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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. mehican
    Sep 16, 2013
    0
    I was very excited for this game, and expected the very best from CA, however what I got was a bad, unfinished and dumbed down game. The main issue I found during the first couple of days was how horrible the AI is, and being a primarily single player game I had expected a more appropriate AI skill, besides the fact that my fairly new upgraded pc had some performance issues.There are justI was very excited for this game, and expected the very best from CA, however what I got was a bad, unfinished and dumbed down game. The main issue I found during the first couple of days was how horrible the AI is, and being a primarily single player game I had expected a more appropriate AI skill, besides the fact that my fairly new upgraded pc had some performance issues.There are just far too many issues and I highly recommend you wait or simply not buy this.… Expand
  2. Solores
    Sep 16, 2013
    10
    This is the most amazing total war game ever! AI is now fixed, some lag fixes and better campaign UI.
    I think the game deserves more then this and if the people just waited for the patch the game would have a higher rating.
  3. DanielCorfour
    Sep 16, 2013
    1
    I would like to make a clarification. Objectively the game rating should be about 6.5. Not quite a 7 but not quite a 6. The only reason I gave a 4, is because the reviewers, the critics, decided to give it a near perfect score, which is pure bull, and would only encourage companies to flood out more unfinished/unpolished games.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    In closing I highly doubt that it will be ever fixed completely. Your best hope is the modding community, who already did tremendous progress towards solving certain issues. I would advise checking the TWcenter,and downloading the mods you think are needed. It's a hug    … Expand
  4. Deadplate
    Sep 16, 2013
    2
    After playing this game for over 15 hours, I have just come to find this game way to easy. The AI just seems to be on easy mode, even thou I switched it to the hardest setting. The loading times are just way to slow, The time between turns even more so, This with other countries that will not even attack you. Units running around doing nothing, Boats going right threw everything includingAfter playing this game for over 15 hours, I have just come to find this game way to easy. The AI just seems to be on easy mode, even thou I switched it to the hardest setting. The loading times are just way to slow, The time between turns even more so, This with other countries that will not even attack you. Units running around doing nothing, Boats going right threw everything including shore, docks and everything else. This game seems as if it is still in the Beta format, and Once again. The FPS is bad, and this whole 1 year per turn is just over the top. 2/10… Expand
  5. tafoya77n
    Sep 16, 2013
    8
    I love this game, so far I have put 150 hours into it, I'm defiantly past the honeymoon stage. I honestly can't stop myself from saying one more turn every time, then get a chance to study and read its a perfect set up to compensate for the long turns. In all of the hours I have played I have experienced one crash and no graphics errors so I cannot speak to those complaints at all.
    I    I love this game, so far I have put 150 hours into it, I'm defiantly past the honeymoon stage. I honestly can't stop myself from saying one more turn every time, then get a chance to study and read its a perfect set up to compensate for the long turns. In all of the hours I have played I have experienced one crash and no graphics errors so I cannot speak to those complaints at all.
    I got in on patch 2 beta and that just made it better fixing my largest complaints about the game, the AI is now aggressive and battle formations are held much better. Over all the game is great and they seem intent on patching it to make the game even better.    … Expand
  6. MuttleyGrouch
    Sep 16, 2013
    1
    I can see a game in there, unfortunately its a game that is only part way through development. Two striking points about Rome 2 first, game companies clearly have weighed up the market and decided they can release in pretty much any state, and the consumer base will take it. This game shouldn't be through beta testing let alone released into a commercial marketplace I struggle to thinkI can see a game in there, unfortunately its a game that is only part way through development. Two striking points about Rome 2 first, game companies clearly have weighed up the market and decided they can release in pretty much any state, and the consumer base will take it. This game shouldn't be through beta testing let alone released into a commercial marketplace I struggle to think of any other commodity that you could get away with this sort of treatment of the customer. Second, this really shows up the reviewers whose opinions are worthless. I hope that there is some sort of club where game reviewers meet and currently the ones who think this is a 80-100 game are being made to pay some sort of forfeit for either being an idiot, or just making it up without playing it. Hopefully their editors will be taking note.… Expand
  7. Fredwitt
    Sep 16, 2013
    6
    Rome 2 is a disappointment, however not a travesty. All those giving it 0's and 1's are just in the heat of the moment about how much of a disappointment it was. I can play this game for 66 hours, because i want to experience Rome like i experienced it all those years ago. It doesn't bring anything new to the game, it is just a streamlined new looking box, with the content being hollow andRome 2 is a disappointment, however not a travesty. All those giving it 0's and 1's are just in the heat of the moment about how much of a disappointment it was. I can play this game for 66 hours, because i want to experience Rome like i experienced it all those years ago. It doesn't bring anything new to the game, it is just a streamlined new looking box, with the content being hollow and annoying. Please don't give this game a extremely low score because if you compare it to, for instance, ride to hell redemption, i would play Rome any day of the week over it. Rome can be saved here with patches, but its going to leave a nasty scar… Expand
  8. Heben2
    Sep 16, 2013
    9
    Great game, some changes on how the campaign map works (cities, regions etc.), which works nicely. Same awesome battles, now with astonishing graphics.
    There are some problems though, where some people (as always) cannot play the game from release. They seem keen on fixing this though.
    AI is a bit ambivalent some times really 'smart', some times amazingly dumb.. Really heavy game to    Great game, some changes on how the campaign map works (cities, regions etc.), which works nicely. Same awesome battles, now with astonishing graphics.
    There are some problems though, where some people (as always) cannot play the game from release. They seem keen on fixing this though.
    AI is a bit ambivalent some times really 'smart', some times amazingly dumb..
    Really heavy game to run, as it feels like it was not optimised at all. I have only small problems, but I read that a lot of ppl have great difficulty even running the game. I expect this to be handled in patches.
    I believe they will fix a lot of the problems, though it does not seem likely they change the ai too much, as it is such an advanced part of the game.
    As with all Total War-games, I still love this title and must give it 9/10 so far.
    I understand ppls frustration and why the rating is so negative right now, but releases has been rough on all aaa-titles the last 5 years, so this should, unfortunately, be expected by now.    … Expand
  9. MrJade
    Sep 16, 2013
    4
    This game looked to be a new era in the Creative Assembly's star studded history. The pre-release hype, coupled with the amazing screen shots, and stunning CGI footage certainly seemed to reinforce this belief.
    Then the game was released. Not only did the single player campaign have bugs, but it had bugs that rendered the game nearly unplayable (minutes of wait time between turns, massive    This game looked to be a new era in the Creative Assembly's star studded history. The pre-release hype, coupled with the amazing screen shots, and stunning CGI footage certainly seemed to reinforce this belief.
    Then the game was released. Not only did the single player campaign have bugs, but it had bugs that rendered the game nearly unplayable (minutes of wait time between turns, massive frame rate issues, and more). The game's AI is equally crippled. The enemy will hardly ever build a large army, and even when it does the army is comprised entirely of early game units, even 100's of turns into the game. The major factions, Carthage, Sparta, Egypt, Rome, Macedon, are all swallowed up by smaller factions because of the ignorance and idiocy of the game's AI.
    Battles rarely present a challenge, and this reflects poorly on the Creative Assembly.
    All in all, this game is a bust. Hardly worth your time, and you should only pick it up out of the bargain bin.    … Expand
  10. firemoth
    Sep 16, 2013
    5
    I have played this game with multiple factions and I must admit the AI is awful the map and political aspect is good however with the use of spies, dignitaries and Champions is good. I think they need to patch this game to improve it but as it stands this is distinctly average
  11. Vigil
    Sep 16, 2013
    1
    This is a massive downgrade from Creative Assembly's last entry, Shogun 2. Rome 2 is absolutely worse in every aspect than it's predecessors;
    - awful, clunky, intrusive UI
    - baffling interfaces which require you to use the in-game Encyclopedia (which contains information about mechanics cut from the game, no less) - severe graphical issues - half of the unit features from the original    This is a massive downgrade from Creative Assembly's last entry, Shogun 2. Rome 2 is absolutely worse in every aspect than it's predecessors;
    - awful, clunky, intrusive UI
    - baffling interfaces which require you to use the in-game Encyclopedia (which contains information about mechanics cut from the game, no less)
    - severe graphical issues
    - half of the unit features from the original Rome: Total War
    - completely broken unit AI
    - broken maps
    - awful naval combat
    - no politics
    - no family trees
    - no diplomacy (factions will ALWAYS demand a monetary payment for diplomacy actions)
    - no unit variety
    - horrifically overpowered Roman melee units

    I'd go on, but others have said the rest, probably. Phenomenal disappointment. I'm not sure what happened to CA, but they've lost the plot. Avoid this entry in the Total War series at all costs. It is not worth your money.    … Expand
  12. Yoh-lo
    Sep 16, 2013
    0
    AI ability is the heart & guts of a RTS game, on this occasion CA promised great things and failed to deliver even the most basic elements. Thankfully I was able to get an exchange on the game. Software failures happen, what doesn't make sense however is CA pretending in their community campaign that the AI was anyway worthwhile.
  13. klungo
    Sep 16, 2013
    0
    This is not a total war game. This is basically just starcraft with roman legions. Battles end within a few minutes and nearly every unit has some stupid arcade like "special ability" that gives them some magical damage boost or faster running speed. Units run and perform actions like throwing javelins way too fast and you can have your men run extremely long distances without gettingThis is not a total war game. This is basically just starcraft with roman legions. Battles end within a few minutes and nearly every unit has some stupid arcade like "special ability" that gives them some magical damage boost or faster running speed. Units run and perform actions like throwing javelins way too fast and you can have your men run extremely long distances without getting tired.

    The game also places a hug emphasis on capture the flag battles now. Open land battles consist of rushing magical flags to win instead of using your brain to rout the enemy and run them down. Units also dissolve into mindless mosh pits as soon as they reach the enemy. The guard mode is gone so good luck trying to keep your men in formation to set up proper battle lines. Family trees(one of the best features in any total war game) is also gone and replaced with some shallow "internal politics" system that has no impact on the game whatsoever since the game will just fart out generals endlessly for you to use no matter what.

    0/10
    Worst total war game ever.
    This makes empire look like a masterpiece and I will never buy another total war game again until CA gets their together. If you want a real total war game then go play classic Rome or Medieval 2.

    P.S. WTF were you thinking CA by hiring Richard Beddow instead of Jeff van Dyck? The empire and napoleon soundtracks composed by Beddow were boring as and it clearly shows in Rome 2 with it's generic monotone music that doesn't build up to anything. Jeff's music is what brings life to the total war series and the game feels dead without it, no matter how good the game is in other regards.    … Expand
  14. Vorlon66
    Sep 16, 2013
    0
    This is a disgracefully incomplete & flawed game incomplete, bugged, poorly designed & broken. The list of faults with this game are so long a review cannot begin to enumerate them. Effectively you are being asked to pay to Alpha Test a game that is, at best, 6 to 7 months away from being release ready.

    However I doubt even modders will be able to salvage this game and even after bug    This is a disgracefully incomplete & flawed game incomplete, bugged, poorly designed & broken. The list of faults with this game are so long a review cannot begin to enumerate them. Effectively you are being asked to pay to Alpha Test a game that is, at best, 6 to 7 months away from being release ready.

    However I doubt even modders will be able to salvage this game and even after bug fixes and AI tweaks it is hard to see how this will ever be more than a below average game. A major disappointment and a salutary warning to all consumers not to pre-order PC/Console games and facilitate the industries appalling recent record on incomplete releases (and don’t even get me started on DLCs).

    In its present state it is the equivalent of buying a book with attractive covers, a contents page, an introduction with a missing end paragraph, a few incomplete chapters & the rest of the content completely missing.

    The Specifics as a veteran of thousands of hours for all of the Total War Games and having logged 20 painful & frustrating hours on this game quite simple Rome II is incomplete and broken. The issues have been identified on many of the reviews but here are a few of the lowlights:

    1. Performance Issues well documented. Fortunately I have a high end gaming spec so these graphics & loading problems have not been an issue for me. However, even with AI moves turned off it takes a very long time to process a turn (even early on in a campaign you have time to get up & put the kettle on). Naturally it gets longer to process as more goes on in the game leading to excessive waiting time.

