever seen from any strategy game. I guess CA used all its bigger budget to bribe critical reviewers. Don't buy this game now. You have been warned. It is unplayable. Even if you can play it, the game mechanics is uninteresting. It is also overpriced. It should be listed $6 instead of $60. I have wasted the money. I just treat the loss as I accidentally dropped the money in to the toilet… Expand
  2. Dcruize
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    A step backward for TW arcadey and simplistic combat, ugly graphics and a really weak campaign mode. I dislike the 3D portraits and found the unit cards to be be too hard to distinguish between at a glance. So glad I was able to try it before I wasted money on it, I'll go back to playing MTW2, RTW or even ETW.
  3. odintsaq
    Sep 20, 2013
    1
    After 30 hours in Rome 2 Total Waste I felt obliged to express my Total Disappointment with this long awaited game.

    I will not repeat the complaints about the state of the game (AI, UI, Family Tree etc.), instead I will make some simple observations: After getting sick of the dismal display of BAI I autoresolve everything. The same applies to the naval battles with the added bonus    After 30 hours in Rome 2 Total Waste I felt obliged to express my Total Disappointment with this long awaited game.

    I will not repeat the complaints about the state of the game (AI, UI, Family Tree etc.), instead I will make some simple observations:

    After getting sick of the dismal display of BAI I autoresolve everything.
    The same applies to the naval battles with the added bonus of not being able to properly control the ships.

    98% of the battles are sieges. The other 2% is because I was lucky to have found the AI on the road.

    How is it possible for me to start a war and then at the same turn the AI says "It's ok mate! Let's make peace!!!" when I send him a peace treaty?

    Why every faction looks and plays the same? I loved Rome 1 and Medieval 2 for their varied way of waging war.

    Capture the flag was funny in Battlefield 1942 and we had a great time with my friends. Especially when one of my teammates crashed a plane on the other team, so we could get in and capture the flag unmolested. Capture the flag is OK for action games, not RTS battles with historic precision (another lie this one).

    Warhammer and W40K magical abilities for the units are in line with that game's world. The ancient civilizations didn't have anything like that. At all.

    Ships were build. Not hocus pocushed on the shore.

    The bugs, CTDs and similar glitches don't bother me at all. Even the low quality graphics. I am a player for 25 years now. I started playing when the pixels where the size of my hand on screen, so it doesn't matter. But my 1500 dollar machine should be at least be able to run smoothly. All I get is way too low FpS and sudden lags in the game. And not even at the highest settings possible.

    Finally as an afterthought I won't only blame SEGA and CA for this low quality, buggy, broken and boring game. I will blame me for preordering. I made the same mistake with Dragon Age 2. Now I know that I'm on the right path Kickstarting Games that I really like.

    The score is calculated from the following:

    Replay Value: 1/10
    Graphics: 4/10
    Sound: 3/10
    Gameplay: 1/10
    Value/Money: 1/10    … Expand
  4. DanielCorfour
    Sep 16, 2013
    1
    I would like to make a clarification. Objectively the game rating should be about 6.5. Not quite a 7 but not quite a 6. The only reason I gave a 4, is because the reviewers, the critics, decided to give it a near perfect score, which is pure bull, and would only encourage companies to flood out more unfinished/unpolished games.

    "It's not about the score, it's about sending a message"    I would like to make a clarification. Objectively the game rating should be about 6.5. Not quite a 7 but not quite a 6. The only reason I gave a 4, is because the reviewers, the critics, decided to give it a near perfect score, which is pure bull, and would only encourage companies to flood out more unfinished/unpolished games.

    "It's not about the score, it's about sending a message"

    The jist of it is summed up in the last two paragraphs, if you don't want to read the whole review. Basically it's a 4, plus points for size and beauty and a whole bunch of negative ones for it being a complete mess playability wise.

    As of date I have spent roughly 80 hours in Rome 2, but I have no idea why. Every two seconds in the game a random bug appears which makes you want to tear off your scalp. And although the Beta 2 patch solves a lot of issues, it is still way too easy to call the entire game a Beta test.

    Don't get me wrong, I looove the game, I absolutely adore it. At least that was my first impression of it, which I'm guessing is all the "official" critics bothered to get: a first impression with one hour of gameplay. Or they were just pandering to the company. Either of the two. After your tenth hour you start noticing annoying little things and after about 20 hours, you want to smash your PC. But you'll still love the game, and this is why.

    It is stunningly beautiful. And huge. I mean the campaign map is unbelievably huge, with over a hundred factions on it. And the smallest thing which i love the most is that the cities expand on the map visibly when they grow.. it;s amazing, with all the other little improvements it makes the game fantastic. Best of all it actually makes you feel like you're in the time period, it gives you that feeling. even more so than any Total War game to date. And again, incredibly beautiful. I cannot even imagine the amount of that went into making this game, and to the developers I say bravo.

    But then there is the game as a whole. It's a buggy mess, and some of the game mechanics are completely retarded. That amount of work that they put into it is not even noticeable compared to that. And yes the current patch tries it's best to get it to work, but it;s still bugged to the core. Ships riding sand dunes armies just dancing around for no reason, soldiers flying, 12 elephants killing an army of 3000 strong.. one time I did a siege, broke the enemy's gates, and when I ran my army through it, they all died for no reason. wtf? And that is just a few of them. But I would be able to look over them if not for the two biggest problems the game has.

    The streamlining and the AI. I mean holy what the huh? The AI is incredibly stupid, it's the worst one I've seen in years... it is a passive moron on every difficulty. Both the campaign and the battle and naval. By the way, naval battles are bugged to the point of unplayable, so don't even bother. Just to give a hint at how stupid the AI is, I've won a battle where outnumbered 10 to 1. 10 to 1!!! This is Sparta? And no, not because of some strategic chokepoint or anything, it was a plain field, no high ground, no nothing. All it was that the AI sacrificed half their army for no reason, and the rest did nothing even after that. And the game is streamlined to the point of it makes no sense. Random capture point flags appear in battles, which makes the AI go crazy and destroys any option of strategic maneuvering. Battles have been sped up, now the whole thing looks like a mosh pit, you can barely issue a few orders and the battle is over. A lot of features have been stripped and replaced with some easy nonsense, and it adds nothing substantial. Granted it does add a few minor improvements, like provinces and cinematic cameras, but the core of it is bare. General's speech has been shortened to almost nothing, there are barely any cinematic cutscenes, and so on.

    Here's the jist of it: overall it seems to me that it the biggest issue it has is that it's been rushed like most games as of late. It's a shady business practice that I will not stand for. It's not that it's unfinished, it's unpolished. The only thing they seemed to care about was the aesthetic of the game, so they can sell it based on pre-release advertising. And they botched that up as well, because the graphics are a mess. It's been overhyped and underdelivered, and it's not optimized at all. The best PCs could barely run the high settings. The Beta patch seems to fix this one issue, for which I am grateful. The streamlining and brain dead AI only further proves that they tried to sell as many copies as possible to retarded teenagers, rather than making a quality game.

    In closing I highly doubt that it will be ever fixed completely. Your best hope is the modding community, who already did tremendous progress towards solving certain issues. I would advise checking the TWcenter,and downloading the mods you think are needed. It's a hug    … Expand
  5. MuttleyGrouch
    Sep 16, 2013
    1
    I can see a game in there, unfortunately its a game that is only part way through development. Two striking points about Rome 2 first, game companies clearly have weighed up the market and decided they can release in pretty much any state, and the consumer base will take it. This game shouldn't be through beta testing let alone released into a commercial marketplace I struggle to thinkI can see a game in there, unfortunately its a game that is only part way through development. Two striking points about Rome 2 first, game companies clearly have weighed up the market and decided they can release in pretty much any state, and the consumer base will take it. This game shouldn't be through beta testing let alone released into a commercial marketplace I struggle to think of any other commodity that you could get away with this sort of treatment of the customer. Second, this really shows up the reviewers whose opinions are worthless. I hope that there is some sort of club where game reviewers meet and currently the ones who think this is a 80-100 game are being made to pay some sort of forfeit for either being an idiot, or just making it up without playing it. Hopefully their editors will be taking note.… Expand
  6. alexman
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    This is not a total war game it does not have what made the original total war the epic game it used to be.
    Rome 2 is extremely dumbed down and streamlined, it feels casual its not immersive.
    i managed to take over half the world in a few turns, the original rome had a lot more settlements to conquer. The battles that are supposed to be epic is easily won even on hard, and feels rushed    This is not a total war game it does not have what made the original total war the epic game it used to be.
    Rome 2 is extremely dumbed down and streamlined, it feels casual its not immersive.
    i managed to take over half the world in a few turns, the original rome had a lot more settlements to conquer. The battles that are supposed to be epic is easily won even on hard, and feels rushed and boring. you dont need tactics you can just rush head on on a 3:1 bigger army with better soldiers than you and win. you pay full prize for a half finished game thats lacking.

    The game is broken and definitely still beta, the AI is stupid, l find bugs everywhere which isnt just annoying but gamebreaking.

    As stated by everyone else bad UI, unit cards are bad, settlement building is boring dumbed down and ugly.    … Expand
  7. dmastri
    Jan 31, 2014
    1
    5 months, 9 patches, still garbage game. Creative Assembly is officially dead to me. You have only yourself to blame if you buy their terrible games anymore.
  8. Arturien
    Oct 3, 2013
    1
    Unlike the professional reviewers I cannot give this game anything more then a 1. The reason being simply that the game itself responds like an alpha test. It does to bare any indication of a finished streamlined product. The AI which was praised to the stars before release is actually the worst AI the series has ever seen hands down, without an excuse offered for this absolute failure.Unlike the professional reviewers I cannot give this game anything more then a 1. The reason being simply that the game itself responds like an alpha test. It does to bare any indication of a finished streamlined product. The AI which was praised to the stars before release is actually the worst AI the series has ever seen hands down, without an excuse offered for this absolute failure. Speaking of failure, there was yet another video offered where the narrator claimed: This is way way pre alpha footage. The end product will look much nicer. That is of course what we all wished to hear. Sadly that pre alpha footage was clearly a sham. Since I've not seen a single person play the game and have that level of detail or polish to it. Even some YouTube rookie reviewers, a small number of which have Titan graphics cards and of course the gear to match Have not managed to attain that level of graphical appeal. Now what does this tell us? Either, the video was intentionally manipulated to make the game look nicer. Or that they have in fact managed to downgrade the graphics to such an extreme without informing their customers that the game ended up graphically in the gutter on release. There are of course many other problems in this wonder of modern gaming One of which is the time per turn. Now anyone that has played this game knows, that it has an army of factions. But so did their previous. Granted, there were not as many, but the number was still quite high. Yet it seems somehow, that they've managed to slow down the AI. In fact it has slowed down the AI so much, that in some cases, it takes up to 5 minutes to end a turn. It becomes even worse when/if you decide to play the multiplayer campaign. Added to the already exuberant waiting time, is the danger of desynchronization. It seems that once it reaches the end of the faction listing that is the factions that you've discovered thus far the game decides to simply lock up due to the desynchronization. Which effectively makes the game completely unplayable as a multiplayer product.

