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. allenbsmith
    Jan 8, 2014
    5
    This game is a disappointment for Total War fans, especially the ones who loved the original Rome: Total War game. The game could have been the best in the series, but it is buggy, unoptimized, and unpolished. However, if you're not a fan of the series, and you're new to the total war series, then you might find this to be a fun and interesting experience, especially if you enjoy RTSThis game is a disappointment for Total War fans, especially the ones who loved the original Rome: Total War game. The game could have been the best in the series, but it is buggy, unoptimized, and unpolished. However, if you're not a fan of the series, and you're new to the total war series, then you might find this to be a fun and interesting experience, especially if you enjoy RTS games.

    I believe this game should have had several more months if not an entire year of extra work, and I'll tell you why. Even on a high-end PC, this game runs poorly. Check for benchmarks and you'll see this game only getting 35 FPS average from systems with an Nvidia TITAN GPU. This has bad engineering written all over it. This game also suffers from a tremendous amount of bugs. The AI is really lacking when they can't even make basic decisions such as taking back a victory point from you less they lose in 50 seconds. To be honest, the AI always has been weak, but that's rather understandable. It's probably one of the hardest AIs to program, and being a programmer myself, I can say it would be a rather difficult logical challenge. Most people just don't understand this. Trust me, if it was easy, then the AI would be brilliant, but it's not. However, it does not excuse the AI's inability to perform actions such as climbing a ladder (no, they can't even do that sometimes). Lastly, the game itself just seems unpolished if not lacking a lot of content. The political system is not explained nor is comprehensible. It just seems useless. There are no extra content videos (except for a general death) to give the campaign life as there usually is, and a feature, previous in the Shogun 2 multiplayer, has been stripped from Rome 2. I could be wrong, but it just seemed like the game was rushed and incomplete. It was as though the development had to make some tough decision that would not only leave out content, but cheapen it just so the game could be released on time. This is probably due to an agreement CA made with SEGA. Mike Simpson even mentioned before with the release of Empire (another Total War game) that there biggest customer was SEGA, and that games have to be released on time at the expense of quality.

    On a side note, I am also having trouble understanding how this game got such positive scores from big name reviewers such as Gamespot and IGN. (Actually, if you read the Gamespot review, you'll notice that it is vague and without merit, the reviewer doesn't seem to mention and specifics, and uses "big" words to cover this up. They probably only played the game for a few hours, and called it quits. There are no screenshots or videos by Gamespot to be found post release for that game.) I have just lost faith in those companies.

    Anyway, I don't want to convey anger just disappointment. I was so excited for this game. In fact, I had never been so pumped for a game in my entire life. I pre-ordered without hesitation, and I haven't pre-ordered a game in several years. I'm just saddened by the state of this game. If you're enjoying Rome 2, then I'm happy for you. I just wish I could.    … Expand
  2. mosti
    Jan 8, 2014
    10
    08/01/2014
    Lots of bug fixes since the release of this game. You will find the majority of negative reviews were written before these major fixes.
    I was scpetical but purchased the game after the latest patch. Game is absolutely amazing and highly addictive. There are a few issues I have with camera panning etc which ticks me off and slight issues with micro management of units of the    08/01/2014
    Lots of bug fixes since the release of this game. You will find the majority of negative reviews were written before these major fixes.
    I was scpetical but purchased the game after the latest patch. Game is absolutely amazing and highly addictive. There are a few issues I have with camera panning etc which ticks me off and slight issues with micro management of units of the battlefield but overall quite a solid game.
    I'm new to the total war franchise so not sure if this is above of below their average.
    Would recommend this game    … Expand
  3. slimmyg
    Jan 7, 2014
    0
    I have played the total war series from Rome 1. This game is the least enjoyable of them all. A big step down from Shogun 2. Confusing, boring, and uninspired.
  4. 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
  5. jaunetajabe
    Jan 6, 2014
    2
    Thousands of minor bugs that makes this game unplayable, every map every turn are lots of things that are not cleary defined and makes the game boring and untactical.
    After 9 patches all is a big mess, nobody knows if politics works or how it works!
  6. 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
  7. Driftic
    Jan 6, 2014
    7
    At launch, it was more enjoyable to electrocute your eyeball with a stun gun than play this game. But now there have been a lot of patches that have semi-fixed the ai and performance. I have found the game fun after these patches, and with mods that make the textures better and enhance the campaign Rome 2 is very addicting if you are a fan of the genre.
  8. janlans
    Jan 4, 2014
    0
    I love the total war saga so much that I cant describe it with words. I have wanted to play this game for a very long time now and when it finaly released it was completely unplayable, lots of bugs and horrible ai. I have waited 4 months now for them to patch it, but it is still unplayable. I cant even play campaign, custom match or the prologue. I would say this game is completelyI love the total war saga so much that I cant describe it with words. I have wanted to play this game for a very long time now and when it finaly released it was completely unplayable, lots of bugs and horrible ai. I have waited 4 months now for them to patch it, but it is still unplayable. I cant even play campaign, custom match or the prologue. I would say this game is completely unplayable even with 4 moths of patching.… Expand
  9. WayT101
    Jan 4, 2014
    0
    Everything that needs to be said about the state of this game at release and as of now even with all the patches has been said, I can tell you from my own experience that the vast majority of issues listed in the negative reviews for this game on this site I have experienced for myself. This game gets a 0 from me for being worthless to play at release and for still being unfinished evenEverything that needs to be said about the state of this game at release and as of now even with all the patches has been said, I can tell you from my own experience that the vast majority of issues listed in the negative reviews for this game on this site I have experienced for myself. This game gets a 0 from me for being worthless to play at release and for still being unfinished even with all of the patching and for the disgusting business practices, examples being the pre-order bonus, blatant false advertising and paid-off professional critics. Don't waste your money on this if you want a good Total War or strategy game for that matter; buy Shogun 2 the entire package has been in on steam sales for less than £10 which is great value for money and even scales well with your PC capabilities. In my opinion Companies like The Creative Assembly and especially scum like Sega should be boycotted into bankruptcy.… Expand
  10. HauntedDonut
    Jan 4, 2014
    10
    I personally have had ZERO issues with this game. I've pumped in over 200 hours so far and still loving it. I have to admit, the learning curve was a bit too big from Shogun 2. But once handled, this game deserves all the praise it gets. Not the strongest title in TOTAL WAR, but most certainly a fantastic game.
  11. simonpd38
    Jan 3, 2014
    10
    it's simply fantastic! people whining need to learn patients! I am sure all glitches and bugs will be fixed over time! And you say shogun 2 is good? In shogun 2, u get instant and constast attacks from every freaking side. Rome 2 actually gives you allot of breathing, to develop your city, unit's, as well as your researching!! i love this game!
  12. Renevilfortune
    Jan 3, 2014
    9
    Never played any games in the series. I tried to play the Fall of the Samurai, but it was too difficult to pick up on. Anyway, so was this game, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll give this game 9/10 because in all honesty that's where it seems to be heading with all the patches. I was crashing left and right last week, but have not experienced a single crash for almost a week. I loveNever played any games in the series. I tried to play the Fall of the Samurai, but it was too difficult to pick up on. Anyway, so was this game, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll give this game 9/10 because in all honesty that's where it seems to be heading with all the patches. I was crashing left and right last week, but have not experienced a single crash for almost a week. I love the game, except I'm playing on normal... lol. It's difficult for me still, but this game is enjoyable as hell. I just love the warfare.

    This game does have its cons, but when I bought it for $23 on GMG, then I thought it was a deal. This game is worth my money. I'm pretty sure by the end of the year I'll raise it to 10/10 when it's optimized better. Anyway, I'm running this game on 4 year computer, but still looks beautiful. I don't experience that much frame rate drops during warfare, just for custom games to which I customized ridiculously.

    Personally, I love this game and I don't even play these type of games. I think it's a well made game, but I'm curious to know what things they left out from previous games. Still, awesome game and will continue to get better.

    I've never written review before... but these reviews of less 4 are ridiculous.    … Expand
  13. Buzzerker
    Jan 3, 2014
    8
    Why would anyone rate this game so low? As if you are all armchair generals with Westpoint backgrounds LOL! If you bought the game through Steam you have access to the Workshop, and for this reason this game is highly customizable. Thank you Steam just for being you. without that workshop full of mods this game would take forever to be fixed to my liking the unit cards are a glaringWhy would anyone rate this game so low? As if you are all armchair generals with Westpoint backgrounds LOL! If you bought the game through Steam you have access to the Workshop, and for this reason this game is highly customizable. Thank you Steam just for being you. without that workshop full of mods this game would take forever to be fixed to my liking the unit cards are a glaring mistake which I modded immediately and it seems those tribes really beat the hell out of Ancient Rome in a free for all the first time I played as Rome before I modded the game extensively I lost entire legions to barbarian forces less than a forth the size and the 2 turns a year. what the were they thinking? A year is 12 months divided into 4 seasons so why do it any other way? unforgiveable CA developers. Anyway it is not a bad game.… Expand
  14. Pannon
    Jan 2, 2014
    0
    Gamers please, do not listen to paid off "reviewers!"
    Notice the latest trend of "big name" reviewers (gamespot, gamefront,pcgamer,IGN etc) are LYING right into your face with their bought and paid game reviews. They are corrupt and they are not telling the truth. It seem to become a trend now, forcing thousands off their websites who doesn't agree and keep lying! They are paid off by    Gamers please, do not listen to paid off "reviewers!"
    Notice the latest trend of "big name" reviewers (gamespot, gamefront,pcgamer,IGN etc) are LYING right into your face with their bought and paid game reviews. They are corrupt and they are not telling the truth. It seem to become a trend now, forcing thousands off their websites who doesn't agree and keep lying! They are paid off by the companies, who release a mess of codes and call it a game! You are buying trash! You are buying unplayable trash! It's time to punish these companies and their paid off reviewers by not going to their sites and not buying the games! One of the sites just about the name Rome Total War Rome 2 as "Game of the Year" while 4 patches ahead, the game is still unplayable!    … Expand
  15. 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
  16. Dwarfjo
    Jan 2, 2014
    0
    Too many missing features missing in this piece of ****.
    The AI is even more stupid compared to other titels. If thats possible...
    Poorly optimized.
    Confusing unit cards.
  17. mitchell_83
    Jan 2, 2014
    10
    Now that it has been fix whit patches so it work fine, its a really great game.
    The strong side it also all of the mods so you can play whit new things all the time.
    Do not listen to all the haters, this is a great game.
  18. natefifield24
    Jan 1, 2014
    9
    I recently made an account just to review this game due to the high number of rubbish reviews.
    I have always been a huge fan the Total War series with Medieval 2: Total War as my favorite game of all time. Now back to this game.
    First off, as with every game there are always bugs when a game is first launched, what happened with this game was that they launched a game with a massive    I recently made an account just to review this game due to the high number of rubbish reviews.
    I have always been a huge fan the Total War series with Medieval 2: Total War as my favorite game of all time. Now back to this game.

