Heart of the Matter , Is RTW good value for $?

[Dude_uk]

Strictly looking at £'s per hour, yes it is. Also, I've enjoyed playing Roman far more than i did STW (the end game when there are only two factions left bored me to tears!) or MTW (ditto). The only thing that lets it down is the AI and that fact that all major battles are sieges (which shows the AI at its very worst). The rest of the bugs don't ruin it for me, but should have been sorted out.

At the end of the day CA tried to change too much (the campaign map and engine in one go!) and it damaged the end product, but as with other flawed gems I've seen lately (such as Soldiers Heroes of WWII) I think we will look back in a year or so and realise that they pushed the boundaries and moved us away from rehashed dross like Age of Empires, Settlers etc into a new era.

I'll be buying the next Total War as I tell you now it will be special.

[Ginger]

For value you cant beat the combined mtw/vi pack. Great game and bargainous too! I much prefer the ancient setting of RTW though (but I do miss welsh longbows!)

Bugs aside RTW is good, Good graphics, solid campaign map.
It becomes great with the total realism bug. I much prefer playing unified rome and am loving the tougher early game created by the rtr boys!

Still i am getting ticked off about the bugs. One or two would be ok, but the whole thing stinks of a rush job. Bottom line- If graphics and the setting aren't the main turn on then get MTW and wait until an expansion pa(tch)k comes along and see if they sort out the issues.

[hellenes]

Well for a game with a weak unbalanced and half-@ssed Multiplayer I must say that it doest worth its money...
The whole SP focus by CA makes the CD key worthless...
If you are a graphics whore and dont care about playability go for it...Otherwise dont touch it...

Hellenes

[matches88]

sure, when playing you can choose not to exploit the protectorate bug. the ai player isn't as discerning tho and this leads to an inconsistent world imho.

[Benny Moore]

Yes, it does have great graphics, if you never play a shore battle.

[Shambles]

Seems like a mixed bag here,
Some for some reason Love tha game,
i really cant Comprehend this lol,

Some 1 said £ per hr of game play its worth it???
well i spent £40 on this pice of junk and have played it for A few hrs,

I also spent £40 aon Stw Years ago, And have played it for years,

I wont be playing Rome untill they fix it so, £ per hr It is most definatly NOT worth it.

Il agree that Its potentialy A great game, Its just a shame they dont have any beta testers for this game,
Cos honestly had they botherd testing the game Under real life end user conditions They could have ironed out these bugs,

i can Imagine how they tested it,

"Make units charge" no graphix inperfections "passed test"

"wait for ai to start a seige" Seige started "passed test"

"Check That videos play When its sposed to" Vidos play "passed test"

Then they put it in a box, and said
"that will do. i cant be asked runing any more tests."

I wont be buying the next total war game which is unfortunate,
and neither CA, EA, or Activision Arent going to get any of my anual game buying budget ever again,

Shure its no skin off there noses and thats precisley why they Throw out junk like this,
They know they can just get Any idiot to buy there games And no matter how flawed they are, Some ppl will still say its great,

So please ppl. Stop patting there backs and saying Great job
Cos Thats precisley why they dont give a F*** about end users.




P.S

before you get Horibly offended about this line in my post
"They know they can just get Any idiot to buy there games"
I bought there dumb game 2

[Vlad Tzepes]

I really do not regret the money. I had lots of hours of good play, though after winning the first time (and this was the first time I played RTW) I knew how to do it every time again. I still play from time to time - but STW and MTW were there for me for a longer time, I remember.

I do feel that it could've been better: tactically and strategically the AI is usually waaay too simple. Atmosphere used to better in the other TW series.

Talking about graphics, yes graphics is ok, but what I expect from a strategy game is not only visual leisure, it's also an intellectual challenge. Think about chess (well keep proportions) - is chess such a neverending success because for graphics? (even if it's 3D ). I agree RTW was never meant to have - and could not - such a depth, but now the idea of mopping out rebels all the time and having battles where all you have to know is where to hit the AI opponent to instantly rout it's army isn't much fun. It's not a challenge anymore, it's just waisted time, it's a fatigue.

[Titus Livius]

To me, any game that can expand my knowledge of history is certainly worth $50. I remember I bought MTW because it had the most realistic combat model of any game I'd seen; I was getting very tired of Age of Empires and other hit-point-centric games. It was only after I played for a week or so that I became fascinated by the Crusades, which continues to be one of my favorite subjects.

To be able to play as a classical general or king and then read about the events you've just taken part in is very enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, RTW has plenty of flaws, but not nearly enough to make me stop playing. The fact is that no one else has even come close to tackling the subject of the classical world as well as RTW does.

[Titus Livius]

P.S

before you get Horibly offended about this line in my post
"They know they can just get Any idiot to buy there games"
I bought there dumb game 2

The only thing I found offensive is your butchery of the English language.

[Midnight]

I think MTW + VI is currently a much, much better deal.