    But the technical aspect of the game is simply half of what a good Total War game should provide us. Let's take a look at the game content. We start with political aspect. If we compare Rome 2 to Rome 1, we can clearly see that Rome 1 was far more interesting. In Rome 1 it became clear very quickly when you were either moving too quickly or too slowly. The Senate in Rome 1 was favorable to you if you did as they liked, or turned against you in the elections if you did things that they disapproved of. Their dislike for you could grow to such an extent, that they would send the appointed official to check your family's income. And if that official was not in your pocket a family member you would be fined a good amount of cash. It could further grow in scale until there was nothing left but all out war. Does Rome 2 offer such a political challenge? Sadly no. First of, the Roman senate has according to the game nothing to do with you at all. At times they are mentioned in a mission you receive as the source. But beyond that nothing. There is no extra gain or penalty if you choose to either complete the mission or downright ignore it. The family which you choose, also has no bonuses or individual traits past the bonuses written down when you are asked to choose one. It seems as though the Roman faction is a starved historically inaccurate, melting pot of bad ideas. It is starved of it's charm from the first Rome game, down to an awful anorexic visage. The family tree has been ripped out of the game completely. There is no sense of a family at all. Beforehand you could see who belonged to your family clearly in a traditionally designed tree. Choose an heir, or even focus on specific generals to be successful. For example, picking active generals from the direct descendants of their grandfather. Since we're on the topic of generals. These leaders of men die out far quicker then in any other Total War game to date. This of course, is undoubtedly due to the very unwise decision of turns. One turn equals one year now. Which directly leads to the generals dropping like flies from old age. Not offering you the opportunity to develop them properly in any sense of the word. The women that they marry are thrown in to oblivion. In Shogun 2, a good wife offered your general a great bonus, or could lead him astray even to his death with the decrease of personal security I could have easily written down another few hundred words to max out my 5000 word limit, but let's just leave it there. All in all, the game is filled with appalling bugs, crashes and unpolished material. A black sheep to put it as mildly as I possibly can in the Total War family that does it's best only when it comes to ruining the family name. Personally, it is the greatest gaming disappointment I've had in the last ten years.    … Expand
  9. Neopsyko
    Sep 23, 2013
    1
    This episode is a return back. The media is not playable and unstable. There should never have been put on sale, Sega took the cash and left leaving CA fend avoiding confrontation exit opus October! Invest in other games in the immediate future, except those who want to play the beta tester unofficial free Note 1 to the box only! And still no apology Sega compared to CA!
  10. UristMcMechanic
    Sep 23, 2013
    1
    Everything that was good in Total War series is removed, while so much issues and bugs are introduced. Post-release patches are making it even worse for more players than they do help. And it's still unplayable after almost a month since release with no AI at all, no features that we loved from previous games (family trees, city development), no challenges (because there is no AI) and fullEverything that was good in Total War series is removed, while so much issues and bugs are introduced. Post-release patches are making it even worse for more players than they do help. And it's still unplayable after almost a month since release with no AI at all, no features that we loved from previous games (family trees, city development), no challenges (because there is no AI) and full of bugs.
    Waste of money. Even when bugs are fixed it still will be worse compared to previous TW games.    … Expand
  11. nigelnire
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    I am a Total war veteran who has played every game from Shogun 1 .This is by far the worst Total war game ever, even worse than Empire on release. Poor optimisation I have a high end PC and theres terrible lag. Capture flags on open field battles full of bugs ,the worst Ai ever totally brain dead. I could go on. six months time with mods and patches the game might deserve 6/10 but ifI am a Total war veteran who has played every game from Shogun 1 .This is by far the worst Total war game ever, even worse than Empire on release. Poor optimisation I have a high end PC and theres terrible lag. Capture flags on open field battles full of bugs ,the worst Ai ever totally brain dead. I could go on. six months time with mods and patches the game might deserve 6/10 but if you are considering buying don’t and certainly never pre order a game from CA again based on their promotion and hype.… Expand
  12. letitbee
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    The simple fact is the game is released unfinished. Three patches later, it crashes less, but the AI just does not work at all. Half of the mechanics are alpha quality at best, innumerable bugs, typos, awkward design decisions, broken mechanics, and general lack of love and polish show utter disrespect for fans of the series.

    Make no mistake: this is an alpha version. Once finished, the    The simple fact is the game is released unfinished. Three patches later, it crashes less, but the AI just does not work at all. Half of the mechanics are alpha quality at best, innumerable bugs, typos, awkward design decisions, broken mechanics, and general lack of love and polish show utter disrespect for fans of the series.

    Make no mistake: this is an alpha version. Once finished, the game will probably be great. But no matter how much I love Total War, it is not ok to release your game in such a state.

    You should absolutely not buy it right now, it is a mess.    … Expand
  13. Pesticide
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    Played 20 hours as a veteran of the series, this game is more broken then empire at release, had many features cut and basicly all the extra budget they claimed went to marketing of fancy videos adds that are not even in the game. Do not be deceived by this company ever again, they stopped caring and are now doing games by the numbers sega dictates 4 weeks after release the game is stillPlayed 20 hours as a veteran of the series, this game is more broken then empire at release, had many features cut and basicly all the extra budget they claimed went to marketing of fancy videos adds that are not even in the game. Do not be deceived by this company ever again, they stopped caring and are now doing games by the numbers sega dictates 4 weeks after release the game is still broken and unpolished.… Expand
  14. TARZAN
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    Worst strategy game i've ever seen.
    It's not a game, it's trash and It is broken, it's trash and It is broken
    It's not a game, it's trash and It is broken, it's trash and It is broken
    It's not a game, it's trash and It is broken, it's trash and It is broken
    It's not a game, it's trash and It is broken, it's trash and It is broken
  15. chunter
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    Rome 2 Boring. Out of all the total war games, this is the 1st total war game I have found boring even after patch 3, I can not play more 13hours of this game. I recommend buying Shogun which I played 640 hours. And wait 6-12 months for CA and see if they re-write the game or release an expansion.
  16. isamurai
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    Played since first rome and was so hyped to play this game but this was a great disappointment...
    A few of the many things that wounded my love for CA: (sorry if there is many english mistakes)
    -Unfinished game, Bugged to death and tends to crash. -removed features - game dumbed down -badly optimized -terrible AI. -poor UI. - Simplified to death multiplayer...    Played since first rome and was so hyped to play this game but this was a great disappointment...
    A few of the many things that wounded my love for CA: (sorry if there is many english mistakes)
    -Unfinished game, Bugged to death and tends to crash.
    -removed features
    - game dumbed down
    -badly optimized
    -terrible AI.
    -poor UI.
    - Simplified to death multiplayer... What happened to the new features of the last opus?
    -unbalanced units
    -illogical features (torches on Metal doors... Really?!) Great no need to spend energy on siege towers! (sarcasm to the max)
    - Magic boats because yay magic!
    -in the same idea Magic like battle changing abilities.
    -Lost immersion
    -Battles last 30 seconds
    -No real political system.
    -Graphics errors
    -DAY 1 DLC This, just this is enough to make me cringe... As Angry Joe said the DLC whoring is out of control...

    I could go on for long like this but i think you all know this already. just go on any forums, youtube or facebook page talking about rome 2 and you will have many complete list of what is wrong.
    Now, it is not just some problems related to my machine... In fact i had bought a system in prevention to be able to play Rome II at its Maximum... What a disappointment...
    Okay the Campaign map is nice. I can give em that. I cant believe any of the "pro" reviews I am reading :
    "Rome II is a testament to all that is great about PC gaming and should be a must buy for all its followers"
    The Digital Fix.
    What in the seven circles of hell is this?! How much did they paid you to say that?! CA are you making a game for the reviewers or the players? How can there be so much distance between "journalistic" and real user review and scores?! I have been on the total war forums and saw the going on in there... Sadly, i really don't think that complaining as I am doing right now) has any effect. They have made the money they needed and they will probably patch it to the minimum then rush to the next money shot with a new expansion or new god damn DLC. Hopefully I am wrong. I really do hope with all my gamer heart that I am wrong...

    To conclude, this game, this disgrace, is a slap in the face of most if not all) the hardcore Total war fans. Fans who believed in the franchise even after some errors in the past. Fans who pre-ordered the game asap. Creative assembly you now feel like a traitor to your fans.

    Et tu, CA    … Expand
  17. Turnip
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    The game just feels empty and rushed. All of the elements that made the previous Total War games fun and addictive are gone or dumbed down. Meanwhile, the design team emphasized art and graphics and presentation over gameplay and replay value. It's like a bad sequel to a good movie. It makes me think that the Total War franchise may be dead.
  18. Psybear
    Sep 25, 2013
    1
    Lipstick on a pig sums it up. It seems as if they spent more effort on making marketing movies and promo material than on the actual game. As such, Rome II is a soulless shell. It's as if the folks who designed and coded this iteration never played the original or had the maturity to appreciate the love the fan base had for this strategy game. Instead, they chose to prey upon the hopes ofLipstick on a pig sums it up. It seems as if they spent more effort on making marketing movies and promo material than on the actual game. As such, Rome II is a soulless shell. It's as if the folks who designed and coded this iteration never played the original or had the maturity to appreciate the love the fan base had for this strategy game. Instead, they chose to prey upon the hopes of the community with shameless harlotry on the part of the developer.… Expand
  19. blitzsnake
    Sep 25, 2013
    1
    Rome 2 is what you get when you combine EA-style marketing, pre-ordering and producing with complete control on the game making process. Rome 2 was made for the sole purpose to maximize sales and abuse fan loyalty. Any sane player will notice after maximum 2 hours of playing. There are so many corners cut. So many half-assed features. Barely nothing from the trailers made it into the game.Rome 2 is what you get when you combine EA-style marketing, pre-ordering and producing with complete control on the game making process. Rome 2 was made for the sole purpose to maximize sales and abuse fan loyalty. Any sane player will notice after maximum 2 hours of playing. There are so many corners cut. So many half-assed features. Barely nothing from the trailers made it into the game. Those were blatant LIES. Siege of Carthage looks nothing like the trailer. Even though the devs had the audacity to say it would look EVEN better than the video.

