Total War: Rome II

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Sep 2, 2013
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 3974 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,184 out of 3974
  2. Mixed: 613 out of 3974
  3. Negative: 2,177 out of 3974
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  1. Silenus
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    My God, where do you begin with this game? Awful performance, dreadful AI, poorly balanced units and broken features.

    I feel like a complete fool for pre-ordering this.
  2. LastJohn
    Sep 12, 2013
    4
    First let me say this, it pains me so much to give this game such a low score. I have played every game in the series except the original, Shogun. I have put in more than 700 hours into this series, and the Roman era is my favorite in history. Unfortunately, this game fails in almost every regard to live up to its predecessor Total War: Rome as well as the previous game Total War: ShogunFirst let me say this, it pains me so much to give this game such a low score. I have played every game in the series except the original, Shogun. I have put in more than 700 hours into this series, and the Roman era is my favorite in history. Unfortunately, this game fails in almost every regard to live up to its predecessor Total War: Rome as well as the previous game Total War: Shogun 2.

    Due to Creative Assembly's lack of a beta the coding in the game is horrific and causes MASSIVE lag even for people who have multi thousand dollar computers. Not everyone is affected, but most are. Here are some of the issues that plague this game.

    End Turn times -

    There are more than 100 factions that have to make their turn, which cause you to wait sometimes up to 6-7 minutes every time you end your turn which is extremely frustrating as the game is mean to play over the span of 300 years (or turns). The goods news, if you have a Excellent processor these speeds can be brought down to about a minute. I have compiled a lot of information from forums and the *general* consensus is that people with i5 and i7 processors generally take less than two minutes for a end turn (some as low as 40 seconds) while everyone else takes a back seat to about 3-4 minutes on average and some unlucky people 6-7 (especially after unveiling the map).

    Bugs and Glitches -

    There are a lot of bugs and glitches. To name a few, Ship battles are pretty much unplayable by most people which is a shame because they are beautiful. There is also a bug that allows units to burn down gates during sieges exceptionally easy by throwing torches at them, even metal gates, making the use for siege units virtually useless. To be fair, Creative Assembly probably did this on purpose due to the horrible A.I. not using siege units anyways so they needed a way for them to get into cities during siege battles.

    Also, there is a bug (that from I can gather plagues the Romans, which I played for 30 hours) that causes all of your generals to go insane. Literally. For me it almost always starts out with a trait called "Not quite right" which takes away 2 Authority and then after 4-5 turns their trait slots are maxed out with negative Authority traits. This makes the Roman faction pretty much unplayable for me. It doesn't just happen once, it will constantly plague your generals randomly (for me usually ,but not always, 1-2 turns after creating a general).

    Loss of Features -

    For some reason Creative Assembly decided to take away some beloved features. For instance, there is no more guard mode. If you don't know what that is I will explain it. Do you know how in movies armies march in formation? It looks beautiful and is truly epic. In Total War: Rome I they did this. And when a army clashed into yours it was amazing as they held their line. Well, some beyond comprehensible stupid person removed that from this game. When a army attacks you your units do not stay in formation, the battle simply becomes a mosh pit.

    There is also no Family tree and the tech tree has been dumbed down severely.

    Addition of features -

    Most additions are stupid in this game. There is flag sometimes placed in open battles that you must defend, you could have 7,000 troops and the enemy has 300 and if they capture the flag on the field they win. Also, in town battles, sometimes the A.I. will ignore your forces, run through them and try to grab the flag constantly being slaughter all the way there.

    Also, battles last for 3-5 minutes due to moral inbalance issues and the running/walking speed is extremely quick, making Archers useless. Some features are good, such as the Regional hub for provinces, but most are a step backwards.

    A.I. is so so so horrible -

    And finally last but not least. I can't mention everything wrong but this is a must. The A.I. is so stupid. *Most* games they will never declare war on you. They simply wait to be slaughtered. Then, in battles they have no idea how to coordinate an attack making battles way to easy. And they never create good armies. Almost always they will have a army comprised of 70% range units which is extremely annoying.

    I won't go into how stupid this games A.I. is, there is youtube for that and it is hilarious. Look Up AngryJoeShow A.I. fails. All I will say, is that I could forgive everything else until patches came except the beyond belief stupidity of the A.I.

    They should have just copied and pasted Shogun II's A.I. instead of redoing it.

    Final Verdict -

    I wanted this game to be epic. I wanted to love it. But this was a scam if I have ever seen one. More than likely it is Sega's fault. They have a track record of publishing horrific games. They want money and that is it. Some people play this game and overlook the flaws, but I am not blind. This game had no business being release, and maybe they will patch it, but I don't plan on holding my breathe.    … Expand
  3. Roma_19
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    Rome 2 effectively punished its consumer base by releasing the game unfinished. Even if patches make the game perfect, I mean a completely reskinned Shogun 2 would have been so much better than Rome 2. SEGA and CA are lucky the "press" has given them a total pass, the biggest concern is the streamlining of the game, features that really made the original Rome the epic game we all came toRome 2 effectively punished its consumer base by releasing the game unfinished. Even if patches make the game perfect, I mean a completely reskinned Shogun 2 would have been so much better than Rome 2. SEGA and CA are lucky the "press" has given them a total pass, the biggest concern is the streamlining of the game, features that really made the original Rome the epic game we all came to love.are gone, to favor a more arcade approach... Epic fail CA/Sega… Expand
  4. zz77
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    This is the worst title in Total War series. It's bugged to unplayable level. Both campaign and battle AI is dumb as stone. Developers didn't add any really great and innovative features, but completely wiped out many great features of previous titles. UI is very poorly organized, its modern appearance is just immerse-breaking. Even graphics looks like downgrade of previous Shogun 2 game.This is the worst title in Total War series. It's bugged to unplayable level. Both campaign and battle AI is dumb as stone. Developers didn't add any really great and innovative features, but completely wiped out many great features of previous titles. UI is very poorly organized, its modern appearance is just immerse-breaking. Even graphics looks like downgrade of previous Shogun 2 game. Don't waste your money and time on this crap!… Expand
  5. Coolz
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    the only good thing about this Total War game is the campaing map size and the number of factions. Rest of the game has taken major steps back. No more family tree, AI is horrible on all aspects, open field battles have capture points, navy has lost it's meaning and moving armies is way too easy, cities are dumbed down and they no longer feel like cities, most battles are sillythe only good thing about this Total War game is the campaing map size and the number of factions. Rest of the game has taken major steps back. No more family tree, AI is horrible on all aspects, open field battles have capture points, navy has lost it's meaning and moving armies is way too easy, cities are dumbed down and they no longer feel like cities, most battles are silly "city-battles" (not sieges really), politics they promised are the most offensive slap into the fans' faces, units are now dumbed down so bad that no unit feels special, battles take less than 5 mins and have lost all epic feeling, diplomacy is meaningless, all provinces feel even more the same than before, agents and generals die too fast and you have no connection with any of them... I could go on with this but I think you get the idea.

    This game is made for the dumb casual players who play the game for 50 hours and then move to the next game. There's no more any dept in this game, no epic feeling and it's so mainstreamed that I almost feel anger towards the devs who made this pile of crap. But then again all companies have their serious flops and this is one of them. Now their only hope is marketing to get this game sold, not the actual game.    … Expand
  6. Tooharsh
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    I love Total War, I really do. But this game... I don't know if it is proper to call THIS a game.
    I played this for about 30 hours and the more I played, I became more disappointed.
    Huge amount of bugs, crashes, extremely stupid AI, poor optimization, minor UI issues like hidden skill tree for your characters and etc., etc. Now patches every week... CA promised us so much and gave    I love Total War, I really do. But this game... I don't know if it is proper to call THIS a game.
    I played this for about 30 hours and the more I played, I became more disappointed.

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

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

    Disappointment of the year, no doubt.    … Expand
  7. Southers
    Sep 12, 2013
    5
    After playing for 45 hours through a brilliant prologue, some great historical battles, a few (very laggy/ desynced) quick matches and two 100 turn in progress campaigns as Rome and Iceni, I feel like it is time to give my opinion. I have read some real troll reviews, and some real hype reviews, and it may look like i'm sitting dead in the middle but this is my honest opinion so pleaseAfter playing for 45 hours through a brilliant prologue, some great historical battles, a few (very laggy/ desynced) quick matches and two 100 turn in progress campaigns as Rome and Iceni, I feel like it is time to give my opinion. I have read some real troll reviews, and some real hype reviews, and it may look like i'm sitting dead in the middle but this is my honest opinion so please bare with me.

    The game has some serious flaws right now, mainly performance related and AI. Especially a dreadful waiting time for turns-end. It also lacks some really important features such as the family tree, and a capable political system especially for the roman faction. I was also fairly jaded by character progression from agents to generals, with not only a lack of but also no real logic to how it all works or flows. Not to mention them dyeing on you as soon as they become your hero. New province system and transport over sea system seemed great at first but soon came to be a nuisance late game for many reasons. Army traditions is overall a great additions, and one of the best in my opinion.

    Rome 1 was a very long time ago but parts of that could do with returning to this game. Especially if you plan to play as a roman faction. I'm talking about the senate and family system which we shall all remember so clearly. It doesn't feature in this game, instead you have 1 faction panel which tries and fails to convey a poorly designed and rushed system.

    I have also had a terrible experience with Multiplayer desyncs, whilst the singleplayer battles are flawed from the capture points system through to the whole mosh pit over in 5 seconds deal. Naval battles fair worse with many issues from balancing to some really strange auto resolve decisions and spamming of transport fleets (which dominate).

    However, I will be fair to this game because it has some real wow factors. The animations and generally the visuals (if you can get them to work) look stunning. The prologue is also fantastic, if a little buggy/ short. The campaign map itself is stunning, not only extensive, but offering a great detail and historical correctness. The amount of factions added is unbelievable, half the reason for turn end time problems...There is a crazy amount of work that went into the design of this game from all fronts, but again I just feel a serious lack of testing and optimization of the engine has taken place.

    I am not sure what CA plan to do but I 'hope' they make a vast array of changes where needed, and learn that striping out perfectly good features from previous games was perhaps a mistake.

    If they can focus on performance issues and tear down the turn end time to below 30 seconds this would receive a 6 or 7, as I am sure it will get from various patches.

    If they could improve drastically on AI in all areas of the game from battles to simple diplomatic actions such a trade agreements, and balance the many different units in the game, as well as coax in a family tree system with easier marriage and less of an aging issue we might be looking at a near 8, however this should of been in the game for release, as I feel that is what I was really sold.

    If they wanted to head toward or above a solid 8 i would need to see some significant additions. Basics like general speeches and agent action cinematics (absolute favourite), through to more complex additions like a deep political system, polished UI and a deeper multiplayer (fully working) experience.

    Finally I am also skeptical of the DLC direction of the game, similarly to CoH2, another sega game. It feels to me like they will be selling a lot of what is already in the game, such as cultures and factions. They may also add some missing units or even features through DLC, something I would not be happy to pay for. These should have come with a well polished game upon release, not later on as a stab for cash. If CA/ sega want any more of my money I will be expecting a fully finished expansion after a decent amount of work on the base game. I will certainly not be pre-ordering sega games after doing this for both CoH2 and Rome2 until major changes occur in both (free changes).

    I wish CA the best of luck for it will be a massive undertaking to reinvigorate what they have lost. Sadly in its current state as of 12.09.2013 its a mediocre 5/10.    … Expand
  8. shadowstealer
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    I was really looking forward to this game. I've been a Total War fan since Shogun and this was sounding as though it had the potential to surpass the fantastic Shogun 2. Unfortunately this has not been the case. I don't know what game half the games 'journalists' played but it was not the one the general public were promised.

    The basic ideas are the same and the potential is there but    I was really looking forward to this game. I've been a Total War fan since Shogun and this was sounding as though it had the potential to surpass the fantastic Shogun 2. Unfortunately this has not been the case. I don't know what game half the games 'journalists' played but it was not the one the general public were promised.

    The basic ideas are the same and the potential is there but the game is just broken and unfinished and untested. It is an insult. Features have been 'streamlined' far too much and the new modern UI isn't really much of an improvement. The campaign has framerate issues, the AI is passive and the battle AI is worse than that of the original Rome. Their lacks a guard mode and don't expect your units to actually maintain formation, they descend into a blob of death. Not that it matters because the battles are literally over within minutes due to terrible balancing. It's pretty apparent they didn't test this game at all.