    2. The Campaign AI is too passive even at the highest difficulty level it will sit as you set up and then pulverize their faction, perversely, it will launch suicide attacks against city garrisons it can never hope to win. Coupled with some game design changes (naval moves, recruitment changes, extended range of armies, limits on armies available, tech development, & construction) it makes the strategic level shallow, boring and far too predictable.

    3. The Battle AI (again at highest difficulty level) is not only too passive it is also broken. In one AI initiated joint Land & Naval attack after I had defeated the land force (in about 3 minutes) the Naval based reinforcements (although greatly outnumbering me by nearly 3 to 1) stayed on their ships refusing to move. I had to fast forward the game to end it and claim the victory (time to actually make the cup of tea!). The AI will send troops forward and then withdraw them in endless loops while being showered by missiles and destroyed. It will mindlessly attack choke points (such as encampment entrances), allow itself to be surrounded and charged in the flanks even when it has a 3 to 1 numerical superiority.

    4. Naval battles totally broken Transport ships too powerful, AI is stupid, interface buttons often don’t work

    5. Diplomacy hopeless. AI makes unrealistic & stupid demands and will not accept even the most rational of offers. Diplomacy has always been tricky in Strategy games but diplomacy in Rome II is a major backwards step. You won’t achieve the requisite goals for a Cultural/Diplomatic/Economic victory so don’t bother trying.

    6. Battles There are numerous graphic glitches, cohesive battles formations are non existent as soon as contact is made, troops move too fast, skirmishing & missile fire is ineffective due to unit speeds, and the (questionable & frankly arcade-like) special unit abilities are almost never useable as battles usually take no more than 5 minutes (longest battle was 10 minutes with roughly 30-35 units per side).

    7. User Interface inconsistent application of the interface, buttons & toggles often don’t work (record of 7 presses to make one “in battle” button work), standard interface tools (closing boxes, highlighting selected options, hyperlinks) are often absent or non-existent. The Encyclopedia is poorly designed and lacking indexing and cross referencing.

    Very soon after the campaign starts you will be auto-resolving everything as the battles & sieges are completely pointless, characterless & lack any tactical challenge. This leaves you with a non existence real –time battle component & a slightly below average strategy game. For every good design choice made in this game (there are a few minor ones) there are probably 2 or 3 bad ones.

    Buyers should be demanding money back (I will be) & suppliers like Amazon asking for compensation from the publisher for providing a defective product.    … Expand
  15. RedBlueThunder
    Sep 16, 2013
    7
    While the initial game is still fun and enjoyable, i do feel that Rome 2 is slightly bare-bones. A huge amount of features have been removed and replaced by simple mechanics that make the game feel simple.

    During my time playing Medieval 2, i was indulged in politics and creating glorious family "dynasty's". It actually felt like i was running an empire. In Rome 2 it feels like your a    While the initial game is still fun and enjoyable, i do feel that Rome 2 is slightly bare-bones. A huge amount of features have been removed and replaced by simple mechanics that make the game feel simple.

    During my time playing Medieval 2, i was indulged in politics and creating glorious family "dynasty's". It actually felt like i was running an empire. In Rome 2 it feels like your a band of raiders conquering city after city with no real purpose or motivation.

    Land battles are a more like two mobs clashing into one another rather than two unique armies using advanced tactics to outwit one another. Naval Battles are hugely dull, more like lots of floating bowls clumsily knocking into one another.

    Overall, Rome 2 is still fun, but can barely be considered to be a proper "Total War" game. I hope after this, creative assembly will learn from their mistakes and create much much better and feature filled games in future.    … Expand
  16. Slapshot
    Sep 15, 2013
    3
    After playing the game for over 20 hours I have come to the conclusion that this game obviously is suffering from a very poor release. I am not alone in my complaints of the many bugs, AI problems and graphics issues but my biggest problem is that I simply do not like or agree with many of the fundamental changes that have been made to the game itself.

    - Control points in battles. To me    After playing the game for over 20 hours I have come to the conclusion that this game obviously is suffering from a very poor release. I am not alone in my complaints of the many bugs, AI problems and graphics issues but my biggest problem is that I simply do not like or agree with many of the fundamental changes that have been made to the game itself.

    - Control points in battles. To me this was just an awful idea. In battle an objective should be an objective because it is important to secure victory on the map. What is important should be up to the general to decide. Not something the game holds your hand and tells you is important "just because". Not only are these points not usually placed in strategic areas but I can not justify why the control of them would win or loose a battle outside of a siege or open city fight. It is a tool that oversimplifies battles.

    - UI. I find the UI to be cumbersome and leaves mostly everything hidden away inside of the encyclopedia. It makes dealing with the changes to the campaign mode that much harder to figure out.

    - Characters. I honestly feel no connection to any of my generals. For one there is no coherent or dynamic way of viewing them. For the most part the family and political system is meaningless in it's current state and appears like it was never fully realized.

    - Lack of formations in battle. Units do not maintain any semblance of formation once they engage the enemy. It makes things confusing and is completely unrealistic to see certain units behave this way. At one point I felt compelled to play a barbarian faction just so it would feel somewhat realistic when my men abandoned any form of discipline and ran about hitting things. The good news is that you can usually win without much effort on your part anyway as I found myself coming out of battles victorious when at the ground level I had really lost any idea of what my confused ill disciplined troops were actually doing.    … Expand
  17. AmishPanda
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    If you liked Shogun 2, buy it. I liked Shogun 2, but I felt like the factions where copy-paste, just reskinned samurai. Rome 2's factions feel different, the units feel like they have various subtle differences even though they're functionally similar. Overall, the conquest is scale is turned up to 11. More cities to conquer, more cultures, more environments. Great game, differentIf you liked Shogun 2, buy it. I liked Shogun 2, but I felt like the factions where copy-paste, just reskinned samurai. Rome 2's factions feel different, the units feel like they have various subtle differences even though they're functionally similar. Overall, the conquest is scale is turned up to 11. More cities to conquer, more cultures, more environments. Great game, different than Shogun 2, not worse, just different.

    Also, I've had NO bugs. None. Literally none. No graphics bugs, no gameplay bugs, no AI bugs. Nothing. Only issue is non-optimized textures for my graphics card. But every game CA released has had something along those lines. And the DLC is whatever. Its a business practice, and it works, if you don't want to spend the money just wait. Not like its going away.

    All-in-all I'm happy with CA, they've responded within the week and from all looks the beta patch is improving performance on machines across the board and improving the AI's tactics. Wait to buy the game if you want great textures and cheaper dlc.    … Expand
  18. Surg3on
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    In under two weeks patches have made enough difference for me to rate this game a 7. While there are still bugs and same questionable design decisions this is still a solid improvement in the Total War franchise. AI is now quite solid and its a heck of an improvement over the constant siege battles of Shogun2 (which I still loved but ...urgh so many sieges).
    If you have brains enough to    In under two weeks patches have made enough difference for me to rate this game a 7. While there are still bugs and same questionable design decisions this is still a solid improvement in the Total War franchise. AI is now quite solid and its a heck of an improvement over the constant siege battles of Shogun2 (which I still loved but ...urgh so many sieges).
    If you have brains enough to get your settings right it is absolutely gorgeous.
    While this game partially deserves all those zeros for being rushed out the door too early I do wonder if these people will come back and rescore in a month.    … Expand
  19. Hardcard
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    This game is a solid 8 at least, no matter how low it's rated here.
    The only thing these haters are right about is the pathetic AI, which, well, it is indeed pathetic.
    You don't want to pay for a flawed TW game? Wait some months until a solid body of patches and mods fix AI and major bugs, and then buy the game. You should already know by now that CA likes to release games that need    This game is a solid 8 at least, no matter how low it's rated here.
    The only thing these haters are right about is the pathetic AI, which, well, it is indeed pathetic.
    You don't want to pay for a flawed TW game? Wait some months until a solid body of patches and mods fix AI and major bugs, and then buy the game. You should already know by now that CA likes to release games that need patching/modding in order to achieve the quality we all like.

    But, anyway, what about Rome II's virtues? Only half of the people here are talking about those.
    I've played all TW titles since the original "Rome: Total War" and Rome II has absolutely the best graphics by light years (anyone who says this is a "repixelated" version of Rome:TW whatever that means...LOL, is either a fool or a liar (or has a rig that can't handle Rome II and the game is lowering texture and model quality according to the system capabilities).
    Rome II isn't a pain in the arse to micro/macro manage and has, AT LAST, a clear diplomacy system that makes sense, unlike the original Rome:TW.
    A pretty lame AI is the only real flaw of Rome II, the rest rocks big time. Give them time to improve AI/develop mods and this stuff will be a milestone in ancient era strategy games.

    I don't understand why people is saying Shogun II had a better UI when Rome II has pretty much the same. But anyway, some of them are rating this game a 0 only because they don't like the UI.
    Don't worry guys, someone will patch it or make a mod soon enough that will end your misgivings.
    You think Rome:TW had an intuitive UI? LOL. I hated spending 10 entire minutes endlessly clicking different windows and icons only to manage my construction reports, and after that I had to manage my unit recruitment reports which meant 5 additional minutes of clicking, and after that I had to spend 5 more minutes managing diplomacy and agent actions. So we are talking about AT LEAST 20 minutes of clicking all sorts of things just to manage the basic elements of my faction EVERY TURN.
    The rest of the time I spent moving troops, warring and checking my settlements INDIVIDUALLY (when I had a few of them it was fun, but when I had 30+ it started being really annoying). What many people here is complaining about is that they no longer get to spend nearly half an hour in managing their settlements and getting sick of it in the process.
    Rome II's provincial managing makes it so much faster/easier to handle settlements and troops I can't believe you guys don't like it. And what about the building tree? How many buildings do you need?
    I hated it when I had 10 different types of shrines and temples, when I didn't need a third of them.
    In Rome:TW you didn't need half the buildings available for construction, so what was the point? Immersion? Don't worry, I'm sure someone will make a mod adding hundreds of buildings.
    I like the number of buildings Rome II offers, but if someone makes a mod including more buildings I'll sure give it a try. The same goes for the tech tree, you are complaining about things that are easily solved and don't have a major impact on the game. I'm glad of the simple fact that Rome II has a tech tree, unlike Rome:TW, and If someone makes a script to add even more technologies I'll be even happier, but I won't start complaining about something I regard as an improvement .

    What about naval battles and landings? They are great features, something Rome:TW lacked and has been included in Rome II, so what's wrong? The problem is the AI which is a totally different matter and will disappear when it gets fixed, the rest is absolutely amazing and I'm glad CA included it in the game.

    It's true Rome II doesn't let you split your forces the same way Rome:TW allowed ok this is a setback but, again, I'm sure it can be changed. And what about unit recruitment? It's pretty much the same as always, you can only train troops at the settlements were you have developed the technology to train them so what's wrong about it?
    Someone complained about units becoming a blob after entering combat (losing their formation)...
    first, this also happened in the rest of TW games, second, it's realistic, when you are hitting and getting hit your concentration shifts from keeping your formation to not dying...
    And what about chariot/horse impacts? Of course units fly away and get crushed into the ground, it's kind of what happens...

    And yes, there are no family trees in Rome II, at least not like in Rome:TW, big deal... Rome II deserves a 0 for this?

    Battles are too short and easy... well, that's because the AI is lame. Again, once it gets fixed you won't stand a chance. This is the same problem all the previous TW games had and were eventually solved.
    Rome II runs at decent fps on my rig but, like the rest of TW games, it lags over time. Well, I'm amazed Rome II can run 4000+ hugely detailed units, terrain,sky, water, effects at 50fps, so that's that...

    Great game with a nasty AI and lots of potential.    … Expand
  20. Makko_Mace
    Sep 15, 2013
    7
    Rome II is an amazing game, unfortunately it is deeply bugged at the moment which is unacceptable at release yet sadly common in this day and age. I would spend much more time writing out what I honestly think about every aspect of this game, but since everyone votes 0 or 10 on this site, I won't waste my time.