    First off, as with every game there are always bugs when a game is first launched, what happened with this game was that they launched a game with a massive number of unresolved bugs, on a colossal scale, rivaling the number of bugs of Battlefield games. I played it on a friend's steam account and it wasn't as terrible as people say it was, it was bad, but definitely playable.

    I recently bought the game in the steam winter sale for myself, as I am incredibly cheap and didn't want to play full price at launch. I LOVE the game, there are still a few minor bugs. I haven't encountered anything game breaking and I am 26 hours in. The game looks fantastic, it runs very well on a decently built computer packing anything at or above a GT630 or equivalent.

    The unit design and abilities is what I see as their greatest triumph, in the past special abilities for units have been patchy at best. Now however, the unit special abilities such as Testudo for Rome and Stampede for Elephant units, are in short, sublime. The abilities have incredibly fast response times and noticeable affects on unit performance, all while not being buggy.

    I think what angered and disappointed most people who got this game were the changes they made to how armies work in the grand campaign. Here's how it works: groups of soldiers can only be led by generals, which have to be picked, then there is a maximum of another 19 cards of units to go along with the general. there is also a set number of generals you can have based upon how many settlements and provinces you can have, aka imperium. So it takes a fair bit of intelligence and planning as well as a strategic mind to properly place your generals across the campaign map so you can both expand and keep your people happy, this took me a solid 2 hours to get used to this new mechanic. It makes for a properly challenging strategy experience.

    I think that Creative Assembly (game designers) wanted us to think of armies not just as groups of units in which whoever has the highest number of armies wins but whoever has the most efficient and most well trained army wins. There is also a new mechanic of "stances," an army takes a certain stance which affects: defensive bonuses, upkeep costs, movement ranges, attacking bonuses, etc. They also made it so you do not need a fleet to transport unit across water features they can just move across the water as if they were a fleet and engage in naval battles. The devs made it so the general leading your army has a profound effect on how you army performs with each battle increasing his rank and allowing special bonuses for your troops based upon which options you choose.

    The game devs also added new battle types: ambush, port assault, and coastal. I love all of these game modes as the integration of naval combat is very smooth and well done. I play a game with my friend where I attack the city by sea and he does by land, it is great fun.

    The AI isn't half as bad as people say it is, sometimes they do stupid things or not exactly what you tell them to do. Instances where it is bad are few and far between to the point where saying the AI is bad as a reason to rate this game low, is totally irrelevant.

    I think this is a solid game well worth a buy, it may not have been a finished game when it was released, but it is a truly proper game that adds a tremendous amount of content to an already great series that never disappoints me.    … Expand
  19. 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.
  20. 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
  21. evancv2011
    Dec 31, 2013
    1
    Wow. Kudos on this one CA.....this is the reason I choose not to pre-order games anymore. Even with the "patches" I wont be able to play it, leaves too much of a bad after taste.
  22. 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
  23. draculdracul
    Dec 30, 2013
    10
    Now its a masterpiece.. I waited for a few months afther all the comotion about the pre beta release. But it was wurth waiting for. I love the game, always loved total war games. But this one is the best by far.
  24. 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
  25. numerouno7
    Dec 28, 2013
    2
    like most game franchises, when the creators either A sell the rights to the series or B) decide it's time to focus more on graphics and focus less on gameplay, it usually takes a dump, and this once mighty series did just that.
  26. chrisr2112
    Dec 28, 2013
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really feel that the user reviews for Total War: Rome 2 don't give the game justice. Before receiving the game, i was well aware of many of the "game breaking bugs" and "horrible user interface" that people claimed the game had. I was also aware of the painfully low score on metacritic. None the less, i wanted to give CA the benefit of the doubt because i have not played a Total War game to date that i did not enjoy. I started playing and the first thing i noticed was the steep learning curve that came with managing your faction. There is far more detail in dealing with settlements (which are now divided into many provinces with settlements inside of them). Once I got the hang of it however, it wasn't too difficult to figure out basic functions that allow you to run your settlements efficiently. As for the actual battles, the game is absolutely stunning if you have a system capable of running it. Unless you play on lower settings, clone armies are no longer an issue with most soldiers having some form of variation from the others (this is particularly noticeable with the barbarian factions). The battle AI is not always the smartest, but still provides somewhat of a challenge. Overall, its not my favorite Total War game, but it is a worthy addition to a great series. I honestly cannot understand how people are giving the game 1's and 2's.… Expand
  27. pfhbarros
    Dec 27, 2013
    2
    this doesnt have a single significant inovation and the AI is a disaster some times it is ridiculously dumb and other times its impossible to beat and its poorly optimized 2/10
  28. 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
  29. locksly77
    Dec 25, 2013
    9
    True this game had multiple issues upon release that made it virtually unplayable even on a high end system. However, many of those issues have been addressed including the AI. On occasion the AI can still act incredibly dumb but on other occasions I have seen it act very intelligently (it seems to be somewhat hit or miss). The graphics are on par with shogun 2 if not a slight improvement,True this game had multiple issues upon release that made it virtually unplayable even on a high end system. However, many of those issues have been addressed including the AI. On occasion the AI can still act incredibly dumb but on other occasions I have seen it act very intelligently (it seems to be somewhat hit or miss). The graphics are on par with shogun 2 if not a slight improvement, but trying to run this game on a lower end system would be a fps nightmare I'm sure. Nevertheless, this is not the disappointment many have made it out to be. With the recent patches and updates the game now runs much smoother and the game play is very enjoyable. Despite what many have said you cannot just fling your army at the enemy and win a battle, I have tried this and it will get you beat every time (unless of course your playing on easy) if you employ counter strategy and flanking maneuvers then yes you can win even if your outnumbered on legendary BUT if the enemy has enough or acts intelligently you can still lose. The new political system IS somewhat pointless because civil war is going to break out anyhow, you can pretty much just ignore it, but this doesn't really take away from anything it just doesn't really need to be there. Overall the graphics, unit diversity, good strategy by the AI in SOME battles (I still haven't figured out why sometimes it acts smart then incredibly stupid in the very next battle), and just the basic turn based/real time combat setup of a total war game is all there. Basically I enjoy this game a lot and have already put over 300 hours into it, of course I have put about 500 hours into every TW game since the original Medieval TW. This one didn't give a whole lot of new innovative features but it is still a solid game (now with the patches) and as enjoyable as any other TW game.… Expand
  30. dblois
    Dec 25, 2013
    9
    I really liked the game. Being a long time fan of total war franchise, i was really hopping for a big improvement on this one. Since i have only played the patched version of the game, haven't seen the bulk of the problems people had reported. It is a perfect game? No it isn't. But still given the scope of the project, and after you use the patches released so far, it is a solid andI really liked the game. Being a long time fan of total war franchise, i was really hopping for a big improvement on this one. Since i have only played the patched version of the game, haven't seen the bulk of the problems people had reported. It is a perfect game? No it isn't. But still given the scope of the project, and after you use the patches released so far, it is a solid and enjoyable experience. Plus, total war modding community is really active, so is a game that only tend to get better and better. If you like strategy games, this one is a good choice. As far as the game difficulty, none of the total war games is very difficult, or have a particularly smart AI. Mods usually tend to that problem. I have a fairly mid range rig, and haven't got the fps problems reported by other users. The same for the very long end turns, mine are all acceptable. I recommend.… Expand
  31. Otmshank
    Dec 25, 2013
    9
    Dear metacritic, please re review this game. The release of this game was diabolical, however after 3 months of patches, this is probably one of the best pc games I have ever played. The graphics are beautiful, the game play is exciting and the blood dlc recently released gave the game a much more interesting light. If you're a total war or strategy fan, this game is a must have.
  32. pierojal
    Dec 25, 2013
    10
    Impossible to understand all these negative reviews. It is an excellent game, work done should have been immense. After 100 hours, I can state this 10/10 and nothing else!
  33. fosso94
    Dec 25, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Although many problems have been addressed and fixed the game is still a complete mess, and is flawed down to the bones. A game that could have been the flag ship of the total war games is probably the worst ever made.… Expand
  34. 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.
  35. BoughtCritic
    Dec 24, 2013
    0
    When you can't bare to play the original vanilla game without mods you KNOW the game is bad. Mods enhance the game not make it. Developers should be giving their salaries to the modders for keeping their game a decent playable total war. Don't bother buying the game until it's properly priced at 15 dollars. Its a DLC with DLCs, don't be fooled by the easy to please, easy to manipulateWhen you can't bare to play the original vanilla game without mods you KNOW the game is bad. Mods enhance the game not make it. Developers should be giving their salaries to the modders for keeping their game a decent playable total war. Don't bother buying the game until it's properly priced at 15 dollars. Its a DLC with DLCs, don't be fooled by the easy to please, easy to manipulate Total War "players" who think they know a good total war game. The outcry is obvious, players who think this game is decent or even is worth the title of total war are the minority.