    Capture points are the combat AI's only concern and it's stupidity in it's attempt to get at them, suiciding and generally providing no challenge. Capture points also appear in field battles for no good reason, if you take them you win in 50 seconds. No challenge as the AI doesn't bother to defend them. It's an unwelcome addition making the game feel arcadey.

    End turns can take up to 3-5 minutes running even on a high end rig, in the end you spend more time waiting for the CPU than actually playing. There are over 100 factions though, but that matters for nothing with poor AI and optimisation. Also you have a limited number of armies and navies you can recruit which is horrible. It's like an arcade game. I always used to rely on scout forces and skirmish forces, well too bad if you did. Now logistics are more silly, forcing you to create full stacks (oh you can recruit anywhere in a region now through the general not at the cities) which effectively lets you get away with making planning mistakes before you go into battle.

    There are so many problems and issues with this game that I could write forever. I suggest anyone who has not done so to check out Angry Joe's review. He covers all the key points. This game gets a 0 from me because I wanted a Total War game. Not a broken buggy simplified mess.

    Oh yeah and no family tree. Or special agent animations. Or real depth or attachment. Hollow and bland. Urgh.    … Expand
  9. TheWitcher
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    NO WAY!!!!
    THIS IS NOT A TOTAL WAR GAME!!!
    Yeah, just like that: he simply sucks!! AND IT IS NOT YET FINISHED!!! THEY RELEASE A BETA FOR 55 EUROS!! In my opinion, the most relevant problems are: 1- totally idiot AI, both in strategic map and in battle, there is no challenge in single players or co-op multiplayer campaign, and without challenge there is no achievement of any kind: the    NO WAY!!!!
    THIS IS NOT A TOTAL WAR GAME!!!
    Yeah, just like that: he simply sucks!! AND IT IS NOT YET FINISHED!!! THEY RELEASE A BETA FOR 55 EUROS!!
    In my opinion, the most relevant problems are:
    1- totally idiot AI, both in strategic map and in battle, there is no challenge in single players or co-op multiplayer campaign, and without challenge there is no achievement of any kind: the game experience is too boring, it's a self inflicted punishment, it's a loss of time!!! The AI does nothing all the time!!! AND IT SUICIDES AGAINST YOUR CITIES!!!
    2-historical units stats are totaly unbalanced!!! In this game sone elite units are so broken that you can simply spam them and win!!! There is no strategy, both in single and multiplayer.
    3-the morale is surely broken: units flee after 3-4 minutes battles. Even in the major battles (40 units vs 40)!!!
    4-siege equipment broken!!! Each siege is a painful experience, trust me...
    5-naval battles bugged to hell, cannot control ships!!!
    6-FLAGS IN OPEN FIELD!!! O_o!!! You can cap a flag and win in 30 sec for no reason, while the enemy army is fighting you in the real battle elsewhere on the map...
    7-the end turn phase in campaign is 5 minutes long...in which AI only does idiot things...
    8-LAG!!! FIX THE LAG!!!
    9-GRAPHIC BUGS!!! FIX THE GRAPHIC BUGS!!!

    Ok, this is the point: DON'T BUY ROME 2 TOTAL WAR!!!!
    Simply like that.    … Expand
  10. jamesphillip198
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    This game, in this state, is a complete wreck. I mean I love Total War series, I've had more than +5000 hours of all TW games easily, specially Medieval 2 and Rome 1. But the game is just a wreck. The AI is NON-RESPONSIVE, the fights seem like huge heavy metal moshpits, units don't mantain formations, and I could go on and on and on. Many people seem to have performance issues (2%This game, in this state, is a complete wreck. I mean I love Total War series, I've had more than +5000 hours of all TW games easily, specially Medieval 2 and Rome 1. But the game is just a wreck. The AI is NON-RESPONSIVE, the fights seem like huge heavy metal moshpits, units don't mantain formations, and I could go on and on and on. Many people seem to have performance issues (2% according to CA.) The whole game just feels like a beta-test IMHO, and they overhyped the game way past proportion. The idea is good, I really love TW franchise, but it's hard to love the game as it is. I hope they fix this mess with upcoming patches (bajillion patches). I'll see you in 6 months, TWR2.… Expand
  11. Azazl187
    Sep 12, 2013
    2
    No No No No NO! The game performs poorly on a 780 GTX, the AI is completely stupid. The release looks nothing like the Marketing screen shots and movies. CA were clearly on drugs when they sat down and made the developer vids.

    Most infuriating of all, I paid for an unfinished, rushed, unpolished game. What the hell are the industry reviewers talking about as well! 80!!! more like 40    No No No No NO! The game performs poorly on a 780 GTX, the AI is completely stupid. The release looks nothing like the Marketing screen shots and movies. CA were clearly on drugs when they sat down and made the developer vids.

    Most infuriating of all, I paid for an unfinished, rushed, unpolished game. What the hell are the industry reviewers talking about as well! 80!!! more like 40 my friends. If you have read this than read the user reviews, not the industry ones as they have clearly not played the game at all!    … Expand
  12. Romellispoop
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    Rome 2 is like an abusive husband I don't want to believe how awful it is and how badly it let's me down.

    Angry Joe says it best but I'll try to quantify and express my disappointment. Being a Total War fan since Shogun(like most loyal fans) I have had many years of amazing triumphal conquest, Shogun, Medieval, Rome, Medieval 2, Empire, Shogun 2 but and many amazing mods build on the    Rome 2 is like an abusive husband I don't want to believe how awful it is and how badly it let's me down.

    Angry Joe says it best but I'll try to quantify and express my disappointment. Being a Total War fan since Shogun(like most loyal fans) I have had many years of amazing triumphal conquest, Shogun, Medieval, Rome, Medieval 2, Empire, Shogun 2 but and many amazing mods build on the Total War engine and this is the most diabolical excuse of a stripped down game that looks like its going to console(xbox360 rather than next gen). Even with my explosive imagination I cant create a story to invest my emotions into while playing a campaign. There is no family tree a staple basic for any Total War game for instance which helped create a sense of story and intrigue why strip out something so basic but which added so much!? You get the picture over a tiny point I could rant for days, you let me and the whole loyal community down CA and Sega...Sad face.    … Expand
  13. Gileq
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    Basically Sega sold alpha state game to us. It's far worse than trailers and preview they presented.
    Non-playabe, casual edition. After years and years of total war games, AI is worst ever, like most of the features. Good modern graphics for Rome 1, a it will be far better game than this...
  14. hardingman
    Sep 12, 2013
    5
    Awful UI, systems explained incredibly badly, multiplayer is unplayable. AWFUL FPS, and the AI is beyond broken. Thank god the time period and epicness of the campaign can carry it off. JUST
  15. Rufsian
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    If you a Total War fan or love video games, this review is for you:

    This game was advertised with videos of supreme graphics and developers themselves from Creative Assembly talking about how Rome 2 is the biggest Total War they've ever made with 40% more budget than any other project they've done in the past. This is how they turned this AWESOME saga in a complete with NO A.I.    If you a Total War fan or love video games, this review is for you:

    This game was advertised with videos of supreme graphics and developers themselves from Creative Assembly talking about how Rome 2 is the biggest Total War they've ever made with 40% more budget than any other project they've done in the past.

    This is how they turned this AWESOME saga in a complete with NO A.I. WHATSOEVER (even when they fix it, the A.I. will use ATTACK RECKLESSLY TO THE FLAG-strategy.

    SEGA and Creative Assembly DECEIVED with lies but not WORDED LIES, VIDEO/IMAGES LIES HIDDEN AS DECEITFUL FEATURES.

    In Rome 2:

    - Sieges nowhere close the size of anything we saw in videos/panorama pictures

    - The A.I. which had more budget than ever for Rome 2, WAS NO DEVELOPED AT ALL. Just given simple path finding instructions to CAPTURE FLAGS which are bugged right now but even when fixed, it will be the worst A.I. in a TW to date.

    - They completely removed the Family Tree/Leader Figures. You get an infinite pool of worthless generals.

    - There is NO POLITICAL SYSTEM WHATSOEVER and it was advertised as a big feature along with a storyline driven campaign map.

    - Graphically wise, the colors of the armor in the soldiers are washed out, less quality and detail in the armor of soldiers gtx 770 lighting, all max, min fps 25 while on big battles even in high end rig.

    - The diplomacy is completely useless and confusing. There is no diplomacy whatsoever, just "attack here" for your allies. If you want to directly talk to a faction you have to transition into a small list that can only show 5 factions at a time and there are 110 in the game.

    - The detailed straightforward User Interface from Shogun 2 was completely ditched and redone a Java-type-game UI that demands annoying micromanaging for doing simple tasks.

    IF you want a real honest 40 minutes long review of Rome 2 total war done by a real fan of the series for more than 10 years, go search Angryjoe in youtube.

    Avoid this game like them peoples did in middle earth with black pest. Focus your hate on SEGA for pushing CA to meet the deadline so they could show over inflated annual reports.

    I can't believe it but SEGA has turned to be more greedy and worse in every other aspect than EA.

    SHAMEFUL DISPLAY     … Expand
  16. melaa
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    Just terrible. To purchase a full price game, pre-ordered I may add, and it's clearly a beta test that other's will benefit from our testing by buying it at half price 6 months away.

    The AI is bad. The FPS issues and graphics incompatibility issues (With a high end pc and gpu) are just ridiculous. The worst game release of the decade. Still not fixed!
  17. labbey
    Sep 12, 2013
    1
    I am extremely disappointed in the game. FPS is 10-15 max in battles and just as bad in campaign on my ultra high end pc.

    Within an hour of trying to get the game working, anyone can see, this is not a completed product.
  18. rpuerta
    Sep 12, 2013
    0
    I have this game for over a week and can't even play it. I'm able to play all the other Total War games non stopping for hours at a time, but this one lags big time, very unplayable, boring and not fun at all. HORRIBLE Everything is Broken Nothing works like is suppose to be.
  19. 2484Stryker
    Sep 11, 2013
    6
    Rome 2 is essentially a shadow & husk of its predecessor, albeit with a few more technical glitches and questionable design changes. While some added features such as the provincial system were interesting, what CA took away effectively hindered my ability to enjoy the game as a whole. Rome 2 feels too streamlined, too simplified, too poorly polished. From the campaign map UI interfaceRome 2 is essentially a shadow & husk of its predecessor, albeit with a few more technical glitches and questionable design changes. While some added features such as the provincial system were interesting, what CA took away effectively hindered my ability to enjoy the game as a whole. Rome 2 feels too streamlined, too simplified, too poorly polished. From the campaign map UI interface to the unit stack icons during real-time battles, it feels like CA treated them almost as an afterthought. Furthermore, some features that were added either made very little sense, or were so poorly implemented that they ultimately were self-defeating.

    In the final analysis, Rome 2 is not a horrible game; it's an above-average yet quite buggy game that should have been better designed, beta-tested more thoroughly, then given deeper polish. And while it might not be a failure compared to the plethora of other games released these days, I do consider it a Total War series disappointment.    … Expand
  20. vanderown
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    Long time fan of the series, thought Shogun 2 was great. Rome 2 is the only game that's every disappointed me enough to make a Metacritic account.

    1. The UI is ONE OF THE WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A VIDEO GAME. Coming straight from EU4 to this is a nightmare. Everything is hidden away in ledgers, or the encylopedia, and a very few things can be found out in tooltips. It's like the    Long time fan of the series, thought Shogun 2 was great. Rome 2 is the only game that's every disappointed me enough to make a Metacritic account.

    1. The UI is ONE OF THE WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A VIDEO GAME. Coming straight from EU4 to this is a nightmare. Everything is hidden away in ledgers, or the encylopedia, and a very few things can be found out in tooltips. It's like the developers have gone out of their way to try to deny me easy access to information. I do not understand why. This is everything from Public Order, what Zeal/Authority/Cunning is when something levels up, what Enslaving Captives actually does. Not hints so vague you don't know if this is a game mechanic or flavor text. This is my biggest problem with the game and the reason I think no amount of patches can ever fix it. Because of the UI, Public Order/Food management is a chore and the campaign map itself drains me of all joy. Why do I need to manually count Public Order to see whether changing a building in X region will take me into negative development into keeping it at 100? Is it listed somewhere completely different, only hidden so well I couldn't even find it?