    In a few months it should deserve something like a 9/10 right now, it simply    Rome II is an amazing game, unfortunately it is deeply bugged at the moment which is unacceptable at release yet sadly common in this day and age. I would spend much more time writing out what I honestly think about every aspect of this game, but since everyone votes 0 or 10 on this site, I won't waste my time.

    In a few months it should deserve something like a 9/10 right now, it simply is lacking.    … Expand
  21. Lemonadrian
    Sep 15, 2013
    3
    Where did the 40% larger budget go? Marketing?

    At it's core, there is a good game in here, however it was so rushed and unpolished that it is left nigh unplayable. The developers were too ambitious in terms of scope and scale, yet attempted to streamline key aspects to meaninglessness. Yes the map is larger and there are now hundreds of factions and units, but what's the point when the    Where did the 40% larger budget go? Marketing?

    At it's core, there is a good game in here, however it was so rushed and unpolished that it is left nigh unplayable. The developers were too ambitious in terms of scope and scale, yet attempted to streamline key aspects to meaninglessness. Yes the map is larger and there are now hundreds of factions and units, but what's the point when the factions slow down the turn rate horrifically, the units are just renamed clones and the map is stuck on summer with a horrid yellow/red pissfilter. The battle interface is a clunky mess, a huge step back from every other game in the series, and the AI was dropped on it's head too many times in development. The entire game has an interface that would be more appropriate on a console, which is worrying. The frequent crashes, bugs and general design flaws are infuriating.

    Go play Shogun 2 for a few months til this stillbirth of a game is patched, modded and fixed into something resemble a true Total War game. Even then, I doubt CA and SEGA will learn from this.    … Expand
  22. BlitzNor
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    As Total War veteran I find the game very enjoable. The campaign map is beatiful. The battle graphics are great. The province system, squalor and food system means you actually have to plan when developing your provinces and empire. The unit rosters of the different factions are diverse and interesting. The battle maps are varied and very well made. Character and army development is great.As Total War veteran I find the game very enjoable. The campaign map is beatiful. The battle graphics are great. The province system, squalor and food system means you actually have to plan when developing your provinces and empire. The unit rosters of the different factions are diverse and interesting. The battle maps are varied and very well made. Character and army development is great. Faction politics add further depth to this character development.

    This is a Total War game and a very ambitious Total War game at that. Se of course it is full of buggs and be completely unbalanced on release. The AI is bugged (though all ready getting much better with the 2.0 patch), but when not bugging out is actually doing good things like circumventing my armies and attacking unprotected settlements. When the buggs are worked out I am confident that the AI will be good. Turn time are overly long because of all the factions, but I find it much more exiting with all the factions instead just lots of characterless rebels.

    As for ballance I actually find this game far more balanced then the first Rome on release were cavalry and elephants literally just trampled everything (stacked Equities death armies were all you needed to conquer the world as Rome). Sure slingers are to strong, but they are easily be chased down by cavalry and wardogs. Larger Naval battles are sadly a mess right now with boarding overpowered, but for now navies are useful for autoresolving against transport fleets.

    This game will be a classic. It will take some patches and mods, but this is the norm for ambitious Total War games and should not surprise any Total War veteran. Stop whining about paying to be a beta tester, you knew what you were getting into. Enjoy empire building for now and make yourself epic battles by charging heroically into superior enemy stacks. The challenging gameplay and campaigns will come later when the game and mods have matured. This game is so big you can enjoy it from different angles.

    10/10 for limitless potential to counteract all this downvoting done by ragers    … Expand
  23. cleavland
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    They copied the AI, lack of collision physics, and monotonous city-building from Empire and tacked it onto this mess. SAVE YOUR 60-70 BUCKS! The troubles start when the game crashes for no good reason and the how user interface became downgraded to the point of being patronizing. NO MORE CUSTOM FORMATIONS!?. Massive lag on the campaign map with 100+ factions together taking 1+ minute on anThey copied the AI, lack of collision physics, and monotonous city-building from Empire and tacked it onto this mess. SAVE YOUR 60-70 BUCKS! The troubles start when the game crashes for no good reason and the how user interface became downgraded to the point of being patronizing. NO MORE CUSTOM FORMATIONS!?. Massive lag on the campaign map with 100+ factions together taking 1+ minute on an optimum gaming computer to finish the turn, then there's the battle lag... This game was pushed to release and I have a feeling that the talent who actually make the game did not have a say in the matter as no self-respecting programmer should accept money for selling such a broken and falsely-advertised product. The punch-line being that some empty-greedy suit decided to do some DLC whoring by announcing DLC BEFORE the game was released. If money is no object, buy the first Rome Total War and this one, play them both and you will find a perfect example of what has gone wrong with gaming within the past 10 years.… Expand
  24. Defengar
    Sep 15, 2013
    7
    I did not have as many issues as everyone else seemed to have had on launch, but i did have several glaring ones (mutilated textures, retarded AI, ships thats would glitch out of control, and of course ridiculous lengths of time being taken up by AI turns). This is really unacceptable from a company thats been making these games for over a decade now and themselves said they had a farI did not have as many issues as everyone else seemed to have had on launch, but i did have several glaring ones (mutilated textures, retarded AI, ships thats would glitch out of control, and of course ridiculous lengths of time being taken up by AI turns). This is really unacceptable from a company thats been making these games for over a decade now and themselves said they had a far larger budget for this game than any they have done in the series so far, and that it was the best TW yet. I wish I could give this game a 9-10, but i just cant.… Expand
  25. Hunter555888
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    Horrible everything. Its another Empire total war, but dont get me wrong I love the total war series (excluding now Rome 2 and empire.) It has horrible amount of bugs and horrible Ai. This is just a mini review, watch videos on youtube for more indepth review of Rome 2. Youtube: Total War: Rome II Angry Review by AngryShowJoe, really depicts the worst of Rome 2.
  26. axec
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    Whilst the game has its technical problems, the sheer scope and the passion that oozes from every part of the game is clear, it will become better over time.
  27. Badajoz95
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    And I promised never to pre-purchase again... and this is exactly why. Great game history. I've bought every Total War previously but Total War: Rome 2 has SO many faults it is basically unplayable for a rewarding experience. Worst is the fact that the AI is completely broken for battles, so broken that the game is essentially completely broken.
  28. Dcruize
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    A step backward for TW arcadey and simplistic combat, ugly graphics and a really weak campaign mode. I dislike the 3D portraits and found the unit cards to be be too hard to distinguish between at a glance. So glad I was able to try it before I wasted money on it, I'll go back to playing MTW2, RTW or even ETW.
  29. Goodis
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    Horrible launch, but all their titles had horrible launches and they all eventually got to be all times best strategy games and I'm sure this one will get patched and fixed! Best in the series. Good investment worth every penny.

    + Graphics + Gameplay + Map size + Factions + Culture system + Sieges + Requires detailed city planing and management - Diplomacy - AI (Temporary) -    Horrible launch, but all their titles had horrible launches and they all eventually got to be all times best strategy games and I'm sure this one will get patched and fixed! Best in the series. Good investment worth every penny.

    + Graphics
    + Gameplay
    + Map size
    + Factions
    + Culture system
    + Sieges
    + Requires detailed city planing and management

    - Diplomacy
    - AI (Temporary)
    - No Family tree
    - No Skill tree    … Expand
  30. Kain292
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    Total War: Rome II is a solid release into the long-running franchise by Creative Assembly. Though enduring a rough first two weeks, after some support the game is now wholly enjoyable, giving me yet another excuse to sink hours of my life into a TW game.

    Empire management is streamlined in Rome, with all provincial management being condensed into one screen. While veteran TW fans may    Total War: Rome II is a solid release into the long-running franchise by Creative Assembly. Though enduring a rough first two weeks, after some support the game is now wholly enjoyable, giving me yet another excuse to sink hours of my life into a TW game.

    Empire management is streamlined in Rome, with all provincial management being condensed into one screen. While veteran TW fans may pan this new system as pandering to new players, the new system is a welcome take to the clunky system of some of the older entries, where each building would have to be found and upgraded individually, instead of from a single screen.

    One sad omission from the game is the family tree system, which in previous TW games added a nice aspect of management to your empire. Instead, your generals are now broken down into a "Ruling family vs non-ruling family" list, where you can use political power gained by your family to promote your generals, hinder non-ruler generals, or adopt/marry them into your family to secure your power base. This is an interesting, if clunky, take on the political intrigue of the time (especially in the Roman world), and highlights the fact that though you are in control of your faction, you are not the only one hungry for power.

    The secondary aspect of any TW game, the battle mode, is brilliant. Though originally the battles were too quick, due to a sped-up fighting and running mechanic, after the recent patch the game feels more like an old-school TW game. The enemy AI can be surprisingly devious, using flanking maneuvers and hiding units effectively, to the point where even on normal difficulty a player who doesnt give a large fight their full attention can quickly be facing a rout as his shield wall is attacked from the side, or their archers are run down by cavalry which skirted the side of the battle.

    Campaign map AI is, so far, the most disappointing aspect of this game. Endlessly blockading an enemy city preventing you from capturing it, fleeing from, instead of defending against your army sieging their capital city, and launching attacks that are doomed to fail can make the player feel like their victory is hollow. After marching my armies across Greece to face Parthage, only to have their army (which was roughly the same size) up and run off into another province left me with a sour taste in my mouth, but it does open the possibility of a counter-attack in the future, should I leave my new conquest without a proper defence.

    Rome II is not the greatest Total War game. Though fans of the series will argue until their faces turn blue about which one deserves the honour of best, Rome II is nonetheless a solid entry into the franchise. Any fan of empire-building strategy games should seriously considering adding Rome II to their collection. Though hampered by initial poor performance, within two weeks the game is up and running to a very healthy level of playability. Early purchasers have every right to be frustrated at the game's poor initial performance, but more often than not, the standard of this industry is to release a far-from-perfect initial release of the game, with early patches to bring it up to snuff. If one can look past these issues, and simply play the game, I think most will find it to their liking.    … Expand
  31. udarshen
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    Worst AI i have ever seen from any strategy game. I guess CA used all its bigger budget to bribe critical reviewers. Don't buy this game now. You have been warned. It is unplayable. Even if you can play it, the game mechanics is uninteresting. It is also overpriced. It should be listed $6 instead of $60. I have wasted the money. I just treat the loss as I accidentally dropped the money inWorst AI i have ever seen from any strategy game. I guess CA used all its bigger budget to bribe critical reviewers. Don't buy this game now. You have been warned. It is unplayable. Even if you can play it, the game mechanics is uninteresting. It is also overpriced. It should be listed $6 instead of $60. I have wasted the money. I just treat the loss as I accidentally dropped the money in to the toilet… Expand
  32. Ataraxic89
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    Ill give it a 7. I find the game fairly enjoyable but they really dropped the ball on this one. That said, I trust that they will fix all the bugs over the course of a year. This is not acceptable, but since I already own it. That'll have to do. Sadly TW games have been removed from my personal "Buy on release" list of series. The list is so short now.
  33. ConnorH
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    I know there was a lot of bugs for some people but I, like many others, had no problem playing this game flawlessly and I would like to say that it is an outstanding game that adds in many new features and the ai is a huge step up from previous games. Pity people who cant play this game at all feel the need to give it a 0 score when they clearly haven't experienced it
  34. pepikJS
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    Gaming press was bribed, dudes, I'm telling you, this is unbelievable. We need to let em fall, for real, go bankrupt. Or, we can buy sh*t like this and pretend its quality product, keep on giving em more money, so they will throw at us more and more sh*t. No, dudes, let em fall. They need to learn what is responsibility and consequences. If they have the guts to sell this pile of sh*t forGaming press was bribed, dudes, I'm telling you, this is unbelievable. We need to let em fall, for real, go bankrupt. Or, we can buy sh*t like this and pretend its quality product, keep on giving em more money, so they will throw at us more and more sh*t. No, dudes, let em fall. They need to learn what is responsibility and consequences. If they have the guts to sell this pile of sh*t for 55 euro, they're playing with fire. Its like buying a car with fuc*ed up engine and steering-wheel made of pure sh*t! Unforgivable! Disrespectful! They think we re just open wallets, but no, this robbery is over! I'm done!… Expand
  35. carthoris
    Sep 15, 2013
    1
    Dear customers, you've been brainwashed by the marketing team.At least they're doing their job properly ...but we know its Rome Total MESS !!
    Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise and a well orchestrated PR campaign releasing a broken product that is not fit for purpose like ..robbing people? CA you should be ashamed Not only they have removed features for no other reason than    Dear customers, you've been brainwashed by the marketing team.At least they're doing their job properly ...but we know its Rome Total MESS !!
    Two steps backwards for the Total War franchise and a well orchestrated PR campaign releasing a broken product that is not fit for purpose like ..robbing people? CA you should be ashamed Not only they have removed features for no other reason than to attempt a horrid console cashgrab, but the features that DO remain have been completely dumbed down, broken and ruined.How can you mark a game so highly when its literally a broken game that's unfinished as well as missing all of the series features?How?    … Expand
  36. DeadDonkey
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    The amount of whining and rage here is unbelievable. A triple A PC game having bugs on launch is normal, and fixed within weeks (the latest patch has fixed a ridiculous amount of glaring bugs like campaign AI). A "bad game" is inherently flawed in some way. Rome II is most certainly not a bad game. Rome II is a excellent videogame.
  37. dajarvi
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    I've put over forty hours now into the game. In it's first release, I felt like it was a rehash of Shogun 2, but with the latest beta patch and Radius Mod and All Factions Unlocked mod, I have given the game an 8 (my previous score was 6). Vanilla itself is worth a 7 in it's current state, but throw on a few mods, this game is suddenly addictive.