    Sure, some may say that it wasn't CA's fault and it was Sega pressuring them to release the game, but the way I see it, that's all the more reason not to buy Rome 2. I have a hard time believing that Rome 2 would've been released had the greatest powers in CA objected. The impression I've had from CA is that their entire model consists of impressing SEGA as much as possible. They don't care about the fans. They know we'll buy the game regardless. Rome 2 is like one shiny turd thrown at the face of fans all over the world.    … Expand
  20. ipeople
    Sep 27, 2013
    1
    If you are a fan of the total war series you will want to avoid this game.

    It was released fours weeks ago and still has problems with loads of bugs.

    The game has been simplified and a lot of content has been removed.

    The game is boring and lacking in any strategy. Seriously, there is so little to playing this game, if you have a pulse you can play this game.

    Don't buy this game.
  21. Lucker61
    Sep 28, 2013
    1
    1 for the try. Almost everything in this game is a failure. Original RTW is still playable, and this remake is unplayable after 2 campaigns for different countries. Perhaps because they are not different. It's just an illusion. Gameplay is totally screwed.
    And AI is just ubelievably stupid. Even newbie can win the siege in offence against high difficulty AI with double time lesser army.    1 for the try. Almost everything in this game is a failure. Original RTW is still playable, and this remake is unplayable after 2 campaigns for different countries. Perhaps because they are not different. It's just an illusion. Gameplay is totally screwed.
    And AI is just ubelievably stupid. Even newbie can win the siege in offence against high difficulty AI with double time lesser army.
    Those flags are just ridiculous.
    There are a lot of other fails in that game.

    And I'm not talking about all those bugs, that this game is filled.    … Expand
  22. mzbrx
    Sep 30, 2013
    1
    I played this game few hours. Historicity gone, Playability gone, Atmosphere gone, Logic Gone, AI is a joke no matter patches. I had same feelings from battles like playing old stupid Dune2, C&C like games. Rome I and even more Roma Surrectum II Mod is better game than this piece of crap. Maybe this game was crated by new generation creative assembly employees.
  23. Uzumakitony
    Oct 8, 2013
    1
    What is this? The Trailer was terrible. I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and wasted my money to witness it being more terrible. How did it get a high critic rating? Rubbish storyline. Been-there-done-that gameplay....it's sad to play on so many levels
  24. Sergey_Nabrusko
    Oct 1, 2013
    1
    If you will buy this game, you will buy just a part of game: there are some stupid DLC. Is this a game at all? Of course it is not strategy, cause there is no strategy at all: not in global nor multiplayer. Multiplayer in Rome 2 is the worst thing CA ever made: it's unbalanced and not interesting. These british guys prove that they love money.
  25. remosu37
    Oct 2, 2013
    1
    Very poor. I have been a fan of the Total War series since Shogun, many years ago. Out of the box, Rome 2 was near unplayable, and even with 3 patches, the game remains disturbingly unfinished. The AI is poor, both in battle and campaign map, the stability issues persist, the game progresses very slowly between turns, and the game is simultaneously too simple (not enough strategicVery poor. I have been a fan of the Total War series since Shogun, many years ago. Out of the box, Rome 2 was near unplayable, and even with 3 patches, the game remains disturbingly unfinished. The AI is poor, both in battle and campaign map, the stability issues persist, the game progresses very slowly between turns, and the game is simultaneously too simple (not enough strategic decisions) because of its emphasis on moving army units around, and too complex (due to the horrid interface, poor instructions).… Expand
  26. cooltofool
    Oct 6, 2013
    1
    the game was released as a beta for users to find problems and take more than a month after release to fix all the bugs. Pay full price to experience a beta no this is bad service.
  27. Brac
    Oct 7, 2013
    1
    The game is obviously still in Beta testing as there are so many problems with it. After a patch, the game didn't even load anymore. Developers deserve all the bad press they get.
  28. pcgameadictus
    Oct 10, 2013
    1
    I am a long time fan of Total War. But I am very much DISAPPOINTED in this new Rome Total War II. We waited for a bunch of crazy innovation of the game. What does the game designer and developer thinking? I would rather play RTW 1 than this newly scrap they created.
  29. roland79
    Oct 13, 2013
    1
    This game is awful and its an example of a developers who dont care or respects its fanbase. To put it bluntly, the release of this game was immoral. Ever since the game was announced there has been a heavy focus on visuals and yes the visuals are nice but everything else is terrible.

    The game is bad thats no mystery but the real mystery is how various magazines can give this game a    This game is awful and its an example of a developers who dont care or respects its fanbase. To put it bluntly, the release of this game was immoral. Ever since the game was announced there has been a heavy focus on visuals and yes the visuals are nice but everything else is terrible.

    The game is bad thats no mystery but the real mystery is how various magazines can give this game a good review. I cant help it but I must put on my tinfoil hat and say they have all accepted bribes. The difference between user reviews and official reviews shows it.    … Expand
  30. sgtmiller3
    Oct 14, 2013
    1
    This game is a total buggy mess. The state this game was released is unbelievable. The graphics have frequent errors, major random frame drops and the AI in this game is broken. The only reason why i gave this game a 1, was because of the new feature the unit camera which was a nice cinematic improvement to the game but this being its only good feature this game has a lot of explaining toThis game is a total buggy mess. The state this game was released is unbelievable. The graphics have frequent errors, major random frame drops and the AI in this game is broken. The only reason why i gave this game a 1, was because of the new feature the unit camera which was a nice cinematic improvement to the game but this being its only good feature this game has a lot of explaining to do. I also find the gameplay quite bland, because instead of adding to shogun 2 they took away many nice features and messing up the tech tree a whole lot. This game should not be getting the review of critics it should be getting and a 50 meta score is the maximum this game could get, but even that is stretching the limit. Overall this game is a waste of money and should not have been pushed out by the creators because of the hype. It upset many fans turning their backs on the total war franchise making the total was series in need of redemption. fix AI, fix frame problems and textures, shorter turns (PLEASE) and maybe this game deserves a 70… Expand
  31. GeneralBohr
    Oct 28, 2013
    1
    First the good things:
    By the looks it is of the CD cover and graphics it is good looking. There is a big campaign map which gives you the ability to conquer the lands from Asia to northern Europe.
    Multiplayer campaign map where you can play with a friend either as enemies or allies. Many factions. Rolling balls and other traps in the battles. The diplomacy has been improved. Bad    First the good things:
    By the looks it is of the CD cover and graphics it is good looking. There is a big campaign map which gives you the ability to conquer the lands from Asia to northern Europe.
    Multiplayer campaign map where you can play with a friend either as enemies or allies.
    Many factions.
    Rolling balls and other traps in the battles.
    The diplomacy has been improved.

    Bad things:
    It runs slow!
    The campaign map is slow and you have to watch these horrible slow-motion battles on the campaign map after you have played a battle. The movement of troops on campaign map is slow. The battles is slow because you have to wait 5 minutes before the enemy approaches your army even when you choose the fastest speed.

    Stupid AI!
    The siege AI is stupid it throws torches at your wall and only tries to get into one of your gates! You can defeat the AI's greatest army without any troops. Your walls will kill them and with burning oil and some troops based at the gates you get easy win.
    The campaign AI doesn't do much except a few nations.

    Unrealistic!
    In the game you can throw burning torches at a steel gate and get it to burn. In a region you can only have walls in the "capital" in that region.

    Features removed from the original game.
    Building of walls. The family tree is removed which gives you no relationship with your generals and you really don't care if they die or live, because they die so quickly. Population is removed and now you can recruit unlimited troops and build all the buildings you want. The turns is now one turn=one year, and seasons has been removed. There is a limit for elite units in this game.

    Spam in messages.
    You get a lot of messages about agents sabotaging your armies or cities expect around ten of these messages each turn. Slave revolt and some politics you really don't care about and choose a random option.

    Maybe the game will be fixed about one year to 1½ but I will not get my hopes up. But it is a beautiful game and therefore the score 1. But I don't play games for graphics alone so I would prefer the Rome I game instead of this at the moment.    … Expand
  32. Ankhthiel
    Oct 26, 2013
    1
    The game was simply not ready for release. Its a crime they took our money for it. 1600 negative reviews and the critics loved it no it dosent look like they were payed for their opinion no it dosent look like gaming journalism is a joke in general. /end sarcasm
  33. headhunterU23
    Oct 27, 2013
    1
    You dream to bring Rome out of the darkness? Face the Carthaginian threat? Invade the uncharted barbarian lands? Honor the gods and your family? Et caetera. Well, install Rome Total War I (one). Don't waste your time or disk space installing Rome Total War II (Two), after playing the tutorial you will find yourself wondering what's going on. The answer is: nothing, Rome Total War 2 is justYou dream to bring Rome out of the darkness? Face the Carthaginian threat? Invade the uncharted barbarian lands? Honor the gods and your family? Et caetera. Well, install Rome Total War I (one). Don't waste your time or disk space installing Rome Total War II (Two), after playing the tutorial you will find yourself wondering what's going on. The answer is: nothing, Rome Total War 2 is just an empty shell. Golden empty shell, but empty nevertheless. I won't waste my time and yours writing about what's not good about this game, the only thing I have to say is: I wouldn't install this game even if this was a freeware. Ah yes, I have something more to say: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.… Expand
  34. Albano
    Oct 27, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Shame, the worst game in the series total war, incomplete, without translation into Spanish and Italian.
    Full of bugs, devoid of content, 54.99 A FRAUD!!!.

    resort to modders for the game does well,,

    to shame.    … Expand
  35. jimmypage1992
    Oct 29, 2013
    1
    as a huge fan of the original rome total war, I was eagerly awaiting for the release of Rome II as they hyped this game to death. i can only say that i am utterly devastated by this game ,and it makes me kinda sad to see such a miserable sequel to the game i grew up with and enjoyed playing for more than 3 years.
    from the technical side: a the game is clearly in beta phase, the graphics    as a huge fan of the original rome total war, I was eagerly awaiting for the release of Rome II as they hyped this game to death. i can only say that i am utterly devastated by this game ,and it makes me kinda sad to see such a miserable sequel to the game i grew up with and enjoyed playing for more than 3 years.
    from the technical side: a the game is clearly in beta phase, the graphics can't in any way look even close to what we've been shown in the siege of carthage video a year before the game's release plenty of bugs and game breaking crashes ,utter failure on the optimisation side that was clearly a work of amateurs :the warscape engine is just broken.
    now to the most important issue in this game due to gameplay and design choices it's the lack of overall fun the feeling of the one more turn is dead and gone the game is so boring ,shallow and soulless, due mostly to the removed features in this game ,the ones that made the campaign so enjoyable ,and instead replaced some of them them with new ones that actually make no sens at all take the example of the moronic so called politics system. i don't even get why they called it system where all you have to do is click on random buttons without knowing what result will this have on your faction's politics .also the removal of family tree the burning down of metal gates with stupid torches, the absolutely incapable AI ,units can't keep formation, no strategic sense in battles, playing romans is the same thing as playing barbarians ,fights always develop into major blobs so you can't even see the fancy new animation they were bragging about ridiculous naval battles,arcady battles, restricted liberty in building choices and on and on... i can keep mentioning the major cons of this game all day long .so you got it, as a veteran total war fan from 2004 with rome 1. i am more than disappointed with this game all that have been promised about a masterpiece was all lies and marketing hype i couldn't enjoy the game for it lacks most of what made the total war series so great and is an insult to the customers and especially the total war veterans .
    PS the only thing that i liked was the beauty of the campaign map and there's isn't even seasons changing with turns so mehhh is al i gotta say THIS game is the downfall of the series     … Expand
  36. maeglys
    Oct 29, 2013
    1
    Very bad compared to the previous Total War, specially Shogun II. Poorly optimized, bad/bugged AI, clunky and inefficient UI. Naval battles are a joke with free transport.