    2. Before Rome 2 came out, I was telling all my friends how much we could have if they got it to because of how much I enjoyed Shogun 2's Avatar mode with persistent generals and their unique and game-changing skill trees, satisfying progression, customizable unit and army bonuses. I spent many, many hours playing this in Shogun 2, and as soon as I'd played about two-three hours of the campaign I was ready to try Rome 2's. Surely it would be even better, and with all of this unit variety, twice the fun. Well, it's completely gone. It's not there. All of these features are removed. Shogun 2's Avatar mode was my primary motivation for buying Rome 2. It has been completely stripped from the game. You can do a versus battle. That's it. Guess I should have done my research or waited to pre-order.

    3. Battles. And flags. In open field battles. I don't think I even need to explain this. I could see a single flag with a large connected area for sieges, that's it.

    Do note that I didn't even mention the performance issues, the atrocious AI (Battle and campaign) and de-sync issues for the still 2-player co-op campaign. Even if these (mostly launch-related) issues are fixed, the core mechanics of the game and the UI solidify Rome 2's position as a significant step back for the series. This game is spitting in the face of all of its fans. I will be highly skeptical of ordering another Total War title after this fiasco. I was certain this game would be great, but in the last 3 years, this is the game I most regret purchasing. Very disappointing. The only thing I feel has improved since previous titles is unit variety, but everything else is so much worse I don't find Total War: Rome 2 worth playing.    … Expand
  21. 2gutter67
    Sep 11, 2013
    4
    I don't really know what to say after what everyone else has posted in here, but I'll try and give it a shot.

    Basically, the game itself is complete un-immersive. If you have any experience with strategy games and I don't mean Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Company of Heros type RTS then you go into them looking to be drawn in with some kind of complex situations where you must    I don't really know what to say after what everyone else has posted in here, but I'll try and give it a shot.

    Basically, the game itself is complete un-immersive. If you have any experience with strategy games and I don't mean Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Company of Heros type RTS then you go into them looking to be drawn in with some kind of complex situations where you must actually think before you act and try to fix your mistakes before it's too late. This kind of thing doesn't really happen in Rome II.

    I've played only about 25 hours but this has been my experience. I've played as Carthage and have honestly seen no one even come close to challenging me either in the campaign or the battlefield. It's almost laughably easy to take over anything you want, whenever you want. Even Rome wasn't a challenge because they sent their entire army of about 8 legions across the ocean on "insta-boats" which I sank with my 2 fleets in 2 turns.

    To say the AI is bad is a bit of an understatement. I'm pretty sure that my 12 year old cousin who has never played any kind of strategy game before could play at least well as the battle AI in almost any situation be it a siege, naval engagement, or field battle.

    My most "epic" battle was when the civil war broke out which is quite a flawed mechanic btw in which 9 rebel stacks spawned outside Carthage at the random end of a turn. I was lucky and had 3 stacks of my own outside the city, and proceeded to crush roughly 12000 men in about 15 minutes and only losing perhaps 1/4 of my own troops. 15 minutes!!! To finish an absolutely massive battle!! Where is the strategy in this strategy game which prides itself upon it's RTS battles?

    I must say that the multiple victory conditions is a rather nice addition as is a fairly complete and competent diplomacy system. However some rather basic things like region trading should probably be included. When it must be removed from some games because the AI makes too random of trades, should you not fix the AI instead of removing the feature?

    Limited armies and navies is actually not that bad in my opinion.

    Everything involving graphics with this game is far and above my expectations. I've had a few glitches, but running an older system I'm not surprised or upset by those.

    Unfortunately, the thing that kills this game for me is just that I get bored terribly and utterly bored in about one hour of playtime. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I believe it's the lack of good battles which hurts this game. There is just something about Rome II that makes you feel as though everything you do has no substance, and that lack of the substantial makes Total War: Rome II only deserve a 7/10 at the highest.

    Perhaps they can patch the game into something better than mediocrity, but I must say that I probably will not be playing this game very much until I run out of anything else to do.

    I cannot say I won't buy another Total War game ever, but I most certainly will never be part of it's release. I will be watching carefully from the sidelines and hoping that this series can return to the standards of excellence to which it was known.    … Expand
  22. TJarnold92
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    The game is basically unplayable. I have a Nvidia GTX 760 and 8 GB of RAM, and can run A.R.M.A. III and Metro: LL on MAX settings and get 50 FPS, yet this game on the LOWEST SETTINGS pushes 20 FPS at the most.

    I have no idea what systems the professional reviewers have, the game runs horribly and almost everybody else has this issue. It's just unoptimized.
  23. MERC123
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    I've been playing Total War games for about 8 years. I've spent over 1,000 hours playing Medieval 2, Empire, and Shogun 2. Rome 2 is a massive disappointment in comparison to the incredible previous games. Now I know that Empire was extremely buggy when it was released, but it was a completely revamped and expanded game. CA didn't bother to add anything new to Rome 2. They actuallyI've been playing Total War games for about 8 years. I've spent over 1,000 hours playing Medieval 2, Empire, and Shogun 2. Rome 2 is a massive disappointment in comparison to the incredible previous games. Now I know that Empire was extremely buggy when it was released, but it was a completely revamped and expanded game. CA didn't bother to add anything new to Rome 2. They actually simplified and dumbed everything down. You know what this reminds me of? SimCity. EA promised all sorts of amazing new features and gameplay. Then they released an unplayable, broken game without delivering on anything they'd promised. CA has done the exact same thing with Rome 2. Horrible AI, graphical glitches galore, and unplayable multiplayer are just a few things I'll take the time to mention. And the sad thing is that the professional reviewers don't even punish CA for all these gamebreaking problems. The same exact thing happened when SimCity came out. I've lost all faith in the mainstream game review companies. They're clearly working with the corporations and not the consumers in mind. CA should be publicly shamed and protested for releasing such a painfully disappointing product.… Expand
  24. Datek
    Sep 11, 2013
    2
    This has the potential to be a great game someday. In it's current state, it is and disgraceful embarassment. This game is unplayable, and how it is possible to receive such high ratings from 'respectable' gaming review sites is beyond comprehension. No wonder the barbarians are up in arms. Watch the Angry Joe review on youtube if you are in any way considering buying this game.
  25. legoman775
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    i have been a fan of total war games from creative assembly for a while now but this is just a slap in the face first of all the f***ing flags WHY next AI is broken completely broken clearly Sega is just pushing Creative Assembly to hard like they did with Gearbox I AM SICK OF THIS SEGA GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER OR I AM DONE BUYING GAMES FROM YOU....

    anyways i give this game a 3/10 just to    i have been a fan of total war games from creative assembly for a while now but this is just a slap in the face first of all the f***ing flags WHY next AI is broken completely broken clearly Sega is just pushing Creative Assembly to hard like they did with Gearbox I AM SICK OF THIS SEGA GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER OR I AM DONE BUYING GAMES FROM YOU....

    anyways i give this game a 3/10 just to be forgiving to CA but this better not happen again Sega i mean it don't let this ever happen again to one of my fav game titles out there since Aliens CM was already butchered and thrown to the curve don't do that again EVER    … Expand
  26. Avonmouth
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    While Total War: Rome II was a bit of a shock in the beginning, with the different interface for both skirmishes and campaign, I have grown to like it. There is still nothing like watching you siege the city of an adversary or even watch your men engage in a gruesome battle on land or sea. In the beginning, I did not know how I was to like this game. It does have its errors, however, IWhile Total War: Rome II was a bit of a shock in the beginning, with the different interface for both skirmishes and campaign, I have grown to like it. There is still nothing like watching you siege the city of an adversary or even watch your men engage in a gruesome battle on land or sea. In the beginning, I did not know how I was to like this game. It does have its errors, however, I believe that when people become frustrated, they should not take it immediately to the review board. The game has only been out for several days, the errors will get fixed over time. I am not saying this game is perfect as is, however, it has the potential to become one of the greatest PC games I have ever played.

    Of course, that's my opinion. You make your own.    … Expand
  27. messiahua
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    When I first started the game I noticed only some performance issues, but they were not gamebreaking. Overall I liked what I saw and was ready to give this game a decent personal score of about 7/10. I played prologue at that time and had no issues with AI for example, but when I finished it and jumped into campaign by the lapse of time I started to stumble upon more and more bugs and IWhen I first started the game I noticed only some performance issues, but they were not gamebreaking. Overall I liked what I saw and was ready to give this game a decent personal score of about 7/10. I played prologue at that time and had no issues with AI for example, but when I finished it and jumped into campaign by the lapse of time I started to stumble upon more and more bugs and I started to hate a lot of gameplay changes, which I discovered by the time. After first patch game even started to constantly crash. I've tried pvp campaign multiplayer to mitigate completely stupid AI, but it's almost unplayable, because of very long turn times and desync.

    I've played for 50 hours already and I am really disappointed. I don't understand why it was so hard to make similar game as previous titles, leave all old features and add new ones.

    In spite of all negativity there is also some great new features, for example big and detailed campaign map, detailed tactical maps, which precisely correlate with strategical map, LOS feature for units (i've been wishing such feature for every total war), combined naval and land battles, but all this is pointless if the game is crashing, lagging, gameplay dumbed down, ai broken, features removed...

    I would give it 4/10 now, but simply to make this more noticeable I will rate it 0/10 to support community.

    All this hype and marketing, promises and talks, but not actions that's only what is on the table right now from CA/SEGA.

    I'm definitely not going to preorder next title (if such will be) and, if this trend will continue, definitely not going to buy at all.    … Expand
  28. Dr_Fumbles_
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    Positives
    Love the provincial system. It really lets you turn some cities into big factory or military production cities without it just causing constant riots. Edicts are awesome.
    I actually enjoy the UI a lot. It is different from other games and you will have to learn it, but it wasn't very difficult for me. Like the multiple victory goals. Kinda leans you towards where you want to    Positives
    Love the provincial system. It really lets you turn some cities into big factory or military production cities without it just causing constant riots. Edicts are awesome.
    I actually enjoy the UI a lot. It is different from other games and you will have to learn it, but it wasn't very difficult for me.
    Like the multiple victory goals. Kinda leans you towards where you want to go. Also love that client states and military allies are counted towards your overall territory. Allows you to have the best empire without just murdering everyone.
    Love the different modes armies can be in Raiding, Fortification, forced march. They were something I didn't use for a long time, but realized the use of them later.
    Agents are actually pretty useful, and all seem diverse in what they can do without being OP like in Shogun 2.

    Negatives
    Dumb AI. They aren't bad in most battles, but when they are having offensive siege battles they sometimes just stand outside the walls or run into a wall of pikes. Needs work.
    Turns take a while. Especially late game. When you have lots of trade partners and see most of the world. All the factions can take a while (usually some good diplomacy and battles in that time though)
    Sometimes enemy generals won't die and just try to besiege your city every turn with like 13 guys, but the unit never dies.
    Lots of people are having bug issues (I haven't really had any yet) One freeze during a lot of play.

    Overall this game is probably an 7-8 right now. It needs some work, but the work is being done, so as long as it gets done I'm still giving it a 10. The game has AWESOME potential, and is still very enjoyable to play. I'd suggest waiting like 6 months if you haven't gotten the game so some kinks are worked out. I'm just tired of seeing a million 0's from people who just don't like the AI or UI. Wait a while and get the game. I wouldn't want to miss this game just because of a crap buggy launch.    … Expand
  29. Strategist1979
    Sep 11, 2013
    4
    This game is just broken. The AI is so stupid. This game is not challenging at all. It is very buggy. RIP Total War franchise. The only reason I'm giving this a 4 is because there seriously are worse games out there. I can not believe they spent as much production dollars on this as they did. unbelievable. Time for people to get fired.
  30. Ceaugo
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    Hey Shprax this is not about gaming Rigs. I do have an I7 core gaming rig with dual video cards on SLI, 32 megs of ram and a 64 bit OS. Which does nothing to enhance a mediocre game. Only 36 critics and 494 reviewers gave somewhat positive reviews. That's 530 people out of 1716 reviews. That's is 70% of true gamers that voiced their opinions for a faulty game that they truly care about.Hey Shprax this is not about gaming Rigs. I do have an I7 core gaming rig with dual video cards on SLI, 32 megs of ram and a 64 bit OS. Which does nothing to enhance a mediocre game. Only 36 critics and 494 reviewers gave somewhat positive reviews. That's 530 people out of 1716 reviews. That's is 70% of true gamers that voiced their opinions for a faulty game that they truly care about. Maybe you got the game version that the critics got along with some perks. out of curiosity.Do you work for CA??… Expand
  31. Werve
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    This game is unplayable and not entertaining. It is an early beta, unstable and buggy. A big let down for most fans of the series. It clearly shows the bad side of modern game industry practices and lack of inspired professionalism. Not recommended.
  32. BKMagnus
    Sep 11, 2013
    2
    Let me start by saying I am a long time TW fan. I have been playing them from the very start of the franchise, and have had fun with every title to one degree or another. You could always see the march forwards, the new features, the reworked Core of the games, the improved graphics. Always going one step forward. Untill now...

