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. Waterz
    Dec 22, 2013
    7
    It is an amazing game much like it's predecessor, yet as many point out it seems more or less unfinished.
    The initially released version 1.0 barely deserves beta status, and i would deem not even worth playing.
    Update to latest beta patch (even though the patch is in beta and can contain some minor problems, the game heavily needs all the fixes they bring in the newer patches!), and you    It is an amazing game much like it's predecessor, yet as many point out it seems more or less unfinished.
    The initially released version 1.0 barely deserves beta status, and i would deem not even worth playing.
    Update to latest beta patch (even though the patch is in beta and can contain some minor problems, the game heavily needs all the fixes they bring in the newer patches!), and you will find it not just playable but very enjoyable!
    Alas you will continually find stuff like phalanx units having so many problems you will all together drop them, and ranged units not firing like suppose to.
    All in all, the recent patches has made the game enjoyable, and hopefully the future patches will restore it to the polished game it deserves to be!     … Expand
  2. SlayerK4
    Jan 2, 2014
    1
    It's just a waste of money and time like spent on pre alpha version. For 4 months since the release I have failed to finish any of the cooperative games to the end. Game crushing, solid bugs, problems with optimization, error saves, stupid AI. And in addition they buried all the strengths of the previous parts of the game. It's just unplayable in any form, totally failed, unfortunately.It's just a waste of money and time like spent on pre alpha version. For 4 months since the release I have failed to finish any of the cooperative games to the end. Game crushing, solid bugs, problems with optimization, error saves, stupid AI. And in addition they buried all the strengths of the previous parts of the game. It's just unplayable in any form, totally failed, unfortunately.

    "Privet sem'e createvi assembly" (c)    … Expand
  3. axxiusdecius
    Jan 11, 2014
    2
    based on what it offers, I'd say: 8/10 for the battles (very well done, but just the same as in previous games),, 9/10 for the faction variety (a step forward from the Shogun 2, which was boring in lacking any variety), but 0/10 for the strategic part: the building tree and the tech tree are tiny, their descriptions are unclear and effects not felt, they were so lazy that building/techsbased on what it offers, I'd say: 8/10 for the battles (very well done, but just the same as in previous games),, 9/10 for the faction variety (a step forward from the Shogun 2, which was boring in lacking any variety), but 0/10 for the strategic part: the building tree and the tech tree are tiny, their descriptions are unclear and effects not felt, they were so lazy that building/techs don't even have pictures! the commerce is also totally undeveloped, the resources don't matter, and so on, so in the strategic map part there just is no fun in playing any more. NONE! Plus the fact that fleets now invade port cities, which is very frustrating, cause while you can afford about 3 or 4 armies and kick ass with them, you cannot afford armies in all ports, and you will constantly lose them. So an average of 5,7 based on the ratings above. but in reality for me it was a 2/10, because played it for a few days and uninstalled it forever, while TW Medieval 2 I still play now, after endless games.… Expand
  4. Madskillz99
    Jan 11, 2014
    0
    If i were being fair, RTW2 would probably score 4 - offering bugged and messy battles (even after months of patching), infantile diplomacy, stroke victim AI and the removal of TW core concepts such as a family tree and seasons, leaving you with a very ordinary and somewhat boring army hack. Having said, CA churning the piece of crud out that I have waited eagerly for over the last 10If i were being fair, RTW2 would probably score 4 - offering bugged and messy battles (even after months of patching), infantile diplomacy, stroke victim AI and the removal of TW core concepts such as a family tree and seasons, leaving you with a very ordinary and somewhat boring army hack. Having said, CA churning the piece of crud out that I have waited eagerly for over the last 10 years, buying a 4k PC just for it's release and 'somehow' getting all the mainstream reviewers to give it 10/10 - WASNT FAIR EITHER. For making me die inside - RTW2 gets 0.… Expand
  5. arsen301
    Jan 29, 2014
    0
    So I bought RTWII in CD in Turkey. Steam says you cannot install the game in this country. I was somehow ripped off. Then with all my naivete I tried my chance in the UK once again. To my utter diasppointment steam says you cannot install the game in this country. In total I paid more than 200 USD for this game, purchased it twice and was robbed twice. I am outraged, just go to hell steam.
  6. gabailey2
    Feb 9, 2014
    4
    This is an astonishingly mediocre game. They took everything that made the other Total War games great, turned it on its end and removed core features. Don't get fooled by the score. It's not so-bad-it's good. It's just boring. I almost feel bad saying this as you can tell effort has been put into making the game, but in the wrong areas. I could forgive glitches if the base game wasThis is an astonishingly mediocre game. They took everything that made the other Total War games great, turned it on its end and removed core features. Don't get fooled by the score. It's not so-bad-it's good. It's just boring. I almost feel bad saying this as you can tell effort has been put into making the game, but in the wrong areas. I could forgive glitches if the base game was excellent. It's not. 9 patches in, it's still astonishingly poorly optimized, plenty of DLC already, and all in all not worth anyone's time and money.… Expand
  7. 2d_beanbag
    Feb 15, 2014
    5
    I'm writing this short review as of patch 9.