    Unless you don't care about your money or how the company treats its customers & fan base go ahead and spend the time and effort for this game.    … Expand
  36. icanmakefakerev
    Dec 24, 2013
    0
    I honestly have no idea why the user score is so high. The people who are writing reviews are either Total war newbs or easy to please toddlers. There is no way in hell this game should EVER have been rated a 10 by anyone. The game isn't perfect by any means, but it is still a top 8 in the series. You need to learn how to review, of course, and there are some design decisions that areI honestly have no idea why the user score is so high. The people who are writing reviews are either Total war newbs or easy to please toddlers. There is no way in hell this game should EVER have been rated a 10 by anyone. The game isn't perfect by any means, but it is still a top 8 in the series. You need to learn how to review, of course, and there are some design decisions that are questionable. But overall, great hype, and a negative step forward for the series… Expand
  37. RKK-SINGH
    Dec 24, 2013
    5
    A huge disappointment and an embarrassment to the Total War series, this game is in need of serious patches because its bleeding really bad, skip this game. Game receives a 5 because the overall concept is amazing, however with all the lag, poor graphics it does not live up to the hype, don't even bother looking at it, instead buy Medieval II Total War or the original Rome Total War, thoseA huge disappointment and an embarrassment to the Total War series, this game is in need of serious patches because its bleeding really bad, skip this game. Game receives a 5 because the overall concept is amazing, however with all the lag, poor graphics it does not live up to the hype, don't even bother looking at it, instead buy Medieval II Total War or the original Rome Total War, those games will not disappoint you.… Expand
  38. post_no_bills
    Dec 24, 2013
    4
    Games should be fun. This game isn't.

    The game is a poorly designed, tedious grind, with all the fun of filling out your tax forms. Hugely disappointing. They would have been MUCH better off just re-skinning Shogun 2. Every single feature of this game is worse than Shogun 2, without exception.
  39. 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.
  40. Waterz
    Dec 22, 2013
    7
    It is an amazing game much like it's predecessor, yet as many point out it seems more or less unfinished.
    The initially released version 1.0 barely deserves beta status, and i would deem not even worth playing.
    Update to latest beta patch (even though the patch is in beta and can contain some minor problems, the game heavily needs all the fixes they bring in the newer patches!), and you    It is an amazing game much like it's predecessor, yet as many point out it seems more or less unfinished.
    The initially released version 1.0 barely deserves beta status, and i would deem not even worth playing.
    Update to latest beta patch (even though the patch is in beta and can contain some minor problems, the game heavily needs all the fixes they bring in the newer patches!), and you will find it not just playable but very enjoyable!
    Alas you will continually find stuff like phalanx units having so many problems you will all together drop them, and ranged units not firing like suppose to.
    All in all, the recent patches has made the game enjoyable, and hopefully the future patches will restore it to the polished game it deserves to be!     … Expand
  41. ecnal
    Dec 21, 2013
    0
    I pre-purchased the game based on many years of buying CA games and being more than satisfied with those purchases. After playing for a few hours, learning how bad the AI was, and that parts of the game were obviously missing, because of its hasty release, I stopped playing. I logged in a week or so later to see if the game had improved (it hadn't) just minutes after the 'free Steam DLC'I pre-purchased the game based on many years of buying CA games and being more than satisfied with those purchases. After playing for a few hours, learning how bad the AI was, and that parts of the game were obviously missing, because of its hasty release, I stopped playing. I logged in a week or so later to see if the game had improved (it hadn't) just minutes after the 'free Steam DLC' offered as an apology to customers for such a crappy game. was no longer valid. If CA wanted to apologize, they should have made it free for all time. This is the last time I will ever buy a game from these guys, they are now driven by profit rather than passion. Another good game company sacrificed to the god of maximum profits. I'm looking for the next great game company, but I fear consoles have trashed the market for good games.… Expand
  42. thebraveGG
    Dec 20, 2013
    8
    Where I enjoyed the 1st Rome Total War the most out of any in the series, this game was still a nice addition to the series. Where some of the issues are, is when it comes to the start of the game. It takes a while to get the game into a position where you can have some fun attacking other super-powers. Where some may dislike this element, it does make the game seem more realistic as a newWhere I enjoyed the 1st Rome Total War the most out of any in the series, this game was still a nice addition to the series. Where some of the issues are, is when it comes to the start of the game. It takes a while to get the game into a position where you can have some fun attacking other super-powers. Where some may dislike this element, it does make the game seem more realistic as a new culture cant just take over Europe in a few years, it takes centuries. This game seems to have been an experiment from the developers, trying to implement new game styles, and where some people who are used to the old games may not like this, it does add to the overall game. This game gets an 8/10 from me, where the only issues being the length of some elements, and some bugs that have still not been addressed (For example, the AI will push ladders into a river if there is a river between them and your city, and if they try using the bridge, it tends to fall through the bridge.)… Expand
  43. HughDangler
    Dec 20, 2013
    2
    I really wanted to love this game. But I just can't. I played all the total war games and to me this is by far the worst one. here is why.

    Politic system is boring The engine doesn't work with melee battles the multiplayer is barebones You can't siege a city if its port is blockaded ?!? The AI is no good There is no diversity between factions. Too much rock paper scissors game    I really wanted to love this game. But I just can't. I played all the total war games and to me this is by far the worst one. here is why.

    Politic system is boring
    The engine doesn't work with melee battles
    the multiplayer is barebones
    You can't siege a city if its port is blockaded ?!?
    The AI is no good
    There is no diversity between factions.
    Too much rock paper scissors game play.
    The soundtrack is boring unlike rome 1 )
    Frame Rate is no good for most computers.
    Generals die before you get to start caring about them.
    Navy battles are boring.

    The game just isn't up to par. and the fact that CA is trying to sell us more DLC instead of fixing the game makes it that much worst.    … Expand
  44. 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
  45. Asharel
    Dec 17, 2013
    2
    One would think professional reviewers would sink some more hours into a game before giving it 7 or 8 gold stars and calling it a masterpiece, its no wonder that people are asking themselves if they have been bought of by the company in question when the game is clearly broken into shards which then got mauled by a limp bellend full of glass shards.

    Onto the game itself, Ai in the ca    One would think professional reviewers would sink some more hours into a game before giving it 7 or 8 gold stars and calling it a masterpiece, its no wonder that people are asking themselves if they have been bought of by the company in question when the game is clearly broken into shards which then got mauled by a limp bellend full of glass shards.

    Onto the game itself, Ai in the ca franchise has always been rather poor but this one takes the cake and stuffs itself into a black hole into a new dimension of horrible, made worse by capture points that are located in idiotic locations, the worst are siege battles which after 7 patches makes the ai toss torches at the gate instead of using siege equipment (wich in and of itself is buggy i might add, try the ladders i dare you)

    the next offender is the sea battles, they've made them dumber than Empire total war and that in and off itself is an achievement.

    i could go on about various other bugs and the lack of overall depth but i think i have painted a bleak enough picture as is, il leave you with a plea not to by this sham of a total war game as it will surely damp your apetite for further games this company might spew out, they did it right in shogun but this game is 3 steps back into a pit filled with     … Expand
  46. Spgsamuel
    Dec 17, 2013
    9
    its exactly what to expect from a total war game, and has some nice improvements.

    one point id like to make is its not perfect. it has small issues. all new games do. I have read so many 0-3 score reviews, i think that's a bit harsh. though i have been playing the game fully modded since i bought it. Like all total war games they really need a little help from the comunity mods to    its exactly what to expect from a total war game, and has some nice improvements.

    one point id like to make is its not perfect. it has small issues. all new games do. I have read so many 0-3 score reviews, i think that's a bit harsh. though i have been playing the game fully modded since i bought it. Like all total war games they really need a little help from the comunity mods to really get the best from them.

    like radious, verts traits overhaul, various retextures (so unit are not all wearing identical armor)

    they add content, better ai fix a few niggly annoying gameplay issues and add some roleplay depth into what is really a very good game which has so much more potential than everyone is giving it credit

    to think i almost didnt buy it becuse of all the low metascore critic reviews.

    ignore the bad reviews. buy this game anway, install at least 5 popular mods before you start to play it. enjoy.    … Expand
  47. Snowman01
    Dec 16, 2013
    0
    iohfhihfoehf;'QIOHQ;IJDWKLDMNQWKLDqjdwkqldjqdkliqwjdklqjdqwkldjqdlkQJDQWDqld;qdkqdl;qwdqld hf;fsklfhksdfhdslfhsklfhs;dfhjdsfhjdskfhdsjkfhdsjfhdsjhfjshfjdshfdsfdsfdsfds Do not judge this game off of user scores even the positive ones....... any butt hurt player can make a account, write anything^, and rate a game zero out of ten... Just go off of the critic score. For every game in thatiohfhihfoehf;'QIOHQ;IJDWKLDMNQWKLDqjdwkqldjqdkliqwjdklqjdqwkldjqdlkQJDQWDqld;qdkqdl;qwdqld hf;fsklfhksdfhdslfhsklfhs;dfhjdsfhjdskfhdsjkfhdsjfhdsjhfjshfjdshfdsfdsfdsfds Do not judge this game off of user scores even the positive ones....... any butt hurt player can make a account, write anything^, and rate a game zero out of ten... Just go off of the critic score. For every game in that matter because these PEOPLE do not matter
    Buy this game or don't
    But for the love of god.. do not think for a second that your well informed by the opinion these emotionally compromised nobodies.

    Alot of games are going under because of Metacritics User Score section and i'm against this list.