    For starters, its a broken mess. The AI (always a bone of    Let me start by saying I am a long time TW fan. I have been playing them from the very start of the franchise, and have had fun with every title to one degree or another. You could always see the march forwards, the new features, the reworked Core of the games, the improved graphics. Always going one step forward. Untill now...

    For starters, its a broken mess. The AI (always a bone of contention in the series) is the worst Ive ever seen at launch. The campaign AI is passive to the extreme, and when they do attack is only at near suicidal odds. The Battle AI is just broke, often standing still, running in circles, pacing back and forth, running straight through your forces, refusing to obey commands. Naval battles are so broken their useless, you almost have to auto-resolve them to get a victory. The graphics are a mess, and nothing compared to the "pre-alpha" footage show. Models are in places clearly low quality stand-ins never meant to be in the full release, textures are often of a similar quality, stand-ins to take a place in the development untill the real ones could be completed. All these things can be fixed with patchs though, so it is simply a waiting game.

    The following are what really drive the game down, and are not the sort of thing that will be patched out. Many, MANY wonderful features from other TW titles are gone. Family trees, varied agents, seasons, attrition, politics (in any working, or sensible fashion), formations, guard mode, character development (some would call it RPG elements), and much more are gone. In their place we have a poor UI, "magic" abilities that ALL units get to improve themselfs, useless, faceless characters that I find it hard to care in the least about, 1 year turns (which means everyone dies of old age very fast, there are no seasons, and it takes armies literally years to march to locations that would of been achieved in weeks in antiquity).

    Battles end in minutes. Armies tens of thousands men strong can and are destroyed in 3-5 minutes, leaving no time for any sort of tactics. Units dissolve into mosh pits as soon as battle is join, making battles not between diciplined armies, but masses of mobs pushing into eachother. The mass, and the speed of the battles means that all the wonderful MoCap fights are impossible to see. They threw in random "capture points" in open field battles, making all terrain, forests, or unit disposition useless and tactics pointless. Stand on flag for 30 seconds, win.

    I could go on and on about all the things I dislike about this title, but it can be summed up like this. This game was obviously streamlined to make it appeal more to the masses, and less to the Total War Old Guard. The entire game is fast, easy, boring, and frankly ugly in its current state. A massive slap in the face to my childhood with the series.    … Expand
  33. Shperax
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    ver 1.1 Simply put. Anyone complaining about low FPS must just have a out dated PC. Please its time to upgrade. Do you wanna be stuck with console graphics forever. A i7 sandy ivy or haswell and a gtx770+ or 7970ghz+ run this game at 60+ on Ultra all day every day. Its like people expect their crap PC's to play the best graphical RTS with over 1000+ individual men on the battle fields. Itsver 1.1 Simply put. Anyone complaining about low FPS must just have a out dated PC. Please its time to upgrade. Do you wanna be stuck with console graphics forever. A i7 sandy ivy or haswell and a gtx770+ or 7970ghz+ run this game at 60+ on Ultra all day every day. Its like people expect their crap PC's to play the best graphical RTS with over 1000+ individual men on the battle fields. Its just not gonna happen. Most of the bugs people complained about were fixed very fast. There is so much that the devs put into this game most other games you pay $60 for don't have 1/4 of the content. The AI is great despite what people say. The enemy will "Lure" "Flank" "Double Flank" and even set up ambushes from the other side of hills or in trees. How is this bad AI? I guess people want to see a blitzkrieg every battle. Don't listen to the junky PC haters out there and do yourself a favor and buy this game. I pirated the game and loved it so much I bought it for $60. Not waiting for steam sale on this one. I usually never buy games unless i have to or the game is so good the devs deserve my money, so that says a lot. I still can't believe these user reviews. Its clear that only Critics and 500 users actually have good gaming rigs.… Expand
  34. TM4
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    This game is the biggest disappointment ever!!

    I am 35 and i have been playing the total war series since shogun1,back in 2000. Every game was better than the previous. It seemed that the team was becoming better with each release,learning from its mistakes. Ok,there were some issues with empire,but compared to rome2,vanilla empire seems like a perfect game! This game is such a    This game is the biggest disappointment ever!!

    I am 35 and i have been playing the total war series since shogun1,back in 2000.
    Every game was better than the previous.
    It seemed that the team was becoming better with each release,learning from its mistakes.

    Ok,there were some issues with empire,but compared to rome2,vanilla empire seems like a perfect game!

    This game is such a mess!!Bugs to the point that you can say that is a pre beta release!
    Gameplay?AI?The I in AI stands for intelligence?!?No...not in this game!

    Shogun1 had a better Ai than this game!
    Unbelievable,but it is true!

    How did this happen??How?After the near perfection of shogun2??
    Did they fire everybody from shogun2?

    Incredible...They released a broken game..

    To all those lucky ones who didnt buy the game(I as a fool fan preordered it) dont buy it!!

    Wait,and maybe after 100 hundred patches,around Christmas,we will have a playable game,and something remotely close to what we where promised!    … Expand
  35. discipulo
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Horrível a jogabilidade e o desempenho do jogo. A única nota positiva vai para as batalhas navais que agora podem ser controladas assim como as batalhas campais. No geral, o jogo ficou devendo e muito para o seu antecessor, Rome Total War e Medieval II Total War.… Expand
  36. SoakerCity
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    Dismal.

    Lets assume that this game should have gotten a 10, being of top pedigree and probably the most anticipated game of 2013. Rome 1 was perfect. This game should have been a graphical update with a few new features, a handful of more daring gameplay innovations, and a better narrative, AI tweaks, and more varied units and factions. Instead, we have a game released that lags    Dismal.

    Lets assume that this game should have gotten a 10, being of top pedigree and probably the most anticipated game of 2013. Rome 1 was perfect. This game should have been a graphical update with a few new features, a handful of more daring gameplay innovations, and a better narrative, AI tweaks, and more varied units and factions.

    Instead, we have a game released that lags even three thousand dollar computers, and is unplayable by mid range rigs. This makes no sense, since its predecessors, notably Shogun, ran beautifully. Subtract two points for being unfinished and poor graphics management that leaves the target audience unable to play the game.

    Next, the AI is not fun to play, realistic or challenging. Another strike.

    The new innovations; A system of management by generals which has nothing to do with any previous Total War game, and thus unfamiliar and cumbersome. Same can be said for the regional management. Every previous Total War game was easy to both manage and find information. In short, the old way gave excellent control. These two new abominations alienate the Total War loyals and are just plain awkward. Not fun. That's four strikes.

    Next we move to Naval combat. You have to play it to believe it. I simply couldn't figure out what was going on until I read other people explain on forums, just exactly how they butchered this. Awful. Another strike.

    And we will throw in one more strike for adding capture points that appear after you set up your men and form a strategy, as well as the blob rush that has replaced the old strategic combat. Things get particularly gruesome around the gates of a city, where fancy graphics such as the burning gates, the gigantic war banners, and the overload of nice graphics in general turn my computer into a slide projector. I'm running an I5 with a GT640 BTW.

    Finally, to bring this game the dismal score of 3/10, I'd like to address the overall lack of warmth, homogeneous characters and lack of control over them. The portraits of the generals all look the same. Their abilities are hard to find because of the UI (shouldn't I just be able to click on the General's portrait??) and the new system where new followers supplant a random old one, all of which happens behind the scenes, suck.

    I was horribly disappointed with this game, quit playing after 16 hours, and I won't be back for months to see if the updates make it at least playable. I believe that the flaws are too fundamental, however. People should be fired for this.

    The biggest disappointment of 2013 in any meta-category.    … Expand
  37. tesfurdo
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    This will be brief.

    I'm not going to state any of the issues that have been listed countless times by many others which I have experienced. What I will do is say this. I've never written a review for anything in my life, yet i felt compelled to sign up her and write this. I have played every total war game to date, even with teething problems with empire and shogun, I came to enjoy    This will be brief.

    I'm not going to state any of the issues that have been listed countless times by many others which I have experienced. What I will do is say this. I've never written a review for anything in my life, yet i felt compelled to sign up her and write this.

    I have played every total war game to date, even with teething problems with empire and shogun, I came to enjoy them... but with each release I find I enjoy them less. The devs know what they are doing by "taking the game series in a different direction"... they're making it more accessible to children. I am not a child and I don't enjoy successive games getting easier and fundamentally more basic. They go for graphical realism and turn the game in to an ever increasing simplification of historical battle accuracy. This latest installment is a perfect example... not a single nation had comparable units at this time... there are far to many units which are identical in every way (from fighting method to core battle stats) bar appearance. Also, hero units are pure fantasy. Quite why the devs thought they needed to introduce this kind of game influence I'll never know... it may add depth, but it destroys historical immersion completely.

    This isn't me hating on a game because I've not got what I want... I'm hating on it because I want the devs to bear in mind there are gamers out there like me... maybe there's not enough of us to make it financially attractive to make games with us in mind? If that's the case I'll hold my hands up and walk away from yet another title which is selling out. I'm pretty certain this will be my last ever total war purchase. Guess I'll just have to replay the classics and prey that the series takes the right turn for a change.

    I'm too disappointed to write any more...    … Expand
  38. baby_bot
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    Close game in a rage, after first water battle.
    But i am big fan of medieval total war...so sad.
    Ground battle too casual, very slow, any fun...
    I am upset.
  39. uizueite
    Sep 11, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Its a nice beta test! Has tons of bugs. I feel disapointed with this game, its almos like a fraud.
    Good thing is the producers are working hard to solve its issues, they say so...    … Expand
  40. Dark_Awakening
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    I was blindfolded by the hype and good experiences of former Total War titles to buy this.

    Don't make the same mistake! I'm a huge fan of the series but this game is such a horrendous fail, it feels like a scam!
  41. freundoderfeind
    Sep 11, 2013
    2
    This Game Is not bad but you can´t call it total war anymore. I played total sice rome I but rome II is the first game which I don´t like from total war. I miss all the good stuff from the older Games. I wish that they are patching it up soon and massive.
    In Hope
    Freundoderfeind
  42. Klarum
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    As usual the Critic reviews were bought, and as any other TW release it is a pile of code crap. The AI is even worse than previous games! Just wait a year for the modders to fix the game and buy it on discount from Steam. Unfortunately that is the standard procedure for any TW games. God bless the modders.
  43. Keonax
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    Great game, amazing strategy map, very solid battles. Unfortunately graphic is laggy, hopefully it will improve with new patches. Still amazing experience for me.
  44. Sogin
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    BS to all of the critic reviews.

    The game is disappointing and not finished. CA rushed the game and its still basically a beta. The AI and UI are terrible, which makes no sense because TA games are all pretty similar in their battle mechanics so why would the battle AI be worse... The load times and graphics are also worse then any other TA game. Good things are, the map is huge and the    BS to all of the critic reviews.

    The game is disappointing and not finished. CA rushed the game and its still basically a beta. The AI and UI are terrible, which makes no sense because TA games are all pretty similar in their battle mechanics so why would the battle AI be worse... The load times and graphics are also worse then any other TA game. Good things are, the map is huge and the campaign UI is good. I like how you raise troops in the army instead of a town and I like the province system.

    DO NOT BUY until they finish the game.

    If you want a good and true review please watch Angry Joe's review.    … Expand
  45. Gil8ert
    Sep 11, 2013
    6
    I've put in about 30 hours so far, so I think that's enough for an initial review.

    Given the complexity of the game mechanics, I'm more than willing to forgive the bugs it must be one hell of a mission to debug this game! But I have played all the TW games except the first Shogun so I'm definitely a veteran. Firstly, the campaign map is unforgivable in it's playability. I have an    I've put in about 30 hours so far, so I think that's enough for an initial review.

    Given the complexity of the game mechanics, I'm more than willing to forgive the bugs it must be one hell of a mission to debug this game! But I have played all the TW games except the first Shogun so I'm definitely a veteran.

