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. LosingStreak
    Dec 25, 2014
    2
    I gave this game a year to fix itself from the terrible release state but it still has glaring problems.

    Bad UI that fails at showing you unit status whilst at the same time blocking a big part of the screen Poor optimization Confusing unit cards Stale battles due to scripted kill moves Units don't feel like they have weight when they collide Politics suck and is a useless gimmick    I gave this game a year to fix itself from the terrible release state but it still has glaring problems.

    Bad UI that fails at showing you unit status whilst at the same time blocking a big part of the screen
    Poor optimization
    Confusing unit cards
    Stale battles due to scripted kill moves
    Units don't feel like they have weight when they collide
    Politics suck and is a useless gimmick
    No avatar conquest mode    … Expand
  2. Onebadbasterd
    Nov 19, 2013
    5
    At this point 2 months and a few days after it's release it's beggining to be ''playable''. (Thanks to some mods also)

    I was one of those who DID pre-order this game and sadly was deceived by SEGA and CA that made false promises and false advertisement...But that is another story. Buy the game at your own risk because it's the Stripped Feautures,DLC Whoring and ''X'' number of bugs    At this point 2 months and a few days after it's release it's beggining to be ''playable''. (Thanks to some mods also)

    I was one of those who DID pre-order this game and sadly was deceived by SEGA and CA that made false promises and false advertisement...But that is another story.
    Buy the game at your own risk because it's the Stripped Feautures,DLC Whoring and ''X'' number of bugs that are killing the game.

    Thanks SEGA for making our greatest expectation this year become our worst deception ever.    … Expand
  3. NobbyNobbyBoy
    Nov 7, 2013
    5
    I dearly wanted to love this game. I have enjoyed every Total War so far (except Empire and Napoleon that wouldn't work on my computer!) and especially Shogun 2. I felt as if this game might bridge the gap between the dated but undeniably fun Rome and the beautiful, tactical game that Shogun 2 is.
    Unfortunately, the failure to release this game in a playable state has ruined the fun for    I dearly wanted to love this game. I have enjoyed every Total War so far (except Empire and Napoleon that wouldn't work on my computer!) and especially Shogun 2. I felt as if this game might bridge the gap between the dated but undeniably fun Rome and the beautiful, tactical game that Shogun 2 is.
    Unfortunately, the failure to release this game in a playable state has ruined the fun for me. I can see the potential and I fully expect this to be a great game in a year or so. But, (and this is a big but) you cannot release games in such a poor state and not expect a customer backlash.    … Expand
  4. Operative13
    Dec 1, 2013
    5
    It is obvious there has been a ton of work put into this title. However, it does not excuse the fact that the game is virtually broken, with buggy AI, clunky graphics performance, questionable design decisions, and current game price of $60. When a game is released, it is expected to, at the bare minimum, function. It is even more so that these problems be fixed as soon as possible afterIt is obvious there has been a ton of work put into this title. However, it does not excuse the fact that the game is virtually broken, with buggy AI, clunky graphics performance, questionable design decisions, and current game price of $60. When a game is released, it is expected to, at the bare minimum, function. It is even more so that these problems be fixed as soon as possible after release. However Rome II so far has failed to provide any of these even in the few months after its release. The game obviously was not ready to be released and does not bring the Total War experience as much as previous titles have in its current state. Unless drastic measures are taken to improve the game's current quality, it will be riddled with poor gaming experience.… Expand
  5. Parkateer
    Dec 1, 2013
    5
    Now that the game has been out a couple of months you would think it would be solid, but unfortunately glitches remain. It is still possible to get stuck in a screen with no option but to ctrl-alt-delete out of the game. The battles, while fun, can become tedious as enemy forces stand off, forcing you to run out the clock to victory. This has all the feel of the Empire Total War engineNow that the game has been out a couple of months you would think it would be solid, but unfortunately glitches remain. It is still possible to get stuck in a screen with no option but to ctrl-alt-delete out of the game. The battles, while fun, can become tedious as enemy forces stand off, forcing you to run out the clock to victory. This has all the feel of the Empire Total War engine (which I loved), however, everything they tried to improve on is seemingly broke. Rome 1 was great and I, for one, am sorry they could not improve on it.… Expand
  6. JBOer
    Dec 3, 2013
    5
    Until now I played 48 hours of Rome II. And to be honest, it was a fight to get this time. This game is just disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Total War franchise, but to play this game isn't fun at all.
    OK, the graphic is awesome, but that's pretty much it. The AI fails time after time after time, the UI is horrible and the big announced home policy doesn't effect anything.    Until now I played 48 hours of Rome II. And to be honest, it was a fight to get this time. This game is just disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Total War franchise, but to play this game isn't fun at all.
    OK, the graphic is awesome, but that's pretty much it. The AI fails time after time after time, the UI is horrible and the big announced home policy doesn't effect anything. Generals are completely changeable and their "portraits" look like sh**. Oh and the music... I muted it after 5 min.
    After all I have to say this Total War is a big disappointment and not the game CA announced. If they won't fix it, this will be the last Total War I ever bought.    … Expand
  7. Truth_
    Nov 5, 2014
    4
    There are thousands of reviews and thus I do not expect this to be seen. And there is little to nothing I can say that wasn't said, or wasn't said better, elsewhere. I am simply posting to add my score.

    I was mad just the same as everyone else. The difference, however, is that I was expecting it. I was expecting graphical and technical glitches galore. I was expecting bad AI. And    There are thousands of reviews and thus I do not expect this to be seen. And there is little to nothing I can say that wasn't said, or wasn't said better, elsewhere. I am simply posting to add my score.

    I was mad just the same as everyone else. The difference, however, is that I was expecting it. I was expecting graphical and technical glitches galore. I was expecting bad AI. And I even expected, although hoped against, the game's mechanics that weren't pulled out in Shogun 2 weren't further widdled or dumbed down. And I got what I expected.

    There is little variety to troops between factions, there's little variety to the gameworld, there's no role-playing/story elements like was promised, economy is incredibly simple and easy, AI is horrible on the campaign map and in battle, and multiplayer did not work for the longest time.

    In all, it seems all facets of the game are worse. If only the probably hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars spent on motion capture, that doesn't even seem that great or functional, was spent on making a better game.

    Note: Kudos for releasing free factions with each DLC expansion. And kudos for patching the game constantly (although that wins little points as there should have been fewer problems to begin with).

    Objectively I want to rate this game a "5" as it's playable and has fun elements of other Total War games I've enjoyed... but for some reason I just can't have fun playing this game. Unfortunately I must give it a "4".

    The game is clearly inferior to prior titles. I do not expect this to change. My only wonder is if this will affect future sales of new titles.    … Expand
  8. JonMetacritic74
    Apr 1, 2014
    7
    The game is far from flawless, but it is no junk as most of the users say. With the latest patches Creative fixed the game and it rather enjoyable to play. It was a shame to launch the game with such a poor AI. However, they tried to improve the game and answer the fans' demands. It is a must if you like the Total War series.
  9. Kazakdum
    Apr 7, 2014
    5
    Nostalgia was the greatest selling feature that this game had going for it. To compare the first to the second, witnessing how far the gaming industry has come in a decade of innovation and development. What was actually received from Creative Assembly, bought from paying customers, was a game that was broken, mechanically flawed and had unsuitable computer expectations from the averageNostalgia was the greatest selling feature that this game had going for it. To compare the first to the second, witnessing how far the gaming industry has come in a decade of innovation and development. What was actually received from Creative Assembly, bought from paying customers, was a game that was broken, mechanically flawed and had unsuitable computer expectations from the average consumer. Months later and the game is still getting ridiculously large patches to fix gameplay issues that should have been resolved in Alpha. Consumers have the right to high expectations from a developer who have: 1. high experience in the creation of games; 2. Have worked on TW games for over a decade and should be developing, innovating and perfecting the genre; 3. Have released a game that was broken, awful mechanic decisions (1v1 fighting) and have further released DLC that was already in the game.

    Disgraceful move on the developers part, and i hope they are ashamed. I will buy into the next TW game, but if it follows the way Empire, shogun and now rome 2 went, I shan't ever again. And that is not my fault, but purely Creative Assembly's for their awful state of releasing games to gain a profit before 4th quarter.

    Its positives? This is a Total War game, and in the end they are fun. I just feel that this game has frustrated me now, beyond return. Will seriously have to consider whether to buy one in the future. And don't get me started in pre-release DLC. Cause that is another post WAITING to happen.    … Expand
  10. usmanali
    Apr 13, 2014
    7
    overall the game was not bad although it has some features that needs to be improved regarding the details.AI does not play so bad but it is also not convincing.overall a good game.
  11. LaughingSam
    Jan 27, 2015
    3
    A very disappointing entry in the serious marginally improved by a years worth of patching. Sieges are still horrendous affairs, but not in the way we all hoped for, and naval battles are essentially unplayable. The political system may as well not exist for all the impact it has on your game, and why would you care about being emperor anyway when you've got no stinkin' family?!
  12. TheMasiMan1
    Nov 19, 2015
    6
    I agree, Total War: Rome 2 was broken at lauch, but it has been 2 years. The game is fixed. Total War: Rome 2 features alot of additional content alongside of the campaign: Custom battles, historical battles and a multiplayer mode, witch is 2 player only. The campaign is beatifull and well crafted and the AI dosent do any stupid stuff anymore, compared at lauch. But the DLC hoarding is offI agree, Total War: Rome 2 was broken at lauch, but it has been 2 years. The game is fixed. Total War: Rome 2 features alot of additional content alongside of the campaign: Custom battles, historical battles and a multiplayer mode, witch is 2 player only. The campaign is beatifull and well crafted and the AI dosent do any stupid stuff anymore, compared at lauch. But the DLC hoarding is off the charts. Theres over 10 different DLC packs available right now. If they would have put al lthat DLC as a free update on Day 1, then I would give this game a beter review. But the bottom line is that the game was broken on lauch, that draws the review score pretty low, but if Rome 2 wasnt broken at lauch and all this DLC was free, then it would be solid 10/10.… Expand
  13. InsaneCarduelis
    Oct 9, 2014
    3
    Bugs, too long time spent by wainting, too big promises, boring. UI is horibble. Where is good options like for example guard button. And it's not cheap game. The worst strategy I played.
  14. Wraithcat
    Dec 4, 2014
    5
    After playing nearly 60 hours on this game, I can say that it is really an enormous disappointment. Having bought the Emperor edition (which represented the FIFTEENTH major patch to the game!), I figured that all of the bugs would have been ironed out and that there would be a decent core game. The diamond would have been polished.

    How wrong I was. Playing with the Romans, who should    After playing nearly 60 hours on this game, I can say that it is really an enormous disappointment. Having bought the Emperor edition (which represented the FIFTEENTH major patch to the game!), I figured that all of the bugs would have been ironed out and that there would be a decent core game. The diamond would have been polished.

    How wrong I was.

    Playing with the Romans, who should be a good starting faction, the first thing I really noticed was the incredible lack of in game information. The in game encyclopedia is simply awful. It a **** to navigate, and many of its entries simply don't contain the sort of information that you need when playing a complex game of this sort. For example, For example, if I click on a particular skill during a character level up, I get only that skill with no way of knowing what it might lead to, meaning I have to manually access a separate entry containing this info

    The search function is useless and doesn't allow the player to click through to a more detailed explanation. When I went to try and look up information about Traditions, I came up with two entries, but no way of clicking through to the actual Encyclopedia article on the topic itself.

    The way provinces are arbitrarily organised into groupings of 2-4 cities is unhistorical and frustrating as well. It inhibits the ability of the player to successfully manage their gameplay as they see fit.

    For example, Southern Italy and Sicily form the province of Magna Graecia, which contains a provincial capital (Brundisium), along with three other cities, one of which is Syracuse.

    Syracuse was founded by the Ancient Greeks and was still held by the Greeks at the emergence of the Roman period. It was a powerful, independent city state in its own right and not simply a Greek imposition on a Roman province.

    Because the game registers the city as part of a mostly Roman province, it is going to suffer major cultural issues because the province isn't entirely Roman, or Greek. Initially as the Romans, I chose to ally with Syracuse, thereby ensuring that one of my major provinces suffered a permanent hit to its unhappiness. In my second game as the Romans, I killed them off straight away, but this left a very bad taste in my mouth. Good game design wouldn't force Railroad the player into there being only one correct strategic choice to make. I should be able to live and let live with my allies without suffering negative gameplay effects.

