My final thoughts on RTW
I posted once before on some of the things that I noticed about RTW, and now that I've played most of the factions at least a little bit, I figured I'd give my final compare/constrast/wish-list/etc....
Likes:
1. The towns and cities are great. They're absolutely immense, and the way you don't necessarily have to kill everyone, but merely take and hold the town square is much more satisfying. Also, it's really cool when you're invading a big town to at least take a minute to look around.
2. Elephants. There's simply not much that stands in their way. In one Carthaginian campaign I used about four units of Armoured Elephants and wiped out around 800 Gauls without a single loss.... and then I turned around and did it a few more times to a few other factions....
3. Senate missions (and the senate in general) - Unlike the pope, the senate can actually help you from time to time, the rewards for completing missions aren't too shabby. Also, you know that eventually the Senate will get it's come-uppance, and that once they're dead, they stay dead.
4. Moving armies by ship
5. Changing seasons.
6. Cavalry charges - I know many have griped about these, but I actually see them as being one of the most exciting aspects of the game. They're only really effective if you can strike from the flank or rear, which is (IMO) as it should be.... and man when you've got a good angle it's cool watching the bodies fly.
8. Last but not least, the inspiring battle speeches (although I wish they were only reserved for really large battles).
Dislikes and/or things I would change:
1. I am yet to fight a night battle in the regular campaign, and I miss the "weather report" from Shogun. Also, I wish I was able to fight in blizzards, heavy fog, and snowstorms like in Shogun... really added to the effect.
2. Ambushes - Sometimes my army just tells me they're "ready to ambush", not that it does a darned hill of beans worth of good, as I've never fought in one (on either side). I would change things to where both ambushes and or forts were automatic, so that if you attack a barbarian faction, they'd have say a 25% chance of ambushing (possibly going up with command experience), and if you play a Roman faction, there'd instead be a 25% chance of having to fight them in a fort.
3. Command bar (during battles) and lack of speed slider - I still say the icons are too small, and would rather see them at the top of the screen. Also, in the midst of combat I've more than once "mis-clicked" the new speed thingy (meaning I clicked just beside or below)... I thought the speed slider was easier.
4. Routing troops run too fast.
5. Archers and ballistas shoot my troops right in the back if they get in the way (I know, teaches em' to not get in the way, but still).
6. The whole "city growth" thing is perhaps the single biggest annoyance I find with the game. I'll wind up slaughtering my citizenry every other turn towards the end, and everything's just chaos. Rather than feeling like I've accomplished something, I instead feel like I'm just trying to wrap up as fast as possible. Very UN-enjoyable.
7. Ending sequence - I played shogun till the end simply to see the end movie. It was awesome. By comparison, MTW was a letdown, and I had big hopes for RTW. In my opinion, the new "ending movies" are the worst yet.
8. Lack of "area specific" units, buildings, or bonuses - This was one of my favorite parts of MTW, and I wish it was there for RTW. I thought it added alot of character to the factions, as well as the game as a whole. Obviously there are certain areas now where you can get elephants, and perhaps a few other units, but overall that's about it.
9. Juggling family members - This is easy enough in the beginning, but later on is a pain in the neck. I think you should be able to "appoint" a unit to a city if you don't have a family member close by (perhaps with a slight performance penalty or something).
10. Generals - seriously, I've had some fairly basic armies take on some top notch enemy generals, and inevitably the general impales his horses on my spears and that's that. Even if he lives, he doesn't really seem to do much for the performance of his army.
11. Camera movement - The camera seems far more restricted than it used to be, and you can get a headache trying to zoom in on the action at the top of walls during a siege.
12. Sapping - Speaking of sieges, all one really needs to do is sap for one turn and you're in. Normally, I autoresolve sieges, as although the towns are interesting enough, there's really no need for ladders or mobile towers - just dig your hole and get down to business.
13. I'd like to have seperate "cycles" for Navy vs. Army. Sometimes I'm trying to find a certain ship, and wind up having to scroll through every land unit just to spot it.
So, overall:
I've had some fun with this game. I'll probably have a little more fun as well. Still, I don't think it's going to have the "replayability" for me that MTW (or STW for that matter) did. With all that was successful with the games that came before it, I would have assumed RTW would have been a slam dunk - adding onto past successes while tweaking past failures, all in combination with a healthy dose of graphical enhancement. Instead, it seems like the developers were far more after the "playstation" crowd than the gamer crowd that (to me) is the core. I find the game unneccessarily complex where it didn't need to be, and not complex enough where it should be. Battles live up to their hype, and there are some interesting new features, but overall it seems like alot that was good was ommitted this go-round. I can only hope that if there is a MTWII (or some other TW incarnation) these things are addressed. Still, I guess it's like with the movies, "The sequels are rarely as good as the original".
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Originally Posted by Octavius Julius
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