    This is no remake of Rome 1. Rome 2 significantly differs from Rome 1 in many ways such as you can no longer: Build and upgrade roads (no idea why they got rid of this feature) Build and upgrade walls: Walls are preset in the game (around capitals namely) and there is no choice for the player to construct walls around his smaller towns    I'm writing this short review as of patch 9.

    This is no remake of Rome 1. Rome 2 significantly differs from Rome 1 in many ways such as you can no longer:

    Build and upgrade roads (no idea why they got rid of this feature)

    Build and upgrade walls: Walls are preset in the game (around capitals namely) and there is no choice for the player to construct walls around his smaller towns which is kind a sad.

    No more family tree (this never really bothered me, but a lot of people have complained about this).

    Build watch towers with your generals

    Micromanage each settlement individually: This means that instead of managing each single city/settlement as in Rome 1, in Rome 2 you manage provinces (between 2 to 4 settlements). This waters down the strategy side of the game greatly as you can no longer set a different tax rate for each settlement, and whereas in Rome 1 where happiness was indicative of certain buildings being built in that particular city, In Rome 2 building say a temple in any of your provinces will increase happiness over the entire province. Personally I think this over simplifies the game and quickens the pace of the game.

    You no longer recruit troops in your settlements, First you pay to train a general, then you can recruit troops by clicking on your general and the troops available to you is down to what military buildings you have built. This is good in some ways, since you can move your lone general around your province and still recruit troops, but in other ways its annoying because now you can't train troops unless you have a general present - and there is a limit to how many generals you can recruit! So remember when you could train a single cohort of Hastati and merge it into an army? Well you can't do that now. Heck you can't even have an army without a general!

    With every military building built (dependent on its type) it automatically assigns a number of garrisoned troops inside that settlement. And you can find out which troops are garrisoned by hovering your mouse over an icon (I would have preferred a panel showing me what soldiers were garrisoned but as of patch 9 nothing). Again I feel this takes away more control from the player. I would much rather decide which troops to garrison inside my settlement rather than have some troops automatically assigned.

    There are many more examples that make Rome 2 feel watered down like this.

    Now a note about the graphics. It looks nothing like the pre-alpha footage. I can set the graphics on Extreme settings and they are still horrendous! The colours are bright and sharp, the water unrealistic. I'm amazed that CA have on their website screen shots that are no way indicative of the actual gameplay; in fact they look Photoshoped. CA seriously have questions to answer since what they showed us pre-release is nothing to what we got. Also there is no proper AA support; the only option you have is on or off - which is ridiculous.
    Sometimes I play BF3 and Skyrim and wonder how on earth Rome 2's graphics are that bad.

    The UI is so so and the unit cards I think are over simplified, plain and similar looking to the other factions.

    Trait cards are many and confusing. They are just presented to the player in an uncategorized fashion which therefore forces you to hover your mouse on each one to see what bonuses they are concealing. Really annoying since you will discover that there are many trait cards with the same bonus only with different looking drawings on the card. Stupid.

    Apparently there is a cultural and political system but to be honest I seem to be able to play the game without even noticing it so it does make me wonder how important it is.

    This game looks, feels and plays like a cross between a beta and a port and the more I play Rome 2 the more I am convinced that this game was further developed for Modding. If you want good graphics, get a mod. If you want better unit cards, choose a mod... Why should we fork out for a game only for it to be right we have to get it modified?! If the modders can make the graphics work why can't the developers at CA??

    A lot of people have rated this game between 2- 3 I think this is harsh. After 9 or so patches the game is so much more playable now stability wise. I give it 5 simply because I still believe it is an unfinished product and that it is very much watered down in many instances. This game is a huge disappointment.    … Expand
  8. TrueReview01
    Feb 16, 2014
    1
    This game is best described as a WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Sega has managed, in partnership with Creative Assembly, to put out a bug filled game full of promises of BUG FIXES THAT HAVE NOT HAPPENED.