RTW has so much potential, but IMO it falls short of being great, and it's the lack of campaign-map dynamism (which is directly caused by the save\load bug) that makes Medieval far more enjoyable, for me at any rate.

[marcusbrutus]

I got into Total War games when I bought the MTW VI pack earlier this year and after a few months I had to buy RTW just to see what it'd be like and to be honest I feel both games are excellent value for money for the hours I've spent on them - however my girlfriend would disagree, she thinks they are the worst thing ever to hit the UK.

I don't like the bugs in RTW but I still play it for hours, it has real potential especially with an expansion pack due soon. I'm so excited, sorry to all those out there that the bugs have ruined the game for and feel buying the expansion pack to fix them is a rip-off but I can't help it, I'll buy it anyway.

[doc_bean]

Yes, it doesn't compare to MTW, but honestly, what game does ? Even in its buggy state I still find it enjoyable.

[Kekvit Irae]

The only bugs I encounter/care to note are those involving city assaults, specifically trying to get a unit to step inside the town square where you want to.
To answer thw question, RTW is a great buy. People buy far worse games and dont complain about them (Read: Doom 3)

[drone]

- however my girlfriend would disagree, she thinks they are the worst thing ever to hit the UK.

I find this is a fairly reliable gauge for the success/worthiness of games. My girlfriend absolutely loathes and despises M:TW, she only hates R:TW.

Even with the frustration, Rome beats most movies, music, or other entertainment if you compare them against the money spent/time wasted.

[Marcus Maxentius]

First 53.99 is way too much for any game. I saw a financial report on TV that says that analysts and game companies are testing how fast they can raise prices even higher on games. Before this whole save, quit, reload fiasco occured I could live with all of the other problems. I would still pay 40 dollars for it.
I don't play strategy or RTS games too much because my brain is wired to suck at them. Maybe if that's all you play you'd see the flaws more clearly. But I have a lot of fun playing this game and I love the time period. But It's probably worth no more than 25 dollars now in my mind.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I think RTW is worth the money, I play all sorts of games, but always come back to Total War. Since I play RTW a lot the price per hour is pretty low. It is lower still for classics such as STW and Myth: The Fallen Lords, but those are classics , much older than RTW and their flaws have been glossed over by time. 50 bucks for a game is not so bad, and Doom III is very fun first time through, it has great atmosphere and graphics, it cost more and took up less of my time so if DoomIII is worth it RTW is definately worth it.

[Marcus Maxentius]

Yea, you remember Myth. That game rocked. I loved the bomb throwing dwarves that apologized when they slaughtered an entire unit your best knights. I also laughed out loud at the Trows which would kick like 5 guys into little tiny bits. That was the true predecessor to the total war series.

[A.Saturnus]

RTW is worth the money because nothing compares to it. Even MTW has much less features. I would probably say "those bugs are to much I rather play... " if the sentence wouldn't stop there. Thus, I have to accept the bugs and play it. And I play it a lot.

[Shambles]

RTW is worth the money because nothing compares to it. Even MTW has much less features. I would probably say "those bugs are to much I rather play... " if the sentence wouldn't stop there. Thus, I have to accept the bugs and play it. And I play it a lot.

I dont have to accept the bugs though,
I payed good money for a flawed product,

And seeing as people are mentioning doom3 i think it was a big rip off of half life and even on the hardest setting i compleated the game Quickly,
but atleast doom 3 Worked fine,
All the moneters didnt "reassesd the situation and run away" every time you saved a game,
And it Had the right feel to it,

RTW is like a plastic soul-less shell of a game with no feeling to it,

but ive had enough of telling ppl this now lol =)

I hope you people who enjoy the game keep enjoying it,
but plese do me a favour, Dont go telling Ca What a great job they did,
cos really they didnt.

[HarunTaiwan]

CA did a really good job, a great job, but forgot about the DEADLINE, and then rushed the parts of the game not done at that time. (Okay, maybe the amount they wanted to do couldn't be done by the deadline.)

Hopefully, the expansion will allow them to finish off the little things, fix some bugs, and expand the AI. For all my bitching, I can understand these guys wanting to hold tight until September and then hope the "storm" passes once the XP is out. I think it's a flawed business strategy in this case, but I can see the thinking behind it.

I think one of the problems with CA is they think only MAJOR problems count. Add up enough minor issues, dose liberallly with poor service, and you will make your customers upset.

Fingers crossed on the XP. Then I can go back and edit my review.

[doc_bean]

Actually, CA had 'finished' the game last spring, but Activision sent it back to them because of interface issues (that's what i heard anyway).

I think the problem probably does lie with CA, they need to expand their QA (and playtesting) department.

[Kekvit Irae]

Doom3 is a wonderful graphics engine. They should make a game out of it.
Honestly though, it's a good game... the first time through. But there's really absolutely no replay value. RTW, however, has a LOT of replay value (especially if you dont cheat and unlock all the factions at the very start).
Bugs? Daggerfall is most likely the single most buggiest game ever, and it still is my favorite game. Why? Replay value and gameplay. Sure, it crashes every thirty minutes on average, but who cares? I'm having fun, and that's what is important.