    Only good thing is the provincial system.
  37. Wolverinemetacr
    Oct 30, 2013
    1
    Having played all Total War Title and playing more than 50 hours in this game I can say this is by far the worst of the bunch. What happened I wish I knew.
  38. HeresyX
    Oct 31, 2013
    1
    I have many times promised myself "I'll never buy a Total War game again!" The release versions have been too unpolished for my taste, sometimes outright broken. However, I've always been won back. I pre-ordered Rome 2, and my expectations were very high. The previews and hype gave the impression of a superb game. The truth, was honestly quite underwhelming. First of all, the performanceI have many times promised myself "I'll never buy a Total War game again!" The release versions have been too unpolished for my taste, sometimes outright broken. However, I've always been won back. I pre-ordered Rome 2, and my expectations were very high. The previews and hype gave the impression of a superb game. The truth, was honestly quite underwhelming. First of all, the performance is awful. My computer vastly exceeds the recommended specs, but I can still barely play on medium-low settings. The AI is terrible. I easily win every battle, with minimal losses. The between-turn loading times are too long. Naval battles are a total joke why did they destroy the functional naval battles from Empire or Shogun 2? Some game play elements like the senate and the tech tree are useless or odd at best. Worst of all they already started selling DLC, even though the game in itself is hardly finished. In summary: An unfinished game, and atrocious marketing. Wait a year untill this game is in the budget bin, and buy a pack with all DLC included. Maybe then you'll get a finished game.… Expand
  39. JamesGHarris
    Nov 8, 2013
    1
    This is by far the most disappointed I've ever been about a game. I expected a game that would stand tall along side Shogun 2 and the original Rome total war. I sure that with this game we'd forget the horrors of Empire and Napoleon. But alas, that;s not what we got. This game was ultimately broken on release, and even now it still doesn't run as it should... The UI is terrible, the AI isThis is by far the most disappointed I've ever been about a game. I expected a game that would stand tall along side Shogun 2 and the original Rome total war. I sure that with this game we'd forget the horrors of Empire and Napoleon. But alas, that;s not what we got. This game was ultimately broken on release, and even now it still doesn't run as it should... The UI is terrible, the AI is somehow worse than previous games, and most of the factions 'unique' units are just re-skins of a basic skirmisher or whatever with slightly buffed stats. This game is probably the worst total war game of the lot, I could at least (maybe) see the appeal of Empire and Napoleon but there's no reason to play this over the original Rome total war, or any other total war, or even game for that matter. This is just garbage, and if you defend this game, you're a shameless fan boy.

    Seriously though where did the budget for this game go, it's a mess. It does not even compare with it's predecessors or games like Europa Universalis IV (which had a tiny budget by comparison.

    I guess they spent all the money on porn and top quality tissues.    … Expand
  40. DylanMBlaine
    Nov 11, 2013
    1
    Terrible game in every sense; 1/10. The game is worse than its predecessors and yet it was developed with a larger budget. The AI system is horrible to the point where if it were the only problem, which it is not, it alone would be a game breaking feature that earns the game a score of 0/10. This artificial "intelligence" provides no form of challenge to the player on even the highestTerrible game in every sense; 1/10. The game is worse than its predecessors and yet it was developed with a larger budget. The AI system is horrible to the point where if it were the only problem, which it is not, it alone would be a game breaking feature that earns the game a score of 0/10. This artificial "intelligence" provides no form of challenge to the player on even the highest difficulty level (when playing as Rome, the faction that the game is named after and pretty much about). I could go on and on about the AI, such as how it is unable to use siege equipment (YES! That's right, the AI doesn't even know how to use siege equipment, so you either auto-resolve or play the battle and feel like you cheated), but as I said it is not the only problem and the others deserve a mention. Other problems like the game not launching, AI turns taking so long that a multiplayer campaign is nearly impossible to endure, and the fact that the AI sends all their troops into small divisions and sails them around just asking to be sunk while you steamroll through their cities on the hardest difficulty, I know I promised to move on from the AI but it's just so pathetic! Every employee that even touched the AI in development should be fired and shunned from the PC gaming industry. Let them go develop the next COD for xbox, at least there they won't be found out for the fraud that they are because the children that are their customers won't even realize that they've been scammed for years to come.… Expand
  41. Eagleslb
    Nov 13, 2013
    1
    Rome 2 is the self claimed top notch project of ca(Creative assembly), with the biggest development budget ever, regardless, its a major setback to the series ,the ai is beyond dumb utterly useless ,i ve never been declared war on with two finished campaigns IN LEGENDARY ,Campaign lacks depth with an oversimplified research and build tree ,no family tree ,the FPS is infernal for someRome 2 is the self claimed top notch project of ca(Creative assembly), with the biggest development budget ever, regardless, its a major setback to the series ,the ai is beyond dumb utterly useless ,i ve never been declared war on with two finished campaigns IN LEGENDARY ,Campaign lacks depth with an oversimplified research and build tree ,no family tree ,the FPS is infernal for some (with recommended specs) ,and the Multiplayer is a hive of cheaters with a useless ladder where the top 1 had already over 100 Victories in the end of the release week with a couple hours of game plug cheat over9000000000, and if you think this is bad enough do hear this :after the patch 4 they made those that press the admit defeat button or simply exit the exe be awarded with a draw making the faithful side look like idiots this made the cheating epidemic to the point the MP (battle) becoming unplayble .with no fix in sight only vague promises like this is a very complex problem ,a problem they created themselves with patch 4 ,they care not ,the money from these poor creatures that pre ordered or bought at a usuary price of 54 euros was already harvested .

    No balance whatsoever ,Spam pike units and oathsworns/ galatian guard /elite unit and you are done ,good game if your opponent didnt leave/admited defeat/o the unplug the net cheat which is unlikely.
    They sold us all kinds of lies :Best ai ever ,an optimized game regarding your rig capabilities ,Balance, best Tw ever historical accuracy all lies. They supressed the loose/tight button ,the guard mode ,fire at will button only in certain units with missiles not all ,the players are dumb they must play how we tell them to play(thinks the CA),Surprisingly they have introduced an historical discovery: Celts used pillum!!! Suebic/iceni(iceni lmfao)/arveni /galatians/thorax all do throw pillum! how proud must the roman be!.

    It seems like im angry, why should i be This is such a splendid game loool

    Oh wait i forgot the magic powers now our guys can run arround the field 4 or 5 times and the by pressing the secound wind the general will surpress their fatigue ,or by pressing the shout button the general will shout so loud that the nemy will flee! OMG OMG    … Expand
  42. jeanluq
    Nov 13, 2013
    1
    This game is just plain boring, turns still taking forever after all these patches. Will give it 1 because CA marketing spend a lot of money to bribe critics for positive reviews, also 10 reviews by users showing up on the top, does not make sense. This game true score is about 4. Never been this disappointed with a TW game.

    - Battle deployment is clumsy, armies too far away,    This game is just plain boring, turns still taking forever after all these patches. Will give it 1 because CA marketing spend a lot of money to bribe critics for positive reviews, also 10 reviews by users showing up on the top, does not make sense. This game true score is about 4. Never been this disappointed with a TW game.

    - Battle deployment is clumsy, armies too far away, invisibility is not cool at all, AI still dumb as heck, no pleasure, strategy whatsoever.
    - Turns are painfully slow, diplomacy messages pop-up and ask for double confirmation, very very very annoying.
    - Unit cards are Greek looking instead of Roman, and it is nearly impossible to distinguish among similar units.
    - Gladiators, Praetorians need more power, need to be more expensive, elite units, not marginal.
    - Battle and diplomacy speeches are very annoying and repetitive, someone yelling and screaming all the time while you are playing this game makes it total ****.
    - Music is total mood-killer, sad, pity tunes, no excitement even during battles.
    - Fast forward does not work with large armies, we only need normal and fast forward, not 5 freaking different useless speeds.
    - Now, one of the biggest disappointment is an introduction of "magic", general super-powers, heroes etc. not going to even comment on having to assign different trait to generals every turn, and lack of family tree. Nonsense.
    CA, Sega Why did you mess up this game so much, and how did you manage to mess up every freaking aspect that was working well in the previous TW games???    … Expand
  43. gobble-de-goop
    Nov 17, 2013
    1
    I really wanted to like this game and have now played it quite a bit and it is terrible, big waste of money and because i bought it through steam I can't get a refund which just adds insult to injury.
    -no guard mode
    -skirmish mode occasionally works, but most of the time involves babysitting every skirmishing unit and totally takes the fun out of the battle -most battles become a great    I really wanted to like this game and have now played it quite a bit and it is terrible, big waste of money and because i bought it through steam I can't get a refund which just adds insult to injury.
    -no guard mode
    -skirmish mode occasionally works, but most of the time involves babysitting every skirmishing unit and totally takes the fun out of the battle
    -most battles become a great big scrum, with little chance of using tactics and are over far too quickly
    -unit card is way too big, and very hard to differentiate between your different unit groups
    -little variation in units between different factions
    -AI is still too dumb
    -can't split your armies up as there always has to be a general in the army
    -armies can have there own ships making navies pointless
    -naval battles are rubbish, little room to maneuver and controls don't work properly, i fought the first few but after much frustration i just auto-resolve now.
    -graphics aren't much of an improvement from the original Rome
    -1 turn per year so no seasons, and not that much movement considering your turn spans an entire year
    -when you do anything with your various agents you can't move them anywhere else in the same turn, even if you only moved them a short distance in the first place
    -projection of the campaign map is distorted

    Really to make this a fair review I should mention the good points of this game, of which there a few, but as CA can't be arsed to release a properly working game and instead have come to rely on the lovely modders to make their games awesome, I can't be arsed to write about the good points. I came, I saw, I got pissed off.    … Expand
  44. therand
    Nov 30, 2013
    1
    Bad game. Waste of money. SLOW performance. Bugs and unfinished GUI. I've only played this game about 4 times after buying it. I won't play any more. A total waste of money.
  45. Scrivser
    Dec 2, 2013
    1
    I can't give this game any more than a 1. Why is that?