    Copy and Paste this.
    Rate zero
    Please pass it on.    … Expand
  48. ROK1992
    Dec 16, 2013
    0
    Big BIG disappointment.. and insulting

    Honestly, this will shock you 10 times more when Empire total war came out (at least ETW featured totally different game style from its predecessors)

    Bugs, glitches, horrid graphics and the most boring and dumbest AI ever

    Plus one of the most poorly optimized games I have ever seen
  49. TWfreak
    Dec 16, 2013
    6
    Despite the somewhat nice graphics, the game has a lot of problems, like bugs and of course the goddamn 5yr old AI!
    As you may have guessed the problems are all caused by the quick release and the patches have made this game slightly more playable than at first
  50. nolij
    Dec 15, 2013
    10
    I've logged about 140 hours so far and love this game. Yes, it still has some bugs but is totally playable. I have a 3.4 GHz dual core Pentium (sandy bridge era), a Radeon 7680, and 8 gigs of RAM and it almost always runs smooth. Yes, the AI can be stupid but it was stupid in Shogun 2 as well. If you want challenging battles, play against human opponents as always.

    I've run into a    I've logged about 140 hours so far and love this game. Yes, it still has some bugs but is totally playable. I have a 3.4 GHz dual core Pentium (sandy bridge era), a Radeon 7680, and 8 gigs of RAM and it almost always runs smooth. Yes, the AI can be stupid but it was stupid in Shogun 2 as well. If you want challenging battles, play against human opponents as always.

    I've run into a couple bugs during campaigns so be sure to save frequently (its frozen a few times while opening the diplomacy tab). Sometimes AI units will be untargetable and unmoveable after unloading from their transports. The bugs aren't a big deal to me (they're rare in my experience). Its still loads of fun and you can always play challenging human opponents when the AI isn't tough enough.    … Expand
  51. oldschooltactic
    Dec 13, 2013
    10
    Total War: Rome II: I have been playing strategy PC games for over 30 years. Finally a strategy game released that meets my needs. Its superb graphics driven, required user knowledge of tactics and use of terrain during gameplay always keeps me on my toes. I have yet to see another strategy game with as good of graphics and smoothe gameplay as this. Also looking forward to all DLC thatTotal War: Rome II: I have been playing strategy PC games for over 30 years. Finally a strategy game released that meets my needs. Its superb graphics driven, required user knowledge of tactics and use of terrain during gameplay always keeps me on my toes. I have yet to see another strategy game with as good of graphics and smoothe gameplay as this. Also looking forward to all DLC that comes out 8*).

    P.S. Ty for making this game    … Expand
  52. utumno86
    Dec 13, 2013
    2
    It pains me to give Rome II a bad review because the core elements of the game are actually pretty good. The graphics are great, even on my video card, and the battle AI (except in sieges) is pretty good, and probably better than in previous games. However, the smaller problems of Rome II are too many to enumerate, and I'll have to content myself with describing a few of the mostIt pains me to give Rome II a bad review because the core elements of the game are actually pretty good. The graphics are great, even on my video card, and the battle AI (except in sieges) is pretty good, and probably better than in previous games. However, the smaller problems of Rome II are too many to enumerate, and I'll have to content myself with describing a few of the most egregious.
    Crappy Campaign AI: To my mind, a Total War game has three phases: Phase I; the player uses his small starting army and province (s) to carve out a more substantial empire out of his weaker neighbors. Phase 2; the player uses his small empire in brutal wars against empires of roughly the same size that genuinely pose an existential threat. Phase 3; the players empire becomes so large that no other faction on the map can challenge him, and he rotely conquers enough territory to satisfy the victory requirements. Obviously Phase 2 is the most interesting part of the game, but it never happened in my first Rome II campaign. The AI could never get its together enough to form any decent sized empire, and I simply conquered states of one or two settlements until I became too powerful for the game to be interesting. Which transitions into

    The Campaign is too long For whatever reason, Creative Assembly decided to balance the campaign around being 300 turns, which have taken me in the neighborhood of 100 gameplay hours to complete. That is unacceptable. The 35 plus hours for the 100 turn short campaign in Empire was bad enough. The requirement of 110 settlements for a military victory is absolutely ludicrous; In my campaign as the British Confederation I was the undisputed master of the map by settlement 20 or so, and the 70 plus hours and 90 settlements it took to get from there to the victory condition was mere tedium.

    The campaign clock doesn't fast forward fast enough: The ability to fast forward the battle clock has one primary purpose: to make the time go faster when the game glitches out and your opponent either refuses to attack you in a defensive battle or you route the enemy army but the game doesn't notice (both of which happen far too often) and you have to run out the clock or concede defeat for a battle that you have won. The slow fast clock means that either of these situations can result in upwards of 45 minutes of down time to watch your army stand there waiting for the game to acknowledge their victory.

    The civil war mechanic makes no sense: The entire game I assumed that the intra-faction groups (for the British Confederation, Elder Chiefs and Other Chiefs) was important for the civil war mechanic, since that faction allegiance tab shows up every time you pick a general and the game acts as if having guys loyal to your faction is important when the other faction tries to adopt them. I assumed that all generals loyal to the Other Chiefs would join the rebellion or something. Instead, all that happened was, at the height of my military might, with some 80 settlements under my control and 12 full-sized armies, a single province changed color and sent out a few small armies to harass me. If that's all the civil war mechanic does, what the hell is the point? Why have all of the crazy faction tab stuff?

    Enemy's turns take too long: Since the map has 50 gazillion factions (as in Empire), and the game takes its sweet time pondering what to do for every single faction, every time you press that "end turn" button, you are looking at fifteen minutes of downtime. There has to be a way to streamline that.

    Normally, I would consider that all of this stuff is fixable and would hopefully be working better in a couple of patches (three of which have dropped since I started the campaign, which took the better part of two months). But the last straw for me was Creative Assembly starting to shill their Caesar in Gaul DLC. YOU, Creative Assembly. Fix your broken game I payed 60 bucks for before you start trying to gouge me for more content. What assurance do I have that the new content is any more polished than the content I already have? My advice to any Total War fans is to just play the original Rome: Total War. Its better in every way than this new mess.    … Expand
  53. Nashvilleman
    Dec 12, 2013
    0
    Wow! What expectations I had for Rome II! Needless to say, they were blown to bits!! I played this game for 12 hours before I was able to get an Army strong enough to have my first combat! I outnumbered my AI opponent by 15 to 1 and lost hands down!! It takes forever to get to a scientific technology that allows you to keep the population fed and to expand the cities! By the way, I usedWow! What expectations I had for Rome II! Needless to say, they were blown to bits!! I played this game for 12 hours before I was able to get an Army strong enough to have my first combat! I outnumbered my AI opponent by 15 to 1 and lost hands down!! It takes forever to get to a scientific technology that allows you to keep the population fed and to expand the cities! By the way, I used the EASY mode for battle and gameplay! This game takes forever to do anything!! I have really enjoyed the Total War Games of the past, but this one SUCKS!! It is boring, long and drawn out, but if all you have is time on your hands then this game is for you! Otherwise, I'd avoid buying this game until the creators do some serious patching, upgrading, etc!!… Expand
  54. valentino
    Dec 12, 2013
    0
    Worst TW game to date. I've never had any complaints about previous titles, and I've loved many of them, but this game is truly hideous in every aspect. Previous titles always had that sort of feeling as though they have been crafted by the same hand, there were elements which you recognized. Rome 2 looks like it was made by an entirely different developer. Everything is wrong with thisWorst TW game to date. I've never had any complaints about previous titles, and I've loved many of them, but this game is truly hideous in every aspect. Previous titles always had that sort of feeling as though they have been crafted by the same hand, there were elements which you recognized. Rome 2 looks like it was made by an entirely different developer. Everything is wrong with this game, there's not one feature worthy of merit, not to mention that even with all the high end graphics options, the game still looks awful as far as I'm concerned.… Expand
  55. ymk0307
    Dec 12, 2013
    0
    Regret for the rest of your life for buying this game.

    I played shogun for like 300 hours plus. This game is soooo bad that No one wants to play this game even if they are given a free copy Do not believe the critics reviews. They are literally lying through their teeth (maybe they are bought out by the publisher? corrupt?) What is happening to this franchise? what is    Regret for the rest of your life for buying this game.

    I played shogun for like 300 hours plus.

    This game is soooo bad that No one wants to play this game even if they are given a free copy

    Do not believe the critics reviews.

    They are literally lying through their teeth (maybe they are bought out by the publisher? corrupt?)

    What is happening to this franchise?

    what is happeneneneneiningnnng!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    … Expand
  56. ljrobert
    Dec 11, 2013
    10
    I honestly have no idea why the user score is so low. The people who are writing reviews are either Total war dinosaurs or whinging toddlers. There is no way in hell this game should EVER have been rated a 0 by anyone. The game isn't perfect by any means, but it is still a top 3 in the series. You need to learn how to play, of course, and there are some design decisions that areI honestly have no idea why the user score is so low. The people who are writing reviews are either Total war dinosaurs or whinging toddlers. There is no way in hell this game should EVER have been rated a 0 by anyone. The game isn't perfect by any means, but it is still a top 3 in the series. You need to learn how to play, of course, and there are some design decisions that are questionable. But overall, great game, and a positive step forward for the series… Expand
  57. PureAFM
    Dec 11, 2013
    10
    I think Plenty of other reviews will give you a good impression on gameplay, i personaly love it, something i just want to stress is that on its first month of release it did have serious issues with ATI and AMD hardware and over bugs but scince october they have been FIXED and now you kinda want to ignor people moaning about bugs and performance as they problems simpily dont exist. So byI think Plenty of other reviews will give you a good impression on gameplay, i personaly love it, something i just want to stress is that on its first month of release it did have serious issues with ATI and AMD hardware and over bugs but scince october they have been FIXED and now you kinda want to ignor people moaning about bugs and performance as they problems simpily dont exist. So by all means yes bad on the game makers but from a consumer point of view it is fine now.