[tai4ji2x]

Bugs? Daggerfall is most likely the single most buggiest game ever, and it still is my favorite game. Why? Replay value and gameplay. Sure, it crashes every thirty minutes on average, but who cares? I'm having fun, and that's what is important.

heh, but if RTW had THOSE kinds of CTD problems, you'd probably not think the same way after you found out about the loadgame bug...

[sunsmountain]

at $50, no. (i bought it at 41 when it came out.)

At $30 yes.

In terms of strategy it's not in the same league as Civilization III (and buy conquests expansion) or Caesar III. Playing with the different factions is like playing with set 'characters'. There are 19 of them, with 11 full fledged. The distinction between factions is better than in Medieval:TW.

In terms of action and tactics its unsurpassed. If you want a better AI, buy Medieval TW (with expansion), but graphically less appealing and less options.

It's great when you like both in equal measure (tactics & campaign map), but you can automate one and focus on the other. If you dont strive for perfection in your empire you can have a lot of fun with this ruby of a game.

[Colovion]

Rome, when the Gold Edition comes out that includes teh XP and RTW as well as the option of downloading the, then complete, EB mod - it'll be well worth the money.

Right now though, not a chance. Save your money.

[LordKhaine]

In a word, yes.

Though I'll add that it amuses me to see the growing crowd of people constantly bashing RTW on these forums. And going to quite extraordinary lengths to make their opinion well known. Even to the point of screaming out that the total war series is "dying", ganging up and repeating themselves over and over again on forums, and even giving RTW ridiculously low ratings on amazon as a "public awareness campaign". It really is rather pathetic to watch and is certain to do more harm than good.

[Colovion]

In a word, yes.

Though I'll add that it amuses me to see the growing crowd of people constantly bashing RTW on these forums. And going to quite extraordinary lengths to make their opinion well known. Even to the point of screaming out that the total war series is "dying", ganging up and repeating themselves over and over again on forums, and even giving RTW ridiculously low ratings on amazon as a "public awareness campaign". It really is rather pathetic to watch and is certain to do more harm than good.

you defeated your own argument when you stated that this crowd of dissenters is growing

strange that it's growing when most of the people who frequented this forum left after RTW was released because of their own feelings of dissent

history is interesting in it's cyclical nature

[fret]

Based on price per hour, compared to movies etc, one would have to say yes.

That comment answers the question completely in my opinion.

Perception of value is relative, and consumers HAVE and DO compare different forms of entertainment in this manner.

Which, in a kind of strange oxymoron way, makes your second comment...

Based on satisfaction, compared to other similar games, one would have to say not even close.

... rather sterile.



In comparison to all other forms of enterntainment, unless a game is so diabolicaly bad it is unplayable, then it is automatically good value for money. Because the audience that likes the particular product, will get far more entertainment value from it than a differant kind of entertainment that has the same retail cost.

If the product is thrust upon an audience that doesnt like the product, they will say it is bad value for money, but in relaity, they themselves just dont like it.

A personal opinion of not liking something, doesnt mean something is not value for money.

[Colovion]

Entertainment must be enjoyed to be worth the investment.

if it's not enjoyed, then it's not worth the investment, both in time and money

entertainment which is not enjoyed is not worth the money

When it is the hardcore fans of such forms of entertainment as this that are the ones which are heralding it as a poor investment, it's probably good to listen to them.

You know, kind of like listening to someone who enjoys driving cars a whole lot and that's almost all they do with their spare time is driving and experiencing driving cars telling a friend that a certain vehicle is not worth their money. This person has experience with said subject and so he can give an informed opinion on what is worth the money and what is not. Ever heard of reviews in magazines for anything? Movies, cars, games, computer hardware, stereo equipment - all things that people who have an idea of what is a good product can give an informed opinion about to the masses of uneducated people.

However, those same uneducated people may be very happy driving a Hyundai, listening to a Sony sound system on their generic Futureshop computer while playing a buggy game. The difference is that some people don't settle for the bare minimum and strive for quality.

[SoxSexSax]

RTW is worth the money because nothing compares to it. Even MTW has much less features. I would probably say "those bugs are to much I rather play... " if the sentence wouldn't stop there. Thus, I have to accept the bugs and play it. And I play it a lot.

To compare Rome with MTW (one of the greatest strategy games of all time) is a joke. Even if you ignored all the bugs in Rome, the fact remains that the battlefield AI is a steaming pile of plop. I can honestly say I have never lost a significant size campaign map battle where I have not been hopelessly (2:1 at least) outnumbered. MTW's Hard and Very Hard AI could beat me if it had a slightly better army and a terrain advantage. RTW can't come close with uber troops on top of a hill. And that's why it cerainly IS NOT worth the money.