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

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

    Its now February at the time I'm writing this review and the game still has bugs, ai issues, compatibility issues, and lacks basic optimization for many systems. The only people on the internet that say its a good game are most likely Public Relations for company being paid to say its good when its actually not.
    BUYER BEWARE.    … Expand
  9. junedragon3
    Mar 20, 2014
    2
    I find myself conflicted on whether to review this as a Total War game or as an individual game. I'll start of with the TL;DR version:

    As an individual game I'll be generous and give 2/10 As a Total War game? 0.5/10 And here's why (to call a handful out of a host of issues): Luckily I did not buy the game at launch and missed that epic disaster. All of my experience with this    I find myself conflicted on whether to review this as a Total War game or as an individual game. I'll start of with the TL;DR version:

    As an individual game I'll be generous and give 2/10
    As a Total War game? 0.5/10

    And here's why (to call a handful out of a host of issues):

    Luckily I did not buy the game at launch and missed that epic disaster. All of my experience with this game is up to date with the most current patch.

    Feature stripping: Gone is the innovative multiplayer of Shogun ii, the faction-intro videos (and most other polish of past games that lent to the overall experience), great elements of the campaign game (eg. no family tree and the turns are so long (1 year) they'll die before you can really put much work into them), and a host of other features throughout the game.

    Disappointing battles: The battles, the heart of total war games, just feel off and generally disappointing. Numerous mechanics are plainly broken (naval battles are utterly broken, cavalry/chariots routinely routs formed spearmen, unit grouping messes up all the time, especially when transitioning positions, etc.) and the battles are often flat-out boring (even in MP).

    Dreadful Campaign - It's far too easy, ridiculously dumbed-down/simplified/feature-stripped, and just in general boring. It's nowhere near as engaging as past titles in the TW series and is just not very enjoyable overall.

    DLC whoring/practices: oh boy, where to start. From charging $8 for the greek states DLC (pay-to-unlock/on-disc "DLC") which they knew people would really want (as Spartans were really popular in Rome Total War) to the debacle in which units claimed to be added-on in the Beasts of War DLC were found in pre-release advertising footage, which brings us to the next complaint...

    False Advertising: From the "screenshots" and other pre-release footage which hardly resemble the final product even on the mightiest of rigs to promises of the best AI to date (...ya...) and the aforementioned lies about DLC, the level of dishonesty displayed so far has been extremely disappointing.

    I won't even bother complaining about the host of glitches, those god-awful capture flags, the psychotic diplomacy, the atrocious optimization, and other issues that have already been complained about to death.

    Why such a low score (1.5/10) as a TW game? Because not only does it contribute nothing to the series and fall well short of quality standards set by past titles, it strips some of the great features of said past titles.

    Why not a 1/10?

    Redeeming qualities: At least they tried to add a new feature in combined land/sea battles (even though its still quite broken and the mentally challenged AI can't handle it and often end up staring at a wall for an hour - oh and ya, the AI still will stand dumbly staring at you for an hour sometimes, a brilliant strategy in ensuring their victory by making you ragequit). And... the ... um... the graphics are better I guess... Oh and at least they did fix *most* of the game breaking bugs of launch (though that never should have happened...)    … Expand
  10. Liaramancer
    Sep 26, 2018
    0
    Let's see:

    - Red Shell;
    - Bugs gallore;
    - Cash-grab titles like Britannia;
    - Tying patches to DLC and little to no performance patches;
    - Charging for Blood n gore DLC and pretending it's to avoid being Rated M;
    - Social justice implementations;
    - Taking a page from EA when responding to criticism.
  11. JavaSquirt
    Oct 1, 2018
    0
    В древнем Риме бабо-генералы? Серьёзно? Вы блять там серьёзно? АЛЛО, ПРИЁМ КАК СЛЫШНО?
  12. KeyserSozeNZ
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    Maybe in 6 months time this game will be worthy of a 6 or 7, but you can only review it in the state it is in now. The AI is terrible, pathing issues, AI doing nothing, having to reissue orders multiple times etc. Oh and the prologue is stuck in a loop for, another bug which has been acknowledged by CA, so I'm fighting the same battle over and over again.