    One other point i want to make is that it has been optimised alot, when the game was first released I did find it slow to load on an i5, 16GB RAM and 560Ti (yes i know its not the best rig ever) but now the loading times are a lot mor eccetable and about halved too.    … Expand
  58. Druganov
    Dec 11, 2013
    1
    After 2 hours of playing i returned this game. poor graphics, dumbed down, no decent economy/management, horrible AI, crazy system requirements. this is an abomination compared to the original
  59. underdown
    Dec 9, 2013
    0
    I love Total War games; they have a great play style and can be tons of fun with friends, however this game is unacceptable. After waiting moths for Rome 2 to be released I was instantly disappointed with its terrible optimization, but i was willing to over look this as it was what seemed like a typical Creative Assembly release.

    Now months after the release and with 80+ hours played,    I love Total War games; they have a great play style and can be tons of fun with friends, however this game is unacceptable. After waiting moths for Rome 2 to be released I was instantly disappointed with its terrible optimization, but i was willing to over look this as it was what seemed like a typical Creative Assembly release.

    Now months after the release and with 80+ hours played, I am still dealing with game breaking bugs, and downright terrible AI. Coupled with the loss of features and content coming from Shogun 2, I am fed up with this game. Sure it can be fun and the game is a step in the right direction, but it is difficult to get into a game when every 10 turns or so you are forced to start a new campaign due to some new game break.

    I did not expect this of a game after paying $60 for a pre-order. This should have never been released at such low quality. Is it too much to ask for a game to at least equal its predecessor in features? I'm not even asking for innovation.    … Expand
  60. peattehgreat
    Dec 9, 2013
    0
    This game is absolutely and undeniably broken to its very core. I have a very good computer so it is not my fault that this game doesn't work. The campaign freezes my computer after every turn and has left resorting to the historical battles and skirmishes. I can't believe they released this game in the state that it is in. I know that PC games need a few weeks to patch themselves up fromThis game is absolutely and undeniably broken to its very core. I have a very good computer so it is not my fault that this game doesn't work. The campaign freezes my computer after every turn and has left resorting to the historical battles and skirmishes. I can't believe they released this game in the state that it is in. I know that PC games need a few weeks to patch themselves up from their initial problems but this is off the fudging grid! I despise the makers of this game who pretend and lie to us that this works fine for the majority because it doesn't. Steam and Total War forums confirm this idea by the thousands of people who still encounter major problems from Ai faults to freezes. I hope that anyone who reads this who is unsure on whether to buy the game or not to check in with Meta-critic every few weeks to see if the green review bar can even see the red review bar way out in front of it. I shouldn't have bought this game and neither should anyone else until its properly fixed. The developers lied to us and we won't forget it.… Expand
  61. stern
    Dec 8, 2013
    1
    It's an incomplete game, buggy, with design flaws, and worst, a broken hard-coded core. This is something that not even modders will be able to change or improve, because it's the mechanics of Total War in the end.
    They should decide if they want to make a tactical real time battles game or if they want to make a strategical turn based map-based war game. As it is now, they try both and    It's an incomplete game, buggy, with design flaws, and worst, a broken hard-coded core. This is something that not even modders will be able to change or improve, because it's the mechanics of Total War in the end.
    They should decide if they want to make a tactical real time battles game or if they want to make a strategical turn based map-based war game. As it is now, they try both and fail utterly.
    If you paid for this game I feel sorry for you, I sure grew out to Paradox games many years ago so I wasn't expecting any different from CA. Whoever played Medieval know what pain is.
    One wonders the appraisal this game has from "professional" reviewers. Were they paid?    … Expand
  62. ApexPanda
    Dec 6, 2013
    5
    So I've played about 200+ turns and about 55 hours of play time into this game. Did CA up with the release? Yeah! BUT a lot of the problems you guys seem to have encountered have been fixed for the most part. And don't complain about a game this big crashing. All big games do when they first releases bad if you play any game enough it's bound to crash eventually. I got this game a fewSo I've played about 200+ turns and about 55 hours of play time into this game. Did CA up with the release? Yeah! BUT a lot of the problems you guys seem to have encountered have been fixed for the most part. And don't complain about a game this big crashing. All big games do when they first releases bad if you play any game enough it's bound to crash eventually. I got this game a few days ago and it seems like a lot of the issues are patched/fixed. But seriously! No family tree?! Wtf!?
    For content I give this game a 3/10
    For playability I give it a 8/10
    For CA/Sega being such and releasing this too soon without proper testing 1/10. Bad show    … Expand
  63. Sam84
    Dec 6, 2013
    0
    This release is by far the worse release yet, been a fan of total war games since the frist rome total war, it would take too long to list all the issues on this game.

    Bugs UI worse then any other previous release? (no fire at will button just to start) Pointless objectives, Politics seem pointless? DLC all over the place the list is endless Bottom line rome total war 1,    This release is by far the worse release yet, been a fan of total war games since the frist rome total war, it would take too long to list all the issues on this game.

    Bugs
    UI worse then any other previous release? (no fire at will button just to start)
    Pointless objectives,
    Politics seem pointless?
    DLC all over the place
    the list is endless

    Bottom line rome total war 1, medieval total war 2 is far better than this game so get them and save yourself a heap of cash. Skip this release    … Expand
  64. XenoVirus
    Dec 5, 2013
    10
    Game is great. Patches help. Mods help more. I have played every TW game and this is the one I have gotten most into. Over 140 hours into it so far. As Suebia literally at war with all of Spain, Greece, and Rome and its never a dull moment. Never had a crash or any tech issues. They have auto guard now btw, that's why there is no guard button. Probably takes a long time to adjust to theGame is great. Patches help. Mods help more. I have played every TW game and this is the one I have gotten most into. Over 140 hours into it so far. As Suebia literally at war with all of Spain, Greece, and Rome and its never a dull moment. Never had a crash or any tech issues. They have auto guard now btw, that's why there is no guard button. Probably takes a long time to adjust to the changes but they are all for the best. AI still needs work, but mods make that irrelevant.… Expand
  65. spartan1008
    Dec 5, 2013
    5
    absolutely painful to play for any total war vet in its current state. how and why this was released as it is, no one knows, but it is lackluster and boring. the ai doesnt do any thing, completely non aggressive on the battle field and campaign map. and once you grow just a bit, its next to impossible to lose, you pretty much just steam roll every thing in front of you
  66. Khaan
    Dec 5, 2013
    8
    Its pretty fun. Allot of the negative reviews are complete horse I don't even know if they are talking about. I read allot of "My computer isn't good enough to play it. 0/10" The game is fun the graphics are good the A.I. is a tad stupid but overall its a stunning game.
  67. zomyjordy
    Dec 5, 2013
    8
    crap when it was released. I don´t get why they dared releasing it at first, but now it has really improved. too bad the graphics are too good. I mean I could play shogun 2 on ultra graphics and now even low gets laggy sometimes (when skyping). the limited fleets armies etc. make it more realistic, but it´s really annoying. but still an awesome game. maybe not as good as shogun 2, butcrap when it was released. I don´t get why they dared releasing it at first, but now it has really improved. too bad the graphics are too good. I mean I could play shogun 2 on ultra graphics and now even low gets laggy sometimes (when skyping). the limited fleets armies etc. make it more realistic, but it´s really annoying. but still an awesome game. maybe not as good as shogun 2, but still really good.… Expand
  68. John_Sterling
    Dec 4, 2013
    0
    50 hours of play on patch 7. The AI makes me feel as if I'm playing Risk against my 8 years old cousin. Fun at first but quickly boring. There is no reason for any of its actions. I'm not even mad about the money I wasted, I'm just really sad. I had really been looking forward to this. This was supposed to be the game that kept me entertained for years like Rome 1. Every time I think about50 hours of play on patch 7. The AI makes me feel as if I'm playing Risk against my 8 years old cousin. Fun at first but quickly boring. There is no reason for any of its actions. I'm not even mad about the money I wasted, I'm just really sad. I had really been looking forward to this. This was supposed to be the game that kept me entertained for years like Rome 1. Every time I think about it I feel like Obi Wan, "You were supposed to be the chosen one" Just Sad… Expand
  69. BillyBobSusanMa
    Dec 4, 2013
    0
    My review is somewhat limited because I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO PLAY A SINGLE BATTLE since the prologue, now before you wonder i do have a top gaming Rig that far surpasses even the recommended specs yet every time i choose to fight a battle the effing game crashes? its so frustrating!

    To play this game at all i'm forced to auto-resolve every battle and just play the campaign map,    My review is somewhat limited because I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO PLAY A SINGLE BATTLE since the prologue, now before you wonder i do have a top gaming Rig that far surpasses even the recommended specs yet every time i choose to fight a battle the effing game crashes? its so frustrating!

    To play this game at all i'm forced to auto-resolve every battle and just play the campaign map,

    Diplomacy? what the hell again, you have more chance of winning the lottery that making a trade agreement with a friendly faction never mind forging an alliance, i receive declarations of war from factions that i've never even met or had any dealings with and trying to broker peace is impossible even when you are far more powerful than your opponent.