    Total War has a strong heritage of a    I've put over forty hours now into the game. In it's first release, I felt like it was a rehash of Shogun 2, but with the latest beta patch and Radius Mod and All Factions Unlocked mod, I have given the game an 8 (my previous score was 6). Vanilla itself is worth a 7 in it's current state, but throw on a few mods, this game is suddenly addictive.

    Total War has a strong heritage of a community of modders who have dedicated years to improving off the core of TW games. Unique to Rome 2 is the campaign setting. It is the best it has ever been. I feel like a chief of my own kingdom. Beautiful scenery, and mechanically, a step in a different direction from what they began with Empire.

    If they release a comprehensive set of modding tools, I will give Rome 2 a 9.0 I have played Total War since Medieval 1.    … Expand
  38. majoortje
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    10/10, 85 hours in and even though there are numerous bugs and balancing issues, it is AWESOME. The battles are huge and the animations are supreme, dozens of units with huge variety and thousands of directions to go in. Combined assaults and the other new features make this the best TW ever!
  39. kytsata
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    Sadly this game was a failure. Do not buy until it gets patched in a year. Ya it's really bad. Do not buy. Don't buy it becaues it's really bad. I hate it.
  40. MajorMilosh
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    I'm really scared of the state of the gaming community.

    Quick Points for lazy readers: Pros: -Nice new features including overhauled city building, strategic overview and lot's of different options in almost every department -Nicely sized map -Loading times from game to main menu are crazy fast. If you want to quickly hop from single player to multi, it takes 10 seconds. -Unit    I'm really scared of the state of the gaming community.

    Quick Points for lazy readers:

    Pros:

    -Nice new features including overhauled city building, strategic overview and lot's of different options in almost every department
    -Nicely sized map
    -Loading times from game to main menu are crazy fast. If you want to quickly hop from single player to multi, it takes 10 seconds.
    -Unit cards are sleek and fitting; not confusing

    Cons:

    -frame rate....
    -AA on? just on or off... really?
    -Jesus Christ the faces. The lips flap like fish and the amount of distortion and lines make them looks stupid.
    -Dat blob fighting
    -AI... where are you?
    -multiplayer de-sync

    Whenever a game comes out, people expect day 1 polish when there is no initial open beta. Simply put it is impossible. Yes, the state of the game when it came out was awful, but I still played and enjoyed 30 hours of Rome before the first patch. Yes, like EVERY OTHER CA GAME SINCE EMPIRE they have proved that you beta test for a few months... maybe more. Sure, it isn't perfect but I have enjoyed almost every minute of this game.    … Expand
  41. g2nelson
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    All these people need to learn how to rate a game. They have issues with with the UI choice, ok fair. There are some bugs, none game breaking. Ok fair. But to give a game, a series that you stated you loved, a 0/10 is such a despicable move.

    Well ill take the same route, i enjoy the game immensely. By your logic, that means it deserves a 10/10 so ok!
  42. Slason
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    The game is great! There is a lot of complaining of bugs and stupid AI, but I don't find that true. I've encountered almost no bugs, and the AI seems to be at the same level of inteligence that the rest of the total war game (don't shoot me!).

    We can all agree that the game was rushed, but if it wasn't a total war game, and the same hype would not be around, I am pretty positive most    The game is great! There is a lot of complaining of bugs and stupid AI, but I don't find that true. I've encountered almost no bugs, and the AI seems to be at the same level of inteligence that the rest of the total war game (don't shoot me!).

    We can all agree that the game was rushed, but if it wasn't a total war game, and the same hype would not be around, I am pretty positive most would give the game a lot better rating. There is some bugs that has to been taken care of, and there is some lagg if your graphics card and CPU is not high end. But patch 2 fixes many of those issues.

    Due to the game just beeing so much fun, I give it an 8/10. I have not encountered any game breaking bugs, and if you play at the hardest difficulty, the AI is not that stupid.    … Expand
  43. Nemo94
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    The game was released with some minor glitches. None of these glitches prevent you from playing/enjoying the game. That being said, I am disappointed that the game doesn't live up to the hype. The Creative assembly are currently releasing weekly patches, so most of the problems will be taken care of in the coming weeks.

    SEGA have clearly pushed CA (Creative assembly) to release this    The game was released with some minor glitches. None of these glitches prevent you from playing/enjoying the game. That being said, I am disappointed that the game doesn't live up to the hype. The Creative assembly are currently releasing weekly patches, so most of the problems will be taken care of in the coming weeks.

    SEGA have clearly pushed CA (Creative assembly) to release this game before it was ready. So all the hate toward the developers is quite unfair. They have a record for making amazing games and I'm sure this one will be no different. It might take a few weeks for the game to reach it's full potential, but at present it's still a very good addition to the franchise.    … Expand
  44. Dyrborg
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    This game deserves a much better rating than the current 3.7. I really don't get the 0/10 ratings. IMO I can't see how ANY game could ever get a lower than 1/10 rating, and then we are still talking about an extreeme case.

    Anyway, I think the game overall delivers what I expected from it. Of couse it has some optimization issues and bugs, like many major releases in the last couple of    This game deserves a much better rating than the current 3.7. I really don't get the 0/10 ratings. IMO I can't see how ANY game could ever get a lower than 1/10 rating, and then we are still talking about an extreeme case.

    Anyway, I think the game overall delivers what I expected from it. Of couse it has some optimization issues and bugs, like many major releases in the last couple of years, and especially Total War games lately. However CA and SEGA usually works very hard to fix these issues which can only explain how E:TW and Shogun 2:TW became such massive success, considering their horrible releases.

    I especially like the ideas behind the public order squalor system. It just needs some rebalancing which CA has informed will come in the next patch. I also like that cities are have multiple capture points. Instead of just one where the enemy would stack all its units. I also like that artillery is finally so good that they are an important part of my army, and not just a unit used to take down a wall. It can actually apply serious damage to an army now.

    Furthermore ROME 2:TW delivers what I really missed in ROME:TW: A much richer unit roster. In the first Rome there were basically only 5-10 units apart from the Roman and Carthaginian empire that made up all other factions roaster. In ROME 2 it is much more diverse, or atleast feels that way.

    I have played the game for 40+ hours now and can only recommend it. 8/10. The last two is to counter all the 0/10 ratings that makes no sense.    … Expand
  45. Olafsson
    Sep 15, 2013
    2
    Let's play Rome Total War 2, shall we ?

    ZZZZzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZ That sums it up I think. This game is just boring, there is no challenge whatsoever and most of the time is made of... waiting. There is no rythm or ambiance that would keep the player interested quite a failure when you think it should involves Rome, huge battles, acts of heroism, conquest, politics, treasons, and the    Let's play Rome Total War 2, shall we ?

    ZZZZzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZ

    That sums it up I think. This game is just boring, there is no challenge whatsoever and most of the time is made of... waiting. There is no rythm or ambiance that would keep the player interested quite a failure when you think it should involves Rome, huge battles, acts of heroism, conquest, politics, treasons, and the such. But here, nope, it's just plain boring.

    Congratulations for that Creative Assembly, it is really quite an achievement.

    Also, false marketing, false promises, we're getting used to it, but it's always totally unacceptable. Lying to customers is very very low. Watch Angry Joe review on youtube, listen to the people in charge of the AI and laugh your ass off comparing it to the reality. Shame, shame on you. Stop spending money on marketing and overhype, and use more in actual work on important things like AI.

    And of course everything else... UI is bad, especially for nowadays standards. Naval units are useless. Performances issues. Units balancing messed up. Loading times...

    Well pretty much everything is off.

    This game is maybe worth 3/10 and 10 bucks, but am gonna lower it to a 2/10 because of the false reviews. Guys, it really starts to show that you are bought and that is unacceptable.    … Expand
  46. jimplunder
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    I know the game got panned for the numerous bugs that were there on launch. Thankfully, I've only had the game crash once. A lot of people complain about the UI and the combat AI. I don't really know where that comes from (since I usually auto-resolve fights and I can find my way around the UI just fine). I can say that I have tried a couple of naval battles and the pathfinding isI know the game got panned for the numerous bugs that were there on launch. Thankfully, I've only had the game crash once. A lot of people complain about the UI and the combat AI. I don't really know where that comes from (since I usually auto-resolve fights and I can find my way around the UI just fine). I can say that I have tried a couple of naval battles and the pathfinding is horrendous. I also don't understand why the game automatically switches from a boarding stance to a ramming stance without your permission. I was fighting a couple of enemy ships with a large fleet and even though I set EVERY ship in my fleet to board enemy ships, 99% of them sat in the water doing nothing and when I looked at them, they had their stance set back to ramming. I lost a lot more men than I should have thanks to that.