    Yes, it's got great battles! Yes, it's got great civilization development. Yes, it looks great, yadda yadda yadda... all the things I'd hoped and dreamed for. But all of this is completely and utterly pointless in light of the fact that there are game-breaking bugs everywhere. No, not some places, *EVERYWHERE*. There's the bug    I can't give this game any more than a 1. Why is that?

    Yes, it's got great battles!
    Yes, it's got great civilization development.
    Yes, it looks great, yadda yadda yadda... all the things I'd hoped and dreamed for.

    But all of this is completely and utterly pointless in light of the fact that there are game-breaking bugs everywhere. No, not some places, *EVERYWHERE*. There's the bug that causes you no longer to be able to control the campaign map, the bug that causes AI to freeze on their turns, preventing you from progressing, the bug that causes FPS to drop to LESS THAN ONE (even on a high-end gaming setup like mine!) if it simply loads the right weather combination, the bug that desyncs multiplayer battles so two players see completely different things happening at once, the bug that desyncs entire CAMPAIGNS so co-op players see ENTIRELY different turns being taken each round... and more!

    The number of bugs is just OUT of CONTROL. And this is only what I've experienced myself in my literal two days of having had this game other people have many other problems. And it has been out for 3 months now. 3 months of patch time is still not enough to fix this broken and burning shambles that was pushed out the door eons before it was ready. I cannot progress and regret ever buying this broken software.

    Please do not make the mistake I did. Please stay away from this game.    … Expand
  46. blooper156
    Dec 19, 2013
    1
    Like many other people on here, I was a huge fan of the original Total War: Rome. So much so that I still play it on a regular basis the satisfaction of taking on a horde of barbarians twice the size of your army, obliterating them with the Roman war machine and expanding your Empire to the edges of the known world...a simple and satisfying concept.

    Rome 2, rather than maturing into    Like many other people on here, I was a huge fan of the original Total War: Rome. So much so that I still play it on a regular basis the satisfaction of taking on a horde of barbarians twice the size of your army, obliterating them with the Roman war machine and expanding your Empire to the edges of the known world...a simple and satisfying concept.

    Rome 2, rather than maturing into an adult it's become the unruly teenager of CA. It's all over the place as a game. Despite some updates, it's still hilarious to watch the AI run havoc among themselves seemingly oblivious to their main purpose kill the enemy. Slingers run at infantry instead of aiming their led shots from a distance. Cavalry appears incapable of disengaging properly, meaning their numbers quickly drop once engaged, and infantry fail to hold the line properly, one of the basics of all Roman warfare lock shields, engage enemy and thrust your short sword between the gaps battles descend into duelling with the enemy.

    Not to mention the state of it's diplomacy.

    They have made some small improvements to the game, however they're overwhelmed by the number of quite frankly fatal errors to this franchise. It's as if they've forgotten what they made in every other TW game!

    My advice is save your money. If you want to play a TW Rome game, buy the original.

    CA you've failed millions of gamers.    … Expand
  47. razael
    Dec 22, 2013
    1
    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.
  48. MileHigh
    Dec 25, 2013
    1
    Well.... This game seemed to have a few great ideas. They added naval combat into land battles, they divided each region up into three and added bonuses for controlling the entire region, they gave Carthage a bigger role than punching bag (as it was in Rome I). But ultimately this game turned out to be a complete farce. They promised that you could play it with the same graphics as ShogunWell.... This game seemed to have a few great ideas. They added naval combat into land battles, they divided each region up into three and added bonuses for controlling the entire region, they gave Carthage a bigger role than punching bag (as it was in Rome I). But ultimately this game turned out to be a complete farce. They promised that you could play it with the same graphics as Shogun 2, but clearly lied. I can't seem to run it in a way in which half the screen isn't covered in grey. The AI seems to have taken a massive step back from Shogun 2, I'll even say it is worse than the original Rome. They continue with the infuriating policy of having to pay twice the value of the game just to get all of the factions. It is undoubtedly the worst purchase I have ever made of a game, and I'm incredulous with myself for having bought it on pre-order. If you are prospective about buying this game, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T.… Expand
  49. Jethro777
    Dec 30, 2013
    1
    Horrific train wreck. Betrayal, and even more anger as CA release a DLC without having seriously even attempted to put a heart back into the tin man. This empty, soul less, AI impaired, stripped back, no family tree, no point to feeling attached to your general (he will die of old age in just a few turns), diplomatically impaired game does not deserve the bear the name of CA. What aHorrific train wreck. Betrayal, and even more anger as CA release a DLC without having seriously even attempted to put a heart back into the tin man. This empty, soul less, AI impaired, stripped back, no family tree, no point to feeling attached to your general (he will die of old age in just a few turns), diplomatically impaired game does not deserve the bear the name of CA. What a very sad, sad end to this otherwise brilliant gaming franchise. The political system is completely pointless, creating a civil war is pointless, in fact, after about 30 hours, it hits you what a train wreck this actually is. Spare yourself the experience. CA is still in denial, despite even massive player surveys which tell them just how bad the game is and how to fix it. AVOID.… Expand
  50. zlamaj
    Dec 31, 2013
    1
    A shallow ill-fated attempt at making total war games more accessible to the masses. Sadly the developer/publisher didn't realise that total war games are very accessible and easy to get into without making things dumber.

    AI is confused, both on the battlefield and campaign. Campaign mechanics are strange and illogical. They threw away things that worked in Shogun 2 for example, and    A shallow ill-fated attempt at making total war games more accessible to the masses. Sadly the developer/publisher didn't realise that total war games are very accessible and easy to get into without making things dumber.

    AI is confused, both on the battlefield and campaign. Campaign mechanics are strange and illogical. They threw away things that worked in Shogun 2 for example, and replaced them with unwanted rubbish "features"! Politics system is a laugh. They promised to release a guide for the politics (i.e. explain how it works) late January 2014! 5 months from release to explain a feature they created? You got to know something is not right when you read this.

    And after 8 patches, and 4 months, we still don't have the game performing well on high end PCs! This is simply unacceptable!

    Unfortunately, this is the end for this particular fan's love story with this franchise. Paradox games care way more about their games, and deserve my support. As for this developer and publisher rubbish tag team, I have nothing but pity for them.    … Expand
  51. SlayerK4
    Jan 2, 2014
    1
    It's just a waste of money and time like spent on pre alpha version. For 4 months since the release I have failed to finish any of the cooperative games to the end. Game crushing, solid bugs, problems with optimization, error saves, stupid AI. And in addition they buried all the strengths of the previous parts of the game. It's just unplayable in any form, totally failed, unfortunately.It's just a waste of money and time like spent on pre alpha version. For 4 months since the release I have failed to finish any of the cooperative games to the end. Game crushing, solid bugs, problems with optimization, error saves, stupid AI. And in addition they buried all the strengths of the previous parts of the game. It's just unplayable in any form, totally failed, unfortunately.

    "Privet sem'e createvi assembly" (c)    … Expand
  52. Jackoftales
    Jan 6, 2014
    1
    I was really looking forward to this game and unfortunately relied on the official reviews, not user reviews. The game itself is fine in my opinion. Its a fun game, although the graphics are pretty terrible during battles. The thing that kills this game is the AI and the bugs. There are just SO MANY bugs even after the game came out months ago. I can't even run the game from it crashing toI was really looking forward to this game and unfortunately relied on the official reviews, not user reviews. The game itself is fine in my opinion. Its a fun game, although the graphics are pretty terrible during battles. The thing that kills this game is the AI and the bugs. There are just SO MANY bugs even after the game came out months ago. I can't even run the game from it crashing to desktop randomly. Even after working with their support over several days to fix the problem, the crashes are still occurring. AI refuses to fight in a way that's even slightly logical. They'll let you lure individual units away and watch as your entire army eats them. During sieges, they'll sit and watch as you send troops out to engage and then destroy their siege towers without even moving forward to shoot or attack any of your troops--even when outnumbering you ten to one.… Expand
  53. claown
    Jan 6, 2014
    1
    So i tried this game again the last few days. Spent some new 25 hours trying out the attempts at fixing it, and installed some of the mods that fixes the worst dumb-downs. Technically, my game works PERFECT. Not a single crash, even using quite a few mods and ultra settings

    Still... This game is a complete and utter waste of time. Its pure grinding. This is the kind of game you watch    So i tried this game again the last few days. Spent some new 25 hours trying out the attempts at fixing it, and installed some of the mods that fixes the worst dumb-downs. Technically, my game works PERFECT. Not a single crash, even using quite a few mods and ultra settings

    Still...

    This game is a complete and utter waste of time. Its pure grinding. This is the kind of game you watch a video while playing. You can have debates with your wife. Read a newspaper. Count your money. Make dinner. Then, after doing all that it will hit you:
    You dont give a eff about your nation, fraction, generals, agents, cash flow, political situation or anything else on the strategic map.. A clear symptom of this is you wont even bother to fight battles manually. You will save sessions, then never bother to open them again, knowing you will always easily win if only you bother to invest LODS of micromanaging time into the savegame. Its pure grinding. And no challenge.

    Also, please take note of all the super reviews here comes in clusters. My guess is that CA, instead of trying to save this mess, is trying to save their profit margin by faking user rewievs.Just like they bought pro reviews The reason i assume this is i cannot fathom how any strategy fan can find this game an interesting challenge.