    Spy's & Diplomats OK, but champions WTF is that? a single Guy can just wonder into Rome and beat the out of an entire legionary army? please i know its a game but there needs to some plausibility

    Walls? whoever decided doing away with walls needs shooting,

    Rebellions & Slave revolts -this is the core of the game because its what i seem to spend all my time auto-resolving, it seems impossible to keep the population happy, every building built every town garrisoned, plenty of food and they still revolt every other turn, its just ridiculous,

    I'am very very disappointed in what Sega and the CA have offered up, it basically looks like Medieval 2 and plays.....? well it doesn't does it,

    You really have to wonder about the seemingly massive disconnect between the "Professional" reviews and the reviews of the buying public, it really does raise issues about the credibility of these fellows, its obvious from the thousand of negative reviews that this game is a broken piece of crap, giving this game review scores of 85-90% is just insulting to peoples intelligence,

    Never again, I'm going back to Darth Mod Empire, this piece of Crap, Sega and the CA wont see a dollar from me again.    … Expand
  70. Mattjf09
    Dec 3, 2013
    0
    DONT BUY THIS GAME. Yes, I know you've been waiting years for this and its on sale during the holidays. Don't waste your money. The game is broken. It crashes on the prolouge 10 minutes into the game when youre forced to hire a spy. it took me a couple of crashes before i figured out i have to hire a spy in another city to avoid crashing.

    PLAY SHOGUN 2 or the other total wars. Playing    DONT BUY THIS GAME. Yes, I know you've been waiting years for this and its on sale during the holidays. Don't waste your money. The game is broken. It crashes on the prolouge 10 minutes into the game when youre forced to hire a spy. it took me a couple of crashes before i figured out i have to hire a spy in another city to avoid crashing.

    PLAY SHOGUN 2 or the other total wars. Playing this game will not satisfy you at all. There is no strategy. you click attack and watch them blob up as the first line of men dies the next moves up. missle infantry always fire from a certain distance, there is no button to move all forces forward like there was on the other total wars, IT CRASHES MULTIPLE TIMES DURING LOADING. Other total wars crashed once or twice during the years I've been playing.

    The developers marketed the "cool" unit perspectives. Its not cool, its useless. The tactical view doesnt work bc their is no strategy required to win. PLEASE HED OUR WARNINGS.

    I waited a couple of months before I purchased Rome 2 bc I thought the bugs would be fixed. I was soo wrong. It seems like they havent even began fixing major problems with the game.    … Expand
  71. Brickfaced
    Dec 3, 2013
    6
    This game was certainly an anti-climax upon release, with numerous game breaking bugs and poor design choices. Although some of these faults are still present, CA have put a lot of effort into ironing them out, more effort than people seem to acknowledge anyway. Of course it should have great from the start, and it still isn't without its faults, but not that they aren't as crippling, theThis game was certainly an anti-climax upon release, with numerous game breaking bugs and poor design choices. Although some of these faults are still present, CA have put a lot of effort into ironing them out, more effort than people seem to acknowledge anyway. Of course it should have great from the start, and it still isn't without its faults, but not that they aren't as crippling, the beauty of the game can now stand out. It still doesn't have that pick up and play fun factor that previous Total War titles have, as the game seems to have formed some kind of hybrid with management rather than just assault. It feels like one half a total war game, and the other half Sid Meier's Civilizations. Individually the themes are great, but merged in the way that they are in this game, the hybrid isn't so appealing. It is still an intricate and ambitious effort, with enjoyment to be had once you see past the little faults. It's just that it isn't on the scale, or the addictive and time-eating measure of Rome 1.… Expand
  72. JBOer
    Dec 3, 2013
    5
    Until now I played 48 hours of Rome II. And to be honest, it was a fight to get this time. This game is just disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Total War franchise, but to play this game isn't fun at all.
    OK, the graphic is awesome, but that's pretty much it. The AI fails time after time after time, the UI is horrible and the big announced home policy doesn't effect anything.    Until now I played 48 hours of Rome II. And to be honest, it was a fight to get this time. This game is just disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Total War franchise, but to play this game isn't fun at all.
    OK, the graphic is awesome, but that's pretty much it. The AI fails time after time after time, the UI is horrible and the big announced home policy doesn't effect anything. Generals are completely changeable and their "portraits" look like sh**. Oh and the music... I muted it after 5 min.
    After all I have to say this Total War is a big disappointment and not the game CA announced. If they won't fix it, this will be the last Total War I ever bought.    … Expand
  73. thelostson
    Dec 3, 2013
    3
    Yes, the user interface is the worst of the series yet. Beautiful graphics are one thing, making the game enjoyable another.

    Someone fell clearly in love with the unit cards, and wasn't slapped out of it by her or his colleagues. They make unit types unrecognizable, the army movement on the map is dodgy and so on. I don't even mention naval combat, maybe less would have been more?    Yes, the user interface is the worst of the series yet. Beautiful graphics are one thing, making the game enjoyable another.

    Someone fell clearly in love with the unit cards, and wasn't slapped out of it by her or his colleagues. They make unit types unrecognizable, the army movement on the map is dodgy and so on. I don't even mention naval combat, maybe less would have been more?

    Historicity is unfortunately important when I buy a game like Rome II I am pretty sure I saw Germanic ballistae. Maybe it's time to install Europa Barbarorum again.

    To summarize disappointing on.quite a few levels.    … Expand
  74. 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
  75. dragonexiax25
    Dec 2, 2013
    0
    Absolutely horrible ruined my hope for total war. No family tree wtf. Also its Rome for god dammit it has families and such. Generals who cares which one dies or not. They seem to be replaceable chess pieces pieces. AI agreed horrible to play a 10 year old kid would have beaten the ai with some minor difficulties.
    Simple ui design made it look better but horribly more complex. They    Absolutely horrible ruined my hope for total war. No family tree wtf. Also its Rome for god dammit it has families and such. Generals who cares which one dies or not. They seem to be replaceable chess pieces pieces. AI agreed horrible to play a 10 year old kid would have beaten the ai with some minor difficulties.
    Simple ui design made it look better but horribly more complex. They removed the tool tips had to spend most of time reading instead of playing    … Expand
  76. MykeyMatters
    Dec 1, 2013
    0
    Long time Total War fan I was hooked after hearing my first riveting battle speech on the original Rome: Total War. I recently just got back from Afghanistan, and was surprised to see that Rome II was out! I immediately downloaded, so excited to play the sequel to this epic game from my Childhood.

    What a waste of my time and $60. And now? Now it's 50% off on Steam. I cannot believe CA    Long time Total War fan I was hooked after hearing my first riveting battle speech on the original Rome: Total War. I recently just got back from Afghanistan, and was surprised to see that Rome II was out! I immediately downloaded, so excited to play the sequel to this epic game from my Childhood.

    What a waste of my time and $60. And now? Now it's 50% off on Steam. I cannot believe CA stooped to this level, of pushing out this still After nearly a year beta product. And it's not even the fact that it's so Beta, but everything that made the Original Rome: Total War awesome, was completely missing.

    Rome II is laggy, ugly, and not engaging at all. And my biggest peeve? No Family Lines? WTF?

    If you have a $3,000 gaming rig like me, guess what, this is the only game that will make you feel like you're underpowered. But, you're not. It's the game. This is the most unstable game I have ever played on my rig. How is it that I can play 5 windows of Crysis II without a drop in FPS, yet Rome II literally slows me down to a crash within an hour. Memory leaks, anyone? Talk about great patching and coding.

    Don't bother with this garbage, and I cannot believe Reviewers made this game seem so good. They obviously didn't spend more than an hour on it. And CA? You want a hint? Take what made Medieval II and Rome: Total War great, and make it better. No fancy laggy map, no linear battles, no kindergarten gameplay. Just treat us like the hardcore strategy fans we are. Thanks.    … Expand
  77. Godwin
    Dec 1, 2013
    0
    Where to start? I can summarise by saying this game is woeful, 5/10 would be the score I would give it had it been a new ip. However due to Rome 2 being in a long line of total war games most of which were great, in particular Rome 1, and due to the developers downright lying through production and even upon release I feel it deserves punishing.
  78. Parkateer
    Dec 1, 2013
    5
    Now that the game has been out a couple of months you would think it would be solid, but unfortunately glitches remain. It is still possible to get stuck in a screen with no option but to ctrl-alt-delete out of the game. The battles, while fun, can become tedious as enemy forces stand off, forcing you to run out the clock to victory. This has all the feel of the Empire Total War engineNow that the game has been out a couple of months you would think it would be solid, but unfortunately glitches remain. It is still possible to get stuck in a screen with no option but to ctrl-alt-delete out of the game. The battles, while fun, can become tedious as enemy forces stand off, forcing you to run out the clock to victory. This has all the feel of the Empire Total War engine (which I loved), however, everything they tried to improve on is seemingly broke. Rome 1 was great and I, for one, am sorry they could not improve on it.… Expand
  79. Operative13
    Dec 1, 2013
    5
    It is obvious there has been a ton of work put into this title. However, it does not excuse the fact that the game is virtually broken, with buggy AI, clunky graphics performance, questionable design decisions, and current game price of $60. When a game is released, it is expected to, at the bare minimum, function. It is even more so that these problems be fixed as soon as possible afterIt is obvious there has been a ton of work put into this title. However, it does not excuse the fact that the game is virtually broken, with buggy AI, clunky graphics performance, questionable design decisions, and current game price of $60. When a game is released, it is expected to, at the bare minimum, function. It is even more so that these problems be fixed as soon as possible after release. However Rome II so far has failed to provide any of these even in the few months after its release. The game obviously was not ready to be released and does not bring the Total War experience as much as previous titles have in its current state. Unless drastic measures are taken to improve the game's current quality, it will be riddled with poor gaming experience.… Expand
  80. Arabian_Knight
    Dec 1, 2013
    3
    An extreme disappointment-it really makes me wonder what version the critics were playing, because I would have liked to have tried it. The game's graphics are not optimized well at all, and it eats up video memory at a catastrophic rate. The graphic quality WILL be poor, it seems, no matter what you do.

    The AI is not only awful, but aggressively so. Diplomacy is broken, so there's not    An extreme disappointment-it really makes me wonder what version the critics were playing, because I would have liked to have tried it. The game's graphics are not optimized well at all, and it eats up video memory at a catastrophic rate. The graphic quality WILL be poor, it seems, no matter what you do.