    I know games will have bugs but    Maybe in 6 months time this game will be worthy of a 6 or 7, but you can only review it in the state it is in now. The AI is terrible, pathing issues, AI doing nothing, having to reissue orders multiple times etc. Oh and the prologue is stuck in a loop for, another bug which has been acknowledged by CA, so I'm fighting the same battle over and over again.

    I know games will have bugs but we are talking some real big deal breaking bugs here, which makes me surprised they would even release in this state it's that bad.

    Avoid for now and pick up on sale in 6 months time.    … Expand
  13. Clemenza
    Sep 8, 2013
    3
    So, I´ve been waiting for this game forever... I spent hundreds of hours with Rome 1 and pretty much every other TW... Shogun 2 is the masterpiece, most of the mechanics work like a charm, they are clever etc. So what I expected from Rome 2 was Shogun 2 mechanics in ancient world with some new features and furthermore improvements... In a sense, it is the case. But... it doesn´ t work, forSo, I´ve been waiting for this game forever... I spent hundreds of hours with Rome 1 and pretty much every other TW... Shogun 2 is the masterpiece, most of the mechanics work like a charm, they are clever etc. So what I expected from Rome 2 was Shogun 2 mechanics in ancient world with some new features and furthermore improvements... In a sense, it is the case. But... it doesn´ t work, for now... It just doesn´t... I like most of the new mechanics, like provincial system (including food which many people seem to be having problems with, but I like it... makes the empire management more real), army management etc. The problem is that there is a big problem in almost everything... Optimization, for starters... It´s horrible... The game doesn´t use CPU or GPU properly. So while I get 60 fps on extreme settings in the benchmark, in some battles my fps drops to 15 with very little GPU or CPU load... For example when I hold spacebar to see where my army is going or holding RMB to send all army somewhere in a formation. The campaign map performance is a mess too... lags, fps drops all down to 8 fps etc. etc.

    Then there is the AI. There are blinks of brilliance there. The enemy army tried to flank me on campaign map and it went pretty well, it found my undefended city and attacked it. But then again, many things just don´t work... First of all the AI is too passive. It just sits there waiting for you to attack it, raising almost no armies and occasionaly dying out from hunger because it didn´ t manage to build the buildings in proper order so that the ballance between food storages, public order etc. is preserved.
    It´s similarly dumb in battles too. Although it´s not that bad. What is bad is the battle speed. The battles last 5 minutes now, because the armies start routing almost immediately after starting the fight (fortunately an excellent Czech modder Radious fixed it really soon).

    All that said, I believe that R2 will become the best TW after most of the biggest flaws are fixed (and I hope they will be fixed). But I just keep wondering, was it really worth releasing in this state? Look ate the score of this game, it deserves so much better.    … Expand
  14. maca
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Disappointing performance from CA. I waited this game so long and now I feel scammed by its shiny marketing. Too many bugs, too many bad things in this game. It seems they made this game for kids and casual players. Stupid.
  15. kostarico
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Once again we see the same story... official critics from game magazines got paid and write a good reviews on a terrible game. I wished i never bought it actually.

    Total War: Rome II is terribly bad.... i played Total War Shogun 2 recently, Empire Total War and other games of the series, i was always a fan of it. this game is a serious step back from previous games of the series.    Once again we see the same story... official critics from game magazines got paid and write a good reviews on a terrible game. I wished i never bought it actually.

    Total War: Rome II is terribly bad.... i played Total War Shogun 2 recently, Empire Total War and other games of the series, i was always a fan of it. this game is a serious step back from previous games of the series. Terrible graphics, terrible UI, awful AI and etc. I can't believe that the same company actually did all the other games of the series before.

    Shogun 2 was a real breakthrough for the series... how we got ripped off for $30 for a poorly done game with terrible user-friendly interface and hilarious quality. Just try it out by yourself company Shogun 2 (a real masterpiece) and Rome 2 (real crap).    … Expand
  16. ZarKo
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    This game is broken, don't bother, wait until they get it fixed. Game crashes when you attack towns, game crashes when you enter enemy territory, game crashes when you do nothing. I don't like new UI which looks ugly and for some reason they removed normal city building mechanics.

    This game is not playable in its current state. Will it ever be playable? Probably yes after they will    This game is broken, don't bother, wait until they get it fixed. Game crashes when you attack towns, game crashes when you enter enemy territory, game crashes when you do nothing. I don't like new UI which looks ugly and for some reason they removed normal city building mechanics.