    But overall, it's been a good game for me. I enjoy playing it. It's not the best TW game in the series by far, but it's fun. I like the new faction balancing in the game which adds a nice political touch to the game. I like having to manage individual provinces with multiple cities in them rather than just one. It changes up enough to keep the TW series interesting but still feels familiar enough so you can pick up and play. Creative Assembly said it will patch the game regularly, so perhaps a lot of the concerns in the negative reviews will be addressed.    … Expand
  47. DodoE
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    I paid 60$ for a early acces game??? currently the game is on beta stage,so many bugs,i regret buying this.
    at least CA should reward us for testing her awful game.
  48. Alekseyev79
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wow, this Game is such a failure compared to previous titles. I had such High hopes and this game broke my wallet and my heart. No refunds for opened pc games. not even when they are garbage. I could say heaps, but bad AI, Bad UI, Bad Management. etc. Game has been destroyed in every way. The Great looking soldiers are not enough.… Expand
  49. Maggotfist
    Sep 15, 2013
    2
    Beautiful game with so much potential. Game breaking crash bug at turn 57 on Suebi campaign. AI is almost non-existent. Poorly optimized graphics. Aside from the bugs and crashes VERY fun.
    It's a game of magnificent scope and ambition, but is CLEARLY in beta phase. I am very much looking forward to the final version after some patches.
  50. Johntylerkerlin
    Sep 15, 2013
    3
    This is not the ROME II Total war that was advertised. It is more like a dumbed down version of shogun II without all the things that make Total war unique. The family tree is butchered as well as the line of succession which would allow you to actually care about your generals. When I need a new general I just press a red button and one pops out. I have never been so disappointed with aThis is not the ROME II Total war that was advertised. It is more like a dumbed down version of shogun II without all the things that make Total war unique. The family tree is butchered as well as the line of succession which would allow you to actually care about your generals. When I need a new general I just press a red button and one pops out. I have never been so disappointed with a Total war than I am now. Rome I was not improved upon. ROME II is a piece of what ROME I was.… Expand
  51. Spalas
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    That is enough!
    I can only compare this to war-z with the false advertising. I will not buy anything else from them or STEAM again.
    It is not funny to spend money on lies and all they do in the support forums is to mock you in your face.
    I feel like an idiot to have spent money on this but at least I just lost some money while CA will lose their jobs. It is a matter of time...
  52. Skipnipper
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    So so angry & so disappointed. This has to be the worst game in the franchise by quite some way. Useless AI coupled with terrible design and game play choices make this a complete waste of not only your time, but also your hard earned money. I can sincerely say with hand on heart that the company's involved in creating this turd deserve to go bankrupt. I cannot put into words the utterSo so angry & so disappointed. This has to be the worst game in the franchise by quite some way. Useless AI coupled with terrible design and game play choices make this a complete waste of not only your time, but also your hard earned money. I can sincerely say with hand on heart that the company's involved in creating this turd deserve to go bankrupt. I cannot put into words the utter contempt I feel for them right now. PLEASE ignore ANY positive reviews, as they are obviously from paid shills.… Expand
  53. Shrutesh
    Sep 15, 2013
    10
    Ok people, what's with the 0s 1s & 2s??

    Yes the optimization is NOT stellar, neither is the AI, nor are the game mechanics perfect; but Rome2 is not the complete mess that warrants near 0 ratings. UI Seems to be designed for a screen resolution of *at least* 1920*1080 Performance On a solo GTX 670 I set everything to "Very High" and am frame locked at 60 FPS in battles, round 30    Ok people, what's with the 0s 1s & 2s??

    Yes the optimization is NOT stellar, neither is the AI, nor are the game mechanics perfect; but Rome2 is not the complete mess that warrants near 0 ratings.

    UI Seems to be designed for a screen resolution of *at least* 1920*1080

    Performance On a solo GTX 670 I set everything to "Very High" and am frame locked at 60 FPS in battles, round 30 fps on the campaign map.

    AI Well it still is pretty dumb, but It does seem to be more tactical on the campaign map, like I realized it does not attack cities where my armies are but instead tries to attack the relatively undefended ones.

    Not a 10/10 but its not a 0/10 either; I give it a 8/10 in the current state, 9/10 after patches.    … Expand
  54. lxgiwylgta
    Sep 15, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I purchased Rome 2 Total War 2 days after release because I just couldn't bare the wait anymore. But how foolish of me by not bothering to check the reviews before I took action. Then again, I had complete faith and trust in CA so i didn't even think twice. Now its safe to say that I am completely disappointed by CA's performance and release of Rome 2 Total War. The never ending list of bugs and other complaints by other fellow reviewers is already enough to express my frustration and disappointment. To sum it up, I am experiencing almost the same problems these fellow gamers are experiencing. The single player AI wants nothing but gold, they also make ridiculous offers at times. They let you conquer their cities without a struggle, like what Angry Joe said in his review, the enemy army would sometime run in circles for no reason and does not attack at all. After you conquer their settlement they often "retaliate" with only ONE unit and will repeat until they perish. Another annoying thing that I found was during naval battles my ships does not follow my orders, the odds of winning was in my favor, but instead, my ships sit idle while getting rammed by enemy ships until they sink. Battles last 4 mins tops for me, and the enemy army routs so easily and it gives me no challenge at all. And what's with the stupid flags placed in maps now? There's practically a flag in every type of battle now, and you can't even focus on deploying strategy into the field, instead you have to put units to actually guard or seize the stupid flags. And the enemy AI does NOT care about fighting your army in siege battles. They'll try to break through your line (or die trying) to get to the flag. I mean who came up with the bright idea of putting capture points in every type of battle scenario? I guess for siege battles its acceptable, but for every battle?! Its just plain stupid and it ruins the authenticity of the Total War game. During singleplayer campaign if you don't uncheck the box that says "Show AI moves" then you're basically going to sit watching the AI move for lets say 30 minutes? And I'm not even exaggerating. From past total war gaming experience, I've always turned off that feature to save time. But even with that feature off it still takes up to 5 minutes for it to be your turn again. And when you destroy a faction, THEY WILL SOMEHOW COME BACK LATER. I was hoping by destroying factions maybe the turns will end much quicker, but nope. The destroyed factions somehow "emerge from the chaos of a war" a few turns later. The crashes has been pretty annoying as well. I've experienced 5 crashes now and I'm about 160 turns in the game. And now I'd have to save everytime I make a major move or the game might crash and I'd have to end up redoing everything. The family trees are very vague and boring. They don't show the complexity of families and the marriages like in Medieval 2, instead it only shows your Generals and when they die, they just get replaced by another general that spawns out of nowhere. The armies are so hard to manage now since you're limited to have a certain amount of armies, but I guess this gives people a challenge. However you can now only recruit units when you have a general present in the unit, and you cannot split armies either, they have to stay where the general is; so you can't send a unit to a city or another army. And now the armies can instantly travel by sea without building navies to transport them. They come with their own transport ships! How lame is that. It makes the standard navy completely obsolete because armies at sea can easily defeat standard navies now. I can go on and on about these things, but I don't feel the need to because they're also listed in other reviews. And I know that most of us are on the same page here. Let this be a clear message to CA and we're letting them know that public order in the Total war community is extremely low, and we are about to go into a rebellion if they don't do much about this soon. I hope they use their resources and time to make a rewarding DLC for us in the future so we can atleast still consider to forgive CA for their wrongdoings. But until then, we'll just have to wait for results. All of this is coming from a loyal Total War fan since Rome 1. And we all hope CA will never pull this stunt again to their loyal customers, because we are the main reason why they're still alive today.… Expand
  55. socialperson1
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Well Rome II will need some heavy patching if not mods to make it playable for me. This game will need another year people, so give it some time and save your money, for now, you aren't really missing anything.
  56. koolaid0101
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    I have been waiting for this game for several years, since the Empire TW.

    I played for a total of 4 hours? I have not played again or have any desire to play again any time soon. They made to game look pretty. They ruined the games internals and made it so that this game will be broken for years to come. The turn waiting is way to much, over 5 minutes in some cases. They    I have been waiting for this game for several years, since the Empire TW.

    I played for a total of 4 hours?

    I have not played again or have any desire to play again any time soon.

    They made to game look pretty.

    They ruined the games internals and made it so that this game will be broken for years to come. The turn waiting is way to much, over 5 minutes in some cases.

    They really killed the game, between:

    1. Turn waiting
    2. AI is broken Which causes the battles to be broken and boring.
    3. Battles are broken and boring.
    4. Easy to raise armies and go on a capturing spree.
    5. Building structures is boring and purposeless.    … Expand
  57. ibnarabi
    Sep 14, 2013
    3
    The best thing I can say about this game... it's made figuring out which websites are corporate whores really easy. So thanks for that :)

    I'm wondering why they made troop transports into free battleships that spawn on entering the water, and put a capture the flag mode into some battles... it doesn't really matter, the AI is very bad in both land and naval combat, the Campaign    The best thing I can say about this game... it's made figuring out which websites are corporate whores really easy. So thanks for that :)

    I'm wondering why they made troop transports into free battleships that spawn on entering the water, and put a capture the flag mode into some battles... it doesn't really matter, the AI is very bad in both land and naval combat, the Campaign interface is poorly done, the AI trivial, diplomacy is so simple it's nearly pointless, the engine is unoptimized...
    It may turn into a 7 someday, but I think 3 is fair now. Go get the Radious_Total_War_Mod.pack if you want a quick fix. That at least makes it somewhat playable.

    Sega obviously rushed this out the door, and the cowards at CA didn't mention it to their customers, or bother give a damn until they had our cash. Nothing new there.    … Expand
  58. verose
    Sep 14, 2013
    9
    Significantly improved after Patch 2. Although it is clear that publisher rushed the release a bit, this installment is a step forward in the series with new province management, persistent army levels, and a massive campaign map. Music is bland in comparison to Rome 1 and unit variety between factions could be improved (some factions have a very small roster as well). Overall though, anSignificantly improved after Patch 2. Although it is clear that publisher rushed the release a bit, this installment is a step forward in the series with new province management, persistent army levels, and a massive campaign map. Music is bland in comparison to Rome 1 and unit variety between factions could be improved (some factions have a very small roster as well). Overall though, an excellent successor to the classic Rome 1. Also I created an account just to write this due to the ridiculous number of unjustified 0 scores.… Expand
  59. karvala
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Dear oh dear oh dear. What a complete shambles. It's not that there are bugs in this game; sadly that's par for the course these days. It's not that the turn ends take far too long; in fact, everything takes far too long, for too little benefit. It's not even that it's lost a lot of the attractive features of previous games in the series in the name of streamlining; change has toDear oh dear oh dear. What a complete shambles. It's not that there are bugs in this game; sadly that's par for the course these days. It's not that the turn ends take far too long; in fact, everything takes far too long, for too little benefit. It's not even that it's lost a lot of the attractive features of previous games in the series in the name of streamlining; change has to happen and that's fair enough. It's that the end result is a complete, unplayable, mess.

    Bad AI? Check. Poor performance? Check. Dire documentation? Check. Poorly designed new features? Check. Lack of balance? Check. Lack of usability? Check. This game is a textbook example of how NOT to design a game. That they took such a good series and somehow turned it into this deserves some sort of award. Preferably the sort that involved unemployment.

    Don't bother buying it now; wait a couple of months and you'll find it in the bargain basement at $5, which frankly would still be overpriced.    … Expand
  60. Konda
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Firstly, I created my account to review this game. I usually dont review games here, but I felt I owed it to you all to do this.
    Firstly the positives. The attrition while maintaining siege is good, although its not been done very well. You seem to lose standard amount of men each turn, instead of getting random results (disease for example).
    Negatives... well, let me start off by saying    Firstly, I created my account to review this game. I usually dont review games here, but I felt I owed it to you all to do this.
    Firstly the positives. The attrition while maintaining siege is good, although its not been done very well. You seem to lose standard amount of men each turn, instead of getting random results (disease for example).
    Negatives... well, let me start off by saying that the game is horribly optimized, buggy, the multiplayer coop is unplayable etc. Its all that, true, but I dont even care. If there was a gem below all this rubbish I would be able to live with it.

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

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

    I'll give the game 1/10 as it is, and 2/10 when its optimized. Shame... a real shame.
    And by the way, the site that gave it 100/100 should consider stopping game reviews completely.    … Expand
  61. Broadnick
    Sep 14, 2013
    3
    Big deception all over this game. Too long between tours (take your coffee), very poor AI, bad research system, battles are too easy, Navy battles are ridiculous. City and Army Management is dull.

    General Map is nice.