    Firstly, the campaign map is unforgivable in it's playability. I have an Alienware laptop that is only 2 years old, and it was happy handling the Shogun 2 Campaign map. Rome II is not happy at all, even with the fog of war covering most of the map. I'm talking low frame rates, which I find inexplicable. There is nothing going on in the campaign map which is significantly more complex than Medieval II, and yet it takes up many times the processing power simply to run the graphics. The graphics aren't as important as the game. Go all the way back to Medieval and you'll find a quality game still, even though it looks a lot less graphically resplendent.
    Tied in with this is the number of factions available. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if they each didn't take at least 2 seconds to process their moves. With about 50 factions available that's at least 2 minutes to wait for the end of a turn. Couple that with the horrible campaign map frame rate and the campaign side of the game is woefully slow, with the key word here being 'unnecessarily.' Now I understand better systems will cost me less time but as I meet the minimum spec to play the game, I would expect the game to run properly on minimum spec. If you bought Battlefield 3 with a minimum spec machine, then you'd expect 30fps. If the game only ran at 15fps, you'd soon be questioning where the hell they pulled their 'minimum spec' requirements from!
    Next, the management of towns has changed. It looks as though they've tried to dumb down the complexity of the management but have managed instead to make your understanding of how to manage your province impenetrable. They did explain on their forum that they were trying to avoid the amass and conquer style tactics usually employed in the other games, but I personally find this new management style to be horrible. Very little flexibility in managing your towns, very little idea of how to split your building types effectively.
    Then you have the army units themselves. You now need a general in order to have an army and the number of generals is limited by the number of towns you own. This means if you raced in to conquer a town and won, and wanted to move all your archers west to another battle you would have to take that entire army west, drop the archers off and then bring your army back. This is HORRIBLE! And totally unrealistic, which isn't necessarily a hard hitting criticism of a computer game but as they've prided themselves on their realism so far I think it holds strong.
    You no longer need to build fleets to move your army, just walk your army through a port and onto the sea and suddenly they're all in boats. Why? It's a horrible idea.
    The battles themselves are pretty similar to previous titles and so can be a lot of fun. But there is some proper dodgy AI going on in them.
    So all in all, rather disappointing. I really, really enjoyed Shogun II, and the follow up Fall of the Samurai. I can't recommend Rome II to anyone. The changes they've made are for the worse, and it does feel like another dumbing down exercise like with Diablo 3 or Company of Heroes 2. I'm quite sure that pretty soon every game will involve just 1 button to mash repeatedly. After all, that'll be the entire market covered. It strikes me weird that anyone would even attempt to dumb down Total War. The specs to get it running mean only geeks will be playing it anyway.

    I'm not going to shout at CA, I'm not going to get angry. I'm just disappointed. And anyone who's messed up their school year know that is by far the most devastating comment you can get.    … Expand
  46. Disconnection
    Sep 11, 2013
    9
    Does the game beat the good old classic Rome: Total War? In some areas it does, in some it does not.

    The Creative Assembly did a good job in creating this sequel. Rome 2 Total War has very good gameplay and shows nice visuals. Also the game is more historical correct to the timeperiod than the previous Rome game. Diplomacy is now very clear and shows great details of their opinions of    Does the game beat the good old classic Rome: Total War? In some areas it does, in some it does not.

    The Creative Assembly did a good job in creating this sequel. Rome 2 Total War has very good gameplay and shows nice visuals. Also the game is more historical correct to the timeperiod than the previous Rome game. Diplomacy is now very clear and shows great details of their opinions of your faction of choice.

    The visuals of the game a very nice. The game features a cinematic camera which places your view right into the action. However, the game is said to be optimised for low end computers. But many crashes and bugs have been reported already. With high settings, the game can be played at 25-30 fps on a mediocre computer. But the lower end computers will really suffer from big armies marching on screen.

    The UI of the game can be confusing when you just start the game. And takes too much from the screen. But some elements of the UI can be collapsed. But a new played will not be able to play sufficient without these elements, which takes away the point of having the ability to collapse.

    The AI of the game seems to deploy their troops in the same locations over and over agian. And does not really seem to use any tactics. Compared to the previous Rome Total War game, this game however has better diplomacy. Allies will not suddenly attack without a reason and you can clearly see the reasons why factions like or hate you.

    City management has changed very much. In this sequal, the player can capture regions/provinces. By only selecting one of the minor towns or by selecting the major city of a region, one can build in all towns and cities of that region. So the player does not have to go through all the cities to see if there is anything to be done or to check public order. Because public order is managed in a region, not per city or town. Also the role of towns and cities have changed. The major town/city of a region is ment to focus on military and entertainment, while the minor towns focus on production. But the player has the freedom of choice to build any building in any town. Capturing an intire province/region gives the player the option to boost their region.

    The multiplayer works similar to that of Shogun 2 Total War, but without a random match maker. The player can now set up a match or join a match.

    Overall the game has its flaws but those can be, and I am sure they will be fixed by The Creative Assembly in the future.    … Expand
  47. Cremno
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    Unfortunately, I was unable to actually play the game coherently, being forced to wait more than I play,a s well as lagging etc. I don't actually see this as a game... More of a "patience simulator" and I'm not a very patient person, so 0 until they do something about it. If they actually do something about it. They have left a lot of their games bugged and then jumped to the next project,Unfortunately, I was unable to actually play the game coherently, being forced to wait more than I play,a s well as lagging etc. I don't actually see this as a game... More of a "patience simulator" and I'm not a very patient person, so 0 until they do something about it. If they actually do something about it. They have left a lot of their games bugged and then jumped to the next project, so I'm not getting my hopes up.… Expand
  48. Hseeker25
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    Nice for a beta test, but when do we actualy get the full working game, with all the normal features that we got in previous titles?
    Im unsure how this game got released in such a state, I remember having them more funding then normaly, did they spend it on booze? idk what the hell happend.

    Also most 10 user score are newly made acounts that only reviewed this game, very fishy.
  49. Demagogue
    Sep 11, 2013
    1
    1000s of hours playing total war games from shogun 1. This has topped the disgrace of empire total war release by a hundred fold. AI so poor, buggy and crashed, unoptimised performance. No chance for a refund this is an alpha build scam Buy in 6 months to a year and dont be scammed.
  50. Affiliator
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    If one would somehow extract the residue of gold atoms in the sweat of my arm pit and make a tiny gold nugget out of it, it would be worth more than the value of this game right now.

    I am a sweaty man.
  51. theline1982
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    Why a "0".
    -This is not a complete game, its nothing like the lead up made it out to be.
    -AI is completely broken therefore there is no single player experience. What's a game without a challenge, I mean why even bother. -Multi-player started de-syncing as early as turn 3 for a friend and I or freezing during battle. -Tutorial completely leaves out how family/senate works -Shogun 2    Why a "0".
    -This is not a complete game, its nothing like the lead up made it out to be.
    -AI is completely broken therefore there is no single player experience. What's a game without a challenge, I mean why even bother.
    -Multi-player started de-syncing as early as turn 3 for a friend and I or freezing during battle.
    -Tutorial completely leaves out how family/senate works
    -Shogun 2 was better and that's an earlier game
    -Game is in Beta condition basically, don't even know why they bother releasing complete games anymore, probably because they can get away with it. My list for pre-ordering games of publishers is becoming less and less.
    Recommend saving your cash for a steam sale hopefully there will be additions and fixes that make the game playable by then.    … Expand
  52. Zkiller
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    Unplayable trash at launch, even after the first patch it suffers from allot of bugs and really bad frame-rate issues. The final product does not compare to the footage we where given in a "Alpha state" which was MUCH better.

    I own a monster machine with x2 ATI radeon 6970 and Im running this on below 30 FPS on average
  53. Vichard
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    In its current state this game is a pile of junk, don't waste your money unless you are lucky enough to have a system that can run it (apparently only 2% are affected by the performance issues-ya right CA) that aside it's taken content out like no guard button, no family trees.

    What the hell, a lot of waiting and a lot of hype for a pile of crap
  54. fbtsjxl
    Sep 11, 2013
    7
    The game looks great graphically and we can really feel the atmosphere as armies clash. The campaign map is visually stunning, units move and cities expand in beautiful detail. Overall, we feel that the graphics when on a computer that can handle it are fantastic, yes the engine needs optimisation to cater for the as many people as possible, however with some tweaking we have had a greatThe game looks great graphically and we can really feel the atmosphere as armies clash. The campaign map is visually stunning, units move and cities expand in beautiful detail. Overall, we feel that the graphics when on a computer that can handle it are fantastic, yes the engine needs optimisation to cater for the as many people as possible, however with some tweaking we have had a great experience on a mid-range laptop as well with a combination of low/med settings the game still looks good (obviously not to the extent of ultra or extreme settings).

    Some parts of the game need tweaking and there are some features that still need to be sorted out. However, random bugs aside (and this seems to be varying for a lot of people, we haven't had any game breaking bugs as of yet), the game is a fun experience. The AI will need tweaking, fixes and improvements, until that happens there are a few good mods that help this area a lot!

    There are other mods available that will tailor the gaming experience for you (and we enjoy these mods a lot too!), however the core features of the game are solid but needing some work to either improve or fix in some cases. This doesn't stop us (myself and partner) from having fun! We're enjoying both single player campaigns and co-op campaigns: be forewarned, right now the turns take quite awhile to finish in multiplayer (30 seconds to a minute or two) but this should be optimised eventually, with the amount of factions battling it out on the campaign map this an understandable, but still somewhat annoying, facet of the experience.

    The UI? We like it, it's streamlined for ease of use and quickly conveys information and lets you quickly make things happen on the campaign map, however the details deeper in the game information should be easily accessible as well like with the seperate windows in Shogun 2. This streamlining is at its most useful in the new system for managing regions that centralises city information and upgrades in an easy to use and intuitive panel that allows building decisions to be made quickly and easily.

    What we miss most though is family trees and more a more in-depth character development system like that present in previous titles with many traits, ranks, and even roles for characters to take. The new army traditions systems is fantastic and can only get better through development, we quite like naming our armies too!

    Overall, Rome II offers a lot of fun, and a streamlined user experience that hides a surprising amount of depth. While there are bugs, the ones we have encountered have been minor, and haven’t noticeable detracted from our gaming experience.    … Expand
  55. outrider23
    Sep 11, 2013
    3
    Poor to say the least. If the glitches and frame rate issues were resolved it would be a good game for sure. However even if these issues were resolved Total War is dumbing itself down to become more "mainstream" just look at the campaign and the limited choices you can make. This game in its current state with glitches and slow frame rate is unplayable. Very disappointing would be how IPoor to say the least. If the glitches and frame rate issues were resolved it would be a good game for sure. However even if these issues were resolved Total War is dumbing itself down to become more "mainstream" just look at the campaign and the limited choices you can make. This game in its current state with glitches and slow frame rate is unplayable. Very disappointing would be how I would describe this game. I recommend to go and purchase Saints Row 4 to get over this shocking game.… Expand
  56. kenny4221
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    I'm a fan of the TW series, been playing since Shogun 1, but i'm hugely disappointed in this game. The game is barely optimized, the AI are a bunch of window lickers, the UI is horrible, some battle mechanics are broken, CTD's, and the list goes on. I know that TW games always come with bugs, but this is by far the worst it's ever been. I'm tired of developers rushing out broken andI'm a fan of the TW series, been playing since Shogun 1, but i'm hugely disappointed in this game. The game is barely optimized, the AI are a bunch of window lickers, the UI is horrible, some battle mechanics are broken, CTD's, and the list goes on. I know that TW games always come with bugs, but this is by far the worst it's ever been. I'm tired of developers rushing out broken and unfinished games, thanks CA/Sega. If you're thinking about buying this don't, wait till it's on sale on steam or the price goes down, hopefully by then some of this garbage will be fixed.… Expand
  57. Smoothpie
    Sep 11, 2013
    2
    This game is not worth buying in it's current state (at release). It's horrible, and it makes me so sad that I have to say this because I'm a huge Total War fan. I've got all of the Total War games and this one is by far the worst one. I think that this game has huge potential, but right now it's a horrible mess of a game. I would this game to anyone in it's current state.
  58. Thatweirdguy
    Sep 11, 2013
    7
    Totally horrible stupid A.I and graphics buy even with my high end PC and flag points on the battlefield totally ruined it .Horrible campaign matches that serge battle depend on a stupid flag point
  59. motaclown
    Sep 11, 2013
    0
    CA is in denial.
    They posted an "I'm sorry" letter today claiming that only 2% of users are experiencing any problems.
    The problem is, EVERYONE is having problems with this game. They keep trying to make everyone who hasn't yet bought the game that they have a 98% chance of success but the sad truth is that you will be among the 100% of us who have already been there and done that.    CA is in denial.
    They posted an "I'm sorry" letter today claiming that only 2% of users are experiencing any problems.