    This game is not playable in its current state. Will it ever be playable? Probably yes after they will patch this game.    … Expand
  17. anomaly47
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    I've played every single Total War game and had been following Rome 2 for quite some time. I've been excited about its release for months. Paid $70 bucks for it plus the expansion on Steam and rushed home to play it tonight after work. (Like many of you I'm sure). I wanted this to be everything it was built up to be. Every play through and trailer made it look better and better.

    It    I've played every single Total War game and had been following Rome 2 for quite some time. I've been excited about its release for months. Paid $70 bucks for it plus the expansion on Steam and rushed home to play it tonight after work. (Like many of you I'm sure). I wanted this to be everything it was built up to be. Every play through and trailer made it look better and better.

    It unfortunately is not. I wanted it to be more than anything. I mean ROME! Hello!

    Issues:
    - The campaign map is a slow nightmare that just won't wake. Its performance is horrendous. Low frame rates, slow animations, UI issues... I can put up with this for a while.

    - 60 second turns (if that) and quite literally 3-5 minute waits between turns while the hundred or so AI states do their thing. Some turns you don't have anything to do and so it turns into a 8-10 minute wait while you "play" the game. I have better things to do with my time. Laundry?

    - Naval battles seemed janky. Boats get hit once and immediately explode.

    I can't play this game as is, and I have a HIGH tolerance for pain. Sad sad sad day in gameland.

    I hope this improves.    … Expand
  18. Myriokephalon
    Sep 6, 2013
    2
    The game is choppy on many high end machines (in my case, a 7850 and an Ivy Bridge core i7) on any setting, which is simply unacceptable, but the biggest issue is that CA turned the game into more of a typical RTS. Battles are much more like slaughter fests now; it's more about killing your opponents troops instead of making them flee. And this might be the worst AI Creative Assembly hasThe game is choppy on many high end machines (in my case, a 7850 and an Ivy Bridge core i7) on any setting, which is simply unacceptable, but the biggest issue is that CA turned the game into more of a typical RTS. Battles are much more like slaughter fests now; it's more about killing your opponents troops instead of making them flee. And this might be the worst AI Creative Assembly has ever shipped, which is an impressive accomplishment. The UI is remarkably hard to use and the grouping of towns into provinces makes it much harder to see what's going on with taxes and public order, not easier as I'm sure they intended. I'm sure they'll patch some of the technical problems away, but the same can't be said for the just bad design. It's depressing that CA would take a such a huge step back again after getting so much right with Shogun II.

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

    Note to critics: I'm glad you were spared most of the technical issues that we players are getting. At least I hope you aren't just omitting any mention of them. But next time, please bother to play the game for more than half an hour before you start writing, because that's the only way I can explain these inexplicably excellent reviews. This is the kind of game for which we have user reviews, because the critics sure as hell didn't do their job this time.    … Expand
  19. Rolby
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    this game doesnt even look a little bit like the Carthage or Teutoburg gameplay trailer. it is full of bugs and glitches and all characters look like they have some face disease. this game is just horrible compared to shogun 2. they went downhill, and not even a little bit. there is almost no technology anymore and u all the technology u have, u discover in 1 turn. it feels like a pre-betathis game doesnt even look a little bit like the Carthage or Teutoburg gameplay trailer. it is full of bugs and glitches and all characters look like they have some face disease. this game is just horrible compared to shogun 2. they went downhill, and not even a little bit. there is almost no technology anymore and u all the technology u have, u discover in 1 turn. it feels like a pre-beta game, it's just that bad. they made stuff simpler so dumb people could play it too, but they took away all the good stuff by doing that. i hope they will decide that it was a bad fault to release rome 2 yet, give us our money back, and work on it for another year to make it a GOOD game. like the first rome.… Expand
  20. Raven76
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    I have been a fan of this series for very long time. I played all the original and in each you felt apart of SOmETHING. It captivated you in the feel and era especially the originally Rome and Medievals both. You felt your empire grow, your cities build you started from nothing until a golden age reigned or you died in that attempt. The thing is it was fun and you couldn't wait to do itI have been a fan of this series for very long time. I played all the original and in each you felt apart of SOmETHING. It captivated you in the feel and era especially the originally Rome and Medievals both. You felt your empire grow, your cities build you started from nothing until a golden age reigned or you died in that attempt. The thing is it was fun and you couldn't wait to do it again and again.
    This game is a piece of garbage when it come to obtaining that. If CA attempt was to create something dynamic and different they didn't even achieve this a two year old could have done better with their imagination and toys!!.
    Sadly Sega's acquisition of CA has again turned another beloved title into A MONEY MAKING VENTURE in which the original fans and those who could be, have been have been left in some perpetual zombie filled spectacle. The thing is any new people to this title would have to be kidding themselves into delirious stupidity in forking out money for this terrible product when such titles as Civ and others are out there- the only thing in CIV is the RTS battles then there would be no need for this garbage!!