    I return to the original Rome Total War
  62. msamitas
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    All 100 & 10 points are nonsense.
    AI is terrific and there are so many graphical issues. AI armies are not fighting just hanging around.
    Play Shogun II or Civ 5 instead.
  63. meru
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    It seems that only four of fifty reviewers were the only ones who actually tested the game, instead of writing a canned review the other magazines were told to fabricate by the publisher. A game that was dead on arrival. And a nice example of what the game reviewing industry has come to. "Being corrupt" is a mild expression for it. Whoever has seen the CA pimp in the video who ranted aboutIt seems that only four of fifty reviewers were the only ones who actually tested the game, instead of writing a canned review the other magazines were told to fabricate by the publisher. A game that was dead on arrival. And a nice example of what the game reviewing industry has come to. "Being corrupt" is a mild expression for it. Whoever has seen the CA pimp in the video who ranted about the fantastic AI they had included in the game "with the highest Total War budget ever" will only be able to think "When was this fluke fired?"… Expand
  64. vorys
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    input flags Say no tactics. siege machines do not need force tank will do everything for them. a lot of bugs and shoals in the chart. simplification in the "beautification of cities." inability to erect walls in the settlements, and yes even a complete simplification of all that you can. teams get off to a bunch of stupid. dull fights on the water. lack of diplomacy. restriction in theinput flags Say no tactics. siege machines do not need force tank will do everything for them. a lot of bugs and shoals in the chart. simplification in the "beautification of cities." inability to erect walls in the settlements, and yes even a complete simplification of all that you can. teams get off to a bunch of stupid. dull fights on the water. lack of diplomacy. restriction in the military it seems if it will fail to remove all the entire balance. there is still a lot of different things.… Expand
  65. WalkinWoundd
    Sep 14, 2013
    3
    I loved the other Total War titles and was keen to play Rome 2. Unfortunately the game is a step backwards in almost every way. Within minutes of started a new campaign the game descends into 'click 'End turn', wait 3 minutes for the computer turn, move army, and then repeat the cycle until you die of boredom.

    The strategy and interesting world is gone. There are far to many factions to    I loved the other Total War titles and was keen to play Rome 2. Unfortunately the game is a step backwards in almost every way. Within minutes of started a new campaign the game descends into 'click 'End turn', wait 3 minutes for the computer turn, move army, and then repeat the cycle until you die of boredom.

    The strategy and interesting world is gone. There are far to many factions to care in anyway about any of them. I literally have NO idea what Creative Assembly have been doing for 2 and a half years making this game.

    So disappointed with it.    … Expand
  66. yupre7676
    Sep 14, 2013
    8
    I don't like the fact that there are support ships and that there is no family tree. Why can the enemy sail farther than u and be able to attack in the same turn while on forced row? If u attempt the same thing and try to attack then u sail like 3 feet compared to them just magically being able to go anywhere they want. I still love the game it just needs some major tweaks!
  67. Nekator
    Sep 14, 2013
    10
    Sigh, normally i would give it a 7-8, since CA has the TW typical flaws integrated, weak AI and some bugs.. but seeing the laughable bashing this game get´s i´m giving the full 10, which this game undoubtly will be, once it´s finally patched (and modded), since the basic game is just great, varied and of high replayability.
  68. krislawton19
    Sep 14, 2013
    4
    i've just signed up to leave this review, this game is so disappointing after watching the trailers and being a fan of the total war franchise from the start and with shogun 2 being awesome i expected this game to be even greater. The AI is terrible which wont be a game changer if you didn't just buy dogs which in kill 80% of any army without even engaging them, or the gates to a forti've just signed up to leave this review, this game is so disappointing after watching the trailers and being a fan of the total war franchise from the start and with shogun 2 being awesome i expected this game to be even greater. The AI is terrible which wont be a game changer if you didn't just buy dogs which in kill 80% of any army without even engaging them, or the gates to a fort opening and closing none stop so you cant burn the gate down. Boring though when you use 2000 men vs 8000 just dogs and only take 50 casulaitys. I can live with stuff like this though even on the highest difficulty but stuff like shoguns army controls missing in rome 2 makes me cry or how naval battles are pointless. People disappear from your armys to fast aswell, different forts are just the same fort rotated on the map a let down. it does have some nice things like line of sight and province but the more i play it the more i start to think do i really want the next one if its like this. how people can rate this game 8/10 i dont understand. granted ive only played 55hours of it so far and i am playing it on its highest settings across the board graphics/gameplay but im bored of it and let down and shogun keep me entertained for ...well lets say 5x this in single player alone. i unstand glitches and ai bugs all ways happen in these games but comon didnt you even do beta and its core machinics are just not there and its a shadow of other games… Expand
  69. Batman6794
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    Even as a stable working game (which it isn't for most people) it still sucks! All of the trade off decisions that made the game interesting and deep are gone in favor of stupid arcade simplicity.

    Old total war: Roads are EXPENSIVE and take a LONG time to build, but they will grow your economy and help your troops move faster. Invest in building them too earlier and your small military    Even as a stable working game (which it isn't for most people) it still sucks! All of the trade off decisions that made the game interesting and deep are gone in favor of stupid arcade simplicity.

    Old total war: Roads are EXPENSIVE and take a LONG time to build, but they will grow your economy and help your troops move faster. Invest in building them too earlier and your small military will be starved of needed funds. Invest too late and you fall behind in the economic race.

    Rome II:Roads build themselves automatically. You have zero control.

    Old total war:Navies are very expensive and take a long time to build. A small one can protect your ports from pirates but is vulnerable to enemy navies, a larger one (HUGE investment) can protect your shores from invasion, and a massive one can project your power throughout the world with a relatively small army. Should you invest in a fleet now, or will one of your enemies land some large armies on your shores while the boats are being built and your army is not in condition to repel them?

    Rome II: If your army walks to the ocean, transport ships magically appear and they can go anywhere. Put them on double time so they can reach a safe landing zone each turn and you'll never need to build a navy to move your troops. Also, your enemies get free magic transports too, so no point in investing in a Navy to hunt down and destroy theirs. Its just not possible. Just don't worry about it.

    Old Total War:Units have lots of abilities that increase one aspect but sacrifice something else. (Increased defense, decreased movement rate.)

    Rome II:Those abilities are still there, but the vast majority of abilities are new ones that can only be described as "magic". They are all benefit and no downside. (For example, increased rate of fire for missile units, generals can select an tired friendly units and restore them to "fresh" instantly). What archer wouldn't fire as fast as he could just because you hadn't told him too yet? His life is on the line! He's gonna kill as many of the enemy as he can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Worst of all, these super magic bonuses are time limited, but there is no limit to the number of times you use them. So instead of picking the critical moment of battle to use your brief increase in abilities, you have to constantly micro-manage the abilities, waiting for the clock to run out so you can instantly re-enable it. The new SUPER fast pace of the battles also means that managing these abilities well can have a greater impact than actual maneuvering! Winning battles is no longer about good positioning and timing the critical charge, instead its about how fast can you click magic buttons that are associated with different units. Game ruining feature.

    Old Total War: Deploying for battle? The defender can use a large hill or cliff to make a stand, or use woods to conceal units for a small but critical surprise attack. The attacker must read the terrain and try to anticipate how the defender will choose to use it.

    Rome II:Introduced a new battle realism option that limits your view of enemy to the line of sight of your troops. This enables you to use terrain to mask the movements of your army, makes hills more strategic because they reveal more of the battlefield, makes scouting units actually useful on the battlefield, and adds the excellent tension of "Where are they?!?!?" This is all awesome and a change everyone should be excited about.
    Too bad its entirely undercut by the fact that randomly generated flags determine the outcome of the battle. Capture the flag, win the battle. Doesn't matter if you have the larger army. Doesn't matter if you're holding the best hill ever. If the enemy stands on a stupid flag on the other side of the battlefield, you lose and your army is forced to retreat. That hill/forest/ravine perfect for deploying your army and controlling the outcome is now meaningless unless it happens to be near the flag the just kinda pops up out of nowhere for no reason. Worst feature of any strategy game EVER.    … Expand
  70. RandomRussian
    Sep 14, 2013
    10
    Don't believe angry kiddies whose prehistoric computers were unable to run the game. Rome II is one of the best Real-Time Strategies ever and a possible GOTY. Creative Assembly fixes bugs very fast, and the game becomes more and more polished.
  71. fishplease
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    Granted, large PC releases usually have a "breaking in" period where the teething troubles are ironed out it's difficult to test every aspect of a game this large without delaying the release by a year and some launch issues are always to be expected. This, however, is too much. To release a game which is at best unoptimised, at worst unplayable and in all cases unfinished to pre-orderingGranted, large PC releases usually have a "breaking in" period where the teething troubles are ironed out it's difficult to test every aspect of a game this large without delaying the release by a year and some launch issues are always to be expected. This, however, is too much. To release a game which is at best unoptimised, at worst unplayable and in all cases unfinished to pre-ordering customers (the franchise's most loyal fans) is disgraceful, especially considering that the finished article will be available at knock-down price in a few months. You could fool me into thinking that this is a beta version intended to work out all the bugs in preparation for a more lucrative console version of the game.

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

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

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

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

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

    The graphics are very pretty though.    … Expand
  72. nitetrax
    Sep 14, 2013
    5
    Over hyped and under delivered, day 1 DLC for some of the most interesting factions (preorder or pay additional $8 to play as Sparta? F that), bugs, lag, glitches, and crashes (even on a friend's computer running a GTX 780), no seasons like in Shogun 2 leaves the campaign map looking very static, you don't feel an attachment to your generals as they come and go like drops of water during aOver hyped and under delivered, day 1 DLC for some of the most interesting factions (preorder or pay additional $8 to play as Sparta? F that), bugs, lag, glitches, and crashes (even on a friend's computer running a GTX 780), no seasons like in Shogun 2 leaves the campaign map looking very static, you don't feel an attachment to your generals as they come and go like drops of water during a rain, units just magically generate their own transport ships which can defeat actual navy warships in a fight (needed to use autoresolve to fix this), none of the "mechanistic, meat-grinder" combat that CA promised because melees (even between highly disciplined troops like Romans or Greeks) devolve into blobs as units break formation and cohesion, AI is absolutely retarded (will charge archers and slingers into your spearmen, will suicide rush map objectives such as flag capture and have entire force annihilated, etc.), immersion-breaking graphical effects (such as red skies, warped faces or textures), horribly inefficient UI (unit info, overlays, financial/economic information, etc), ridiculously long AI turn times (even if you turn "show AI movements" off, because there's too many factions and even the shortest move takes a second for each faction)

    This is not only a clearly unfinished game, it has fundamental problems with its mechanics which may doom it forever. These would take too long to describe here. The campaign map mechanics make the game less fun to play, while battle and campaign AI completely ruin everything.

    I have always loved Total War games since I play the first Medieval Total War back in 2002. Rome 2 is, in my opinion, the worst launch and worst game (so far) in the Total War series, and I'm not convinced it will improve, as there are fundamental "unfun" mechanics that cannot just easily be patched, altered, or modded

    This is a 5/10 game when judged after playing all the other Total War games that came out before it. When the bugs, glitches, and lag are fixed, this may be a 6/10 game...to people who've never played a Total War game, it may even be 7/10. If you are new to strategy, wait several months or until an expansion to give this a go. If you are a long-term, hardcore Total War fan...this is a far greater disappointment than Empire, and I recommend skipping it completely unless the fundamental gameplay mechanics are reworked (not to mention AI, blob-like zero-unit-cohesion combat, AI, etc.)    … Expand
  73. Exfan
    Sep 14, 2013
    1
    I had high hopes for this game considering how finished product Shogun 2 was. Sadly same problems that plagued Empire:total war are in this game too. Seems like they just copied same engine from Empire:total war. Game has same kind of fps problems in late game, large battles. It becomes dia show and haven't got anything to do with graphics options. Game is poorly optimized and terriblyI had high hopes for this game considering how finished product Shogun 2 was. Sadly same problems that plagued Empire:total war are in this game too. Seems like they just copied same engine from Empire:total war. Game has same kind of fps problems in late game, large battles. It becomes dia show and haven't got anything to do with graphics options. Game is poorly optimized and terribly slow paced because waiting for all AI turns in game (turning of show AI movement won't help anyway). Considering that they are atm beta testing patch it seems rushed product.… Expand
  74. Spartan_swe
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    This is a game in the same meaning a car is a car with a very good looking chassis, but nothing in it.
    This game is a product of marketing and profit making.
    Maybe in a year, this will be a finished product and worth buying, but as of this time, buy Total War Rome 1, a game that came out in 2004 and still have better gameplay, immersion and strategy. I have a hard time rating this    This is a game in the same meaning a car is a car with a very good looking chassis, but nothing in it.
    This game is a product of marketing and profit making.
    Maybe in a year, this will be a finished product and worth buying, but as of this time, buy Total War Rome 1, a game that came out in 2004 and still have better gameplay, immersion and strategy.