    Another issue, is the stupidity of naval combat. There are two major problems here. Firstly is the unhistorical treatment of ranged weapons in the game. In ancient times, ballistas and catapults were fitted to ships, but were incredibly and inaccurate. Not in RTW2, however, where they are the killer app. A Navy made up of 50% ballistas and another 50% of ships to just float around and confuse the enemy can easily win battles without any significant losses. Ramming might be historical, but it is for chumps.

    A major issue that really ruins the game is that the IA doesn't know the difference between attack ships and transports and that transports can actually be used to ram other ships. The IA will happily send a whole Army to attack a navy, despite having absolutely no chance of winning. Sure, on land, those Royal Spartan Hoplites are a force to be reckoned with, but on sea they are about the equivalent of a mob and die far easier. But the IA continually sends its armies to attack my navies, fails to run when I attack their transport fleets and almost never backs up its transports with a proper escort.

    Another issue with the Navy IA, is that LAND UNITS can reinforce naval battles, meaning an automatic loss to the navy being attacked unless it is stupid enough to land. I was blockading a town with my Navy and realised that I was suffering attrition, so I decided to hightail it out of there as my army was going to be there in two turns. As I left, I was attacked by a couple of ships in the port. It took me less than a minute of game play to kill them, but I lost the battle, and was force to retreat on the campaign map because the battle took place within the Armies reinforcement zone, despite being on the sea. Had I landed my crews, I would have been slaughtered, but they couldn't touch me and certainly couldn't reinforce a Naval battle and shouldn't have been part of the equation to begin with.

    There is also a limitation on Armies that you can field and the requirement that every army MUST have a general. The practical effect of this is that it means that you can't simply shuffle units around to reinforce your armies as needed. Instead, you have to take one whole army over to the other army and reinforce in person.

    For example, Romans have no archers, so if you want those Cretan Archers, you have to either send your entire army over to Crete to get them, or assign a general specifically to take them to armies that need them. Either way its a micromanagement nightmare.    … Expand
  15. herbertbracke
    Nov 28, 2014
    1
    I really liked the first rme total war, medieval total war, shogun, empire and even napoleon.
    But now they lost me completely, this game is bad. period.
    it feels like you're playing beta all the time, the graphics are really crappy (and i have a geforce gtx 880), the ai does stupid maneuvers,...

    it's crap basicly
  16. Generaldraxeo
    Apr 15, 2019
    9
    As a fan of history and previous Total War titles, I greatly enjoy this game and its replay-ability. Unfortunately the developers chose to do a money grab which is all-too-common these days in gaming where the developers release the most bare-boned game and then release features which should have been in the original sale as buyable DLC. This game is a prime example of that: variousAs a fan of history and previous Total War titles, I greatly enjoy this game and its replay-ability. Unfortunately the developers chose to do a money grab which is all-too-common these days in gaming where the developers release the most bare-boned game and then release features which should have been in the original sale as buyable DLC. This game is a prime example of that: various vanilla factions that are rewritten and remade into more interesting ones, blood & gore needing to be bought, etc. On top of this horrific anti-consumer mentality, the game was (and still is) riddled with bugs, glitches, and clunky AI mechanics when it comes to campaign and battle tactics.

    Despite all of these drawbacks, Rome Total War 2 is a masterpiece of entertainment and strategy. Important concepts are taken into account in battles such as momentum, armor type, weapon type, weather effects, fatigue, and various other realistic aspects of ancient warfare that impacted battles. The management system is a fun balance between economy and expansion alongside very engaging battles. What enamors me with this title compared to others is the level of detail in engagements between units. Seeing clashes between groups of swordsmen and spearmen never ceases to excite the viewer. I've played Warhammer Total War and the detail in combat does not measure up to Rome Total War 2. Another great feature that I appreciate is the zoom-in feature, where the camera is brought in directly above individual units so you get to see and experience the battle from their perspective. Using this feature to get down into the action lets the player have a much more up-close and personal experience, and the result is just mesmerizing most of the time.

    I would recommend buying this game when it's on sale so that we do not reinforce bad business practice like this developers are trying to push. This game with all the DLCs still has problems, but the campaigns are enjoyable, the factions are unique and fun guaranteeing different playthroughs each time you play, and the DLCs that should have been the only paid DLCs (Imperator Augustus, Caesar in Rome, etc.) are a fun change from the typical grand campaign as well.

    A lot of these negative reviews are understandable based on the glitches of the game that come up and the poor developer support. However, that being said, you can still play through the whole campaign and have a fantastically fun time. Another thing to keep in mind is the recent dramatic trend brought on by a lot of the incel community who intentionally gave the game negative reviews when the developers refused to remove or reduce female characters in the game. It's a bit of a silly tantrum to have for people trying to change the historical significance in women monarchs and female influence, but nonetheless they have tried their hardest to give the game a bad reputation based on that fact.

    All in all, the game is not for everybody, and if you're like me and don't mind a few glitches and minor gimmicks here and there, you should enjoy this game if you like RTS style games about ancient warfare. I've logged over a thousand hours in this game with the DLC campaigns, and will probably continue to play this game far into the future based on its high replay value.    … Expand
  17. Shurkhan
    Dec 27, 2014
    1
    This is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a wayThis is my first review. I decided to create an account so I could write the review I would like to have had read before buying this game. This game is NOT like previous Total War games that I've loved! The UI is very different and confusing. The whole feel of the game is different. You start off limited to only two armies, so defending is a pain in the butt. There may be a way around this, but like I said, it is confusing, and not interesting enough to really want to learn it. It might be okay if you aren't expecting a game that is ANYTHING like the original Rome Total War or Medieval Total War. The battle are similar, but the campaign is an entirely different game. I am very disappointed that CA decided to move away from something that really worked.… Expand
  18. simon665
    Feb 21, 2015
    4
    I very much looked forward to this game. I spent countless hours playing it. At one point, playing as Rome, I controlled all of Europe and most of North Africa. Just as I was getting ready to invade Greece, the number of rebellions in rear areas was simply out of control. In out of the places, like the northern Baltic, small settlements could rebel and create armies that were moreI very much looked forward to this game. I spent countless hours playing it. At one point, playing as Rome, I controlled all of Europe and most of North Africa. Just as I was getting ready to invade Greece, the number of rebellions in rear areas was simply out of control. In out of the places, like the northern Baltic, small settlements could rebel and create armies that were more powerful and larger than anything I could field. How elephants can magically show up here is beyond fantasy. Also, the covert actions were far more organized by my various enemies than could be believed. Within a few turns northern Italy, most of Spain and the Baltic states were lost to vast armies that magically appeared. It would have been nice to have been warned, but even if you were, these rear area revolts were simply too strong. A turn or two later Rome fell and I lost interest in this game. If I were to suggest an improvement to the game, I would allow the building or improvement of fortifications of settlements. This would have stopped the loss of far flung outposts because they were just too weak to defend against huge rebel armies. I will not go into the poor AI in the battles, many people have already done that. The Roman army was famous for building structures like forts and defenses, this is lacking in this game.… Expand
  19. grandmasterchef
    Mar 11, 2015
    5
    Rome Total War is a good game with one major drawback cause as much as I love to play as Rome they do not have their own unique Archer unit so you are forced to conquer someone who might have archer units and then if you want to build military out of Rome you then have to move army to location that has archer units cause Javelins suck and war dogs get hammered when you auto resolve andRome Total War is a good game with one major drawback cause as much as I love to play as Rome they do not have their own unique Archer unit so you are forced to conquer someone who might have archer units and then if you want to build military out of Rome you then have to move army to location that has archer units cause Javelins suck and war dogs get hammered when you auto resolve and that should not happen… Expand
  20. Bribarian
    Mar 26, 2015
    4
    An extreme disappointment. I can't understand some of the "10" scores. I imagine they are either not Total War fans, or they simply played the game for less than an hour. Lots of bugs, poor AI, and just a huge mess. Graphics and maps would be a step up, if not for all the bugs.
  21. thetruth21
    Jun 3, 2015
    3
    to the people who rated this game at an extremely high score are paid out liars. I played the game for about 4 hours and the game isn't even that good. I hadn't the played the game for long time because it kept crashing. there are some good things about the game that i like, like when you finish a battle against an army you get to decide about the prisoners you captured by enslaving themto the people who rated this game at an extremely high score are paid out liars. I played the game for about 4 hours and the game isn't even that good. I hadn't the played the game for long time because it kept crashing. there are some good things about the game that i like, like when you finish a battle against an army you get to decide about the prisoners you captured by enslaving them to help build your cities more quickly but will have a downside. I think that the developers of creative assembly really want to perfect the game but they were rushed by the greedy CEO's just to make a quick buck off of the consumer. the crashes and updates that failed to fix the game proves that the company doesn't give a **** about the consumer only their greed and lies… Expand
  22. teedeedubya
    Jun 14, 2015
    3
    I'm late to the game on writing this review, but I just want to make sure no one wastes their money needlessly.

    This game is OK at best. It's not terrible, but you'd be better of just buying the original RTW. The interface on this game was designed by Helen Keller. Which means truly few things come intuitively and all these interface and control issues show their wicked teeth during    I'm late to the game on writing this review, but I just want to make sure no one wastes their money needlessly.

    This game is OK at best. It's not terrible, but you'd be better of just buying the original RTW. The interface on this game was designed by Helen Keller. Which means truly few things come intuitively and all these interface and control issues show their wicked teeth during battle.

    I have no Fing idea what my troops are doing. I just don't. There's almost no facilities in the game to show me what they're doing. I'm constantly, CONSTANTLY accidentally moving my troops. That alone is a good enough reason for me not to play this game.

    The camera issues existed with the old version of Rome total war but I managed... for over 400 hours of gameplay. I've played this game for maybe 20 hours, but I knew the camera was retarded within the first few seconds while I was trying to stage my troops for a battle. YOU JUST CAN'T ZOOM OUT FAR ENOUGH. WHY WOULD DO THAT!!!?!>?! WHY!>!>!> wtf is wrong with you morons. seriously?

    Trying to get your troops to stay in formation is actually impossible with RTW2. It's just so sad how they managed to screw up something so fundamental. Why is this important? Well, it guts the S out of RTS(Real Time Strategy ), because your formation is what you use to:
    - form a defensive line
    - flank the enemy
    - regroup in a nonretarded fashion
    - be able to actually watch the battle instead of a big blob of troops

    the pathing and combat in this game is comically bad. about 10 percent of your troops follow your orders, about 30 percent are tripping on LSD, the rest are just sitting in the back wondering where the hell they are.

    They nailed morale in the first version of RTW, MOST of the time, units ran away because they were suffering truly terrible causalities. In RTW2, if someone, somewhere, does something (this includes baking a cake), your army will surly flee.

    I didn't really enjoy the ability to select how your general leveled up. It just doesn't make sense... think about it. If you're general inherently enslaves the people he captures... that would give him personality and leadership traits of a slaver. My question... should I have to select that trait now that he leveled up or should he just get those traits because HE'S ALREADY DOING THEM. Leveling in RTW was superior in every possible way to RTW2.

    The political aspect is slightly more mature imo with RTW2. That said, no one cares.... It's an RTS and the banner on every one of these games says "Total War". I wonder who your target audience is? They must care about fictional politics a lot... or maybe they prefer the RTS part of RTS.

    Pretty disappointing game... I don't think people should buy this.    … Expand
  23. Mefisto_
    Jul 27, 2015
    4
    From the score you see above you may consider that this game is somewhere in the area of crap, and yet its true.

    If you install few mods from Steam, there will be enormous choice of fractions to play both in custom battles and campaign. One of the best features in Total War games is campaign, and examples of Empire and Shogun total war are confirming that. However, in this game    From the score you see above you may consider that this game is somewhere in the area of crap, and yet its true.

    If you install few mods from Steam, there will be enormous choice of fractions to play both in custom battles and campaign. One of the best features in Total War games is campaign, and examples of Empire and Shogun total war are confirming that.

    However, in this game there is nothing special holding you from carrying on long campaign play through, as politics and economics features as well as poor user interface(in my opinion) are stopping you from doing that.