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

    DISGUSTING    … Expand
  21. Machiavellian
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    If you like being a beta tester, buy this game. The game is currently unfinished. Numerous graphical issues, terrible AI, unoptimized game engine. This Total War game breaks from the previous games and will need much modding from the community before it is worth playing. Wait a month or two and you can buy it from the bargain bin.

    Main issues: AI Enemy AI will send waves of weak    If you like being a beta tester, buy this game. The game is currently unfinished. Numerous graphical issues, terrible AI, unoptimized game engine. This Total War game breaks from the previous games and will need much modding from the community before it is worth playing. Wait a month or two and you can buy it from the bargain bin.

    Main issues:
    AI Enemy AI will send waves of weak missile units to their deaths etc. pitiful really.
    Technical issues.
    Game is unfinished (reminds me of Empire Total War).
    Multiplayer features lacking (if you liked Shogun 2s multiplayer move along there is none of it).

    Summary: Do not buy at full price!    … Expand
  22. Sylanus
    Sep 7, 2013
    0
    This game is a complete mess. The AI is pathetic and just stands there doing nothing, the commands i give during the battle half the time are unresponsive and have to repeat them 300 times to get my unit to actually follow and stop taking arrows to the face, HUGE lag spikes and my PC is well over the recommended requirements, you just CANNOT win a naval battle without auto-resolving, andThis game is a complete mess. The AI is pathetic and just stands there doing nothing, the commands i give during the battle half the time are unresponsive and have to repeat them 300 times to get my unit to actually follow and stop taking arrows to the face, HUGE lag spikes and my PC is well over the recommended requirements, you just CANNOT win a naval battle without auto-resolving, and the graphics are horroble EVEN after the new patch that came out today. 0/10 this game is a flaming turdball rolling down a hill.… Expand
  23. Skipnipper
    Sep 15, 2013
    0
    So so angry & so disappointed. This has to be the worst game in the franchise by quite some way. Useless AI coupled with terrible design and game play choices make this a complete waste of not only your time, but also your hard earned money. I can sincerely say with hand on heart that the company's involved in creating this turd deserve to go bankrupt. I cannot put into words the utterSo so angry & so disappointed. This has to be the worst game in the franchise by quite some way. Useless AI coupled with terrible design and game play choices make this a complete waste of not only your time, but also your hard earned money. I can sincerely say with hand on heart that the company's involved in creating this turd deserve to go bankrupt. I cannot put into words the utter contempt I feel for them right now. PLEASE ignore ANY positive reviews, as they are obviously from paid shills.… Expand
  24. rainofbores
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    Horrible AI. Streamlining removed all things which gave depth and character, now its just A B C which stat to increase. False marketing with minimum and and recommended required specifications. The end is near for total war franchise. Played total war since Shogun, Wasted my money on Empire and this sad pile.

    Honestly, fire the AI programmers.
  25. MrKieran
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    Disappointing. Shogun2 was ok, but this game has serious problems. The graphics may have improved, but gameplay is bad (stupid AI, useless diplomacy, unfair battle auto-resolve, confused units that ignore orders or fail to shoot and other unreliable mechanics etc...) Also game lags as hell on very good hardware. I have GTX 680 and I have about 15 fps, prologue crashed few times.

    Very    Disappointing. Shogun2 was ok, but this game has serious problems. The graphics may have improved, but gameplay is bad (stupid AI, useless diplomacy, unfair battle auto-resolve, confused units that ignore orders or fail to shoot and other unreliable mechanics etc...) Also game lags as hell on very good hardware. I have GTX 680 and I have about 15 fps, prologue crashed few times.

    Very bad experience with this game.    … Expand
  26. Kazuya
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Don't buy into the hype of this game, it's completely broken. This game has no redeeming qualities, sub-par in all aspects. Game doesn't even detect my graphics card, the UI is confusing, battles last 2 minutes. Rome 1 is 100x better than this junk.