    The AI is not only awful, but aggressively so. Diplomacy is broken, so there's not much dealing with them either. Territories can only be gained through battle as well, so an alliance with another faction usually turns into an impediment, since you cannot trade territories to allies. The UI is confusing and takes up much of the screen, and unit cards are nondescriptive and are stylized, so it is difficult to tell which card is which unit.

    The game feels very temporary; factions die out within ten turns usually (including supposedly powerful factions such as Egypt), battles last only around five minutes and are just a contest to see who can make who break and run first. Family trees have been removed, so forget grooming or developing characters. Characters only live a few turns before dying, and traits have been severely cut back so that characters usually only end up with two or three on average. Because characters and factions come and go so quickly, and conquering territory is so easy, the game feels very unattached and inconsequential, especially if playing as a non-Roman faction. There is nothing to unlock, or build up to. Where you start is where you are. You may research technologies to enable new buildings, but everything is pretty much set before you when you start. The game is also very buggy-certain bonuses do not work, and the graphics issues are unresolved. Despite this, the publishers think that it is appropriate to charge users for DLC packs that should have been included alongside the handful of playable factions (all of which have limited rosters) when the game shipped.

    Regions are split into provinces, usually composed of three cities, each of which is a separate region. Only around three-six buildings can be built in a city, and only the biggest city in each province has walls. The most important cities (Rome, Carthage, Athens, Babylon) have specific city maps, but these are underwhelming at best. Each building, if it does not add to public order, subtracts considerably from it, and many cost food as well. By midgame, public order strangles any sort of construction available and forces the player to either build temples en masse or put down numerous revolts. Food also becomes a problem, as most public order or wealth buildings subtract from food stocks, and food producing buildings consume massive amounts of public order. It seems that random bouts of revolts and starvation hit every now and again, which severely limit the type of buildings the player can construct and also leaves the player's armies severely drained.

    The positives are few, but are still there. Though the graphics are buggy and flawed, they on the whole are an update to the first Rome: Total War. The voice acting is very, good though there are only four or so voice sets (Barbarian, Roman, Near Eastern, maybe one more that I do not recall). While diplomacy is broken, defensive alliances have been added and so has a "point balance" to measure how well factions get along. Unit animations are much improved, and the soldiers themselves are designed better. Armies now have names and "unit traditions"-or in other words, armies can "level up" just like characters and receive bonuses. Armies also have (and this may be considered a negative) "the ability to transport themselves across water without being loaded onto ships.

    My personal recommendation is to wait if you are intent on buying this. The game's problems are too deep to fix with patches, other than maybe the graphical and lag issues. Since the later Total War games are not as conducive to modding as the earlier ones were, these gameplay problems are likely permanent. If you are intent on trying Rome II, wait until the price drops, or you will be kicking yourself for paying so much for this game. Its best positives come from the fact that it is a Total War game; unfortunately, it feels hastily put together and rushed. The best way to describe it, unfortunately, is haphazard. I personally was looking forward to playing this, but I was disappointed.    … Expand
  81. baktor
    Nov 30, 2013
    7
    This game takes a step back from Shogun 2. The game does have quite a few bugs, most fixed now. The combat has some awesome features with automatic unit grouping and better AI. The campaign is just as good and improves on the territory features. It feels lacking of differences and strategies from AI. The entire game will freeze up and drop to 3-6 FPS in some siege battles. This drop isThis game takes a step back from Shogun 2. The game does have quite a few bugs, most fixed now. The combat has some awesome features with automatic unit grouping and better AI. The campaign is just as good and improves on the territory features. It feels lacking of differences and strategies from AI. The entire game will freeze up and drop to 3-6 FPS in some siege battles. This drop is after a constant 75~FPS in everything.… Expand
  82. easy91
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    Best game ever. You should have a good pc for this game, if you have laggs its your problem. i would gave this game GOTY and i played this game for 200 hours.
  83. Mournz
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    One of the best total war game so far, the game was released broken but now works incredibly well and is a well made game! The graphics are neat and the world is big, there is nothing to really complain about!
  84. 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.
  85. sungod
    Nov 29, 2013
    3
    After holding off playing Rome 2 for several weeks while it's been relentlessly patched, I finally started it up tonight and gave it a go, and here are my first impressions. Bear in mind I'm a HUGE Rome 1 fan and still play it. I've played Medieval II, Shogun 2, Empire, and Napoleon as well, so I'm quite familiar with CA titles.

    As a whole, I think Rome 2 is pretty boring. I have to    After holding off playing Rome 2 for several weeks while it's been relentlessly patched, I finally started it up tonight and gave it a go, and here are my first impressions. Bear in mind I'm a HUGE Rome 1 fan and still play it. I've played Medieval II, Shogun 2, Empire, and Napoleon as well, so I'm quite familiar with CA titles.

    As a whole, I think Rome 2 is pretty boring. I have to agree with others who've said that they feel R2 really has no soul I just don't see it. Yes, it's pretty, but it's boring just like a supermodel looks great on your arm, but as soon as she opens her mouth, your eyes glaze over. The UI is just awful the font is hard to read, the informational display is scattered and chaotic, it's hard to follow what's going on. The audio well, the music is fine, but all the voice overs sound like they were recorded in an empty music hall with a horrible echo. The unit cards are terrible; I don't want to have to decipher what I'm looking at, a unit card is supposed to be obvious; these are not. And as for the AI blech. I lost interest in the game after the second battle. I *never* lost interest with battles in Rome 1.

    So, I'm sad to say that I've joined the chorus of other long-time CA and Rome 1 superfans that think CA really tanked it on Rome 2. Without question the most disappointing game release since the disastrous SimCity reboot by EA. I spent a good 6 hours playing XCom Enemy Within today and loved it. I just spent 60 minutes playing Rome 2 and could care less. So sad. Such a missed opportunity by CA, and a wasted $60 by me. I'm never pre-ordering a CA title ever again. Lesson learned.    … Expand
  86. ArjanS87
    Nov 29, 2013
    8
    Straight out of the gate I have to admit I have a positive predisposition regarding anything Roman. A strategy game on this subject is therefore one of the top even before I start the game for the first time.
    Total War: Rome I has been played for hours on end and it looks like number II won't be a different.
    Well, in fact it is. As I was slaughtering barbarians alone in I, I'm now doing    Straight out of the gate I have to admit I have a positive predisposition regarding anything Roman. A strategy game on this subject is therefore one of the top even before I start the game for the first time.
    Total War: Rome I has been played for hours on end and it looks like number II won't be a different.
    Well, in fact it is. As I was slaughtering barbarians alone in I, I'm now doing it in co-op with a good friend in II.

    As you probably have read so far the game was beyond buggy upon release and to say that it is stable now is a grand understatement of the core issues that still haunt it. The developers however have put their best effort into fixing each and every one of the major issues, so that at least single player is well playable.
    Multiplayer does however quite often freeze up without reason; leaving some save games utterly unplayable.

    But the shear size of the game, the options, the battles and the strategic choices make you come back time after time, especially when you are sharing the enjoyment with a good friend.
    In short, if you can get past the irritating glitches that can in some aspects overshadow the good, you find yourself in a massive, diverse and challenging game filled with the best war scenes one can think of: Ancient Rome.    … Expand
  87. Master-of-War
    Nov 29, 2013
    5
    At first completely unplayable. After 7 patches boring, uninspiring and unchallenging. Very disappointing total war game. Very disappointing sequel to the first Rome game. Too great an emphasis on graphics and changing core elements. Should have focused on gameplay and immersion. And should not have released a game in such a state. Everything Rome II now has a foul stench about it. But itAt first completely unplayable. After 7 patches boring, uninspiring and unchallenging. Very disappointing total war game. Very disappointing sequel to the first Rome game. Too great an emphasis on graphics and changing core elements. Should have focused on gameplay and immersion. And should not have released a game in such a state. Everything Rome II now has a foul stench about it. But it does look great.… Expand
  88. Motcritic
    Nov 28, 2013
    2
    If you liked the previous total war games, then welcome to the children friendly version.

    My suggestion is to get the first Rome Total War and download one of the best mods for it, it will provide you with plenty more fun. I was hoping for a new Rome Total War since 2004, almost 10 years later never have I been so disappointed at a game. What were they thinking? The bugs, the AI,    If you liked the previous total war games, then welcome to the children friendly version.

    My suggestion is to get the first Rome Total War and download one of the best mods for it, it will provide you with plenty more fun.

    I was hoping for a new Rome Total War since 2004, almost 10 years later never have I been so disappointed at a game.
    What were they thinking? The bugs, the AI, omg the AI... is just so so bad, did they evolve it since 2004? I doubt it. The gameplay in general, the absolutely ridiculous battle changing general super abilities, seriously?

    The only reason someone might enjoy this game is if they never played any other total war game.    … Expand
  89. Rumblefish
    Nov 27, 2013
    2
    First things first, this is a truly awful game. It's probably the most disappointing game release of all time and not because CA have tried to innovate, but because they have dumbed down what was a great series, lost sight of what made the TW games good in the first place, removed the majority of the good features of previous games whilst adding half-finished and poorly designed aspects.First things first, this is a truly awful game. It's probably the most disappointing game release of all time and not because CA have tried to innovate, but because they have dumbed down what was a great series, lost sight of what made the TW games good in the first place, removed the majority of the good features of previous games whilst adding half-finished and poorly designed aspects. This game represents a betrayal of Total War, the fans and the reputation of CA itself.