    Now, as I have noticed from many user reviews, optimization is a great issue. Surprisingly, in contrast to all trailers and demos before the release of this game, graphics are not very good. Moreover, benchmark test for performance made me and my friends laugh as faces of Roman soldiers are looking like orcs or goblins from The Lord of the Rings.

    Talking about performance, my PC is running Battlefield 4 at 80 fps least on Ultra settings, while GTA 5 is flying at 75 fps average on Ultra settings as well. Yet, this piece of sh!t is still lagging on me, in fact, that forced me to write this review.

    So considering price tag at the release date and all the issues connected with this game, I think 4 - 6 is a fair score, not minding critics opinions, as most of us know, they are not the most reliable source to judge products.    … Expand
  24. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    3
    Uninspiring installment. Total war has barely evolved over the years and the game concepts show their age, even when all the bugs are fixed.
  25. xesmi
    Nov 3, 2016
    5
    Could have been better. Should have been better. The game still faces random crashes and bugs even after so many patches.
    I like the variety of factions and events but battles are very weak in comparison with previous total war titles
    I have been playing Total War since Shogun 1 and Rome2 is the worst of the series by far.. ...and its so annoying to buy a game and during first 2-3    Could have been better. Should have been better. The game still faces random crashes and bugs even after so many patches.
    I like the variety of factions and events but battles are very weak in comparison with previous total war titles
    I have been playing Total War since Shogun 1 and Rome2 is the worst of the series by far..

    ...and its so annoying to buy a game and during first 2-3 days realize that in order to end one turn you need to wait 10-15 mins...    … Expand
  26. Graham67722
    Mar 5, 2019
    5
    I was really disappointed by this game. I pre-ordered it and was ready to experience the greatness of rome total war. All battles boil down to giant blobs and there are no tactics involved in the bottles. The naval battles are even worse.
  27. Babutto
    Oct 1, 2019
    8
    Pros:
    - provincial system - now you need to control the whole province to get benefits. How? There are ways;
    - research - simple and useful. You research almost until the end of the game; - economic planning is important and requires management. You cannot simply forget about the economy; - agents are cool and training is now balanced; - WAR! - diplomacy in total. Cons: - AI    Pros:
    - provincial system - now you need to control the whole province to get benefits. How? There are ways;
    - research - simple and useful. You research almost until the end of the game;
    - economic planning is important and requires management. You cannot simply forget about the economy;
    - agents are cool and training is now balanced;
    - WAR!
    - diplomacy in total.

    Cons:
    - AI cheats all the time. You have to station garrisons at every province in case nomadic tribes arrive. The same is for TW Warhammer. But here you may predict where they arrive;
    - AI predictions - it's complete crap. You may win in a battle and AI would tell you before that your chances are 10%. Another crap following the series since TW Rome;
    - political system - by far the worst. You may fight and conquer but then realize you're screwed and you face the civil war. I understand why they did that BUT when you master how the system works it nullifies all of its advantages;
    - cannot make confederations. FAIL.

    Many users criticize TW R2, also because the predecessor is a masterpiece. However, the game is cool itself. It just requires research and an additional and clear explanation of what the hell is going on with the politics.    … Expand
  28. Shimmeywill
    Feb 26, 2020
    7
    Despite the solid visuals and great unit design, the ultimate combat system is a step back from the other titles.
  29. Slayver
    Sep 16, 2021
    10
    At the start, the quality was not very good. But, over time, we managed to make a lot of additions correcting gameplay and expanding the player's capabilities. The project is essentially an icon of its time.
  30. albegres
    Feb 5, 2022
    8
    77/100
    Nowadays it has not the same problems it had at launch. Very solid game with good gameplay. It might feel like a "map painter" but it's very fun to replay it now and then. It has still a good amount of players
  31. 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
  32. PriceofShadows
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    RIP Total War, this is last time I got tricked into buying Total War game.I feel cheated and robbed, my fault I believed hype but at least no money for DLC !

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

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

    Ancient Medieval 2 has better graphics,gameplay and realistic soldiers movements.Game is totally dumbed down,people who made this 'game' should take a look at masterpieces like Medieval 2 or Rome 1 to see what this is all about.Biggest disappointement of 2013, save your money and don't buy it until it's 90% OFF.    … Expand
  33. Jexiah8bit
    Sep 5, 2013
    4
    As someone said, publishers have used the digital age to turn us all into suckers who beta test their "finished games" only after paying full price. Total War: Rome 2 is the penultimate example of this. If you do not believe me, youtube the glitches and bugs in the AI and game design. You will be astounded. For my experience, I can only say that this is a new low and I am deeply troubledAs someone said, publishers have used the digital age to turn us all into suckers who beta test their "finished games" only after paying full price. Total War: Rome 2 is the penultimate example of this. If you do not believe me, youtube the glitches and bugs in the AI and game design. You will be astounded. For my experience, I can only say that this is a new low and I am deeply troubled by the scores most "professional" game sites are giving this game.… Expand
  34. distractonator
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    This is one of the few games that I literally could not play. after marathoning Shogun 2, Rome 1 and Medieval 2 for the last two months I have concluded that this game strays way too far from the original formula over complicating simple things and oversimplifying the things that have worked well in previous installments of the franchise
  35. dogboy907
    Sep 5, 2013
    3
    The graphical issues and AI issues, as noted by other users, are indeed atrocious and indeed present.

    However, this could be forgiven if there were a good game lying underneath all that. There really is not though; this game is a huge step back from Shogun 2, aesthetically and in terms of gameplay depth. The user interface is not intuitive and inaccessible and frankly boring. Shogun 2's    The graphical issues and AI issues, as noted by other users, are indeed atrocious and indeed present.

    However, this could be forgiven if there were a good game lying underneath all that. There really is not though; this game is a huge step back from Shogun 2, aesthetically and in terms of gameplay depth. The user interface is not intuitive and inaccessible and frankly boring. Shogun 2's UI was far better. The gameplay mechanics have been severely dumbed down. There aren't even seasons anymore. The game is just not engrossing like other total war games.

    Overall this game is a total failure. They aimed too high trying to put in a bunch of features no one really needed or wanted, took out a lot of the core elements fans of the series loved in order to make it more appealing to the masses, and failed spectacularly to even provide a functional game at launch. This game should still be in Alpha it needs a total overhaul.    … Expand
  36. rcassar
    Sep 13, 2013
    0
    I played this game for a couple of hours and felt a huge sense of disappointment. It felt like Empire: Total War all over again. I have been waiting eagerly to play this game for years but everything seems to be worse than it was in the now 10 year old Rome: Total War. As the other reviewers pointed out; graphics, AI, bugs, user interface, the campaign mode itself, the music, everything! II played this game for a couple of hours and felt a huge sense of disappointment. It felt like Empire: Total War all over again. I have been waiting eagerly to play this game for years but everything seems to be worse than it was in the now 10 year old Rome: Total War. As the other reviewers pointed out; graphics, AI, bugs, user interface, the campaign mode itself, the music, everything! I cannot find a single redeeming point.

    I ended up throwing this pile of garbage away and installing Medieval II: Total War and it was so much better. That game is fun and interesting. I feel that this game is so broken that no patch will fix it and make it enjoyable. I cannot understand how they managed to ruin such a game in this way. I cannot understand the ratings of the professional reviewers either. It's all sad, very sad.    … Expand
  37. Fhear
    Sep 5, 2013
    4
    I will do it in a summit:
    Positive points:
    + Campaign Map is BIG, detailed and good designed for the gameplay + Many Factions with mostly individual units(no more hundreds of rebellion cities) + Provinces are a good idea + Diplomacy: Even if it's kinda buggy right now, and your diplomacy partners s.t. do illogical things, THEY actually join you in fights! Negative Points: - the    I will do it in a summit:
    Positive points:
    + Campaign Map is BIG, detailed and good designed for the gameplay
    + Many Factions with mostly individual units(no more hundreds of rebellion cities)
    + Provinces are a good idea
    + Diplomacy: Even if it's kinda buggy right now, and your diplomacy partners s.t. do illogical things, THEY actually join you in fights!

    Negative Points:
    - the Battle A.I: is absolute bad(even on legendary), sometimes buggy and not capable to do the simplest maneuvers
    - the Turn loading Times are EXTREME long in further gameplay
    - The Battles are WAY to fast and reduced in complexity; also they reduced some features p.e. "loose formation"; often the battles are just 5 minutes long
    - Bad gameplay-decisions p.e. Flags in open battlefields(you have to capture them to win); magic abilities from some units or the general; autotransport for the navy; too strong torches etc...
    - Balancing of the units is not the best atm
    - 1 year per turn (agents/generals die too fast)
    - no family-tree(generals are generated from a random pool)
    - no recruitment/agent videos
    - EXTREME reduced Multiplayer-Gameplay
    - many many bugs and glitches, as well as bad performance atm

    Maybe they will patch it back to life    … Expand
  38. wud9
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    1. The game is way too simplified, only fun for dumb youths.
    2. My 6 months old chihuahua is 9 billion times smarter than the AI.
    3. The battles are just mini-games with fancy graphics. 3 things that make up for a real Total War game. 3 most important things that the dev should have focused on. 3 most disappointing things from this game. I'm a fan of this series. I've been    1. The game is way too simplified, only fun for dumb youths.
    2. My 6 months old chihuahua is 9 billion times smarter than the AI.
    3. The battles are just mini-games with fancy graphics.

    3 things that make up for a real Total War game.
    3 most important things that the dev should have focused on.
    3 most disappointing things from this game.

    I'm a fan of this series. I've been playing them since I was a teenager.
    I will never ever buy another Total war series.
    You've fooled me with your misleading previews. Well done CA PR team This one goes to you !
    40% more budget than the last game? 140% more advertising and hyping.
    CA is not the only one I'm disappointed at. It's the game reviewers too.
    really? 100, 95, 90 for this game? I will not only trust CA anymore but also these stupid reviewers.

    Thanks. But no thanks.

    PS.. CA may have made cash with this one. But remember CA, that not many customers get fooled twice or three times or four times or another time. Hahahahaha.    … Expand
  39. HectorofTroy
    Sep 5, 2013
    3
    Very disappointed. Diplomacy is still terrible, political affairs are nonexistent, CAI is brain dead, BAI can be atrocious at times, naval warfare is broken, units and stats are very unbalanced, there are bugs, capture point battles are laughable...What else can I say?

    Well, believe it or not, Rome 2 could still be fixed and thus classified as a very good game, but that unfortunately    Very disappointed. Diplomacy is still terrible, political affairs are nonexistent, CAI is brain dead, BAI can be atrocious at times, naval warfare is broken, units and stats are very unbalanced, there are bugs, capture point battles are laughable...What else can I say?

    Well, believe it or not, Rome 2 could still be fixed and thus classified as a very good game, but that unfortunately won't happen. Don't expect for miracles at this time of the year. SEGA has already established deadlines for the next expansion and there is no way this game will be seriously improved in a few months.

    Once again, let' see what modders will be able to come up with to make up for CA's incompetence.    … Expand
  40. ChosunOne
    Sep 5, 2013
    3
    For all the experience you would think the CA team has, you would think that Rome 2 would have expanded upon features from its previous titles. Almost every aspect this game has either backtracked from Shogun 2 (UI, AI, battles, units) or been completely removed (family trees). There are really no ways this game is any better than Shogun and it feels less like a Strategy game and moreFor all the experience you would think the CA team has, you would think that Rome 2 would have expanded upon features from its previous titles. Almost every aspect this game has either backtracked from Shogun 2 (UI, AI, battles, units) or been completely removed (family trees). There are really no ways this game is any better than Shogun and it feels less like a Strategy game and more like a "lets just tell units to attack and watch them win" kind of game. Sieges are mind-numbingly easy (ai stands in a courtyard and doesn't budge, even under the torrential rain of flaming arrows), and on battles in open fields it camps its start area. I tried to reenact the battle of thermopylae and only had about 350 units versus about 7000 and they just stood there. I slowly creeped up to their line to try to draw them out, but the ai just started repositioning units along the line indefinitely. I even took out about 1500 of their units and routed half the army mostly because they would not even attack my units when they would walk into them while trying to reposition. You also can't siege cities that are under naval blockades, so my campaign against epirus as sparta ground to a halt when a tattered roman ship was sitting outside the harbor, and my army of 9000 spartans could not siege the city. This game needs a major overhaul to live up to the reputation of any other total war title.… Expand
  41. Ahumata
    Sep 8, 2013
    4
    40 hours into the game, single player and multi player, this is a staggering disappointment. While I don't run into any performance issues despite having a 3+ years old gpu, mostly everything else is still wrong.