    I have a hard time rating this "product" because it feels like the same way it would feel rating a film sitting in the editing room watching the first rough cut, without sound, cgi and music.

    Absolute garbage!    … Expand
  75. Terrbear
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    Awful, CA lied about so much that they were implementing, iv played every total war and this one just doesn't have any feeling in it, its been totally streamlined and it doesn't play any different playing as rome, or carthage etc as they all have massively similar units, no unique events or intro movie and even though there are so many factions they all have the same units!!! I don't careAwful, CA lied about so much that they were implementing, iv played every total war and this one just doesn't have any feeling in it, its been totally streamlined and it doesn't play any different playing as rome, or carthage etc as they all have massively similar units, no unique events or intro movie and even though there are so many factions they all have the same units!!! I don't care if theirs say 30 different greek factions if they all have almost identical troops and don't act or strategise differently! and lets face it the ai doesn't strategise AT ALL, im into the late game as carthage, HOPING the game would improve as it has gone on but honestly it just doesn't, no particular part of this game is fun, I waited along time to play this game as so many did. All those CA videos are lies, like the Macedonian skirmish one: showing how 'good' the new ai was! its obvious now that it was a person playing as the romans in the video because there Is no chance that is the ai!!! Also I feel its sick that the critics reviews are so wrong, there is clearly something wrong when most critics are saying this game is amazing etc when clearly... CLEARLY its not. we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that this can be salvaged somehow...… Expand
  76. bracesco
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    Dont buy this, it´s a alpha. The game it´s broken, the AI it´s broken, the fps sucks. Im a fan of the Total War saga and this game its just Total Crap. CA you broke my heart.
  77. BadWolf1991
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    Disappointing. Paid full price for a Beta. They saw record pre-orders. Can be sure I won't be one of those next time. Every promise that was made pre-launch was a lie. That just about sums it up.
  78. greview
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    Finally the day is here Rome Total War 2... I couldnt wait ..have been a great Total War series veteran started with the original Medival Total War game in 2003 and bought every single one of the series after.i have had hundreds of enjoyabale hours playing Rome 1, medieval 2, Shogun 2 and Empire some of the best. they can all range from 8 to 10 stars, as a History buff i would say theFinally the day is here Rome Total War 2... I couldnt wait ..have been a great Total War series veteran started with the original Medival Total War game in 2003 and bought every single one of the series after.i have had hundreds of enjoyabale hours playing Rome 1, medieval 2, Shogun 2 and Empire some of the best. they can all range from 8 to 10 stars, as a History buff i would say the ancient romans would be watching over this game as a disgrace to they greatness, with retarded mentally challenged AI,plenty of glitches lots of waisted time waiting to download even on an high end PC. not all the ancient tribes exist as they should they should read plutarch and lots of history before launching this game. Total dissapointment or Total greed and failure should be the title of this one. what a great opportunity wasted for a 10 star game this should have been ,given the PC evolution since TW Rome 1, I would not advise any one spending $60 on this one rather play cheaper earlier TW games. Rely on user reviews other than "Critic" reviews whom share profit from this overpriced not fun to play game. 1 star i gave only because I like the History of Ancient Rome whom deserves a game matching its glorious past.… Expand
  79. Tubey
    Sep 13, 2013
    3
    This review score isn't based on the bugs (of which there are a lot, but they'll be patched out of existence soon enough). It's not based on day one issues of crashing, not being able to play etc. It's not even based on the ridiculous balancing issues (this is a world where an elephant could destroy the entire Roman legion on its own if it were so inclined) or the terrible AI andThis review score isn't based on the bugs (of which there are a lot, but they'll be patched out of existence soon enough). It's not based on day one issues of crashing, not being able to play etc. It's not even based on the ridiculous balancing issues (this is a world where an elephant could destroy the entire Roman legion on its own if it were so inclined) or the terrible AI and ridiculous overall simplicity of the game (currently, you have to actually try to lose a game, it's the easiest strategy game I've ever played in my life!). I recognise all of those things as issues, but they're not deal breakers for me. They can and will be fixed.

    No, the score is so low because of one completely unforgivable and unfixable problem in particular; the capture the flag mechanic is mind-numbingly stupid and a central facet of this game.

    It's beyond bad. OK, so armies charging through impossible odds to take the shortest route to the flag etc. "may" be fixed, but the mechanic will remain and thus the game will forever suck. It had no place in this game and it's difficult to comprehend exactly why the devs thought this was a good idea. It would have taken one proper strategy game enthusiast an hours testing at best before telling them it sucked, so the question has to be asked: did they test this game on any scale at all before releasing?!

    And it's such a shame, because there's a classic game waiting to burst out from under the surface here, but there's just too many stupid and/or lazy decisions by the devs which weigh it down to the point where there's little to no hope for it.    … Expand
  80. ComicBookGuy
    Sep 13, 2013
    4
    A good game soured by a rushed release and unfinished content. The alpha screens and videos showed something much better than was delivered, a real shame really. I did enjoy the game until I started to crash in battles with more than two armies present, co-op is shamefully incomplete, and worst of all the fixes will be paid DLC.

    Really that is what you can sum up Rome 2 as, a shame. A    A good game soured by a rushed release and unfinished content. The alpha screens and videos showed something much better than was delivered, a real shame really. I did enjoy the game until I started to crash in battles with more than two armies present, co-op is shamefully incomplete, and worst of all the fixes will be paid DLC.

    Really that is what you can sum up Rome 2 as, a shame. A real shame.

    Who do we blame? Publisher or Developer. My bet is both.    … Expand
  81. Irrelevant
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    Over 60 hours now and I just can't take it any more. I tried to be a good little fanboy but this game is sh*t in its current state. SHAME on sega and SHAME on ca for taking advantage of a loyal fan base.
    -Battles are now capture the flag
    -AI is the most broken its ever been. Set the battle timer to 20 minutes because they wont even attack half the time and youll end up just waiting out a    Over 60 hours now and I just can't take it any more. I tried to be a good little fanboy but this game is sh*t in its current state. SHAME on sega and SHAME on ca for taking advantage of a loyal fan base.
    -Battles are now capture the flag
    -AI is the most broken its ever been. Set the battle timer to 20 minutes because they wont even attack half the time and youll end up just waiting out a battle, suicide AI charges
    -Super streamlined. No politics, no family, no senate, no Factions Ranking scroll, cant base taxes on a city to city basis only faction-wide, units replenish in 2 turns
    -Glitchy graphics, poor AI pathfinding, poor unit responsiveness
    -FLAMING JAVELINS
    -On "legendary" difficulty enemy agents have 99% succes rate, yours have 10%, which doesn't make it hard but unfair
    -NO AGENT CUT SCENES
    -Armies make a fleet automatically by entering water. Those fleets of transports easily defeat the "real" fleets of warships
    -Random lag on campaign map and battles
    DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY wait several months for the 9,875,889,785 MB of patches that have to go through this game    … Expand
  82. busa27
    Sep 13, 2013
    10
    The game is great now with the last patch!!!!!! And CA will release another patch the nest week. I think you should give the game a second oportunity!
  83. Pesti
    Sep 13, 2013
    2
    The bugs oh the bugs... At least they can be fixed with patches in the future. But there is a much larger problem with this game. it brings nothing new to the table. Even worse it actually removed a lot of the new features that shogun 2 implemented. Gone are the nice and easily accessible tech/talent trees. Now replaced with color clots of various degrees of helpfulness. But that is by noThe bugs oh the bugs... At least they can be fixed with patches in the future. But there is a much larger problem with this game. it brings nothing new to the table. Even worse it actually removed a lot of the new features that shogun 2 implemented. Gone are the nice and easily accessible tech/talent trees. Now replaced with color clots of various degrees of helpfulness. But that is by no means the only or most disheartening problem. The game has been streamlined to the point where you can't feel any of the old magic that the old games had. Even total war empire had some charm, even if that charm was full of nasty diseases that you would not wish upon your own mortal enemies. Right from the start you can feel that there is something wrong, something that does not sit right.

    That is the feeling i am left with after playing the game. That the game is just wrong, that there is no magic, no charm, no nothing it is not just a normal run of the mill strategy game. So for my part i will be heading back to shogun 2. A game that actually has something to offer in the way of actual game play.    … Expand
  84. R80
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    I played all main Total War titles and some, though not all expansions. And I expected this game to be if not better, than at least equal to the previous Total War games. I was wrong.

    This game is Rome: TOTAL FAILURE. I don't even know how to start writing about what's wrong with this game, because I the truth is: almost EVERYTHING. - the AI is horrible- not just stupid, but    I played all main Total War titles and some, though not all expansions. And I expected this game to be if not better, than at least equal to the previous Total War games. I was wrong.

    This game is Rome: TOTAL FAILURE.

    I don't even know how to start writing about what's wrong with this game, because I the truth is: almost EVERYTHING.

    - the AI is horrible- not just stupid, but actually malfunctioning. Armies sometimes stand motionlessly under missile fire, untill they get routed due to casualties.

    - the UI and graphics feel heavy and unpleasant simply looking at them feels bad somehow

    - framerate is strangely low, compared to the framerate on the same computer for shogun 2. But the graphics do not look better, they actually look worse.

    - overall, this game simply lack PLAYABILITY. I mean the factor that made previous Total War games pleasurable to play. Rome Total War 2 doesn't have it "playing it feels like a job, like a burden.    … Expand
  85. CommissarPetrov
    Sep 13, 2013
    2
    Disclaimer for my review:

    I created a Metacritic account simply to write a review. I have never reviewed a game before, but due to my love for the series and my utter disappointment I went through all the damned hoops to do this. I am copy/pasting my request for a refund from Steam Support, but feel that others should read it as well and interact with this review as they see fit.    Disclaimer for my review:

    I created a Metacritic account simply to write a review. I have never reviewed a game before, but due to my love for the series and my utter disappointment I went through all the damned hoops to do this.

    I am copy/pasting my request for a refund from Steam Support, but feel that others should read it as well and interact with this review as they see fit.

    Hello Steam Support,

    First of all let me apologize for not putting "Rome 2: Total War" into the Product line of the ticket, as I was unable to find it [only found Rome: Total War and didn't want to add undue confusion].

    I, among many, preordered the new Rome Total War 2 game from the Creative Assembly. As I'm sure you're aware the reception to the game has been less than positive. I feel it prudent to state that I have been a Total War fan since Medieval: Total War and have purchased and played every single game, expansion, and DLC for these games since that release.

    Shogun 2 was a masterpiece (I played over 800 hours). It was engaging, taught me a level of discipline and patience I never knew I had, and made me appreciate a culture previously foreign to me (as did all of the other previous games). The game was solid and defined, smooth, and fostered a gaming community of unparalleled cooperation.

    Rome 2: Total War, however, is a disgrace. The Creative Assembly, no doubt influenced by Sega, has pushed out a "game" that experiences critical errors, but, more importantly for me, has misrepresented itself and its product. As a stout capitalist I believe it is my duty as the consumer to humbly request a refund of this product. I will happily pay for the overhead fee I incurred while downloading the game through your relay. I additionally vow to keep the $60.00 I spent within the gaming ecosystem as a whole and will use this money to reward games and expansions that accurately represent and deliver their product (Xcom: Enemy Within, DLC for DOW Retribution, and Space Hulk). I believe it is our responsibility, mine as the consumer whose voice exists solely through the power of the dollar, and yours as the the most powerful and reliable relay in the U.S. (probably the world), to keep this issue from recurring and poisoning the digital PC game ecosystem that I know you have spent so much time protecting and promoting.

    While I admit this is a most humble plea, please know that I have never requested a refund from any product on Steam before, that I love the Total War franchise more than any other, and that I could not live my life knowing I had rewarded the sloppy mess that is Rome Total War 2.

    Rome Total War 2 is NOT the product that was advertised. We cannot reward the delivery or sustainability of this product.

