Reviews

[quadalpha]

Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-rome-2-review

Then a close zoom on a fight between a unit of chariots and elephants reveals that they have parked beside each other and seem to be engaged in a staring contest. I send in the cavalry, zoom a little more and, casual as anything, a floating horse glides sideways into the action.

The game has also had its AI revamped, and I'm pleased to report that it's somewhat cannier. While it was previously all too vulnerable to kiting - where entire armies could be distracted by one or two harassing units - it's now perhaps a little too stoic. It better recognises its advantage in defensive situations, standing firm when it knows it can hurt you, and it enjoys trying to wear your troops out by forcing you to make chase, by trying to keep your forces engaged and by attacking with fresh units. On occasion, it's a victim of its own stubbornness, with enemy defenders stood like mannequins in a mall, refusing to budge when their participation could swing a skirmish. Battles are fun, but still sometimes very dumb.

On the campaign map, it does worse, sometimes attacking with substantially smaller forces that have little hope of tasting victory. It will fail to press advantages or try to break sieges that it has a good chance of lifting. Tugging the difficulty slider up doesn't make it any more sensible, though it does at least make your own citizens increasingly fickle, raising the possibility of revolt at home.

I said that Total War: Rome 2 is a slow game and this comes in part from how mindfully you have to expand your would-be empire. The ancient world is made up of many different cultures and not all of these are keen to bend to your will, requiring particular technological advances and cooing dignitaries to placate them. At the same time, empires have hard limits on the number of agents, armies and fleets they can support, further tempering their growth.

RPS: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...l-war-rome-ii/

Sadly, Rome II has taken on board some of Empire’s vices and, while it is in many ways an exceptionally well-crafted game, it is a misstep of sorts. Engage the Irony Alarm – Rome II is a game that reaches too far and wide, creaking under its own weight.

On the whole, the regional management aspect of the game has probably seen the most improvement since Shogun 2. It effectively asks the player to think intelligently, to plan long-term and to provide their growing empire with character and guile.

[stuff about crap AI]

It’s unfortunate that the chances to carry out such movements is rare. The map is huge but limited, presented as a series of corridors between forests and mountains rather than an open place. There’s an obvious benefit – it’s much easier for the developers, and indeed players, to control the flow of armies, making blockades, ambushes and tactical retreats far more common than they might be otherwise. The world does feel more cramped than I would have liked though. All roads may eventually lead to Rome, but there are only a couple leading out of it.

[Lemur]

From the RPS comment section, some questions that get answered re optimization:

Q: What are the loadtimes like? Shogun 2 was unplayable without endless autoresolves later on, even with an SSD.
A: I can tell you they are much quicker than Shogun 2. (I reviewed the game also)
Q: What was the average loadtime for the battles?
A: Load times are alright, but it’s ponderous between turns when calculating AI moves (over a minute late campaign). I moved it to an SSD to see if it helped and it didn’t really.

[BroskiDerpman]

http://www.twitch.tv/psponge

Watching this, confirms most of my criticisms.

[Lemur]

http://www.twitch.tv/psponge

Watching this, confirms most of my criticisms.

Actually, looks pretty good from what I'm seeing.

Also, I have some freelance work I need to deliver first thing in the AM, so the hell with this guy streaming his campaign. Very irritating as I sit here trying to work. How dare he.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Watching this, confirms most of my criticisms.

Could you explain this a bit? I watched the video and psponge played that like a newbee, IMHO. Out numbered, yes, but one does not stand in a static position when faced with greater numbers and expect to win (unless you have some commanding positional advantage, which obviously was not the case).

I thought the review at rockpapershotgun was fair, touching on what the player both liked and disliked.

Though the game will be instantly recognisable to players of the first Rome, The Creative Assembly has made a few additions, with varying degrees of success. Very welcome is the chance to issue instructions to your allies, which can have them attacking a mutual enemy in a particular location, while a new, detailed encyclopedia that covers just about everything in the game is much appreciated.

This is very much an improvement, making allies into something more than mere trading partners....

Less noteworthy is a system for allowing armies to gain traits, along with their leaders, as these offer some strangely stingy bonuses. This is a game that seriously asks you, after a series of victories, whether it's your archers or your infantry that you want to be 3% more dangerous. Naturally, a campaign of many decades presents the opportunity for multiple traits to stack and form more significant bonuses - but while the game's presenting you difficult choices in city management, these just look silly, making you feel like the pettiest of emperors.

3% is a rather silly boost

By themselves, none of the things that are wrong with Total War: Rome 2 are that big a deal. If the game itself were an empire, a map upon a wall, we'd note some gains and some losses, glossing over most of the tinier problems because they don't spoil the larger picture. We also might note the stagnation of that empire. For all that the game may have promised, it isn't such a big step forward for the series. It's Total War done a bit bigger, a bit better and a bit different. Its borders hold firm.

And this guy says pretty much the same as the other.....some good things, some not so good.

[Vuk]

Well, looks like the naysayers were right this time.

[Lemur]

PC Gamer

Verdict: Fight past the niggles and you'll find a truly epic grand strategy game with a tremendous sense of spectacle. Go, see, conquer. 85%

bitgamer

While Total War had its roots in Shogun, Rome has generally been the most fondly remembered entry, considered the high point of the series and the game's natural home. Rome II had an awful lot to live up to, and it does this with the easy confidence of one of the game's own Champions standing in front of an entire army, sword drawn. It's truly an extraordinary creation; vast yet intimate, complex yet accessible, diverse yet cohesive, and vastly different while still recognisably Total War. Say goodbye to your life as you knew it, because the Romans are coming, and things won't ever be the same. 96%

[Lemur]

Related: A reviewer (who has played the almost-release build, natch) is doing an AMA on Reddit right now.