    Short version: Rome the Europa Barbarorum mod is still a far better offering. Rome alone is still undethroned by Rome 2. AI is terrible, is there even one? Battles are too    40 hours into the game, single player and multi player, this is a staggering disappointment. While I don't run into any performance issues despite having a 3+ years old gpu, mostly everything else is still wrong.

    Short version: Rome the Europa Barbarorum mod is still a far better offering. Rome alone is still undethroned by Rome 2.

    AI is terrible, is there even one? Battles are too messy and simplistic. Units don't respond well and can't hold formation. Strategic map gameplay is better but dulled by slow progression, no sense of stakes and overlong load times. Alexander conquered the known world in 10 years, you couldn't conquer much in 10 turns. UI is very questionable, good in some parts, terrible in most others. Diplomacy finally feels somewhat relevant.

    Long Story
    I didn't play Empire or Shogun 2 and stopped at Medieval 2, being an immense fan of Medieval and Rome (+Europa Barbarorum) before Medieval 2. So I'm coming from the "classical" TW games and it's from that experience that I'm reviewing Rome 2.

    ===Strategy & Management
    I would say that management and diplomacy have been overall improved. Things, while feeling more abstract (since everything goes through icons and cards now), give a little bit more depth to the strategic game. It feels a bit disembodied, but it generally works. However, the AI is absent, both from strategy and battle, and that doesn't help making the game involving. The world is huge, many factions, but it doesn't feel deep, so it's hard to connect to what goes on. No sense of real stakes, no sense of grandeur or epic. So in that sense, with the fact that everything is abstract and the upgrades you go for are stuff like "+3% to this" or "+2% to that", therefore never feeling like anything's really meaningful or matters, the strategic layer does feel a bit boring very soon. You'll be trying to complete provinces, which are sets of regions owned or controlled by you, chasing ghostly signposts in-between.

    Not to mention the extremely long load times between turns, as the game features so many factions. I'm not sure who thought that it would be so great to have dozens on faction active on the map at the same time: it simply breaks the pace utterly, all this mostly for factions that are simply not interesting enough to exist in that way. I'm all for diversity and richness, but there could have been many other ways to include all those peoples significantly and in a relevant manner that wouldn't have bogged the game down completely.

    ===Battles
    Battles, I don't know where to start. There is no AI. If you lose, it's because you have the wrong unit makeup AND are significantly outnumbered. Just moments ago I played a battle where I went in 1500 against 3000 in a siege. In any TW game, a victory in such circumstances would have been very, very hard to pull off. But instead, here, I just "happened" to win: somehow my two cavalry units killed 1600 men (according to the tally) and routed most of the enemy army while I all I did was stand there watching a mess of fisticuffs in broken formations. All of this took but a few minutes.

    Which is the next problem. Battles are so messy and so deadly, that they're done, for the most complex ones, in less than 15 minutes. Most of the time, it's 2 and 4 minutes. There again, as everything soon descends into close-up fistfights (units just won't maintain formation), it doesn't help making you feel involved. Stuff just happens, very fast, and there's none of the planning, waiting, and flying over the battlefield to give decisive orders that previous games might have gotten you used to.

    ===Multiplayer
    Co-op multiplayer has a pretty great point in that you can lend your units in battle to that spectating friend, so he can play the battle with you. Makes you wish you could end up with battles where every unit is controlled by a person. The unit abilities system calls for that, too. As you manage your army over 5-15 minutes long messy battles, there simply isn't enough time or room to micromanage every unit to the extent of making worthwhile use of its special cooldown-based abilities. So that too is a design blunder. The game is full of them.    … Expand
  42. SF44
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    Poor UI, AI, several features were left out of the game that were in previous Total war games. Music and artwork is lacking. Poor job by CA on this one. Hoping for a expansion to fix the plethora of problems.
  43. Klofi
    Sep 8, 2013
    3
    This was supposed to be the best PC game of 2013. Unfortunately it is very far from that. Even after first patch the game keeps crashing, is EXTREMELY slow during AI turns in campaign map, drops FPS randomly, etc. And I am playing it on a very high-end PC. Pre-ordering this expensive game was a big mistake. Should have waited...
  44. Spindrift1
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    How have they come to release this game? I, like so many here have actually gone to the bother of creating a metacritic account in order to vent.

    I've pre-ordered games in the past and being mildly disappointed but with Rome II Total Bore I'm actually seriously pissed off. I've given hard earned cash for this? I could accept the slightly crap graphics (certainly not living up to the    How have they come to release this game? I, like so many here have actually gone to the bother of creating a metacritic account in order to vent.

    I've pre-ordered games in the past and being mildly disappointed but with Rome II Total Bore I'm actually seriously pissed off. I've given hard earned cash for this? I could accept the slightly crap graphics (certainly not living up to the hype), and maybe the slow game pace on the strategic map if the outcome was worth the wait. But it's like playing against a 5 year old at chess, it would be mildly diverting if they were my child, but they aren't and when they repeatedly drop my nicely crafted pieces on the floor, or refuse to even take their turn I start to tire.

    I'm not sure I can be bothered to even keep trying the patches as they're released because in its current state even if it ran smoothly, and the AI was half decent, the game just lacks depth. I feel no connection to my empire, or my generals. Couldn't really give a cr@p if they all die. Of course they won't because the enemy will just stand still on the battle field while I dispatch them.

    Still I've gained new found respect for the reviewers that actually noticed this game is a complete joke:
    http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2013/09/06/creative-assembly-fiddles-rome-ii-loads/ Not sure what version of the game all the other professional reviewers were playing, it certainly isn't the one they've released to the public.

    I'd advise people to give this at least 6 months, then check up on metacritic to see if user reviews are starting to improve. In the meantime, try the excellent Europa Universalis IV (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/europa-universalis-iv) which lacks the battles of Rome II but is a sparkling diamond next to the rough cut pyrite that is Rome II. Also, if you want to try a game that actually has an AI then try the brilliant AI War Fleet Command (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/ai-war-fleet-command), a game that is similar (in setting at least) to Sins of the Solar Empire. While it lacks the graphical finesse, the game-play is brilliant and the AI is properly challenging.    … Expand
  45. kuatofkuat
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    Game is simply unfinished and therefore totally unplayable.
    This is a worst Total War release ever.
    Disappointed to the point that I feel cheated and want to get a refund.
  46. kaibert
    Sep 9, 2013
    4
    Performance problems aside, this game gets a 4 out of 10 for gameplay at this time.

    I will not play this game until mods have fixed the glaring mistakes made by the developer team. Many features seem tailored to the casual crowd, apparently for monetary gain.

    There are many new strong features, but the current state of the game is a disgrace to loyal fans of the Total War series.
  47. ge0s
    Sep 10, 2013
    4
    Its fairly easy to say Rome 2 may be the worst Total War game in the series as it stands right after release, but damn does it hurt. Even Empire didn't feel this bad for me and it's likely due to Empire's problems having to do more with AI and smaller technical details than the blatant problems appearing in Rome 2. Unfortunately most the TW fans have taken the PreOrder Free DLC hook lineIts fairly easy to say Rome 2 may be the worst Total War game in the series as it stands right after release, but damn does it hurt. Even Empire didn't feel this bad for me and it's likely due to Empire's problems having to do more with AI and smaller technical details than the blatant problems appearing in Rome 2. Unfortunately most the TW fans have taken the PreOrder Free DLC hook line and sinker, but now its our job to try and warn other gamers about this game as it stands. It's easy for gamers not familiar with the problems plaguing CA's AI flaws to buy the game out of nostalgia for the Rome:TW brand, which is easily the most famous and most know game in the TW series.

    The AI simply doesn't act competent in any way shape or form. Usually poor AI isn't a big deal for us TW fans, we've seen it before and usually upped the settings for a tougher challenge(not anymore). Most TW AI is at least smart enough to exploit flanks and run down archers in battle, while attacking major cities with larger stacks on the campaign map. Rome 2's AI however suffers from some of worst AI I've ever seen in a strategy game and worse it feels like CA has added deliberately gamey features to cover over its incomplete AI. Units will charge solo then turn tail before impact with a better unit, allowing your ranged units to sit behind and slowly pelt them to death. When a unit does decide to charge it'll send all of its units (including archers) into the front of Phalanx and Legionaries without trying to first use its ranged units to dwindle your numbers or exploit flanks along alternate routes. These are things you could see the AI doing to some extent in Shogun 2 on release, but are astonishingly absent from Rome 2. Formations, a staple of Ancient Roman period combat and often what won battles in Antiquity, completely dissolve into blobs when sent into combat; a far cry from the constant formation and impact units had in the original Rome:TW. Your well set phalanx and legion formations will collapse before impact (usually after throwing javelins), instead these units rely on puffed up numbers CA has put in to give those unit better strength, that was usually due to superior formation.

    On the Campaign map, AI appear to always try to max out the number of armies they have, resulting in many factions having a 3 or more small Armies of 2 or 3 units, with only 1 army with a medium size force but no where near the number of units it needs to pose a threat. I have managed to find one army in the entire game with a massive unit stack at about turn 30. It came from a random barbarian tribe north of Greece and proceeded to wreck Macedonia, burn Athens, grind Sparta to dust until I could finally see it take out Epirus. Due to the AI splitting its forces, this single fluke army carved out an empire until I smashed it with a Legion half its size, discovering it was nothing more than a bunch of tier 1 troops. After you destroy a faction its remaining armies will then suicide charge with single unit stacks, rather than group up and attack as one.

    Unit balance has become another major issue. Navies themselves are pointless (beyond later game catapult/ballista ships) while Land armies can instantly gain bigger ships, easily ram the smaller naval triremes and win most boarding actions due to land units having 200 men vs the 60 aboard naval units. That's if you can get the boarding function to work properly for yourself, leaving you forced to use ramming while the AI can pick and choose who to board, although I imagine this will be one of the first things fixed within a month. This makes the formidable Naval powers of Carthage and Athens feel no where near as formidable as they should be to take down. Elephants are far more over powered than they should and a single general unit with Elephants can destroy and entire army on its own. However the worst offender of poor balancing goes to the Roman dog units. These units have trainers which send out packs of dogs as shock troops, which historically were used to scare enemies and weaken them before the real Roman assault began. In Rome 2, however, you might as well build legions of just them as they can destroy units in seconds and stop an elephant or chariot charge dead in its tracks.

    Rome 2 saving grace is its streamlined map and city management which is really well designed and its fantastic to see your cities grow in size. The technology tree is also streamlined, but still well displaced and easy to understand. I also like the number of factions and the map itself, but waiting for all of them to take their turn takes forever and don't dare play a co-op campaign.

    Multiplayer is a huge step backwards however, as the great campaign style fight for territory multiplayer is completely gone, leaving only custom battles. The ability to also call on jump-in multiplayer battles while in campaign, first introduced in Napoleon:TW is also no where to be seen. A feature that could save the poor AI.    … Expand
  48. Victory
    Sep 10, 2013
    3
    It's fun but right now it's easily the worst total war game in the series. Absolutely horrendous optimisation, horrendous ai problems, horrendous ship combat.

    Conquering people and running an empire is always fun, and I have played 20 hours so far conquering people. Very rarely does a challenge actually occur and the bugs are ridiculous. It crashed because I merged armies. It    It's fun but right now it's easily the worst total war game in the series. Absolutely horrendous optimisation, horrendous ai problems, horrendous ship combat.

    Conquering people and running an empire is always fun, and I have played 20 hours so far conquering people. Very rarely does a challenge actually occur and the bugs are ridiculous.

    It crashed because I merged armies.
    It crashed because I tried to assassinate a general and attack with my stack at the same time.
    It crashed because blah blah blah.. the list goes on.

    The textures are pig ugly, on all settings with all tweeking. The frames per second is terribly optimised too.

    The game lacks atmosphere and doesn't really suck you in like shogun 2. all the cut scenes are pretty much cut, the music is just generic windy washy sounds with a few shouts thrown in. I already miss the victory song from Fall of the samurai and when you win in this you just get a shout.. oh great yeah.. give me some war drums or anything? Just lacks atmosphere.

