I agree that the forum should essentially be a repository for constructive criticism and knowledgable advice, though an occasional post dedicated to hero (or in this came, pc game) worship is in order.

I initially had difficulties w/ my video card, but I ran a dxdiag, sent an error report to microsoft, and next day received an update which made the game play more than perfectly on my admittedly dated machine.

And so I enjoy Rome now, a lot. Allow me to you why, and for those of you who have yet to make the purchase, heed these words.

The strategy map is amazingly addictive. The way settlements are handled w/ the degree of freedom of movement enjoyed by your units and agents is wonderful. Navies are even interesting, and ports are important.

Population matters! Each unit literally deducts men from your settlement, so building huge armies in one territory is not so economically feasible anymore. The way population growth, income, and loyalty are all handled are much more in depth and logical.

Battles are fun. Granted they may be too short for some people, but there are workable mods to reduce the killing speed and for me, the shorter time cuts down (in fact, eliminates w/ the advent of enjoyable seiges!) the instances in which I employ auto resolve.

Diplomacy is so much more meaningful, alliances matter, trade rights matter (no more debating whether or not to fight a faction because you'll lose 95% of your income in the process), and the senate is an interesting pope, w/ input on roman policy toward each separate faction.

They've even employed ranking graphs which can be sorted according to economy, military might, prestige, etc.

Finally, there are numerous tidbits which make the game a gem. Who doesn't enjoy reading the classical maxims and quotes found on the load up screens! (They range from the hopelessly cliche, Veni, Vidi, Vici, to the meaningful, The sinews of war are infinite money, to the obscure, Come home bearing this shield or on it, okay, I paraphrased those, but you get the idea.)

So, that's my initial take on a very excellent Rome. Oh, and I have had not one bug.