    The problem is, EVERYONE is having problems with this game. They keep trying to make everyone who hasn't yet bought the game that they have a 98% chance of success but the sad truth is that you will be among the 100% of us who have already been there and done that.

    The bottom line is...

    No matter how lucky you get as to which graphical problems you get (campaign mode or battle mode) you are still stuck with the stupidest computer AI seen in any game since Dos based games.

    You will have problems with this game. CA can say only 2% but the bottom line is100% of people are having some sort of problem.

    Save your money. Buy a proven game that gets good reviews.    … Expand
  60. MarkWester
    Sep 11, 2013
    4
    This game is not finished or play tested what so ever, I'd recommend waiting a few months, in its current state it really feels like Total War Rome 1 is more fun and has better AI, than this. I am surprised at the glaring difference between the product and the marketing campaigne. end turns take to long, there's a butt load of glitches. wait until it falls pricewise and give them time to fix it.
  61. Antonivs
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I waited 9 years for this game. I pre-ordered the CE. I wanted to love this game. But after several hours of single player game play and several failures at Co-op; I just stopped playing. Maybe it will be playable in a month or two.
  62. MrPedantic
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Cons: Game-breaking bugs. AI terrible. UI unintuitive & weird. Battles supremely disappointing. Alt-tab seizure-inducing.
    Pros: Graphics better. Prologue decent
    DO NOT BUY. The game gets worse the more you play it. The Prologue is a nice start. I liked the way it walks you through most of what you need to know for the Campaign. However, even here there were glimpses of    Cons: Game-breaking bugs. AI terrible. UI unintuitive & weird. Battles supremely disappointing. Alt-tab seizure-inducing.
    Pros: Graphics better. Prologue decent

    DO NOT BUY.

    The game gets worse the more you play it. The Prologue is a nice start. I liked the way it walks you through most of what you need to know for the Campaign. However, even here there were glimpses of trouble. I gave up after bugs prevented me from finishing the Prologue 2 times. The thing with the Prologue is that you can't finish a turn unless you finish the objective they identify, and sometimes a bug prevents you from fulfilling the objective until the next turn...yeah.

    Then you get to the Campaign, and the bugs just multiply like, well...bugs. Even the proper "features" that were supposed to be newly-added into the game are terrible, almost to a fault. Battle objectives suck, and are totally irrelevant to any kind of strategy and yet can still decide the outcome of battles. Agents are arbitrarily grouped into 3 for no real reason that I can comprehend. The game's encyclopaedia is slow, not really informative, and if the game had been done properly, almost entirely unnecessary anyway. I could keep going, about the AI, the UI, the performance issues, the interaction between armies and navies, the interaction between embarked armies and the coastline, the graphical glitches, the collision errors, and so on. Turns take several minutes (due to 117 in-game factions), random frame hangs will occur for no apparent reason, and

    One particular category of failure that should be mentioned is with regard to cinematics. The intro movie is low-res, low-texture, low-polygon, and feels like low-setting gameplay rather than a beautiful, inspiring pre-rendered piece of art designed as a fitting intro to a wonderful game. Though I guess in its current state it sort of fits. In-game, cinematics are almost completely lacking. As opposed to the original RTW, where cinematics were in every construction card, and Shogun 2, where agents got beautiful, varied cinematics depicting their actions, the only cinematics I have seen thus far have been for family deaths. Even here, it is hugely disappointing. The cinematic is a short clip, maybe 10 seconds long, with no sound and having almost no meaningful content whatsoever.

    I'm giving this a 2/10 because despite its flaws, it has SOME redeeming qualities. The graphics are decent (not spectacular, but decent), the campaign map is far more reflective of reality, the cinematic view, so far as I've used it, seems a welcome and interesting addition, and at least it has few of the bugs in the original Rome: Total War. Unfortunately, they seem to have been replaced with a completely different, much more debilitating set of new bugs.    … Expand
  63. TheAtomicTofu
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    This game is expect the series to get better with sequels from Shogun and not worst! The AI is horrible,the script for the characters is abysmal.Much less there are deformed faces on the characters,and whatever you saw in the trailer,is NOT THERE. The graphics is horrendous,its like a 2005 PC game,also there is major desync problems. Whatever you saw on youtube about people saying theThis game is expect the series to get better with sequels from Shogun and not worst! The AI is horrible,the script for the characters is abysmal.Much less there are deformed faces on the characters,and whatever you saw in the trailer,is NOT THERE. The graphics is horrendous,its like a 2005 PC game,also there is major desync problems. Whatever you saw on youtube about people saying the game is awesome,is a LIE by the company probably paying reviewers to smack a high rating in turn for cash.DO NOT SPEND 50 BUCKS ON THIS GAME. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED… Expand
  64. Thunderlion59
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    Look, It's time for gamers to realize that some companys are trying to fu## us. I'm tired of it, 40% bigger budget my A##. Crappy AI, and a total downgrade to the past entrys in the franchise. I really am wondering if the critics actually tested the game or watched a trailer. This game has so much potential, but this is completely unacceptable. I actually gave this game a 1/10 because ILook, It's time for gamers to realize that some companys are trying to fu## us. I'm tired of it, 40% bigger budget my A##. Crappy AI, and a total downgrade to the past entrys in the franchise. I really am wondering if the critics actually tested the game or watched a trailer. This game has so much potential, but this is completely unacceptable. I actually gave this game a 1/10 because I remember the good days that made this my favorite strategy franchise. Please. stand up for gamers. Don't buy this game it is stripped down and not worth it.… Expand
  65. FooyFooy
    Sep 10, 2013
    4
    A huge let down after Total War Shogun 2 added so much to the game and had great new feature. However, in Rome 2, they added a good amount of things to the campain UI and made the world map a lot more pretty, they took away so much more. Shogun was a step foward but Rome 2 was 2 steps backwards. I'm not going to talk about the AI too much sense that can be patched later on. They made theA huge let down after Total War Shogun 2 added so much to the game and had great new feature. However, in Rome 2, they added a good amount of things to the campain UI and made the world map a lot more pretty, they took away so much more. Shogun was a step foward but Rome 2 was 2 steps backwards. I'm not going to talk about the AI too much sense that can be patched later on. They made the unit cards all look the same making it difficult to identify the unit type, and you can now only use seige equipment on prvincial capitals which is weird. They took away the personalities of generals and made the upgrading system for them very confusing. Now generals die all the time of natural cuases and there is no way to continue they're legacy with children or a family tree like in Shogun 2. They talked about how the solider tactics were realistic and the charges were much better but it is really just a mosh pit compared to Shogun 2 chharges. You also have to babysit every unit now since there will be one unit next to them being massecered while they just sit and watch. They will only fight if you direct them to a specific enemy or when they are attacked. Climbing over walls is verry troublesome as once they finaly manage to get on the walls, they have to wait till the last man is on to move an inch and get down into the city. The Naval battles are absolutly horrific in they're current state, so I suggest you just auto-resolve them all. There are actually some positives such as a new larger map stretching from modern day Portugal to modern day Pakistan. They introduce a new province system consisting of minor settlements and one provincial capital which i love, and makes managing the cities much easier. The cities themselves are a pretty as ever before. They actually seem like cities now, and invasions have much better settings. Now to the verdict. I was largely dissapointed with this game, If you are new to the total war franchise, DO NOT get Rome total war 2, get shogun 2, a vastly superior game. I give this game a 4/10 since it is still an ok game. It seems to have been rushed out the door. I would suggest if you own it yet, you wait for the patches or buy Shogun 2 in the meantime.… Expand
  66. Wafflezsyrup
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    Well, what a surprise, obviously CA DID NOT LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE ORIGINAL RTW! ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS KEEP WHAT THE ORIGINAL GAME HAD AND IMPROVE ON IT! THEY FAILED AS BAD AS THE OPRAH NETWORK ON IT, IT JUST BLOWS MY MIND HOW BAD THIS GAME IS. THE AI IS BRAINLESS AND SOME GENIUS WHO THOUGHT CAPTURE POINTS ON A BATTLEFIELD BATTLE WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA SHOULD GET FIRED DAMN! THE AI IS LIKEWell, what a surprise, obviously CA DID NOT LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE ORIGINAL RTW! ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS KEEP WHAT THE ORIGINAL GAME HAD AND IMPROVE ON IT! THEY FAILED AS BAD AS THE OPRAH NETWORK ON IT, IT JUST BLOWS MY MIND HOW BAD THIS GAME IS. THE AI IS BRAINLESS AND SOME GENIUS WHO THOUGHT CAPTURE POINTS ON A BATTLEFIELD BATTLE WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA SHOULD GET FIRED DAMN! THE AI IS LIKE EMPIRE DUMB, IF ANYTHING THIS GAME SHOULD OF BEEN FREE TO MAKE UP FOR THE FAILURE THAT EMPIRE WAS BUT NO THEY US MORE BY TRYING TO SELL EVERYONE WHO DIDNT PREORDER DLC. ALL FIGHTS ARE MOB FIGHTS ITS NASTY, ROMANS FIGHT LIKE BARBARIANS U CANT STAND GUARD AND FIRE AT WILL WITH COHORTS LIKE ORIGINAL RTW BUT IN ORDER TO USE IT YOU GOT TO CHARGE WHICH IS HORRIBLE IF YOUR ON DEFENSE! WOW, ALL I KNOW IS THERE GETTING A 0 FOR EVEN THINKING ABOUT CHARGING DLC WHICH IS A RIP OFF, WHY DID I PAY $60 FOR 70% OF THE GAME FOR THEM TO SELL ME SECTIONS OF IT LATER IN THE DLC??????? BAD BAD BAD, THE ORIGINAL ROME TOTAL WAR HAD IT ALL AND STILL DOES WHICH IS SAD CONSIDERING ITS BEEN 10 YEARS AND THEY HAVENT LEARNED FROM WHAT MADE THAT GAME SO GREAT ITS JUST SAD AND SICKINING, DAMN IS CAMPAIGN BORING, HARD IS LIKE EASY ON THIS GAME AND EASY IS LIKE INVINCIBILITY. HELL THE EXPANSION BARBARIAN INVASION HAD A TON MORE CONTENT THEN THIS GAME SAD! DO NOT BUY… Expand
  67. NattyDread
    Sep 10, 2013
    3
    3/10
    By far the weakest Total War game we have been delivered.
    - Graphics are jerky and buggy and at the same time the game performs much worse than Shogun II - Dumbed down UI (no more graphs, much less information etc.) - Victory Points in land battles (seriously, just WTF?!?!?!) those were by far the MOST idiotic battles I've ever been playing in a TW game - The lack of units.    3/10
    By far the weakest Total War game we have been delivered.
    - Graphics are jerky and buggy and at the same time the game performs much worse than Shogun II
    - Dumbed down UI (no more graphs, much less information etc.)
    - Victory Points in land battles (seriously, just WTF?!?!?!) those were by far the MOST idiotic battles I've ever been playing in a TW game
    - The lack of units. Haven't been counting them exactly, but from what i remember Rome II has far less units than Rome I.(Oh right, i forgot.....CA still needs to make more money and will sell us some fancy, over-priced dlc-units)
    - I've been playing the game for like 50 hours now and even on legendary difficulty battles are ridiculously easy, due to a very crappy AI that isn't able to build armies consisting of anything else but 20% levies and 80% skirmishers
    - When you play as a minor faction (like barbarians), so-called "major-factions" like Rome are being overrun by celtic tribes within the first 100 turns. So the expected "big war" against rome won't happen for me in my legendary arverni-campaign, which kind of spoils the complete campaign and i'm already bored to death with it, because there is absolutely no challenge.
    - Even on Legendary battles are extremely short lived. Pretty much everything's decided after one big clash. Due to this fact battles become very chaotic, too. There is no battle-line, no flanks, no order, nothing... There is no need to keep reserves in a battle for example. Just throw in everything you have at once and you'll win, because the enemy ranks immidiatelly start to crumble within a few SECONDS. Yes, whole enemy armies will route within only a few seconds into battle, because they haven't learned how to defend themselves and keep on dying like flies.
    - 1 Year turns: Add to the dumbing down of the game. You can only attack in one season, which is apparently winter. So you can't avoid attrition by summer campaigning. DERP
    Oh....I still could add dozens of points about this game, that I don't like at all.
    To me this is NOT Rome II: Total War. This is Beta II: Total Fail.
    All my hopes lie in Europa Barbarorum II, which will hopefully be coming soon for Medieval II (which in my opinion is the best TW game in the Series.)    … Expand
  68. JackPaladin
    Sep 10, 2013
    3
    Yet another corporate pickpocketing. Released with horrible AI; bugs galore; and features tore out of the game that leave a confusing empty hole. Not to mention DAY ONE DLC that should have been in the game at release for SURE.