    I wish I hadn't bothered, the sad thing is I expected this from the developers but I anticipated it would actually be an improvement over shogun 2 which is excellent..    … Expand
  49. Jimbo364
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    CA needs to stop releasing buggy games on release. "Total War games are always buggy at release", that is obviously not a good thing, its a nasty habit. Don't be an enabler and mindlessly preorder games. If the developers can't be bothered to polish a game before release, they aren't worth anyone's time.
  50. blaugrana
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    The biggest disappointment in the total war series. The battles are extremely fast paced and arcade and lack any strategical depth. Both campaign and battle ai are terrible.
    I know it is my fault for pre ordering because while I didn't expect the game to be perfect on release, I never expected such a disappointment. If you haven't bought it yet, wait until they have fixed it to get it    The biggest disappointment in the total war series. The battles are extremely fast paced and arcade and lack any strategical depth. Both campaign and battle ai are terrible.
    I know it is my fault for pre ordering because while I didn't expect the game to be perfect on release, I never expected such a disappointment. If you haven't bought it yet, wait until they have fixed it to get it dirt cheap, or better still, go play real strategy games like Europa Universalis or Crusader Kings.    … Expand
  51. Halberd12
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    Poorly optimized excuse for mastered rome 1. Almost half of the new features are either broken or not working properly, they've also screwed around with the AI so they just run at you and flee, that's your new generation of Artificial Intelligence. The best you get out of this is a beta which you have to pay for, some might argue it is still in alpha stage.
  52. declates
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    The release of this bugged game is just sad.

    - Bad Performance Why the game works smoother on higher settings than on low? ) - AI just behaves like crap.( Ships not boarding/ramming ships, own units are no attacking other enemy units after theyre routing and so on. ) - Battlespeed, YES Battlespeed. 2-4 Min Battles, what the heck is that? Where is are the tactics when the units    The release of this bugged game is just sad.

    - Bad Performance Why the game works smoother on higher settings than on low? )

    - AI just behaves like crap.( Ships not boarding/ramming ships, own units are no attacking other enemy units after theyre routing and so on. )

    - Battlespeed, YES Battlespeed. 2-4 Min Battles, what the heck is that? Where is are the tactics when the units are bashing each other arcade-style? Maybe one find it good, but yeah... for me its a no go.

    - Whole core game is total unpolished and mainstream optimised.

    Im a big fan of the Total War games but this one is just a mess, a disaster. Creative Assembly has reached its zenith and now its going down like the mighty roman empire    … Expand
  53. MoonCheese
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    Compared to previous TW games this is a huge step in the wrong direction. Plus it barely runs and I have higher than recommended specs--so they lied to me. Even if you can run it, the gameplay is pretty bad. Can't believe I paid $60 bucks for this. Don't buy this game, Creative Assembly needs to learn its lesson and start to actually listen to its customers and given them what they want.Compared to previous TW games this is a huge step in the wrong direction. Plus it barely runs and I have higher than recommended specs--so they lied to me. Even if you can run it, the gameplay is pretty bad. Can't believe I paid $60 bucks for this. Don't buy this game, Creative Assembly needs to learn its lesson and start to actually listen to its customers and given them what they want. Also would it have hurt them to properly beta test. For the sake of future Total War games please don't buy this game...

    A long list of complaints (a little unformatted--sorry):
    • Serious performance issues
    o needs to run faster
    o worst of any TW games I have played in terms of performance
    o one would need a supercomputer to run this at extreme settings
    o can barely zoom in on cities, units, or trees without stuttering
    o when opening diplomacy map, strategic map, and tactical map stuttering occurs
    • Sometimes black squares appear in the ground on both the campaign map and battle map
    o I think turning on veg alpha improves this issue
    • Ground when moving around on the campaign map the ground takes time to load
    o not everyone has a solid state drive, most people don't
    • Draw distance needs to be greatly improved
    o can't tell whether a unit is in phalanx or not without zooming in to check
    • The AI is just ****ing retarded
    o I don't know where to begin on this one but I know the AI can't handle these capture points--get rid of the ****ing capture points
    o also, while the line of sight is good on multiplayer, I don't think the AI can handle it so the AI shouldn't need line of sight
    • What happened to building roads/highways?
    • There are barely any pitched battles on the map
    o Next time the AI should be deployed OUTSIDE the settlement at startup
    • Too much of my screen is taken up with panels
    o unit panel, map panel, advice panel are all too big and need to be made smaller
    • Unit sizes are too small
    o I would rather have huge armies with the unit detail of Rome 1 than tiny armies with realistic details (my computer agrees with me on this)
    o I don't need to see ****ing facial expressions--its a strategy game!
    • There is hardly any need for unit formation and 'strategy' because it's just bash and smash
    • Character portraits are ****ing ugly for anyone running on anything other than extreme (and even then they are ugly)
    o drawings would have been better than computer generated images
    • The music is boring, repetitive, and I swear some of the music is recycled from Empire
    • The UI is cluttered, confusing, and isn't centralized around any particular buttons
    • Ram/board button is broken for navel battles    … Expand
  54. Mangeduvet
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    There are just too many issues with this game on release to give it a higher score.
    - Low fps
    - Performance issues - Multiple fixes needed to even get the textures right Further on. - A.I is so bad in battles and the campaign map that it's laughable - No guard mode (stand ground) - No fire at will mode for melee infantry using javelin, only works when charging You cannot    There are just too many issues with this game on release to give it a higher score.
    - Low fps
    - Performance issues
    - Multiple fixes needed to even get the textures right

    Further on.
    - A.I is so bad in battles and the campaign map that it's laughable
    - No guard mode (stand ground)
    - No fire at will mode for melee infantry using javelin, only works when charging

    You cannot release a game in this state! You simply can't, It's exactly like paying 60 euros to play a BETA. I'll probably never pre order a game CA makes ever again, first thing you need to do is look in forums and sites like these and be sure that there are no game breaking problems that you don't want to pay FULL price for...

    For everyone thinking about buying this game, WAIT until it's on sales or something because it's not worth the money they are currently selling it for, and definitely not your time. The game has some serious potential but as of right now it's not close to what it could be. I'm probably forgetting some of the issues I've encountered playing.    … Expand
  55. StuG
    Sep 6, 2013
    4
    BAI: 2. Quite stupid, too bugs
    CAI: 4. Low engagement, diplomacy same of napoleon, arcade-feeling
    Graphics: 4. Nice to see at ultra/extreme but far too many resources needed for what it offers User Interface: 6. I like it, the units/city panel icons are nice but too big, a bit confusing in general Management: 4. Arcadey and i say it all Average: 4. 55 euros is a robbery: 20 for the    BAI: 2. Quite stupid, too bugs
    CAI: 4. Low engagement, diplomacy same of napoleon, arcade-feeling
    Graphics: 4. Nice to see at ultra/extreme but far too many resources needed for what it offers
    User Interface: 6. I like it, the units/city panel icons are nice but too big, a bit confusing in general
    Management: 4. Arcadey and i say it all

    Average: 4. 55 euros is a robbery: 20 for the game, 25 for the patches

    CA MUST fix it and give FULL support to the mod community or this will be their last game many people buy.

    Bye    … Expand
  56. Stephen2013
    Sep 8, 2013
    4
    Don't buy this game I bought it and I know what you're thinking; Shogun 2, Rome, Medieval 2 where great I can look past the bugs.

    It is not finished. The bugs in this crash the game; my first bug happened before I had my first fight and my first turn I clicked on the faction button and it crashed the game. I tried again a couple of days later and played it for a while it    Don't buy this game I bought it and I know what you're thinking; Shogun 2, Rome, Medieval 2 where great I can look past the bugs.

    It is not finished.

    The bugs in this crash the game; my first bug happened before I had my first fight and my first turn I clicked on the faction button and it crashed the game.

    I tried again a couple of days later and played it for a while it crashes each time you try to invade carthage I tried twice in a row and it just freezes and crashes to desktop.

    The FPS are appalling, the AI turns take about ten seconds in the first 6 turns then jumps to 3 minutes. The campaign AI is okay (they don't randomly attack you but they are very passive) the battle AI is totally stupid.

    Due to a stupid capture the flag mechanic in the battles you will lose even if you outnumber the enemy if you allow a flag to be captured.

    Don't let games companies treat you like this the developers have had years to solve these issues but they don't why? Because we keep buying it.

    We will all need to wait a month before they patch this thing play Rome 1 Total War instead.

    Also Day 1 DLC is a joke.

    Not buying a Total War game again this is my last purchase.    … Expand
  57. Polosatiy
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    Everyone makes mistakes. But! That is not an excuse to take 50 EUR from our pocket for a broken game and not even apologize. In Estonia (where i'm from), average salary is 500 EUR a month. 50 EUR is 1/10 of a months hard work! And I sincerely regret spending so much money on something broken like this and not even being able to get a refund. As someone said before me: game will "probably"Everyone makes mistakes. But! That is not an excuse to take 50 EUR from our pocket for a broken game and not even apologize. In Estonia (where i'm from), average salary is 500 EUR a month. 50 EUR is 1/10 of a months hard work! And I sincerely regret spending so much money on something broken like this and not even being able to get a refund. As someone said before me: game will "probably" get fixed in half a year time and will cost half the price by then.

    LOUD MESSAGE TO CA and SEGA: Fix AI, interface and performance ASAP. Or you will loose many loyal customers FOREVER.

    Angry and disappointed Estonian citizen.    … Expand
  58. septimus
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    Doesn't work. Games that cannot be played upon launch are nonfunctioning products, and receive a zero: not buying the game and not being able to play it is actually more fun than buying the game and not being able to play it.
  59. logan0178
    Sep 9, 2013
    4
    There are significant number of bugs, performance problems and glitches that make this game difficult to enjoy.

    The battle AI is horrible. During defense battles they just sit there and stand their ground while your ranged units shoot them to death, and in offense battles they just make a beeline towards your capture point and ignore all other considerations even if it's a suicide    There are significant number of bugs, performance problems and glitches that make this game difficult to enjoy.

    The battle AI is horrible. During defense battles they just sit there and stand their ground while your ranged units shoot them to death, and in offense battles they just make a beeline towards your capture point and ignore all other considerations even if it's a suicide charge through your phalanx.

    Naval battles are poorly done and the boarding commands are not responsive. You have to continuously give commands to board for melee ships or they just get into close range and sit there.

    Amphibious battle AI when attacking tend to glitch out completely where one or a few characters in the army unit does not get off their ship and when this happens they cannot be attacked or take any other action so you end up having to wait out the full 60 minutes before the battle is over and they lose by default.

    Campaign map inexplicably has terrible fps performance and turn ends could take a long time even on a high end machine like mine. (16 gb ram, 2 gb graphics card, quad core top of the line intel cpu)

    The campaign AI is also passive and very ineffective and very rarely if ever fields even a full army. In higher difficulty levels it simply gains a cheating advantage in resources and unit stats rather than actually being smarter. It takes no time at all to gain an absolute advantage because no factions ever expands to enough territory to pose a threat once you've expanded past a few provinces.

    There are also various settings removed from modding like campaign_unit_multipler which will make player modding more difficult, but this is not calculated into my score since my review is only for the base game. I am only mentioning this as a side comment.

    Even with all these issues my score would've been higher if this was the first game in series or of the genre, but frankly many of these same bugs and design issues have been seen in every one of the past total war games and there's no excuse for them to release their game with these known issues without fixing them.

    Bottom line is, this game had great marketing and propaganda going for it but little to no testing based on the number of obvious bugs and glitches players run into in even the first hour of playing.

    This game is not worth getting at the current time. Perhaps in a few months once most of the bugs are fixed and it's on sale on steam with 60% off.    … Expand
  60. LairdEJM
    Sep 9, 2013
    3
    The critics must be watching trailers on this one!! The biggest problem for me right now is the ever present lag, even on my very capable gaming rig. It detracts from a game which I long to delve into, and frustrates me after short amounts of play. This along with the graphical bugs, such as popping and texture streaming make this game look very shoddy for the AAA title it so keenly clingsThe critics must be watching trailers on this one!! The biggest problem for me right now is the ever present lag, even on my very capable gaming rig. It detracts from a game which I long to delve into, and frustrates me after short amounts of play. This along with the graphical bugs, such as popping and texture streaming make this game look very shoddy for the AAA title it so keenly clings to. Mopping these issues up is ESSENTIAL for me to ever boost my score.