    This is the most powerful message that I can send to make my voice heard as the consumer and therefore I leave this impassioned request with the sincerest plea to allow me to redistribute my investment within our beloved gaming community to games and companies that accelerate our gaming experience, not retard it.

    Humblest regards,

    Commissar Petrov    … Expand
  86. Type4101
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    Rome II is proof that the current system of "professional" reviewers is utterly broken or corrupt. As commercial magazines and websites (who rely on advertising money from game makers) pass out 8's and 9's to this newest entry of the Total War Series, long-time players and fans weep tears of sadness. Gone is the tactical depth the series was famous for. Gone is the strategic depth thatRome II is proof that the current system of "professional" reviewers is utterly broken or corrupt. As commercial magazines and websites (who rely on advertising money from game makers) pass out 8's and 9's to this newest entry of the Total War Series, long-time players and fans weep tears of sadness. Gone is the tactical depth the series was famous for. Gone is the strategic depth that the series was famous for. This game is a step backward in almost every way, and fans know it. Dumbed down, and made into an arcade-like casual game, Rome II may sadly mark the end of the Total War Series. If consumers keep buying dumbed down versions of previously awesome games, and reviewers keep showering them with fake praise, then the industry as a whole is spiraling down the toilet. If you haven't played a Total War Game, and want to know why they are beloved by fans around the world, try Rome I, Medieval 2, or Shogun 2. Farewell Total War Series. I will miss you.… Expand
  87. Huberto
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    Hugely misguided effort, which tries to be Starcraft or maybe a commercial sellout but is just a boring pointless game. It also happens to be bug riddled with terrible AI and has numerous unfinished features to boot. Buyer beware. This is the strategy turd of the year!!!
  88. Marco299
    Sep 13, 2013
    10
    I want to reward the great diligence to fix a game, that is potentially the best Total War ever made. Great setting, great atmosphere, a huge improvement for IA and diplomatic story, the game needs just a little time to shine.
  89. rcassar
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    I played this game for a couple of hours and felt a huge sense of disappointment. It felt like Empire: Total War all over again. I have been waiting eagerly to play this game for years but everything seems to be worse than it was in the now 10 year old Rome: Total War. As the other reviewers pointed out; graphics, AI, bugs, user interface, the campaign mode itself, the music, everything! II played this game for a couple of hours and felt a huge sense of disappointment. It felt like Empire: Total War all over again. I have been waiting eagerly to play this game for years but everything seems to be worse than it was in the now 10 year old Rome: Total War. As the other reviewers pointed out; graphics, AI, bugs, user interface, the campaign mode itself, the music, everything! I cannot find a single redeeming point.

    I ended up throwing this pile of garbage away and installing Medieval II: Total War and it was so much better. That game is fun and interesting. I feel that this game is so broken that no patch will fix it and make it enjoyable. I cannot understand how they managed to ruin such a game in this way. I cannot understand the ratings of the professional reviewers either. It's all sad, very sad.    … Expand
  90. Stewchops
    Sep 13, 2013
    6
    Very meh when compared to previous titles in the series. Did someone important leave the studio or did they just stop giving a It feels like a step back from the work of art that is Shogun 2. Frankly the $60 price tag is insulting. Even if it were a $40 game I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I valued as a friend as they might think I was nuts.
  91. Mattyo
    Sep 13, 2013
    4
    I wanted to like this game, I really did, but there are just too many issues so I'm going to hold off until it's patched to a point where the game is fun. However by then I'm going to guess that it will be on sale and I will have been ripped of by CA and Sega by buying a broken game on day one. So the lesson learned is wait for the steam sale when you get the game not only cheaper butI wanted to like this game, I really did, but there are just too many issues so I'm going to hold off until it's patched to a point where the game is fun. However by then I'm going to guess that it will be on sale and I will have been ripped of by CA and Sega by buying a broken game on day one. So the lesson learned is wait for the steam sale when you get the game not only cheaper but working better.

    On a positive note there is a lot to like about this game which is why I'm giving it 4/10 instead of 1/10 as it's not all doom and gloom. The visuals are pretty decent and new additions such as army history (rather than it all tied to a general who dies with all his upgrades) is fantastic.

    The biggest bug-bear for me though is I'm writing this review nearly 2 weeks after release and there's still no sign of SLI support. I want to be a PC enthusiast gamer but it's made difficult for me when you have releases like this. So I'll see what's on sale this weekend on Steam and pick up a game I know will work from being patched and have an SLI profile. Suppose that's the system you have to work with which sucks for the developers but they only have themselves to blame if they're going to release unfinished games.

    And I know there's a ridiculous amount of combinations for PCs but it's not like this is hasn't existed with PCs for like, forever.    … Expand
  92. manyacy
    Sep 13, 2013
    6
    Who is playing Rome II as his first Total War game, maybe this could be a 8/10 game. BUT who has played at least Rome 1, this is a boring sequence that brings nothing notable beside improved UI design (which is normal) and some upgraded mechanics of the campaign map. Worst part is that I don't know if I'm gonna like the game more after they patch it to perfection and eliminate all the bugs.
  93. braggfatt
    Sep 13, 2013
    1
    AI terrible
    Bad management of the faction are not present: family tree, princesses, merchants etc etc...)
    Armies must be recruited IN THE CITY
    I would like to move armies even without general
    City ​​management too simple
    Unit cards no comment...
    Battles? duration 5-10 minutes. My army 5-10 casualties,at worst 50-60. Enemy army 2000-3000
    .....
    thanks Sega and Creative assembly!
  94. OASkittles
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    This game is just awful. Just awful. Paid reviewers gave this game a ridiculous score. The UI is horrible, the graphics atrocious and a total step back from the Shogun game. The multiplayer is soooo long and reduced it is not even funny. The multiplayer deals with factions so you have to wait till their turns end, with over 100 factions in the game!!! The cinematics like they had fromThis game is just awful. Just awful. Paid reviewers gave this game a ridiculous score. The UI is horrible, the graphics atrocious and a total step back from the Shogun game. The multiplayer is soooo long and reduced it is not even funny. The multiplayer deals with factions so you have to wait till their turns end, with over 100 factions in the game!!! The cinematics like they had from Shogun were cut back as well as other great mechanics/media from Shogun. What the hell CA?!?! What the hell!?!?!… Expand
  95. gamir96
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    Total war is about WAR!! no battles at all unless I attack a city. or the AI attacks my city with 1 unit in suicide missions.100% siege battles.dumb AI. no family tree, no immersion to the game. it feels shallow. no politics no senate,nothing that makes the game enjoyable. diplomacy is a joke. navy is useless cause you can magically take your army to the sea and it will transform in to aTotal war is about WAR!! no battles at all unless I attack a city. or the AI attacks my city with 1 unit in suicide missions.100% siege battles.dumb AI. no family tree, no immersion to the game. it feels shallow. no politics no senate,nothing that makes the game enjoyable. diplomacy is a joke. navy is useless cause you can magically take your army to the sea and it will transform in to a navy. open field battles have a FLAG?! that you have to capture or defend!!! that alone takes off all the enjoyment of battles of previous total war games. buggy to the point of just leaving the game alone. very poor choice of features. basically the game is crap regardless of the fixes the are going to do. I spend 60 bucks pre order for this THING CA I will never ever pre order again. thanks for the worst ever total war game. a decade waiting for this game and you did THAT?! shame on you. keep my money maybe you can enjoy it, I will not.… Expand
  96. FlawedDesign9
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    Rome II is an atmospheric sequel to a fantastic game,which though wounded from a poor launch, contains the foundation of a superb game that will only improve over time.

    Pros: -Atmospheric setting -Graphics -Entertaining combat -Large campaign (Improved Diplomacy, Reduced Micro management late game etc) -Fantastic voice acting and sound effects -Great animations -Diverse Game    Rome II is an atmospheric sequel to a fantastic game,which though wounded from a poor launch, contains the foundation of a superb game that will only improve over time.

    Pros:

    -Atmospheric setting
    -Graphics
    -Entertaining combat
    -Large campaign (Improved Diplomacy, Reduced Micro management late game etc)
    -Fantastic voice acting and sound effects
    -Great animations
    -Diverse Game play
    -New features
    -Historic Foundation
    -Unique Experience

    Cons
    -Optimization
    -Battle AI (Needs Revamp)
    - A few typical TW features have been removed (Family tree/management)
    -Butt Hurt fans

    If your on the fence about Rome 2, despite the many angry and dishonest reviews, Rome 2 at it's core is a great game and a fantastic experience. Rome II is the closest the franchise has gotten to replicating the original TW experience. With Weekly updates and post launch content planned, the game will only get better with time.    … Expand
  97. lastrambo
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. HUGE bugs that can be fixed with patches but some key features like the random capture point on the battlefield or the stupid long wait in coop campaign make it barely enjoyable. As someone who played all the total war games and has spent about 2000 hours playing these games i fell like this game is the worst of them.

    I cant even enjoy the battles because of the brain dead AI and the steamroll strategy which consist in making all your units charge and winning instantly even at legendary difficulty because there is no unit collision and they all stack and attack at the same time.

    The diplomacy is broken right now because the AI will never take into consideration your military power when negotiating with you for some reason. The navy is useless cause you don't need it cause your armies can fight in the water like if it was a fleet and 80% of the battles are siege battles WHEN THEY SAID IT WAS A WEAK POINT IN SHOGUN AND THEY WERE GOING TO CORRECT IT FOR R2TW. Seriously i don't know what kind of illegal substances they took when they made the game.    … Expand
  98. Jesper
    Sep 12, 2013
    4
    You betrayed your fans CA. The game is broken and even if it was not, I would give it an 8/10. What keeps it from getting 10/10 is that the game is heavily dumbed down. There is so much that has been simplified in the political system that you do not really care for any of the characters that belong to your faction. For example, with no family tree there is no need for caring if someoneYou betrayed your fans CA. The game is broken and even if it was not, I would give it an 8/10. What keeps it from getting 10/10 is that the game is heavily dumbed down. There is so much that has been simplified in the political system that you do not really care for any of the characters that belong to your faction. For example, with no family tree there is no need for caring if someone dies, someone else will just instantly pop up and take his place. It feels like you did not listen to the community at all when making the game. You just dumbed it down to make it more accepted for a wider audience. Regarding the game being broken, perhaps SEGA pushed your deadline too early to be able to finish the game the way you wanted it to be. Or is it just the fan in me that makes up excuses for such an unfinished game. I guess you just have to get used to hate loving this genre. In conclusion however, I have not lost my trust in you CA(though it is quite shaken). But know that we fell for your awesome trailers for ROME II and we somehow ''knew'' that you could not this up... yet you did! We will not fall for your trailers again!… Expand
  99. myelic
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    So far I've logged 30 hours in this game and I'm still entertained. Great value.

    Aesthetically the battlefields are crisp and realistic, with greater attention to terrain detail than in previous titles. Particularly in cities I pause to study the architecture or just awe at the battle scenes. The UI is minimalist with elements inspired by roman art. The unit cards are an example of    So far I've logged 30 hours in this game and I'm still entertained. Great value.

    Aesthetically the battlefields are crisp and realistic, with greater attention to terrain detail than in previous titles. Particularly in cities I pause to study the architecture or just awe at the battle scenes.

    The UI is minimalist with elements inspired by roman art. The unit cards are an example of this, it's curious that some people rage about it.

    So far I've played Rome and a Germanic tribe. I've not finished neither campaign, and doubt I will. On the contrary I look forward to trying other factions and exploring new theaters; the size make the game seem endless.

    This is very much a stop-and-smell-the-flowers-game for people who love history, military and the Roman era.

    Negatives: The AI is weak, and the game has plenty of bugs. Other than this the critique seem to be based on either on particular tastes or a lack of brains; it's hardware demanding because it was made without regard for console specs and IT'S SIZE IS EPIC.    … Expand
  100. vivi1
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    They sell a beta game for full price. Clearly unfinished campaing ui, undeveloped features (politics), terrible ai in combat and campaing. They laugh at the spanish and italian customers.

    The game has a lot of good thigs but those mistakes make the be below of the acepptable.
Page:

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

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