    It's yet another outrageous game release. And for those that pre-bought this game, your 51% to blame. Watch the Angry Joe video review to see in detail how    Yet another corporate pickpocketing. Released with horrible AI; bugs galore; and features tore out of the game that leave a confusing empty hole. Not to mention DAY ONE DLC that should have been in the game at release for SURE.

    It's yet another outrageous game release. And for those that pre-bought this game, your 51% to blame.

    Watch the Angry Joe video review to see in detail how bad this release is.    … Expand
  69. thilinab
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    The most disappointing total war yet. Start with the performance issues (horrible frame rates, ending turns take a good 3-4 mins each if you're lucky, and load times are just as bad. All of it combined, its a good idea to have a tv or book near you to occupy the wait times) then graphical issues (texture pop-ins and tearing, missing or low quality textures), all of which will hopefullyThe most disappointing total war yet. Start with the performance issues (horrible frame rates, ending turns take a good 3-4 mins each if you're lucky, and load times are just as bad. All of it combined, its a good idea to have a tv or book near you to occupy the wait times) then graphical issues (texture pop-ins and tearing, missing or low quality textures), all of which will hopefully get patched in a reasonable time frame. The rest of the game is just a buggy with terrible AI (specially evident when the AI attempt to siege cities), a broken diplomacy system and awful navel combat just to name a few.
    The line of sight system is one of the few features that stand out as an improvement over previous total war titles. To even make this worth buying on sale would require a huge bug-fixing effort as well as an overhaul of the AI system.    … Expand
  70. HIghlander
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    I understand that a lot of people don't like this game, but for the wrong reasons. They shouldn't give this game a 0/10 because a complaint about a unit card (really?) or a frame issue (which they will fix fairly quickly). You shouldn't like this game because you think it has stupid AI or it doesn't feel like a TW game. The only reason I am giving a 10 is to balance out the idiots who giveI understand that a lot of people don't like this game, but for the wrong reasons. They shouldn't give this game a 0/10 because a complaint about a unit card (really?) or a frame issue (which they will fix fairly quickly). You shouldn't like this game because you think it has stupid AI or it doesn't feel like a TW game. The only reason I am giving a 10 is to balance out the idiots who give this a 0 for stupid complaints.… Expand
  71. mav3003
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    The core concept of the game is there but too many optimization and bug issues sit high above this game...in fact they are crushing Rome2 it deserves a poor rateing..the AI seems like its been programmed by a rabbit too many promises never delivered...if you havn't figured out yet what is wrong with this game then your not much of a fan...Hopefully with patches this game may rise but iThe core concept of the game is there but too many optimization and bug issues sit high above this game...in fact they are crushing Rome2 it deserves a poor rateing..the AI seems like its been programmed by a rabbit too many promises never delivered...if you havn't figured out yet what is wrong with this game then your not much of a fan...Hopefully with patches this game may rise but i have my doubts maybe a DLC adding some new stuff with some fixes may change its value...they have a lot of work in front of them..lets hope they are up to it.… Expand
  72. Allentrorn99
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Such a disappointment since there was so much hype I paid full price, in fact pre purchased and they just over complicated the UI. The new mechanics are horrible. what happened? If you played Shogun 2 this would be considered a big slap to your face. All of these dishonest reviews that hide the fact that it's obviously bugged a lot. No cut scenes to make it immersed like Shogun 2.Such a disappointment since there was so much hype I paid full price, in fact pre purchased and they just over complicated the UI. The new mechanics are horrible. what happened? If you played Shogun 2 this would be considered a big slap to your face. All of these dishonest reviews that hide the fact that it's obviously bugged a lot. No cut scenes to make it immersed like Shogun 2. Creative Assembly said they had 40% more of a budget in this game. I wonder what they spent it on definitely not the game maybe instead on the photo editing they used on the pics they released. Or the trailers maybe even for their hotels or casinos. Everything they said that built up our expectations are lies, ALL OF THEM!!! Well I know these bugs can be patched but they should of known when they released it. It seems Creative Assembly used their interns to do the A.I. Well... "Rome wasn't built in a day," but it seems this game was made in a day.… Expand
  73. Staki9
    Sep 10, 2013
    3
    When I bought this game, I desperately wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I couldn't bear to lie to myself and give this a 10 like so many other people are. Consumers don't like to think they were wrong, so why should they be? I might have a few reasons:

    The first problem with this game is the horrible optimization. I can run it OK at best, but I have a couple of friends with    When I bought this game, I desperately wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I couldn't bear to lie to myself and give this a 10 like so many other people are. Consumers don't like to think they were wrong, so why should they be? I might have a few reasons:

    The first problem with this game is the horrible optimization. I can run it OK at best, but I have a couple of friends with computers much better than my 2-year-old tin can that can't even get 20 frames on the lowest setting. This has been an issue in essentially every Total War game to date, and I can't fathom why Creative Assembly would release their game before fixing these issues (in the past, it took them months to fix optimization a repeat of this wasn't a good idea).

    Another issue is the AI in the game itself. The game obviously focuses around single-player (or co-op) and in that endeavor the AI is a complete joke. In battles, enemy units have no idea what they're doing and at times will just run back and forth in one spot, and sometimes even charge you only to retreat instantly. Defending a settlement against this atrocious AI isn't even fun. Even outside battles in the campaign map you'll end up seeing enemy armies abandoning their settlements at the worst possible times, leaving you an opening to simply walk in. Armies of 5 will recklessly charge into your army of twenty with a complete disregard for any logical solution (besides suicide, apparently).

    The campaign itself is amazingly large, which I absolutely love. The issue with this is you'll typically be looking at 2-4 minutes of processing AI turns in the campaign map. If you manage to take two minutes on your turn, you're still looking at AT LEAST an equal return of that time doing nothing and waiting for the (horrible) AI to take their turns. Essentially, you're looking at 20-30 minutes of campaign gameplay per hour of actual gameplay. That's an absurd amount of time to be doing nothing. Of course, those gameplay times are disregarding the game's other problems, which brings me to...

    Misc. issues. One big one that I (as well as others from what I've come to understand) is campaign battles (specifically co-op) that you choose to auto-resolve might not even register, and the game will freeze up at that point and render a campaign unplayable from that point forward. Random bugs like this coupled with the constant de-sync battle crashes and even game crashes entirely make this an extremely difficult game to actually play.

    The content is great, but endless technical issues make this game unplayable; even if you do manage to play uninterrupted, the horrible AI and buggy unit control render this game a laughable full-price release.    … Expand
  74. Ogtoma
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    Holy DAMN I can't believe it Is CA and Sega is sleeping on victory after Shogun 2. The game is not even compete to ROME 1
    - Why the flag appear in the game. We want to enjoy the battle. Not go straight to the flag and end the game. HOLY ****.
    - Where the god damn awesome agent cinematic in shogun 2 - 6 9 Playable factions and 3 of them are in 8$ DAY 1 DLC. In Rome 1, I play for    Holy DAMN I can't believe it Is CA and Sega is sleeping on victory after Shogun 2. The game is not even compete to ROME 1
    - Why the flag appear in the game. We want to enjoy the battle. Not go straight to the flag and end the game. HOLY ****.
    - Where the god damn awesome agent cinematic in shogun 2
    - 6 9 Playable factions and 3 of them are in 8$ DAY 1 DLC. In Rome 1, I play for 180+ Factions for FREE
    - What the is that stupid AI. ROME 1 is even better than that.
    - Holy crap, my super high end gigs is playing ROME 2 in 30 fps and lag in Campaign maps. Holy !
    - Where the is speech when battle begin.
    Even graphic better. It's not important. CA removed enjoyable stuffs and let us play god damn ****ty game. Even the game have some good point but They destroy it all. I did not enjoy the 60$ title at launch till now. And look at the SIMCITY. They promise the game will be better but it's NOT. I am scared and lose hope of CA. I moving back to Shogun 2 now. Better get your refund and buy the game back if it' get better as promise. Holy I still can't believe. Those day are sad days of my life. That some hope of my life got totally destroyed.    … Expand
  75. mjohnsimon
    Sep 10, 2013
    5
    I'm not going to write a full fledged review because most of the complaints you see here are the main problems and reasons why people hate this game so much at the moment.

    In the end, despite some of the issues, I did have fun and in no way does this game deserve a "red" score. Heck, once patched up, this game has the potential to be great, but until then, it truly deserves a "yellow"    I'm not going to write a full fledged review because most of the complaints you see here are the main problems and reasons why people hate this game so much at the moment.

    In the end, despite some of the issues, I did have fun and in no way does this game deserve a "red" score. Heck, once patched up, this game has the potential to be great, but until then, it truly deserves a "yellow" score.

    In the end, just buy Shogun 2 or the original Rome Total War, or just wait until everything is fixed by next year...    … Expand
  76. nebulousfury
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    It is VERY disturbing that the critics on metacric rated this game so favorable. There was undoubtedly some payoffs going there and I would highly recommend nobody take them seriously anymore. All credibility lost. With that out the way.... Rome II is a broken, senseless, and much downgraded version of what once was a great franchise. Even after you get past all the obvious faults... justIt is VERY disturbing that the critics on metacric rated this game so favorable. There was undoubtedly some payoffs going there and I would highly recommend nobody take them seriously anymore. All credibility lost. With that out the way.... Rome II is a broken, senseless, and much downgraded version of what once was a great franchise. Even after you get past all the obvious faults... just as you are starting to find a groove what happens? Well either the terrible AI won't make its move and you are forced to just sit there like an idiot or your soldiers get stuck on even the most negotiable obstacles and you are forced to restart because you can't do anything until every last member of a unit tries to navigate seemingly blindly around and through and over different obstacles of the map. The AI is just totally broken. It's not just how the computer unit AI is broken, but also the overall strategy of the computers themselves is broken. Graphically there is many glitches, and after 17 horrid hours of playing Rome II the longest it has been before I've seen a graphical bug is about 3 minutes... NO JOKE. Even the sound is a major downgrade from prior releases from this series. This game can't even be considered worthy of being called an Alpha. This is definitely a pre-alpha released as a FULL RETAIL GAME. What was Sega thinking? I'm sure that is what the majority who plays this game will be saying. Even after all the bugs are fixed, there is still major issues with gameplay and business practices. For example you need to pay almost 10 bucks just to be the Spartans. I'd recommend just pass of Rome II and forget it ever existed. It won't even be worth buying once the bugs are fixed. The entire design is flawed and that is a problem that can't be fixed with just a bunch of patches or even an expansion.… Expand
  77. Hugotrd
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Waited years for this.. DONT BUY THIS GAME DONT BUY THIS GAME buy the first one! buy shogan, not this! god!
    I played this as soon as it launched, and so SO SO SO SO many bugs!!!!
  78. thequailboy
    Sep 10, 2013
    3
    To put it simply. Whatever you do, no matter how you feel about past Total War games. Do. Not. Buy. This. Product. Not only is it totally unfinished. It is not a fun game to play. The AI is ridiculous. The game design is deeply flawed with contradictions and annoyances. I have played for 25 hours. 5 of those hours have been waiting for the CPU to take its move. I run this game on a £4000To put it simply. Whatever you do, no matter how you feel about past Total War games. Do. Not. Buy. This. Product. Not only is it totally unfinished. It is not a fun game to play. The AI is ridiculous. The game design is deeply flawed with contradictions and annoyances. I have played for 25 hours. 5 of those hours have been waiting for the CPU to take its move. I run this game on a £4000 system. GTX680, i7 3.33ghtz, 16gb Ram and it is too slow, choppy and laggy (offline) to bare to play any longer. It is torture. I am so, so disappointed to have waited so long for such a terrible excuse for a game. May CA and Sega learn a harsh, harsh lesson. RIP PC gaming.… Expand
  79. arflynn23
    Sep 10, 2013
    4
    Having been a fan of the Total War series for years (12 or so) I am so sad that this is what was released. Clearly the hype was just that. Hype. The game has major issues that I'm not sure can be repaired no matter how much patching is done. But for the sake of CA and Rome, I sure hope it can get better.
  80. WhataTwist
    Sep 10, 2013
    4
    Rome 2 has been a massive step back in the franchise since Shogun 2. Somewhere in there is a good game, but it's bogged down in bugs, horrific AI, graphics problems and tons of really bad design decisions. Give it a few months for modders and patches to make it playable and then buy it.
  81. Tsuroo
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    I played over 30 hours of this game...it took me that long to realize the shell of a Total War game I had purchased. I am so disappointed with Rome II.