    Smaller irritations that I have noticed, albeit not game breaking for me personally are:
    The complete lack of managing to retain a formation during battle; troops just kind of smush together in a big conglomeration which sends the whole "tactics" bit out of the window.
    All units seem to route extremely easily and rapidly, meaning that battles are very very short.
    The bizarre interface which is counter-intuitive and makes me spend ages figuring out what a certain button actually builds, and what the construct actually does.
    Troops seem to run extremely quickly...as though they are all wearing roller blades.
    Diplomacy seems utterly pointless, (at least at my stage of play.) The same can be said of politics.
    I don't understand the household pool thing at all.

    These are the problems which spring to mind right now, although they keep on flooding in as I rethink.

    I give this game, perhaps confusingly to those who have read this, a 3. I believe (hope) that were the lag issues to be sorted, I could perhaps try and live with the other problems and irritations. And also, I honestly believe, that somewhere amongst this mess is a very good game with huge potential. Unfortunately however, in its present form, it is nowhere near the quality I would expect for my £30.

    Roll on the miracle patches.    … Expand
  61. 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.
  62. 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
  63. Finfid
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    Avoid this game like the plague. Wait a few months, and then check back with the community at large to see if the issues have been fixed. As it stands right now, the game is unplayable, unless you like the misery of endless bugs and missing features. The Creative Assembly has failed in an epic fashion this time.
  64. Magnum9
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    It really saddens me to rate this game this low... Total War Rome II is a bait and switch emblematic of a trend affecting a disturbingly large amount of game releases these days.

    If you've had the misfortune to purchase Sword of the Stars II or read any of the complaints for that game... this is a repeat scenario, yet this time by a studio with an enormous budget and massive resources.    It really saddens me to rate this game this low... Total War Rome II is a bait and switch emblematic of a trend affecting a disturbingly large amount of game releases these days.

    If you've had the misfortune to purchase Sword of the Stars II or read any of the complaints for that game... this is a repeat scenario, yet this time by a studio with an enormous budget and massive resources.

    The game is not in a release state. I can't even understand how the release version is related to the promo videos I have seen spammed across review sites. I have a high spec machine, no issues running Battlefield 3 or Skyrim with some pretty over the top system sapping mods.

    The AI is still woefully underwhelming, and formations are still pretty much eye candy that evaporate moments after contact. Post contact maneuvering is marginally improved over Shogun... but the clumsiness of selection tools makes it a bit of a chore to do any real kind of general-ing (excuse the fake word). What's disturbing is this lack of tactical control doesn't really matter because conflict quickly breaks down in to a blob of routed units getting chased by your troops who then refuse to turn around and reengage etc etc.

    To bullet point other issues,

    • Tech Tree is shallow and redundant.
    • Frame rate on my machine is ok for spans of time then just inexplicably implodes without any discernible reason.
    • Diplomacy has nothing to it. An empty vessel slapped in because it's "expected" as part of the rehash cycle of game design for this genre.
    • Information gathering feels almost purposefully obstructive.
    • Stability issues. Especially in Multi-player.

    There MIGHT be a great game hidden in here somewhere. But it's not something that we're going to get with patches. The game design just was not implemented at the core to make this game a grand strategy title. Unit/Faction variation is skin deep, empire management is absurdly easy in some aspects and mind mindbogglingly obstructive in others, and honestly... it just isn't any fun right now. It doesn't make me feel like I'm in command of tens of thousands of troops engaged in important history changing battles.

    This along with several other PC releases of late (Diablo III, SimCity, etc) really reinforce that people need to start being discerning with their purchases. The puppy mill system that has infected gaming is too efficient at pulling money from an impatient, hype sensitive consumer base. I'm guilty of contributing myself. I don't say it lightly when I ask, do not buy this game. We're destroying our hobby by continuing to accept half finished games at full price.    … Expand
  65. Jaymiec1
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    The game is poor quality to begin with, however the problem gets much worse. After turn 60 or so the game simply won't load and crashes to the main menu. This is a common problem and many people have reported it, yet there seems to be no solution.

    So just to cap off: 1. UI is awful. You can't see what unit is what and the game can get confusing. 2. Awful AI. 3. Poor city    The game is poor quality to begin with, however the problem gets much worse. After turn 60 or so the game simply won't load and crashes to the main menu. This is a common problem and many people have reported it, yet there seems to be no solution.

    So just to cap off:
    1. UI is awful. You can't see what unit is what and the game can get confusing.
    2. Awful AI.
    3. Poor city management; almost everything you do makes your people unhappy.
    4. The game simply won't load after a certain amount of time. Nothing you do can fix this.
    5. Navy battles are awful, you have the option to ram, board, throw things and that's it. You can't have a plan or strategy, you simply tell your ship to attack and can then sit there and do nothing.
    6. Your army often has trouble marching places or gets stuck. If an agent is standing near an enemy army, your army simply can't find a way to attack the enemy.
    7. The campaign map lags awfully. If you select an army or agent the game will simply almost freeze, with FPS of around 5. This has nothing to do with my computer and is the same for everyone.
    8. The game doesn't even look good. The graphics you see in the trailers aren't the same ones you'll see in the game; I have everything on max and the game still looks fairly ugly and dark and gloomy. It's not a pretty game.    … Expand
  66. wjf83
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    No Family tree, yet the faction panel has limited marriage options as long as its not your family getting married
    No more portrait art
    No more thumbnail art for buildings, uses stupid tiles the encyclopedia looks like it was copy and past from windows note pad and no art work a lot of cities are missing battles end way too fast its like CA took total war and tried to repackage it as    No Family tree, yet the faction panel has limited marriage options as long as its not your family getting married
    No more portrait art
    No more thumbnail art for buildings, uses stupid tiles
    the encyclopedia looks like it was copy and past from windows note pad and no art work
    a lot of cities are missing
    battles end way too fast
    its like CA took total war and tried to repackage it as a game for casual gamers.
    general and family member progression is just lame, rome 1 formula was better people change as they age and from there experiences and the way rome did it reflected that this game does not
    how dare they try and pass this off total war.
    I don't have the words...    … Expand
  67. BruceWayne
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Mechanics dumbed down, battles are too arcade-ish, performance is BAD, FPS on campaign map take a hit from 40/50 to 15 whenever UI appears on screen i.e selecting units, cities, agents. I have pretty capable gaming PC that was able to play Shogun II with a stable frame-rate. If you wonder that game is for you, hold your horses for at least 3 or 4 months. At the moment this game is inMechanics dumbed down, battles are too arcade-ish, performance is BAD, FPS on campaign map take a hit from 40/50 to 15 whenever UI appears on screen i.e selecting units, cities, agents. I have pretty capable gaming PC that was able to play Shogun II with a stable frame-rate. If you wonder that game is for you, hold your horses for at least 3 or 4 months. At the moment this game is in "unofficial beta stage" publisher and CA lied it's not finished yet.… Expand
  68. Signatus
    Sep 8, 2013
    3
    Rome 1 was one of my favourite games. I should have just stayed with it and install a HD mod. Unfortunately I bought Rome 2 instead. I don't have the performance problems other people experience although I'm running it on a quite aged system. The game looks really beautiful and they had some good ideas like the province or diplomacy system. This game has a lot of potential. But I thinkRome 1 was one of my favourite games. I should have just stayed with it and install a HD mod. Unfortunately I bought Rome 2 instead. I don't have the performance problems other people experience although I'm running it on a quite aged system. The game looks really beautiful and they had some good ideas like the province or diplomacy system. This game has a lot of potential. But I think gameplay is just completely broken. CA's promises about the AI are just a joke right now. AI on the campaign map is far to passive or attacking with way to small armies, in battles sometimes just brain dead, not even pathfinding is working properly. Battles are way far to fast, consisting of big melee blobs because units can't hold their formations (no guard mode). Not even charging down routing foes with cavalry works. Units have fancy arcady special abilities, what has happened to the realism approach? Features are just missing like the family tree, generals basically just pop randomly up and die after a few rounds, since seasons are gone and one turn now lasts a whole year. Maybe the family tree was colliding with the new "feature" that each army must be lead by a general and number of armies is limited. Building navys is atm pointless, each army can just march into the sea and instantly free magical transport ships will appear which will suffice to beat most "real" naval units. Of course this makes strategical blocking of regions just impossible. I also don't understand why you can only play campaign factions in custom battles.
    This game just feels unfinished. I think CA will eventually fix performance bugs and improve AI behaviour, but salvaging the core of the game with getting rid of ridiculous new "features" will be left to the mods. I can't recommend this game to anybody at this point, wait at least a few months to see if CA/modders can salvage this train wreck.    … Expand
  69. daboke
    Sep 9, 2013
    3
    I've paid to be a beta tester with no voice.
    This 'game' is very VERY disappointing. It seems as though they have completely restructured their development team, bringing in a lot of youngsters with 'ideas' on how to 'improve' things... and I'm thinking their intent is to move towards console gaming. Total Shambles.
    1. Slow with no affinity to whoever you choose to be (i think my leader    I've paid to be a beta tester with no voice.
    This 'game' is very VERY disappointing. It seems as though they have completely restructured their development team, bringing in a lot of youngsters with 'ideas' on how to 'improve' things... and I'm thinking their intent is to move towards console gaming. Total Shambles.
    1. Slow with no affinity to whoever you choose to be (i think my leader died the only interesting thing that happened was one wife got kidnapped... don't even know her name. meh.)
    2. AI stupid no common sense and just awkward. (4 slingers took out 15 groups of tribesmen without taking a hit; they don't want to trade even though it's good for everyone; they WILL trade but only if you give them 80% of your money, bartering can bring this down to 70% but not worth it. Trying to get military access just so you can walk through a tiny part of their land to take over someone else is pointless. Best off just making war with them too.
    3. Tech tree is boring, time consuming (split across 6 pointless pages) and doesn't really have much affect.
    4. Battles are so easy even on Legendary. No excitement at all. Less said about naval battles the better.
    5. General limitations, household is slightly interesting but they're all drowning in a pool.,
    6. No more micromanaging towns everything is dumped together. Try sorting out dissatisfaction...? forget it.
    Lots more... not even started with bugs.....

    I paid money to be a tester and didn't get any dlc. I will not be purchasing anything else from CA until I get a personal apology but I bet they would screw that up.    … Expand
  70. 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
  71. 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
  72. 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
  73. 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
  74. Ezze902
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    I have played the Total War series for a very long time... This is the dumbest downed version, buggy, alpha version of a game that was looked forward for so many. It literally just ended one of the greatest franchises, I will not buy the next one.

    I have enjoyed some battles, but theres not enough units, special units... its nothing like old versions... I kinda felt the same with    I have played the Total War series for a very long time... This is the dumbest downed version, buggy, alpha version of a game that was looked forward for so many. It literally just ended one of the greatest franchises, I will not buy the next one.

    I have enjoyed some battles, but theres not enough units, special units... its nothing like old versions... I kinda felt the same with Shogun Total War II but liked that more than this The Steam sale on old Total Wars is a better option.

    This game might pass for newbies who dont know better... but for the core fans, its a Total Fail. It is unlikely it will be modded or fixed anytime soon... Just one giant cash out for Creative Assembly... release it early, make money and peace.

    Funny story, a friend of mine said after he played for 4 hours on release he checked the forums, and there was a Hitler reacts video on youtube to Total Rome War II

    Whats funny, is the BS reviews of this game... its like they couldnt imagine it being bad, didnt even review it. Also this metacritic is so far fetched... 84???? the gap between users and reviewers is Crazy.    … Expand
  75. Brahemian
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    The only thing that makes sense to me about the way this game turned out is that it feels as though somewhere between the Teutoberg and Carthage gameplay videos and release someone decided that the Total War series should end up on the consoles.

    The graphics as evident by most people are quite terrible and nowhere near the quality in the early pre release videos. The game lacks a whole    The only thing that makes sense to me about the way this game turned out is that it feels as though somewhere between the Teutoberg and Carthage gameplay videos and release someone decided that the Total War series should end up on the consoles.

    The graphics as evident by most people are quite terrible and nowhere near the quality in the early pre release videos. The game lacks a whole lot of complexity in the battles, there is no 'loose' formation which has been a staple for ever, and it's dumbfounding to wonder why that isn't in the game. Battles on average seem to last roughly around five minutes. These things give one of the central parts of a Total War game a complete lack of strategy or tactics and leave you with no sense of accomplishment or feeling.