    Here is an example of pure grind: While playing as egypt, i grew quite big. And when you grow big, a LOT of factions wants to be your pal. ALL the time. 11 turns in a row Axiom approached me, asking for a pact of some sort. WTf silly mechanics is thats? Pressing "x" to cancel proposal 11 times in a row is pure sillyness. And imagine, every gawd damned end turn i had 3-4-5-6 small single city factions asking me the same silly pacts all the time. I cant even go afk and expect the turn to end by itself, because the AI turn stops while waiting for feedback from me. So i have to sit there, answering the same nagging questions all the time during the AI turns too. do 10 turns, answer proposals from AI factions 4-5 times pr turn. Thats 50 times pressing X while waiting for your armies to reach libya after conquering ethiopia. 10 years of travel time^. Your generals, who grew in level fighting ethiopia, dies while travelling a few regions, and all CA wants you to do is press "no thanks, i dont want to have a defensive ally with your sized one region state somewhere in the balkans" 50 times...

    Playing minesweeper involves more strategy. I HATE this game. Its all eye candy and no real playability. Dont buy it, please.    … Expand
  54. Maslopup636
    Jan 9, 2014
    1
    Штурмов нет. Стратегической части нет. Морские бои мало того что унылы, они не имеют никакого отношения к античности. Интерфейс заслуживает отдельного слова, такого малоинформативного, страшного и запутанного убожества не видел уже давно Оценка 1.Штурмов нет. Стратегической части нет. Морские бои мало того что унылы, они не имеют никакого отношения к античности. Интерфейс заслуживает отдельного слова, такого малоинформативного, страшного и запутанного убожества не видел уже давно Оценка 1.
  55. Binbag
    Jan 11, 2014
    1
    Yet another company thinking they can sell incomplete games, and everyone will just hang in there and wait 6 months until they get it right.

    Played the original, what 10 years ago I think, which was brilliant. Expected much more than this. It looks, feels and plays the same to me. I'm sure there's something there that's actually improved. Just b******d if I can see it. Save your    Yet another company thinking they can sell incomplete games, and everyone will just hang in there and wait 6 months until they get it right.

    Played the original, what 10 years ago I think, which was brilliant.
    Expected much more than this. It looks, feels and plays the same to me.
    I'm sure there's something there that's actually improved. Just b******d if I can see it.

    Save your money and get the original on fleabay for a couple of quid.    … Expand
  56. ttjwoon
    Jan 18, 2014
    1
    CA not getting behind Multi player community, horrible bugs/AI making poor single player, maddening replay errors, gutted! Where was the promised sequel to the great Rome 1?
  57. VerriusLucius
    Feb 11, 2014
    1
    This game has left me vastly disappointed. I was a long time fan of the series, and eagerly awaited this release - even going as far as buying a new GFX card to enjoy it.

    It was a waste of a GFX card, and a waste of considerable time. My multiplayer campaigns were/still are barely playable, with desyncs and bugs stopping myself and friends from 'enjoying' the game. When we can play    This game has left me vastly disappointed. I was a long time fan of the series, and eagerly awaited this release - even going as far as buying a new GFX card to enjoy it.

    It was a waste of a GFX card, and a waste of considerable time.

    My multiplayer campaigns were/still are barely playable, with desyncs and bugs stopping myself and friends from 'enjoying' the game.
    When we can play the game, the Campaign AI (CAI) is passive, even on legendary difficulty, with very little in the way of challenge beyond simply refusing any trade agreements.
    The Battle AI (BAI) is a joke. We can capture cities by sneaking around, fights are not tactical or immersive, but simply short, arcade style battles that offer little in the way of challenge of fulfilment. That is when the AI acts as it is supposed to, without just simply failing to attack or just retreating.

    The graphics and stability of the game are horrendous compared with what was initially marketed. Even on the best graphic settings, it looked nothing like was original advertised.
    The marketing campaign involving the AI was simply peddling fallacies, and I feel deeply betrayed as a loyal customer. Seeing the AI developer talk about how complex and astounding his AI creation was, yet being left with a twitching mess after release leads me to feel nothing but contempt for the developers.

    It feels evident that there was little to no testing before release and the number of subsequent patches simply confirm this - not confirming the developer's 'dedication', but their sheer unwillingness/inability to provide pre-release quality controls.

    There have been improvements after the patching process, this is true - but they are improvements that should have already been within the game, that was marketed as a wholly finished, polished & accomplished product, which this was not.

    Compared to the previous release, Total War: Shogun 2, this has been shown wanting.
    Many popular features found within the previous titles have been removed, much to the detriment of the overall game. Some, have been added, yet they provide little relief when confronted with a game that is, to borrow a term, an omnishambles.

    Factional politics has little relevance to a game, and it has taken the developers 5 months to write a simple, two page guide explaining this feature - something that had been promised for some time. There is no connection or investment in generals or agents, as they are too short lived.
    The attributes they have are confusing, badly explained/laid out and add very, very little to overall gameplay.
    Unit cards are confusing and all very similar. I understand they were attempting to keep to an artistic style, but seem to have forgotten that the ancient world was also home to coloured paints, beyond the red/black figure vases from Classical Hellas.
    Battle deployment controls lack the fluidity and accuracy of previous titles.
    Naval combats offer little fun or diversity, and are simply unplayable for the most part, or utterly excruciating to try to control.

    The DLC is simply a slap in the face. Many of the 'factions' released, were already within the game, and unlockable through modding - they even had the voice overs, in many cases. All it is, is simple gating of content already in the game, for those whom would pay for it. Aside from the 'Caesar in Gaul' "expansion", they add very little into the game beyond opening factions that should have already been a part of the £30 price of the game. Whether they were initially free or not is of no issue - they are now charged for, and this is a horrible marketing tactic in my view.

    The game in itself, I would rate a 3/10. The overall score, given the actions of the developers, the sheer inaccuracies thrown up by the pre-release marketing and the gameplay compared to earlier releases, stands for me at a meagre 1/10.

    I feel I've wasted time and a considerable amount of money on this game. And simply, have been left with a sour taste by the developers.

    No amount of apologies will grant me my money returned, or my time back.    … Expand
  58. TrueReview01
    Feb 16, 2014
    1
    This game is best described as a WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Sega has managed, in partnership with Creative Assembly, to put out a bug filled game full of promises of BUG FIXES THAT HAVE NOT HAPPENED.

    A game which touts variety, but in reality has very litter variety at all. Each faction is almost exactly the same, they've just put different skins/clothes on the units and then say it    This game is best described as a WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Sega has managed, in partnership with Creative Assembly, to put out a bug filled game full of promises of BUG FIXES THAT HAVE NOT HAPPENED.

    A game which touts variety, but in reality has very litter variety at all. Each faction is almost exactly the same, they've just put different skins/clothes on the units and then say it has variety. It's another marketing statement that is full of no truth what so ever. Don't fool yourself into thinking its a great game just because you enjoy Roman history.
    THIS GAME DOES NO JUSTICE TO HISTORY, AND IS NOTHING LIKE THE ADVERTISED MATERIAL USED TO SELL THE GAME.

    Its now February at the time I'm writing this review and the game still has bugs, ai issues, compatibility issues, and lacks basic optimization for many systems. The only people on the internet that say its a good game are most likely Public Relations for company being paid to say its good when its actually not.
    BUYER BEWARE.    … Expand
  59. Reamus1205
    Mar 4, 2014
    1
    There is no way I am pre-ordering any Creative Assembly game again, and apparently I can't rely on reviewing organizations to weed out the bad seeds for me. This game has been a failure in almost every way; it looks terrible, the music is boring, the battles are boring, the campaign is boring and stripped down, and ultimately it is a game full of undelivered promises. It's developers alsoThere is no way I am pre-ordering any Creative Assembly game again, and apparently I can't rely on reviewing organizations to weed out the bad seeds for me. This game has been a failure in almost every way; it looks terrible, the music is boring, the battles are boring, the campaign is boring and stripped down, and ultimately it is a game full of undelivered promises. It's developers also seem more interested in trying to milk DLC rather than address the very real issues plaguing the game.… Expand
  60. GYOME
    Mar 11, 2014
    1
    This game is just an embarrassment, nothing works in this game. The alpha stage of the game looked much better than the actual game and how that happened is beyond me. Poor perfomance, crap settings and horrible AI compared to the first rome game.

    Do not buy this!
  61. ben14edwards
    Mar 23, 2014
    1
    Unfortunately, this game is dreadfully oversimplified. I suspect that the developer is attempting to replace its longtime fanbase with a new breed of teenage gamers. That is to say, this game will be extremely fun if you have never played a Total War game before, and overwhelmingly disappointing if you are familiar with these games.

    Rome II, despite being visually impressive, takes a    Unfortunately, this game is dreadfully oversimplified. I suspect that the developer is attempting to replace its longtime fanbase with a new breed of teenage gamers. That is to say, this game will be extremely fun if you have never played a Total War game before, and overwhelmingly disappointing if you are familiar with these games.

    Rome II, despite being visually impressive, takes a step down from its predecessors in terms of game mechanics. Everything that you loved about empire-building, city construction, dangerous wars, and important decisions are replaced with redundant, repetitive gameplay. The AI is a tremendous failure and poses no challenge, even on legendary difficulty. The only thing that higher difficulties do is increase the number of enemies (so that each miniature little tribe is unrealistically hosting two thousand armed men).

    Strategy is non-existent, so look elsewhere. This game only has repetitive sieges that mean nothing. If you lose your army due to a bad mistake, you can simply recreate it in one turn. Therefor, the game does not punish the player for mistakes like it should.    … Expand
  62. rjbangueses
    Jun 5, 2014
    1
    After playing Rome TW for so much time i can only say this about the sequel: Boring, broken piece of crap.

    AI is actually worse than the first Rome, congratulations CA.
  63. gwm6102
    Jun 8, 2014
    1
    It's just unplayable and boring. Almost every aspect of this game doesn't make the grade. I enjoy a challenge, but the conquest map is just too massive. And, it finally becomes so repetitive - conquer city, move units around, rest, conquer city, move units around, rest........... Such a disappointment after Shogun 2, which I still dust off and play sometimes.
  64. urbinofacundo
    Jun 19, 2014
    1
    I had such high expectations for this game... I've played almost the entire franchise and tried to keep an open mind, but after only 10 hrs. I'm done with this garbage even after patch 13 it's just a clumsy MOSH PIT SIMULATOR:

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

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

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

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

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

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

    THE CAMPAIGN MAP

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

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

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

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

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

    I always defend video games when some people say that is a waste of time and money... but in this case this game truly is a waste of everything.. hell I don't even criticize people that play angry birds or any other casual game.. but i wonder what is wrong with people that actually play this POS and LIKE IT???    … Expand
  65. MoonflowerDarsh
    Jul 19, 2014
    1
    Been with the TW series since Rome 1. I am a scholar interested in the time periods pre-ancient greek/roman as well as the ancient greek/roman period.