    Where to start with just what is wrong with Rome 2? Well I could talk of blatant bugs, of homogenised unit rosters, a total lack of optimisation and performance, AI that is just utterly unintelligent, the awful obfuscating province system, the capture points in open field battles, transport ships being able to sink navies, Iron gates being burnt down with torches, massive and opaque unit cards, confusing unexplained game mechanics, the incredible stupidity of 1 year per turn, the terrible terrible animated character portraits, automatic garrisons, magic abilities, the battles where two armies simply converge in a mass blob, the battlefield engine which is simply not fit for purpose and is far inferior to the engine of the original Rome, every battle lasting five minutes, the non-functioning diplomacy system, the utterly pointless politics system this is the tip of the iceberg, I could go on all day.

    So, did they get anything right at all? Well, the music and sound is nice if limited in variety. The new ethos of 1 general 1 army is interesting and changes things up. I can understand it too as by limiting the number of armies (albeit artificially) means the player and AI have to be more selective in where they deploy the armies they do have. The classical civilisation aesthetic is nice. Also, the new agents are a good idea but are simply terribly implemented. Army naming and traditions is a nice idea, although could have been fleshed out a lot more. And that's about it for the positives.

    The most damming aspect of Rome 2 is the fact that above all it is utterly boring. The game is amazingly easy even on Legendary mode and you will spend most of your time simply pressing end turn without having done anything since the last one. There is no strategy here, there are no choices, no real options; everything is streamlined and watered down. The campaign map is contains set channels for armies to march down and set landing sites for navies to disembark their troops, and this means the "biggest ever campaign map" we were promised is actually the smallest and most restrictive.

    Rome 2 is a colossal failure and no amount of patches will change that. Three months after release, the game is still an unpalatable mixture of boring and non-working game mechanics.

    What can we learn from this? CA are pretty much done, they've lost their way and look like they've given up. I doubt there's a real gamer still at the company. How anyone could be happy putting their name to this travesty I will never know. Perhaps more importantly we have yet again learnt about some of the biggest review sites out there. It is amazing that some have given this a score of 9 or 10 (as they did with Diablo 3 and the Madden franchise for years). These reviewers are either utterly corrupt or completely inept. In more ways than one, Rome 2 has shown us who we can trust.    … Expand
  90. Pc_Retro
    Nov 26, 2013
    10
    Amazing game, all bags are patched, and it is just awesome, one of, if not the best total war game. This is a must buy for total war fans, all though it did have a rocky launch, it has been fixed!
  91. Quayleo
    Nov 26, 2013
    10
    It is simply amazing it is one of the best strategy games I have ever played and now the patches have been released it now plays like a dream. I would recommend this game to anyone!!! Love it!!!
  92. sacredzak
    Nov 26, 2013
    10
    This game had a failure to launch but after the patches I found this game the funnest game I have ever played. As a huge fan of total war I know of Creative Assembly and their history of AI and this has some but they fixed them completely. If you've played the others and than played this game you will swear this wasn't made by anyone related to total war empire. That's how great it is! youThis game had a failure to launch but after the patches I found this game the funnest game I have ever played. As a huge fan of total war I know of Creative Assembly and their history of AI and this has some but they fixed them completely. If you've played the others and than played this game you will swear this wasn't made by anyone related to total war empire. That's how great it is! you need to play this even if you don't like gaming in general because you will love playing this game.… Expand
  93. Sarion
    Nov 26, 2013
    0
    a TOTAL disappointment, completely revised UI, hopeless designation units, and above all, completely broken and changed for the worse gameplay mechanics, the idea of the automatic creation of the garrison is so nonsense that I do not know what to say. I have no idea what an idiot came up with all these weird concepts, but what was good and beautiful is gone, the new title is hopelessly BAD
  94. Point_Break
    Nov 25, 2013
    2
    So as an avid total war fan I was foolish enough to fall for the hype and pre-order this game.
    Bottom line I wish I never played through half a campaign before realizing I had just wasted $60 of hard earned cash for a complete wreck of a game.
    I'll start with the good points of the game, as they really aren't many. 1: Some interesting new units. 2: The maps are alright and you    So as an avid total war fan I was foolish enough to fall for the hype and pre-order this game.
    Bottom line I wish I never played through half a campaign before realizing I had just wasted $60 of hard earned cash for a complete wreck of a game.

    I'll start with the good points of the game, as they really aren't many.

    1: Some interesting new units.

    2: The maps are alright and you can now fight on the streets in cities, kinda cool.

    3: A ton of interesting and diverse factions.

    4: Naval combat is improved by the fact that you can now move troops directly to sea and they will man their own ships. no need to pack you largest boats with a army that can't help in a fight)

    5: The new diplomatic system now lets you pick targets for your allies to focus on.

    Now everything I just mentioned is undone and completely inconsequential because of various issues.

    To clarify...
    1: All units types and differences are almost completely aesthetic, almost all units have the same stats with little to no variety. Also when armies meet to engage they are just two blobs bouncing off each other, charge bonus', and line penetration are a joke. In a fight the majority of your forces are just standing there waiting for the thin veil of active troops blandly work their way through the the opposing armies equally dull force.

    2: The maps now include capture points which pretty much ruins the AI's priorities, making city fights kind of a joke, and quite frankly broken.

    3: Again due to the units being so similar in stats across the board faction type is again purely cosmetic.

    4: naval combats is simply not fun, the AI for instance had tons of issues, for example AI controlled ships often get stuck on shore unable to unload their troops. Also when fighting in open waters they have poor AI and ship boarding almost always fails, morale breaks at sea way too easy and most battle play out feeling wrong or broken.

    5: The new diplomatic system isn't so bad but still seems lacking, causes AI to act to recklessly, and quite frankly teh whole system feels inconsequential.

    Now onto some more bad...
    6: Graphic wise this game is a total let down and they frankly lied to us with early in game footage during pre-release. IDK how lying to your customers is excusable in this day and age.

    7: Performance wise it's terrible, poorly optimized at release is understatement. I don't think computers that can handle this game even exist yet, well in the average home at least.

    8: PvP is worse than ever due to the similar and bland unit types, poor mechanics of actual fights, by that I mean your armies are just blobs of ugly little lifeless robots bouncing off each other. despite the weak differences in unit types they some how managed to sneak is some OP units, mostly on the Roman side, that further spoil any fun to be had.

    The one thing that wasn't a wreck was the Audio, it's pretty good, they added a lot of color to the troops with some context sensitive dialogue.

    I heard they fixed a lot of the AI issues and they have improved the time it takes to wait for the AI's turn to finish.
    Still I am so disappointed I never want to see this game again, wish I could get my money back, but I won't.
    So I am forced to tell others how this game is an absolute travesty and Creative Arts are no longer a respectable company deserving of our money, well mine at least.

    Shogun 2 was last good thing Creative Arts did, I will try to remember that, still I feel cheated and robbed by them now, months later.    … Expand
  95. Andddreass
    Nov 25, 2013
    0
    This game is buggy as hell, the coop is broken beyond belief, it freezes regularly and sometimes crashes after a battle. Whatever you do, do not buy this game, the developers doesn't deserve money for this game, go and download it from Piratebay instead.
  96. lordpain
    Nov 25, 2013
    0
    It's a bad game, over hyped crap. The AI is retarded, UI looks like agents do the same thing so no point in having 3 different types, no point in besieging a city you can attack right away and have your soldiers burn down the huge metal gates with magical torches that they keep up their ass during battles, naval combat is broken, load of bugs and so on... Do not buy
  97. jackofthehowley
    Nov 25, 2013
    10
    At the start, Rome II was a total let down; bad AI, poor optimisation and the fact I didn't get the Greek States Culture Pack even though I pre-ordered it. Since then, multiple patches have fixed my problems and the Blood and Gore DLC has satisfied my need for... Well, blood and gore. I loved how the Nomadic Tribes Culture Pack was free for a week as an apology (even though I don't reallyAt the start, Rome II was a total let down; bad AI, poor optimisation and the fact I didn't get the Greek States Culture Pack even though I pre-ordered it. Since then, multiple patches have fixed my problems and the Blood and Gore DLC has satisfied my need for... Well, blood and gore. I loved how the Nomadic Tribes Culture Pack was free for a week as an apology (even though I don't really play as those factions), I bought the Greek States pack and I have a successful army of Spartans, BOW TO ME, WORLD! The gameplay has been fixed, now the Athenians wait instead of charging head-first into my pike phalanx. Glad its fixed.… Expand
  98. Tiggers
    Nov 24, 2013
    0
    I'm updating my previous rating.

    After 7 patches in about 11 weeks and 357 hours of play-time, I think I have been patient and understanding. Rome 2 is still *basically* garbage in a single player campaign (I'm referring to the mechanics, not the pretty map), multiplayer is such a HUGE step backwards from Shogun2. (I have played competitively in multiplayer tournaments since Empire,    I'm updating my previous rating.

    After 7 patches in about 11 weeks and 357 hours of play-time, I think I have been patient and understanding.

    Rome 2 is still *basically* garbage in a single player campaign (I'm referring to the mechanics, not the pretty map), multiplayer is such a HUGE step backwards from Shogun2. (I have played competitively in multiplayer tournaments since Empire, so I feel that I can judge this about 60% of my game time has been multiplayer).

    I am actually going to the extreme of deleting this game. I will now have Rome 1, Shogun 1, Medieval, Empire, Napoleon, Shogun 2 on my pc. Rome 2 is off.

    I have also decided *not* to risk buying their brand new Total War Arena... Fool me once. I suggest you consider the same.    … Expand
  99. kiwisneverfly
    Nov 23, 2013
    3
    Not worth the price. I had a better time with Medieval 2, Empire and Napoleon then this game. It isn't well put together, with bugs and disappointing graphics. Hell I've played FTP games that look and play better than this one! I suggest getting a older and better total war game, like medieval 2, empire or shogun 2.
  100. avwynin
    Nov 23, 2013
    0
    Can't start a battle after the newest patches. With mods installed, can't even start the game at all, which I can accept, but seriously? Only game I have ever played which seems to be degenerating with every update.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

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