    The map is beautiful, and the sea battles are pleasant, but in the end if you exempt all the myriad of bugs and other mishaps the complexity and deepness that this game should have is non-existant, this game feels like it should be played on a console, not on a computer. It is a truly dissapointing game after Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai.    … Expand
  76. HerrMelin
    Sep 5, 2013
    3
    A new low point for a once great series: The game shipped unfinished and needs to be patched soon, at the moment suffering from a catastrophic artificial intelligence and battles that lost most of the appeal they held in older parts of the series. Once a nerve-breaking, hard struggle, confrontations between armies are solved much too quickly now, feeling rushed. Tactics, formations andA new low point for a once great series: The game shipped unfinished and needs to be patched soon, at the moment suffering from a catastrophic artificial intelligence and battles that lost most of the appeal they held in older parts of the series. Once a nerve-breaking, hard struggle, confrontations between armies are solved much too quickly now, feeling rushed. Tactics, formations and intelligent strategies are less rewarded than they were in the past, the Total War mostly turning into Total Chaos. The epic feeling of being the leader of a great empire and and a great army is watered down remarkably by unnecessary changes and over-simplifications that disappoint most of the fans.… Expand
  77. Tedoki
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    Ever since Sega took over CA as a studio these games have been going down hill.

    - The AI in Rome 2 is non-existent, both on the campaign map and in battles, CA have really taken 2 steps backwards in this release. All in-game battles amount to blobbing melee units and charging them in. - The UI is unclear and unforgiving, having to click through 3 or 4 menus to find relevant    Ever since Sega took over CA as a studio these games have been going down hill.

    - The AI in Rome 2 is non-existent, both on the campaign map and in battles, CA have really taken 2 steps backwards in this release. All in-game battles amount to blobbing melee units and charging them in.

    - The UI is unclear and unforgiving, having to click through 3 or 4 menus to find relevant information. This is simply unnecessary.

    - The graphics have not improved since Shogun 2, I played the game on Very High and found that it looked dull and bland with the texture quality nearing that of Rome 1. There is NO art style in this game. The units, the map, the floor texture, the water everything is a mismatch and nothing seems to fit in. Don't get me started on the horrendous missile trail that looks like something from 2001.

    - Diplomacy has always been a null-factor while playing Total War games and nothing has changed here. The AI does not and never has understood diplomacy, the only way to change the outcome of diplomacy is to offer or demand payments alongside the other conditions. Boring.

    - Battles take no longer than 10 minutes in length, what happened to the 30 minute tactical positioning in the older games? Now all you have to do is blob your army and send it in, that's as good as tactics get on this game, ranged units are pointless.

    --**Conclusion**--
    I could go on and on about nearly every aspect of this game and why it's bad but I have said enough here. This is an abomination of the Total War Series. There have been no advancements in any area of the game. CA are attempting to simplify and funnel the experience for the casual gamer in-order to get more copies sold to win more artificial awards and to bolster their grand marketing campaigns.

    The Critic Reviews for this game are shocking and really show the true nature of these so called "Big Names", so much for games journalism. Just look at the difference in score from critics to users, this is simply a joke no more needs to be said about this, you are all smart enough to work this out for yourselves.

    Lucky to get even a 2 from me, I am extraordinarily disappointed and ashamed as a fan of the series.    … Expand
  78. blunt
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    Well, I hardly know what to say this game is messed up. Maybe if you've never played a Total War game before, you'll like it if you don't have any of the technical problems ).

    I haven't had any technical issues myself, but the game itself is rubbish. It's as though the developers thought "what made previous titles good then removed all of that and replaced it with some sort of    Well, I hardly know what to say this game is messed up. Maybe if you've never played a Total War game before, you'll like it if you don't have any of the technical problems ).

    I haven't had any technical issues myself, but the game itself is rubbish.
    It's as though the developers thought "what made previous titles good then removed all of that and replaced it with some sort of simplified dumbed down version to try to appeal to "mass market"

    Battles are too fast, all units have some sort of magical "fight better" abilities.
    UI is clunky and uninformative half the abilities my generals/agents have I have no idea what they do no explanation is given, even in the so-called encyclopedia.

    I doubt it can be fixed as most of the rubbish seems to be design decisions.
    Money spent on this game is a waste IMO.    … Expand
  79. XxMetalMartyrxX
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    What a broken game this is! I'm packing an ATI Radeon 7970 3GB and the game pre-selects "Extreme" for the graphics settings, and I get around 10fps on the campaign map. WHAT A JOKE! Oh, might I also add that the Roman legions are RIDICULOUSLY OP. I can defend an entire city with 200 Legionaries against thousands and I'll walk out with maybe 5 of my own dead. I know the Romans were tough,What a broken game this is! I'm packing an ATI Radeon 7970 3GB and the game pre-selects "Extreme" for the graphics settings, and I get around 10fps on the campaign map. WHAT A JOKE! Oh, might I also add that the Roman legions are RIDICULOUSLY OP. I can defend an entire city with 200 Legionaries against thousands and I'll walk out with maybe 5 of my own dead. I know the Romans were tough, but heck they weren't THAT TOUGH.

    Regardless, what a rip off this was. Next time delay your game if it's still in pre-alpha...    … Expand
  80. MaxiWilliam
    Sep 5, 2013
    4
    Its a good game but why so many soldier and other fraction have same armor or classe combat Grec have Roman armor Sparta have German armor what the its this Where the real Grec armor or Sparta armor I want cry Im still in Shogun 2 Still better of Rome II for now....
  81. MrBigBoss
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    As a long time fan of the series, I want to write a quality review, but I can't. This game is BROKEN. It makes me sick to see critics giving this game 100. That is simply dishonest and insulting to the gaming community. Releasing a game in this condition is simply inexcusable.
  82. antropan
    Sep 8, 2013
    0
    this game is much poorer compared to the previous (Shogun 2). The multiplayer is ridiculous, has no avatar as in Shogun 2 and has no customization and upgrade units. THIS GAME WAS A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!
  83. 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
  84. x8igh7
    Sep 9, 2013
    4
    I've own, and have played, every Total War game but this one has been a major disappointment. I paid for a top flight game, and I got RTS simulator for dummies. Where is my family tree? I think there actually is one somewhere in this mind boggling UI...

    AH HA! After playing for 10 hours as the Germanic Tribes I finally found the tab that showed my faction and leader. I'm not really    I've own, and have played, every Total War game but this one has been a major disappointment. I paid for a top flight game, and I got RTS simulator for dummies. Where is my family tree? I think there actually is one somewhere in this mind boggling UI...

    AH HA! After playing for 10 hours as the Germanic Tribes I finally found the tab that showed my faction and leader. I'm not really sure what any of the numbers mean, or why I should care about my faction leader, after all I'm 10 hours in without even knowing he existed but I found it! Apparently there is a division between Elder Chiefs and Other Chiefs (very informative name, I know) and I need their favor. I don't know how to get that favor, or why I need it though. But, hey! At least the have the foundation of a system (which fully functioning in Rome 1), right? Ugh, wait, I forgot I paid $60 and this isn't a $10 indie game.

    Okay, lets do a little diplomacy. Oh, look, this faction next to me is friendly.. and we share the same blood! Sick, lets open a trade agreement... No? Wait, why? They have 80 approval of my faction, but they have a low chance of accepting a simple trade agreement that would benefit both of our factions. Hmm... Lost me on this one. By the way, I think you trade the stuff that your cities harvest such as Timber, Leather. But I can't find any information on this anywhere, and I have no idea what any of it means or does.

    Okay lets fight some battles! For the most part I can build the armies I want and have a little fun with the AI (though it gets quite repetitive). The graphics got a bit better with the patch, but it's still a bit underwhelming. I like the new provinces regions. I think that adds some cool depth and gets rid of the monotonous sieges at every city. However, I lose my generals about every other turn at this point because I get rushed by 5 enemy agents all trying to kill a single my leader, with no apparently way to counter this rush other than hope I can use my own agents (which are limited and spread across my armies and lands) to kill them during the next turn. (For the record, agents have always been my least favorite part of the series).

    All in all, a very disappointing release. I would need to withdraw my support for the series based on this showing. It's grown on me a bit since I've stumbled upon new features many hours into the game that seem to be hidden away, but I can't very well justify to anyone the $60 price tag based on the current state of the game.    … Expand
  85. Kexxar
    Sep 9, 2013
    3
    Unfortunately a huge disappointment for me.
    The graphics are good, but not great. At least, not what I expected.
    Poor optimization. Long loading times and waiting for your next turn really takes all the fun out of this game. And on top of all that, the game even has a few annoying bugs. I really hope that all this will get fixed with a few patches, and maybe an expansion, but until    Unfortunately a huge disappointment for me.
    The graphics are good, but not great. At least, not what I expected.
    Poor optimization. Long loading times and waiting for your next turn really takes all the fun out of this game.
    And on top of all that, the game even has a few annoying bugs.
    I really hope that all this will get fixed with a few patches, and maybe an expansion, but until then, I'll just stick to Shogun 2.    … Expand
  86. Asvaldo
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    Absolute Junk. Terrible.optimization, many bags. They didn't learn anything from Empire release. So to summarize: Graphics: bad and cartoony, UI: god awful, Gameplay: dumbed down comparing with first Rome.

    AVOID THIS GAME
  87. titanictwist
    Sep 9, 2013
    4
    Rome Total War 2 could be a great game. Unfortunately the game becomes boring very fast. Why? Because your only opponent in the game is the AI, and the AI is about as smart as a baby. Playing a strategic game against a baby gets boring very fast.

    -On the campaign map the AI will barely ever attack you, and if it does it is usually not in a way that makes strategical sense (constantly    Rome Total War 2 could be a great game. Unfortunately the game becomes boring very fast. Why? Because your only opponent in the game is the AI, and the AI is about as smart as a baby. Playing a strategic game against a baby gets boring very fast.

    -On the campaign map the AI will barely ever attack you, and if it does it is usually not in a way that makes strategical sense (constantly sending 1 unit against your full stack).

    -In Field battles the AI is incredibly easy to beat. The only thing it cares about is the new Victory Points (bad feature). Therefore it uses the same strategy every battle of rushing straight at the Victory Point no matter how suicidal that is. You can win against armies 2-3 times your size without much effort.

    -Siege Battles are the worst as the AI doesn't even function on them. On defence the AI will stand around in one spot while you shoot it with arrows, You can win without losing a unit if you have enough ammo. On offence the AI will get stuck outside the walls, get stuck in their boats, and it doesn't attempt to capture gates or anything to let its troops stuck outside in.

    -Naval battles the AI actually can beat you. Only because your own ships rarely listen to your orders and often end up sitting around while the AI shoots them.

    If your a veteran of this series or are even decent at strategy games you will find even the hardest difficulty laughably easy. This is the worst AI of the series and therefore it is the worst game play of the series.    … Expand
  88. Ioannis
    Sep 10, 2013
    0
    I cannot believe the critics that give this game a great score. This game is absolutely broken, you spend more time waiting for the next turn than actually playing, the A.I. in battles is the worst i have ever seen, naval battles don't even work and the game has been completely streamlined (aka stupified) which makes it super easy giving anyone who plays it no challenge whatsoever.
    The    I cannot believe the critics that give this game a great score. This game is absolutely broken, you spend more time waiting for the next turn than actually playing, the A.I. in battles is the worst i have ever seen, naval battles don't even work and the game has been completely streamlined (aka stupified) which makes it super easy giving anyone who plays it no challenge whatsoever.
    The critics that give this game a high score have obviously not played the game at all, and should really think about a career change, because they are a cancer to people who actually read reviews before buying a game.    … Expand
  89. ecnal
    Dec 21, 2013
    0
    I pre-purchased the game based on many years of buying CA games and being more than satisfied with those purchases. After playing for a few hours, learning how bad the AI was, and that parts of the game were obviously missing, because of its hasty release, I stopped playing. I logged in a week or so later to see if the game had improved (it hadn't) just minutes after the 'free Steam DLC'I pre-purchased the game based on many years of buying CA games and being more than satisfied with those purchases. After playing for a few hours, learning how bad the AI was, and that parts of the game were obviously missing, because of its hasty release, I stopped playing. I logged in a week or so later to see if the game had improved (it hadn't) just minutes after the 'free Steam DLC' offered as an apology to customers for such a crappy game. was no longer valid. If CA wanted to apologize, they should have made it free for all time. This is the last time I will ever buy a game from these guys, they are now driven by profit rather than passion. Another good game company sacrificed to the god of maximum profits. I'm looking for the next great game company, but I fear consoles have trashed the market for good games.… Expand
  90. Zebrastealer
    Sep 18, 2013
    4
    Rome II at launch, really deserves no higher score than a 4. I can see where a lot of people are coming from with their utter disgust and 0's across the board. This game is in bad shape, completely unacceptable for a $60.00 title to launch in this unfinished and bug riddled state.

