Does BI warrant a 30 dollar pruchase?

I'm still out of the many that haven't gotten BI yet. The primary reason is price. For 30 dollars, I could get Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Red Orchestra, or some other 30 dollar games. But then, one day while browsing the multiplayer lobby, I saw a game that said, "NTW beta", and it said that it was using the 1/6 patch, which is a BI patch. If all of the new mods are using BI, I thought, I might as well try and get it. But 30 dollars seems a little bit too much for an expansion pack.

I liked RTW very much, and I probably would like BI too, but does this warrant a 30 dollar purchase?

If you enjoy playing barbarian factions, and more generally if you enjoyed RTW overall, then yeah.... I think it's worth the money. The "hording" dynamic (where certain displaced factions can generate large armies) is an interesting addition that keeps things stirred up on the strategic level, and you'll have to pay attention to religion. I like the Sassanids, as an option for playing a civilized faction other than the Romans, with lots of interesting units. Also, BI finally forced me to learn how to use horse archers, which I hadn't really focused on before.

I liked BI, maybe you will too. But I think it really does depend on how satisfied you were with the core RTW game. There aren't any massive improvements in some of the things people complain about most, like the tactical AI or diplomacy.

If you enjoy a challenge and don't mind micromanagement a bit, you'll probably enjoy BI. If you get it, be prepared to get frustrated, as your cities rebel very easily, are captured quite frequently, and your armies will rebel or be destroyed easily. Of course, this is just as the Romans. The Sassanids are the only faction played like vanilla: expand holdings without really having to worry about attack.

I suspect the price will fall, with the imminent release of Alexander and M2TW on the horizon. So, if you are pressed for money, you might wait. But by then, you may also have moved on and be less interested.

But basically, I think it is worth £30. The new campaign is the largest and most substantive of any TW expansion. The map is about the same as the RTW map and there are around 12 playable factions. It lasts about 100 years, which at about 200 turns is long enough. Basically, I think it could have been RTW2 and made into a sequel, rather than an expansion.

The setting is very different from RTW. As has been said, only the Sassanids are a "typical" RTW type faction. The most interesting IMO are two large Roman factions struggling with cashflow, disloyal generals, potential mass rebellions (new emergent WRE and ERE rebel factions), over extended borders and hordes of restless barbarians heading their way. But there's also a raft of barbarian factions which all have different objectives and somewhat distinct unit line ups. To get an example of play, look at:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=60372
Generally, speaking the factions are more "good to go" with large armies and decent infrastructure, so this provides more of a challenge. (Some factions - the Western barbarians - still start small though.)

There are some subtle changes to the gameplay that you might appreciate if you are a TW vet. Kill speeds have been slowed by raising defense stats. Missiles are less lethal. The player gets command bonuses more slowly. The AI seems to do a better job of giving its large armies to faction members rather than captains (not sure if this is a 1.5 thing or a BI thing). Generally, I find BI battles more competitive and feel more "right" than vanilla RTW ones. I play a lot of EB and RTR, but switching from them to BI does not produce the same shudder that switching to vanilla RTW does.

There are a few negatives. Bridges seem to be very important choke points on the map, returning us almost to the STW days. The AI does not seem to know how to siege - always buying the same 1 tower, 1 ram + 1 ladder per stack, when arguably it should bring more towers. There's an annoying bug with men getting stuck in towers and unable to get to the walls. The graphics for the new units are garish and a little shoddy (although you can try Goth's mod for better looking units). I'm not a great fan of the concept of night battles (allow you to attack one stack without neighbouring ones intervening) as it seems ahistorical but is extremely powerful in game.

In terms of mods requiring 1.6, that will be true of RTR 7.0 but not of EB.

If you are looking for unpredictability, BI is the way to go. Its a real challenge, and there are some truly great units in the game.

Worth the money.

Thank you for the comments, everyone.

Yes, I am rather strapped for money as of now, I might wait until it drops to around 20 dollars. If BI was a standalone game, then it might have warranted a 30 dollar price, but for an expansion pack, it's a tad too much.

Yes, from the looks of it, BI is the sort of game that RTW Vanilla should have been. I liked RTW Vanilla, but the AI... dried the experience a bit too much.

If you loved RTW then buy it. If not, wait for the price to drop. BI does bring with it some new and interesting gameplay but it also has a cartload of new gameplay glitches and problems. I dont think I even finished one campaign.

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Originally Posted by Manstein

Thank you for the comments, everyone.

Yes, I am rather strapped for money as of now, I might wait until it drops to around 20 dollars. If BI was a standalone game, then it might have warranted a 30 dollar price, but for an expansion pack, it's a tad too much.

Yes, from the looks of it, BI is the sort of game that RTW Vanilla should have been. I liked RTW Vanilla, but the AI... dried the experience a bit too much.

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After reading your comments, I think you're making the right choice.