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

    With those things in mind as well as my expectations set fairly high thanks to CA advertising and marketing... I can say that Rome 2 was absolutely disappointing. I have to agree with other users and long-time fans who know what they are talking about--CA released a beta, and made their base pay full price. It's shameful.    … Expand
  66. tykeman3
    Aug 29, 2014
    1
    this game has destroyed my views of total war..... that is all you need

    BUT i need 150 words so don't buy this game all of the bugs at launch made it unplayable but even with all the patches i think it is number 12 now the core game play is just no where near as good as shogun 2 ..... and all the meta scores giving it an amazing reviews seem a little suspicious to me =/
  67. wvjoeball
    Sep 1, 2014
    1
    so let me get this straight. you have a slave revolt in a small town early in the game and a rebel army resulting has 7 full calvary units and 18 fully armed and trained units. where did they get the horses? the city didnt even have a stable. thats retarded. wouldnt a slave revolt be composed of disorganized but highly motivated mobs not a fully functioning well armed and trainedso let me get this straight. you have a slave revolt in a small town early in the game and a rebel army resulting has 7 full calvary units and 18 fully armed and trained units. where did they get the horses? the city didnt even have a stable. thats retarded. wouldnt a slave revolt be composed of disorganized but highly motivated mobs not a fully functioning well armed and trained army. loved tw1. this is beyond awful… Expand
  68. herbertbracke
    Nov 28, 2014
    1
    I really liked the first rme total war, medieval total war, shogun, empire and even napoleon.
    But now they lost me completely, this game is bad. period.
    it feels like you're playing beta all the time, the graphics are really crappy (and i have a geforce gtx 880), the ai does stupid maneuvers,...

    it's crap basicly
  69. Shurkhan
    Dec 27, 2014
    1
    This is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a wayThis is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a way around this, but like I said, it is confusing, and not interesting enough to really want to learn it. It might be okay if you aren't expecting a game that is ANYTHING like the original Rome Total War or Medieval Total War. The battle are similar, but the campaign is an entirely different game. I am very disappointed that CA decided to move away from something that really worked.… Expand
  70. Syndicater
    Feb 15, 2016
    1
    I am astonished at the state of this game. Did they think that I wouldn’t notice the clumsy interface, the wretched documentation, the absolutely untenable naval combat, the weird bugs, the lock-ups, the game-killing glitches? Did they think I wouldn’t notice the AI? Did they really think this was an acceptable AI for a single-player game? A single player game with disappointingI am astonished at the state of this game. Did they think that I wouldn’t notice the clumsy interface, the wretched documentation, the absolutely untenable naval combat, the weird bugs, the lock-ups, the game-killing glitches? Did they think I wouldn’t notice the AI? Did they really think this was an acceptable AI for a single-player game? A single player game with disappointing multiplayer compared to the clever multiplayer in their last release?… Expand
  71. crazytony0
    Feb 21, 2016
    1
    For a game that is supossed to replace the orriginal this is just sad. Graphics are good, but the AI and the user interface just sucks, uninstalled the game now, off to the orriginal again.
  72. innoclip
    Sep 23, 2019
    1
    I played medieval total war 2 and I loved it. Played it through. But this is just a joke. I really tried to understand that game. Nothing makes sence. the symbols far too small nothing is self explained. what a joke honestly. Won't buy any game of that serie anymore. Just isn't worth the time
  73. 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.
  74. Vastator
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    I can tolerate problems such pathetic AI on sieges, worst UI of the series, fast and arcadish battles, "WTF" diplomacy, because these things can (hopefully in several months) be modded or patched.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Why this?? WHY!!??    … Expand
  75. Arctarus
    Oct 28, 2013
    0
    Alas RTW2 suffers the same fate as its predecessors, and what's been said of its weaknesses are indeed, true. At first glance, it feels much more a of a game than a beta while playing the prologue, but past that one realizes that RTW2 is much less than what the little positive and so called "reviews" it's been getting. Sadly, the naval battles are more similar to say TW Empire, and noAlas RTW2 suffers the same fate as its predecessors, and what's been said of its weaknesses are indeed, true. At first glance, it feels much more a of a game than a beta while playing the prologue, but past that one realizes that RTW2 is much less than what the little positive and so called "reviews" it's been getting. Sadly, the naval battles are more similar to say TW Empire, and no attempts has been made to revamp it for a more solid naval battle option. The diplomacy makes no sense either; give me gold for a non aggression pact even though you could take my gold, wife, and land for free. There is no AI guard command this ship or this unit either. In the end, RTW2 resembles more of a previous RTW with its problems and bundled together with some "improved" graphics and little new gameplay and rushed for "preorder". Some Pre-order marketing ploy, more a consumer trap than anything else. Just like air in your ice cream for the price of a 100% ice cream. 0 for duping the consumer, 0 for making us buy such trash. F- for failing at making "new" games. Did you cheat on your IQ test?… Expand
  76. hailey
    Sep 3, 2013
    0
    The worst Total War game since Empire. They took every bit of progress they made with Shogun 2 and threw it out the window. What we have instead is an uglier, worse game on the same engine.
  77. Mastokk
    Jan 1, 2014
    0
    Impossible to play this game. I've "played" 3 hours. Just the time to understand this game wasn't good. Crashes, bad gameplay, no optimization... This game is a waste of time and money. I won't pre order anymore.
  78. durrdurrdurr
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    Poorly optimized.
    No guard mode.
    Clueless AI.
    The battles are over too quickly.
    No family tree.
    You can't change to loose or tight formation.

    Stick to Rome: Total war or its mods.
  79. dmz82
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    What a piece of garbage. There are no words to express how much I regret buying this game. It's probably the most unstable piece of software I've ever owned, and regularly crashes in between turns. If that wasn't bad enough, it absolutely slogs on a GTX 680 x2 SLI, 4.5ghz i7 machine. We're talking framerates in the high 20's on the world map. Yes, you read that correctly; even the worldWhat a piece of garbage. There are no words to express how much I regret buying this game. It's probably the most unstable piece of software I've ever owned, and regularly crashes in between turns. If that wasn't bad enough, it absolutely slogs on a GTX 680 x2 SLI, 4.5ghz i7 machine. We're talking framerates in the high 20's on the world map. Yes, you read that correctly; even the world map has a crappy framerate. I would have returned this game for a refund already, but I foolishly purchased it through Steam, who like Creative Assembly, has no respect for their customers and has instituted an unconscionable rule against ever giving refunds. Lesson well learned on my end.… Expand
  80. conantbh
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    This game was rushed. Abysmal optimisation, cardboard IA, first grader UI, broken replays, and totally lack of features such guard mode, chat lobby, multypler modes, family tree etc. We are lacking at least 6 to 12 months in development.
  81. Dark_Awakening
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    I was blindfolded by the hype and good experiences of former Total War titles to buy this.