    Eventually this game may end up warranting a midland score of a 7, after a year of patching, paid DLCs    Rome II at launch, really deserves no higher score than a 4. I can see where a lot of people are coming from with their utter disgust and 0's across the board. This game is in bad shape, completely unacceptable for a $60.00 title to launch in this unfinished and bug riddled state.

    Eventually this game may end up warranting a midland score of a 7, after a year of patching, paid DLCs and another expansion. I've played every CA total war game and expansion since the original shogun total war. Actually I should correct myself I own Napoleon Total War but never played it beyond 30 turns or so Empire was a disaster at launch, just like Rome II.

    Really, to think, we all actually thought Creative Assembly learned their lesson after Empire Total War. They aim too high, promise the moon, then deliver a fraction of the promised features, game improvements, etc. in a stinking pile of buggy poo.

    This game needed another 6 months of development time to release properly. Just like all future Bioware titles, this will be the last time I ever buy a Creative Assembly title on pre-order. May as well wait til the following winter for the inevitable Steam sale since the game won't be playable until then (at the earliest) anyway.

    Shame on you Creative Assembly.    … Expand
  91. RogerWilco2099
    Sep 10, 2013
    1
    What should have been a massive improvement has turned into a massive disaster All the improvements that were promised and boasted about simply don't exist, in fact they have been streamlined to the point its unplayable. There are some great ideas and nice features but these are overshadowed massively by everything that is wrong. The epic battles of old are gone. Small skirishes that lastWhat should have been a massive improvement has turned into a massive disaster All the improvements that were promised and boasted about simply don't exist, in fact they have been streamlined to the point its unplayable. There are some great ideas and nice features but these are overshadowed massively by everything that is wrong. The epic battles of old are gone. Small skirishes that last 3 minutes are now the norm. Graphic issues and screen tears are constant. The game speed and sense of urgency in conflicts has been increased way to fast, the devs seemed to have got lost their direction. In its current state. Not only is the game current price not worth it in its current state, the devs have the nerve to offer day one DLC to content that should clearly have been included. Cashing in yet again. In addition this game has a bigger budget then any other Rome game and I have no idea where its gone. I swear they accidentally released the Pre-Alpha build, its scary how wrong things have gone. The sad truth is that even with numerous patches, the new direction with combat and its style will mean this series will no longer what it will be. The fact the many numerous patches will be needed to make this playable is quite frankly pathetic. Shameful display!… Expand
  92. valentino
    Dec 12, 2013
    0
    Worst TW game to date. I've never had any complaints about previous titles, and I've loved many of them, but this game is truly hideous in every aspect. Previous titles always had that sort of feeling as though they have been crafted by the same hand, there were elements which you recognized. Rome 2 looks like it was made by an entirely different developer. Everything is wrong with thisWorst TW game to date. I've never had any complaints about previous titles, and I've loved many of them, but this game is truly hideous in every aspect. Previous titles always had that sort of feeling as though they have been crafted by the same hand, there were elements which you recognized. Rome 2 looks like it was made by an entirely different developer. Everything is wrong with this game, there's not one feature worthy of merit, not to mention that even with all the high end graphics options, the game still looks awful as far as I'm concerned.… Expand
  93. 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.
  94. 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...
  95. Thwaite
    Sep 7, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Please Read before you grade.
    Several key elements exist within any game that very import to a lot of gamers such as immersion, re-playability, user friendly interfaces, uniqueness, and the list can keep going and going depending upon the player and their personal interests. I will review several facets of the game as they are important to me and stood out fairly immediately.

    Stability
    For my system, the game is not stable at all. Rome II is default set to high graphics and causes immediate issues. I have also found these same issues (freezing, graphical glitches, black screen of death, ect) were discovered with several different "standard" computer systems. Several known bugs have already populated the technical support forums with issues from integrated Intel chip-sets and graphics cards. My aging gaming laptop was barely able to keep up and setting the graphics down to low helped out tremendously. At the obvious sacrifice of visual stimulation. The game ended up looking like Medieval: Total War from 2001. Even with the game set to low, the performance was still very sluggish however playable.

    After starting the game up for the first time and loading the tutorial, I didn't make it very far past that. After annihilating my enemy in a very fashionable noob manner, the screen turned black instead of populating a victory window. Needless to say I ended up closing the program and "failing" my first mission. After doing a little bit of homework, this is also a known error with game as of day one.

    Immersion
    Immersion within Room II is non-existent comparatively speaking. There is not any avatar/character customizations, renaming, history, background story, nothing. The generals and statesmen are empty husks of simple skills with predefined names in order to keep track of your armies. When they died in battle or of old age, it doesn't mean anything to the player because there is literally no connection. When you are required to replace the generals you eventually don't even look at the names on the newly populated list. You just randomly click and go because there isn't any difference. Where did these people come from? Who knows? Who cares? They just in charge of my entire army now! They are also identified as royal versus non-royal families. What does that mean to you? Nothing, not that I have discovered thus far anyway.

    Another calamity within Rome II that erodes any element of immersion for the game is waiting for your turn. I am not opposed to turn-based strategy games, honestly I love them however I do have a significant problem with the amount of time Rome II takes to get back to your empire. By the time my empire had scouted or obtain city-states from one part of Europe to the Middle East, I had to watch and wait for ALL of the empires to take their turn. This may not sound that bad, but it is, because you will wait on average 10+ minutes for all of the other empires to move their armies and all other units. I was able to get up and do some chores, make my kids lunch, watch some TV for a moment and come back to my computer and it still was not my turn! By this time I was ready to just turn the game off because I was losing interest. Not to mention during some stages of your empire's development, you may only have a minute or two worth of improvements and/or movements to make. Thus, most of your game play hours are spent watching little computer army symbols skip around a map.

    Artificial Intelligence
    Dumb. I could leave the review at that because there really isn't any other way of describing the AI, but I'll try to elaborate. I have slaughtered over 1,000s of enemy hoards, outnumbered 3 to 1, just by using simple military strategies at the loss of only a few hundred of my forces. These same battles were originally calculated as being a defeat or victory with severe losses, at times predicting over 60% my forces will die. I am not an epic military strategist and I only had the difficulty set to normal however I find it hard to believe I was able to turn the tables of battle by approximately 50% in my favor (You'll always have some battle losses regardless of what you do).

    THE GOOD

    Entertainment Value
    Regardless of all the problems annotated above the game is still highly addictive and fun to play. I am honestly surprised at the fact I have played 25 hours of this game within first 5 days of release, but the game is honestly hard to put down. There is nothing better than scaling the walls of my enemy and slaughtering the archers as they try to flee or running the enemy down with my cavalry as they retreat from the battlefield; out flanked and tasting my Spartan spears!

    Potential
    There is a lot of room for improvement which can be added in order to make it more timely and enjoyable for the average player. Such as adding a save option on the battle maps for starters, would be nice considering you have an hour to finish the battle. Sometimes the enemy just doesn't want to walk into your trap and these    … Expand
  96. 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
  97. Deschain89
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    Appealing to casual gamers in a strategy game is just like trying to sell a Ferrari to a three year old who lives in the slums; pointless. Then why try and make it pink and flashy, why try and make smaller seat belts and slower engines? Is the three year old going to buy the Ferrari? No, he won't, and same applies to the cawadooty, teenage angst, hipster gamer crowd.

    When a ten year old    Appealing to casual gamers in a strategy game is just like trying to sell a Ferrari to a three year old who lives in the slums; pointless. Then why try and make it pink and flashy, why try and make smaller seat belts and slower engines? Is the three year old going to buy the Ferrari? No, he won't, and same applies to the cawadooty, teenage angst, hipster gamer crowd.

    When a ten year old game is far more intelligently designed, when such a game makes you feel more in touch with your pixelated units, when a game as old as Rome I is much better than it's predecessor, one finally realizes there is no hope when it comes to modern gaming.

    I give this game a 0/10 not because it's horrendous, but because it betrayed it's core base for a couple of sales. The lack of a family tree, numerous traits and followers for the player characters, cut scenes, seasons, blood, guard stance, and many other essential little things which made Rome the game of a generation it's just beyond saddening to me.

    It's not that the game is unfinished, it's just that it's not polished; it's a simple overhyped cash-grab, and a difficult to copy with one at that.

    However people defend this garbage, the so called "professional" reviewers give it an 85 out of a 100, and one knows that delusion feeds these men, and delusion is driven by love or money. Paid reviewers promise you that this is the ultimate strategy game; sad customers try to rationalize the purchase; and people like me are done with it.

    No longer will I buy a game from The Uncreative Manwhorebly, no longer will I get an overpriced title collecting days without a single minute of playtime in my Steam Library, and I will sure as Hell no longer support with my wallet these people. To think I thought the Greek State pre-order or you pack was this company's worst decision, how deluded and happy was I back then.

    To conclude; buy Rome I, enjoy the political intrigues which actually mattered, the awesome battles, the grand lineage that your Patter Familias would develop, and forget Call of Duty Roman Ops ever existed.    … Expand
  98. Arotished
    Sep 5, 2013
    2
    Total disappointment of you compare it to the good old TW games but if you are a fan of a quick and simple arcade game with some short and easy battles, this is the game for you.
  99. djvandyke
    Sep 4, 2013
    4
    Shamefur Dispray!

    User Interface: The minimalist user interface is an abomination more suited to outer space than Roman times. Where is the artistic touch from Shogun 2? The immersion that brings the game world to life? It's awkward, counter intuitive and feels like playing the latest app on an ipad than managing an ancient empire. Things like viewable tech and building trees are in    Shamefur Dispray!

    User Interface:
    The minimalist user interface is an abomination more suited to outer space than Roman times.
    Where is the artistic touch from Shogun 2? The immersion that brings the game world to life?
    It's awkward, counter intuitive and feels like playing the latest app on an ipad than managing an ancient empire. Things like viewable tech and building trees are in games for a reason, they are a practical and vital tool in planning strategies.

    Multilayer:
    Just a last minute after thought, the absolute minimum they could get away with.
    Might have been acceptable 5 years ago but not in 2013. They just didn't bother.

    Graphics:
    Looks worse and performs much worse than than Shogun 2.
    I can just about get it looking decent with my high end i7 GTX 690 gaming rig but the majority can not.

    AI:
    Awful campaign AI just ignores your troops again and lets you siege its cities.
    It as pasive and does not attack you even on hard.
    The battle AI is also less than impressive. It does not defend walls and will chase a single unit with its entire army at times.

    Bugs:
    The game has been released in a shoddy state. My first beach landing ended up with boats going through the beach and getting suck under sand and troops unable to get out because they were burred. What kind of quality control does CA have? THIS GAME IS BETA.

    Game speed:
    Yes again units fight for a matter of seconds before breaking leaving next to no time for tactical manoeuvrings. It turns Total War from a thinking man's game into a cheap clickfest RTS.

    Unit abilities:
    The click-able “fight better” buttons and power ups were the are the absolute worse thing you could do for this type of game. Total War should be more than just a RTS clickfest. We have enough of those.
    Again it becomes all about the reactions and less about troop placement and tactics.
    These bizarre magic are buttons available yet simple things like fire at will for pila armed melee troops have been forgotten. The way magic powers are displayed as disco lights and other unidentified flying objects is again totally immersion breaking.

    I find it hard to believe that the same company who went though the Empire fiasco, took a long hard look at themselves, pulled things around then got so much right with Shogun 2 has allowed itself to screw up so baldly again.

    4/10.    … Expand
  100. andrucks
    Sep 5, 2013
    0
    This is game is in a pre-beta state. Constant freezing and/or crashes, with huge performance issues.
    The AI is non existing and the UI in both on world map and on the battlefield is messy. There is no excuse for this. Avoid
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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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