    I feel cheated, i regret buying this.
  27. tech99
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I have played the Total War series since the first Shogun, and this series is becoming the Madden of strategy games. It seems CA focuses more on graphics and gimmicks rather than creating a better game engine and improving basic game mechanics. Battles turn into huge balls of chaos instead of soldiers keeping their formations, and if the enemy routs they will just stand there doing nothingI have played the Total War series since the first Shogun, and this series is becoming the Madden of strategy games. It seems CA focuses more on graphics and gimmicks rather than creating a better game engine and improving basic game mechanics. Battles turn into huge balls of chaos instead of soldiers keeping their formations, and if the enemy routs they will just stand there doing nothing instead of engaging a nearby enemy. Battles are far too fast, many features like the family tree from previous TW games are gone, and overall the game is an unpolished mess. I feel robbed because the Total War series has been one of my favorites for such a long time, and it was always the pinnacle of PC gaming for me. I am done with this series and will never purchase another Total War game again.… Expand
  28. gladiatorus
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Incredibly bad, nearly non existent AI ensures this game will get a very low score from me. Optimization is a shame. My powerful gaming PC can not run properly this game because GPU load is only 57%. Also game doesn't support multi-core processor. SHAME
  29. Omghaibuttonz
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    I should have known, thats all I keep telling myself. I am not one of the people having performance issues, I mean despite the large time spent looking at load screens it all works and functions. I knew when they switched philosophies from the days of TW:Medieval to the style of Shogun and Napolean... I knew in the back of my mind that TWR2 was going to be revamped TWR1 with all the terridI should have known, thats all I keep telling myself. I am not one of the people having performance issues, I mean despite the large time spent looking at load screens it all works and functions. I knew when they switched philosophies from the days of TW:Medieval to the style of Shogun and Napolean... I knew in the back of my mind that TWR2 was going to be revamped TWR1 with all the terrid idealogies of Napolean and Shogun. I am an idiot.

    Ok the pros
    -Battles look good, albeit quick.
    -Pathing is marginally (and I mean marginally) better.
    -The way cities build although revamped from Napolean and Shogun, is still a huge improvement. I still really miss the style of Medieval and TWR.
    -Armies can recruit from the field
    -Agents are more fun, spies in particular

    Cons
    -10 years to take a damn turn. I dont think I spent as much time on my turn as I did waiting for my next one. Holy good god
    -Prologue would be fun if I wasnt forced to sit through and manage the battles. Some people just like the autoresolve button... stop forcing us to to manage these battles if we dont want regardless of it being just the prologue.
    -It doesnt matter what graphics setting your on, the game still overall looks like crap. NOTHING looks trailer quality, in fact much of it looks quite worse
    -Ai DERRRRRRP
    -Release day DLC.... what a dirty ploy for a $60 game.
    -Navies USELESS
    -Anyone try to split an army yet? Its as about as fun as going to the dentist.
    -This idea of provinces and capitals is stupid. The idea that I cannot garison units in the cities without a general is even dumber.
    -Generals required to have an army.... seriously.
    -Functional multiplayer anyone?
    -Tech tree.... holy good god thats bad
    -Cant wait to spend time crouched down to look really closely at that SMALL INFORMATION WINDOW
    -Back to graphics, turn them on ultra.... tell me if you can tell your armies from the blobs of shadows apart. that just looks TERRIBLE
    -General Character Management is wonky at best.

    I feel scammed of my $60 and really really dumb for having bought this game on release. I KNEW I should have waited to read reviews first. Dont make my mistake if you havent purchased this game yet.    … Expand
  30. Wheeler711
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Played a good 6+ hours and I can tell you now do NOT buy this game. It is unfinished. The battle of Carthage looks nothing like the demo that they showed. Its a much smaller battle. The campaign map is laggy. The UI and AI are terribly done. Loading screens take forever. When you end your turn you are going to have to wait even longer. This is all with the following PC specs on myPlayed a good 6+ hours and I can tell you now do NOT buy this game. It is unfinished. The battle of Carthage looks nothing like the demo that they showed. Its a much smaller battle. The campaign map is laggy. The UI and AI are terribly done. Loading screens take forever. When you end your turn you are going to have to wait even longer. This is all with the following PC specs on my computer. GTX 680, Intel i7 2600k cpu, 8gb of RAM. Please do not listen to the fan boys that are out to fool you into buying it. Do yourself a favor and wait for patches if they manage to fix it.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

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