    Don't make the same mistake! I'm a huge fan of the series but this game is such a horrendous fail, it feels like a scam!
  82. Minderrx
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    his game failed its Total War predecessors. It is too fast paced, it´s hard to actually "feel" the game and immerse in to it, because of the new campaign, in which you just don´t give a what happens next. Diplomacy is ok but could stil use improvement (especially the trade agreements).
    But the battles! Oh my god, they suck balls. Even with high tier units, the battles tend to last at ma…    his game failed its Total War predecessors. It is too fast paced, it´s hard to actually "feel" the game and immerse in to it, because of the new campaign, in which you just don´t give a what happens next. Diplomacy is ok but could stil use improvement (especially the trade agreements).
    But the battles! Oh my god, they suck balls. Even with high tier units, the battles tend to last at ma… Expand
    Helpful? 18 of 23 users said Yes. All this user's reviews
    Necromonger Sep 4, 2013 0 Extremely disapointed and i see revieuws of this game scoring 9 and 9.5 Do game revieuwers get payed these days This game isnt even in Beta stage, seriously what an abomination... I got a beast of a system and it runs crap, crashes, textures bugs, politics what politics insane wait times per turn... I wait a few months to the modders can fix this game as the originel is jus… Expand    … Expand
  83. Tkwz
    Dec 24, 2013
    0
    This is about the most frustrating, slow, bugged, random, stupid, idiotic, pathetic, moronic piece of garbage game I have even seen in my life. I've had more fun doing _nothing_, just after I threw this disk out of the window and wiped the hard drive of every single bit of this time wasting joke.
  84. AstraL
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I'm shocked, did not expect this from Creative Assembly, game simply is unplayable, 15-25 fps on strategic map on minimal settings...
    CA give me back my money!
  85. Simon1979
    Oct 15, 2013
    0
    No italian and spanish full localization/dubbing, it was stated on the game's box completely in these languages, and on steam untill 5 hrs after the release, the game is boring nothing even near the first title Rome Total War, AI is baaaad!, campaign is boring exc. for sure if arma 3 has a metacritic of 73 this deserve a 0, if arma 3 was at a metacritic of 90/ 98 this deserves a 60
  86. Mako
    Jan 10, 2014
    0
    The AI is still completely broken! DO NOT BUY THIS GAME YET!!! It is practically impossible to loose any battles in this game! The game provides no challenge what so ever. If you want to play total war games stick to Shogun 2 instead!
  87. Falrinth
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Well for me and all my numerous friends who were hyped for Rome 2 this game is huge disapointment. It looks and works worse than shogun 2. Looks like half trough development phase. Shaders not working, AA not working properly, performance is horrible at i5,i7 and to date GPUs while shogun 2 looked much sweeter and FPS high and smooth. The look of this game doesnt look at all, not even 20%Well for me and all my numerous friends who were hyped for Rome 2 this game is huge disapointment. It looks and works worse than shogun 2. Looks like half trough development phase. Shaders not working, AA not working properly, performance is horrible at i5,i7 and to date GPUs while shogun 2 looked much sweeter and FPS high and smooth. The look of this game doesnt look at all, not even 20% of how its shown on "screenshots" from producer. On top of that numerous game braking bugs, broken AI, horrible placeholder interface, bugs, battle speed silly fast, awkward camera, awkward units behavior, fights looking far worse than shogun 2... well i dont know where to stop, but this game is just cr... compared to predecesor. No fun at all to play... Ah, and btw. shaders seems to be broken aswell no difference which one i choose at system that can handle them all it all looks like if there would be some cr.. shader on.… Expand
  88. Diraffe
    Oct 19, 2013
    0
    I am thankful they did not call this Rome: Total War II and instead called it Total War: Rome II as it is entirely undeserving of following up such an amazing predecessor. Everywhere Rome: Total War got something right, Total War: Rome II got it wrong.
  89. meru
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    It seems that only four of fifty reviewers were the only ones who actually tested the game, instead of writing a canned review the other magazines were told to fabricate by the publisher. A game that was dead on arrival. And a nice example of what the game reviewing industry has come to. "Being corrupt" is a mild expression for it. Whoever has seen the CA pimp in the video who ranted aboutIt seems that only four of fifty reviewers were the only ones who actually tested the game, instead of writing a canned review the other magazines were told to fabricate by the publisher. A game that was dead on arrival. And a nice example of what the game reviewing industry has come to. "Being corrupt" is a mild expression for it. Whoever has seen the CA pimp in the video who ranted about the fantastic AI they had included in the game "with the highest Total War budget ever" will only be able to think "When was this fluke fired?"… Expand
  90. alhypo
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    Well, as a loyal Total War series player, I have to say this game is kind of an embarrassment. There are so many great things about it yet one very serious flaw destroyed my enjoyment. Basically, the developers someone managed to eliminate any element of strategy in the open-field battles. In the heat of a huge open battle, I learned the hard way that there is a "Victory Point" placed onWell, as a loyal Total War series player, I have to say this game is kind of an embarrassment. There are so many great things about it yet one very serious flaw destroyed my enjoyment. Basically, the developers someone managed to eliminate any element of strategy in the open-field battles. In the heat of a huge open battle, I learned the hard way that there is a "Victory Point" placed on the map in my defensive territory. The point is out in the middle of nowhere and of no strategic importance. However, I found that if I don't commit my soldiers to defending this seemingly unimportant, arbitrary spot, the computer AI will send one unit directly to the point and claim victory. Having not noticed the victory point, I strategically positioned my defending army atop a hill so I would have an advantage. Unfortunately, the battle was over before it even got going. I lost with a decisive defeat. I started with 2200 soldiers. When the battle finished, I had only lost about 300 of them in the actual battle. Does that sound like a decisive defeat? No, it's utterly absurd. Only more so because I still lost the entire army after the battle was over. I was going to lose the battle anyway, but I missed out on the chance to take down the enemy's numbers a bit. I lost all 2200 of my soldiers, but the enemy only lost the 300 or so men that I took down in battle. This Victory Point nonsense is game breaking for me. I really enjoy the economic strategy, but real-time battles are the core of this game. This game could be close to a 10 for me if they would fix this one little victory point problem. Being that I'm not going to play the game anymore, it does deserve a zero. What a disappointing waste of money.… Expand
  91. bilwit
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Terrible game. Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise. In Shogun 2, the clans/matchmaking/map persistence/veteran units actually provided a modern framework that brought Total War into the competitive multiplayer gaming scene. They have since completely removed it and brought it back to 1998 lobby-only style. The reasoning behind this is that CA is currently working on a F2P gameTerrible game. Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise. In Shogun 2, the clans/matchmaking/map persistence/veteran units actually provided a modern framework that brought Total War into the competitive multiplayer gaming scene. They have since completely removed it and brought it back to 1998 lobby-only style. The reasoning behind this is that CA is currently working on a F2P game that's almost nothing like actual TW battles. Does this make any sense to anyone? I want to play TW battles in a meaningful and dynamic way which was teased with the Shogun 2 system, not some TW/MOBA hybrid. Also, the graphics are really, really bad even with everything set to "extreme." Anti-Aliasing doesn't even work at all which is extremely apparent in battles.… Expand
  92. agapito37
    Dec 30, 2013
    0
    I have just played this game and its extremely bad. Nothing is properly done. Diplomacy is useless as nobody accepts any trade no matter what. AI is exactly the same as in medieval total war, more stupid than a donkey. Difficulty in campaign is based on giving factions ridiculous amounts of money to waste it. Battle AI is based con ridiculous stats buffs to enemies. Capturing settlementsI have just played this game and its extremely bad. Nothing is properly done. Diplomacy is useless as nobody accepts any trade no matter what. AI is exactly the same as in medieval total war, more stupid than a donkey. Difficulty in campaign is based on giving factions ridiculous amounts of money to waste it. Battle AI is based con ridiculous stats buffs to enemies. Capturing settlements is a pain in the ass due to ridiculous mechanics that do not work properly, attacking a city and slaughtering all enemies do not lead to capturing the city WTF. Also during battle units are unresponsive no matter what you do and performance is extremely bad even in low graphics with an extremely powerful computer. This is unacceptable for a saga with so many years.

    DLC leeching for normal features and units that should be in-game.

    And the worst thing is that we don't have DarthVader anymore to fix CA games. I really hope he makes a new saga of games that makes CA go bankrupt.    … Expand
  93. Lex_Luger
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    This game has a massive cpu bottleneck. No cpu at stock speed is fast enough to run this game, espeically siege battles involving capitol cities.

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

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

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

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

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

    It wouldnt be the first game to include a AVX exec, as GRID 2 already has one, and it runs fine.    … Expand
  94. Woopya
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    Let me start by saying I am a fan of the previous TW games for about 5 years. This however, barely qualifies. They tried to streamline the game and failed miserably. Since getting the game a couple days ago they have patched more than a couple times. I would like to be clear here: if your game is not ready to be played, don't release it. This game is full of bugs. Most notably the game hasLet me start by saying I am a fan of the previous TW games for about 5 years. This however, barely qualifies. They tried to streamline the game and failed miserably. Since getting the game a couple days ago they have patched more than a couple times. I would like to be clear here: if your game is not ready to be played, don't release it. This game is full of bugs. Most notably the game has a nice little feature where out of nowhere it "alt tabs" out of the game. This is not something only I am experiencing either. It wouldn't be a problem if you could simply alt tab back, but often you cannot.

    As for the game itself, wow I don't know what to say. In my heart I think that they realized they should try to hurry this game out prior to the new consoles systems due out in a couple months. I am not sure why because traditional TW fans would not be affected by consoles. I feel when Im playing it that the various nation "campaigns" are a lot more scripted than previous games and I hate it. It ruins replayablity. I kept Medieval Tw on my Comp for years and loves Shogun 2. I would play either 1 of those with my butt cheeks before I would play this money grab garbage. Releases this bad ruin great titles and make customers like me not want to trust those developers again.    … Expand
  95. A7ibaba
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    Game A.I is completely broken and i really don't see a point of playing Rome 2. You can conquer whole game in 3 hours because A.I don't react and it's like playing a chess with mentally retarded person who never played chess in whole life. Not to mention technical problems with units going through walls and ships running through land and missing or mixed texture on battlefield map.
  96. Bedlam
    Sep 26, 2013
    0
    I don't know what it is but it seems that companies are getting more and more money grubbing. First Strong hold 3 and now this. I can't possibly see how this can get a good review. Rome was my favorite strategy of all time and they've done it a complete disservice. I'm pretty sure CA must be seeding the reviews. I have a very solid computer and this thing lags to hell. Crashes are rampant.I don't know what it is but it seems that companies are getting more and more money grubbing. First Strong hold 3 and now this. I can't possibly see how this can get a good review. Rome was my favorite strategy of all time and they've done it a complete disservice. I'm pretty sure CA must be seeding the reviews. I have a very solid computer and this thing lags to hell. Crashes are rampant. "Normal" speed on battle map is at least x2. They've patched this twice and its done nothing... oh well, as long as they get our money they don't care about the game they make.… Expand
  97. aoetje
    Nov 8, 2013
    0
    A perfect example on how NOT to treat your customers...

    Releasing unfinished game that looks worse than previous instalment but boasts the opposite? Ridiculous approach. Very poor optimization...the campaign map...waiting for other factions movement takes up 90% of your time...we did not pay to sit around waiting to play... Multiplayer desync problems. Avoid...unless you are    A perfect example on how NOT to treat your customers...

    Releasing unfinished game that looks worse than previous instalment but boasts the opposite? Ridiculous approach.

    Very poor optimization...the campaign map...waiting for other factions movement takes up 90% of your time...we did not pay to sit around waiting to play...

    Multiplayer desync problems.

    Avoid...unless you are very patient and loaded...    … Expand
  98. PriceofShadows
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    RIP Total War, this is last time I got tricked into buying Total War game.I feel cheated and robbed, my fault I believed hype but at least no money for DLC !

    1.Game looks like crap textures are blurry and ugly 2.AA doesn't work !!! 3.Music is dull and boring, sounds are reused from older titles especially extremly loud and annoying marching sound when you zoom in, 4.There is no    RIP Total War, this is last time I got tricked into buying Total War game.I feel cheated and robbed, my fault I believed hype but at least no money for DLC !

    1.Game looks like crap textures are blurry and ugly
    2.AA doesn't work !!!
    3.Music is dull and boring, sounds are reused from older titles especially extremly loud and annoying marching sound when you zoom in,
    4.There is no way to switch off bloom and everything shines and reflects
    5.Soldiers run too fast poor game mechanics.
    6.Army cards are ugly and confusing difficult to recognize troops

    Ancient Medieval 2 has better graphics,gameplay and realistic soldiers movements.Game is totally dumbed down,people who made this 'game' should take a look at masterpieces like Medieval 2 or Rome 1 to see what this is all about.Biggest disappointement of 2013, save your money and don't buy it until it's 90% OFF.    … Expand
  99. 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.
  100. GoosemanGamer
    Oct 18, 2013
    0
    Horrible UI
    Broken AI
    Downright wacky graphical issues and horrible performance. Ships sailing on land and zombie soldiers. Instant Fleets from armies making the naval aspect pointless. 1 year turns so generals die off instantaneously. AI can't use siege equipment and uses magical torches that burn down reinforced gates and then bum rushes them with the whole army to be slaughtered.    Horrible UI
    Broken AI
    Downright wacky graphical issues and horrible performance. Ships sailing on land and zombie soldiers.
    Instant Fleets from armies making the naval aspect pointless.
    1 year turns so generals die off instantaneously.
    AI can't use siege equipment and uses magical torches that burn down reinforced gates and then bum rushes them with the whole army to be slaughtered. Oh yeah and CA refuses to even address this.
    1 minute arcade style battles.
    Endlessly long AI turns.
    No political system.
    Units don't hold formation and battles become giant mosh pits requiring no strategy.
    Campaign videos gone, general trees gone, every multiplayer feature in Shogun II gone.

    It's quite simply the worst total war ever, a shameless cash grab and an insult to every fan.

    It's actually one of the worst games I've ever played.

    Do not buy this game. It should be called "Total Garbage Rome Blues". And it can't be patched to get better. There are too many design flaws and CA already stole everyone's money.

    I'm sure they're spending most of their time getting this trash ready for a stupid console port. What a joke.    … 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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