Hello from an player of the past

**Omanes Alexandrapolites** · 11-13-2007, 13:57

Hi and welcome back LordTed,
For multiplayer, generally the answer is no. Many features, including the ladders and the rankings from the originals were dropped, as well as the quality of performance, which I think many will agree is rather poor.

Battle speed also probably may be found to be an issue - R:TW battles run at the speed of a Charlie Chaplin movie, which results in little time for tactical implementation before one player's army is fleeing for their lives.

Balance also could be found to be problematic. Due to loss of the simple "rock paper scissors" mechanism, many units, especially Roman units, are practically unbeatable. This is regardless of the unit's type.

A final note on the tactical battle side of things is the poor variety of battle maps. Basically almost every region is a flat open plain. Some areas have a few small mounds, and some trees, but these don't really offer much advantage against the opponent. The AI is also considered inferior by many, and is efficiently defeated on the field.

Graphically the game does also have a negative side. Although everything may be glitz and glamour when zoomed in, when you attempt to zoom out for a tactical overview, you probably will find everything rather blurry and hard to make out. In addition, when zoomed out, you can see a sort of tiled texture on certain areas of the map. I, for one, do find this rather ugly and unappealing.

The campaign map level also is heavily flawed. The challenge presented by the foes on the campaign map is poor, and steam rolling over them is rather easy. This is primarily due to a combination of excessive ease of money making and an AI which lacks the ability to coordinate its forces and economy to an adequate level.

On a more neutral note, the campaign map level has undergone a massive overhaul, replacing the traditional risk style methods with a titled type map comparable to that seen in the Civilisation series. For some veterans, this is an improvement, others are indifferent, while a large number oppose the move.

Hope this is useful to you!