    I do not like the new UI (personal opinion). The AI is a joke (both campaign and battle). It is SOOOOOOO slow it lags on the campaign map, on the battle map, AND it takes FOREVER to get through the AI turns. No family tree.    I played over 30 hours of this game...it took me that long to realize the shell of a Total War game I had purchased. I am so disappointed with Rome II.

    I do not like the new UI (personal opinion).

    The AI is a joke (both campaign and battle).

    It is SOOOOOOO slow it lags on the campaign map, on the battle map, AND it takes FOREVER to get through the AI turns.

    No family tree. Why would they leave that out?

    The political system is stupid and pointless. What the hell is it even supposed to do?

    I feel no connection to my generals; just another face and name. If one dies, he just gets replaced by another face and name. Also, why can you assassinate one of your own generals. Why would I want to do that?

    Naval battles are boring and it is a pain in the ass to get your ships to do what you tell them to do.

    The land battles last minutes. I have won battles with thousands of soldiers in less than 3 minutes...why did they decide that was fun? I thought this game was supposed to be the most EPIC Total War game ever (CA's words, not mine)...................3 minute battles..........Also, go ahead and forget about tactics; every battle quickly turns into one giant blob of people..........

    And those STUPID flags on the battle maps. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY the HELL are there FLAGS!?!?! You know, King of the Hill might be a cool variant to play in a quick battle...BUT WHY ARE THERE FLAGS IN THE BATTLES I AM FIGHTING DURING A CAMPAIGN!? So stupid!

    On the upside, the campaign map is beautiful and I really love the province system.

    This game is such a let down     … Expand
  82. fox32145
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    pure dump...ter I played over 10 hours, I will adjust my 10/10 to a 4/10. The AI is just too stupid, a donkey i a compliment to them! I can defeat 3 armys with 1 on legendery! The AI is killing the game.. Also, i have lag... while I can run all other newest games on ultra settings! I have to tune down alot
  83. LeonardoMaciel
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    In my opinion the game is excellent. I had no mechanical problems and no graphics. I do not know if I'm a lucky man, but do not understand why so many negative comments and such low scores to a game that is very fun.
  84. Fedozzo
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    This game is commercial garbage.
    Unplayable, graphics and gameplay simplified, arcadized and NO tactic at all.
    Capture point? WTF is this, a hsitorical strategy serious game or a arcade-console-casual game?
    It's pure it's the worst abort I everseen in my gaming life, is the biggest delusion of the year.
    DON'T BUY THIS ALPHA-ARCADE-PIECEOF**** and install Rome I.
  85. Mattrtnz
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    Please ignore any good reviews about this game! This game is the worst Total War Game I have ever played. Since release day I have experienced plenty of game crashes for seemingly no in game reason. The AI is absolutely awful, you see opposing units randomly walking instead of defending or whatever else they should be doing. The units that you are controlling constantly break formation.Please ignore any good reviews about this game! This game is the worst Total War Game I have ever played. Since release day I have experienced plenty of game crashes for seemingly no in game reason. The AI is absolutely awful, you see opposing units randomly walking instead of defending or whatever else they should be doing. The units that you are controlling constantly break formation. The frame-rate drops all the time for no reason, and it definitely shouldn't be on my PC. This game needs patching majorly and immediately simply to make this game even worth the money that was spent on this game! Do not buy it until an update/patch is released!… Expand
  86. Huber
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    Huge step back =(

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

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

    Here the things that bothers me the most:

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

    This game really feels like a beta!!!

    I do like the campaign graphic and it´s maybe the best TW game to start with, if you are new to the series, but TW veterans will be disappointed.    … Expand
  87. Zukku
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Everything is horrible about this game.
    I LOOOVED Shogun 2, and i had so many dreams and high hopes for Rome 2 (Even though i did not expect it to be better)
    I just wanted Shogun 2 but with Rome.. But no. It feels so different and many things you know from Shogun they have removed. My score is low, and some may say that it is too low. But I have horrible FPS especially during anything    Everything is horrible about this game.
    I LOOOVED Shogun 2, and i had so many dreams and high hopes for Rome 2 (Even though i did not expect it to be better)
    I just wanted Shogun 2 but with Rome.. But no.
    It feels so different and many things you know from Shogun they have removed. My score is low, and some may say that it is too low. But I have horrible FPS especially during anything with water eventhough i have a good build, with low to none problems in any other game. Ran Metro Last light on highest with no problems.. In Rome 2 it's nearly impossible for me to play.
    AI is... Not even worth mentioning. I have no idea how they thought that it was an improvement from the others. Damn.

    You dropped the ball on this one.    … Expand
  88. Alex692
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    Couldnt play the game at first, it shouldve stayed that way. The game didnt even live up to an inch of my expectations. Ridiculous AI, very poorly polished and the game lagged like a mf at many points throughout the game. Still, this is ironically enough one of the best strategy titles out there, the only reason it doesnt get a 1...
  89. Doconicus
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Amazing. This game will be recognized as a classic. But what is more amazing is the 900+ 0-1 rating scores by people who signed up here on the same day the game was released, gave it a 0 or 1, said something about the AI (which they have no idea what they're talking about) and then left. Kind of like a 'seagull review' that is, fly in, make a racket, crap all over everything then takeAmazing. This game will be recognized as a classic. But what is more amazing is the 900+ 0-1 rating scores by people who signed up here on the same day the game was released, gave it a 0 or 1, said something about the AI (which they have no idea what they're talking about) and then left. Kind of like a 'seagull review' that is, fly in, make a racket, crap all over everything then take off.

    These people are clearly ringers sent here to stir up trouble. Rome II isn't a bad game, it's not a good game, it's a great game.    … Expand
  90. mrchinchin25
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    This game is good when it works. However the bugs and gfx issues are crippling, and its a step back from the rich strategy tapesty of history and battle I expect from the Total War series.

    Biggest issues for me? Battles are too fast to really enjoy. I want to feel like I'm in the thick of it, not having to panic zoom in and out to micro-manage my units. Also day 1 DLC so -2 points    This game is good when it works. However the bugs and gfx issues are crippling, and its a step back from the rich strategy tapesty of history and battle I expect from the Total War series.

    Biggest issues for me? Battles are too fast to really enjoy. I want to feel like I'm in the thick of it, not having to panic zoom in and out to micro-manage my units.

    Also day 1 DLC so -2 points automatically.    … Expand
  91. EckSi
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I am fan of the TW series at heart. For my credentials as a critic, I currently have over 100 hours in game, have beaten a campaign, and am one of the top of the leaderboards in multiplayers (Xtreme Chaos).

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

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

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

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

    Lastly, the moderating on their online forums are terrible. They cherrypick what threads do or do not stay, they keep horrendous and troll praisers yet they delete and ban valid criticisms. I'm looking at you, Sasu.    … Expand
  92. kokodas
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    This game is really horrible. I played every total war games except few DLCs.
    But this one is absolutely the worst of all. I even had to buy Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai one of few which I have not played and it is much better in every way. ROME 2 is horrible even in the tactical side of game boring, stupid politic, not rewarding. Shame
  93. Satori22
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    I'm writing this to send a warning: Don't buy it at full price! If you really want to, wait for a few months or a year, when it's on sales including expansions. It's not worth 60 bucks, that's for sure. It could become somewhat average if good expansions and patches comes out, but even then I think it's still going to be the worst total war title.
  94. TomPD
    Sep 10, 2013
    6
    I have now put in 40 plus hours to the game playing the single player campaign on legendary. Initially I rated a 9/10 but I was too hasty.
    Bottom line is this game has so many issues, so many bugs. The AI presents very little challenge. Optimization is poor. Somwhere underneath it all is a game worth playing and that's why it doesn't score lower. Nowhere to go but up now.
    Check out    I have now put in 40 plus hours to the game playing the single player campaign on legendary. Initially I rated a 9/10 but I was too hasty.
    Bottom line is this game has so many issues, so many bugs. The AI presents very little challenge. Optimization is poor. Somwhere underneath it all is a game worth playing and that's why it doesn't score lower. Nowhere to go but up now.

    Check out the Angry Joe review of this game on YouTube. It captures the sentiment most of us have I would argue.    … Expand
  95. Brosman
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    I know its not a real review. But just warning to people wanting to buy this game, Im pretty sure 90% of the critics on the left side there have been paid off. 100/100, really?
  96. Studpuffin
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    This game is only slightly better than Empire Total War, in that it is actually playable. That doesn't mean you'll actually want to play it, though. The game is full of annoyances: graphical bugs, bad computer AI that will literally run in circles around the battlefield and use almost nothing but slingers in battle, constant crashing during siege battles, and an bad unit cards that areThis game is only slightly better than Empire Total War, in that it is actually playable. That doesn't mean you'll actually want to play it, though. The game is full of annoyances: graphical bugs, bad computer AI that will literally run in circles around the battlefield and use almost nothing but slingers in battle, constant crashing during siege battles, and an bad unit cards that are hard to tell apart from other unit cards. At the beginning of the game the time it takes to load a new turn is maybe a minute for me. After about 50 turns, I'll be lucky to have the end turn cycle done by the time I cook and eat dinner and enjoy some time with my family (you know, if the AI doesn't interrupt the end turn sequence with constant begging for money).

    On the plus side, it is pretty compared to the graphics of previous games. However, this doesn't make up for the atrocious game play. All in all, I would suggest that if you have to purchase a total war game, don't make it this one. Go back and buy the original Rome Total War or Medieval 2 (I can't vouch for Shogun 2, because I never played it).

    To sum up, this game was a disappointment. I regret buying it.    … Expand
  97. Fumes
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    I have been a fan of the Total War series since the original Shogun. Every game have had its share of problems (AI problems being at the forefront) at launch, but they were salvageable through patching and modding. Rome II however is such a huge step-back on pretty much everything except scale and graphics that I have little hope of seeing this game ever measuring up to any of the previousI have been a fan of the Total War series since the original Shogun. Every game have had its share of problems (AI problems being at the forefront) at launch, but they were salvageable through patching and modding. Rome II however is such a huge step-back on pretty much everything except scale and graphics that I have little hope of seeing this game ever measuring up to any of the previous titles. In fact I would prefer to play the original modded Rome. The game is essentially a beta to the shame of CA and Sega. I will not be buying any more Total War games on release.… Expand
  98. Gasaraki
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    What a crummy AI. How can you have a grand strategy game single player game and have such horrible AI?They have made no progress on this front. All they did was churn out another game with the same exact problems. Rome: Total War was one of the best total war series. This is probably the worst.
  99. timbocool
    Sep 10, 2013
    9
    Nothing wrong with the performance, maybe the AI turns take to long, but this IS a long winded game, play your turn, click End Turn, then do something else for a minute or two. If you would rather the AI do nothing then I can understand your gripe.

    The reason I have marked it down is because I really can't stand open land battles, where if I'm not guarding a point on the map, then the    Nothing wrong with the performance, maybe the AI turns take to long, but this IS a long winded game, play your turn, click End Turn, then do something else for a minute or two. If you would rather the AI do nothing then I can understand your gripe.

    The reason I have marked it down is because I really can't stand open land battles, where if I'm not guarding a point on the map, then the AI can walk in, take the point, and win the battle. I had this when I had deployed my army defensively up a hill away from the center of the map, but the AI just marched over to where the single point is, captured it, and won. I think its a great addition to city battles, but I'd rather be left to slug it out when I'm on the battlefield thanks.    … Expand
  100. ProfessionalGuy
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    Worst AI of the hole Total War series! Its completely destroys the single player and coop.
    including game breaking bugs which doesnt make it better.
    Broken net code with lots of de sync and bugs!
    bad unit and faction balance!
    overall its a mess
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 71
  3. Negative: 7 out of 71
  1. Worth Playing
    Nov 18, 2013
    74
    The game is far less polished than Shogun 2, and a few more patches will help, but Rome II is still a flawed game that is underwhelming when compared to previous titles in the franchise.
    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 »