All customer reviews

Rome: Total War is involved and hard, but not too difficult. It's a wonderful strategy game that has immersion and is satisfying. There's good graphics too.

The third game in the Total War series, Rome: Total War is also the most enjoyable. Command one of three Roman factions, or lead a non-Roman people to dominate the European continent, North Africa and parts of the Middle-East. The game focuses on improving your cities, conquering new ones, improving and expanding your armies and navy and striking diplomatic deals with other countries and empires. The main part of the game takes place on a beautifully rendered strategic map. Here you manage your cities, move your armies, diplomats, spies and assasins. As you conquer new territories, more cities fall into your hands and more gold flows into your coffers. As your armies move into contact with the enemy (either in the field or when besiegeing a city) the tactical map comes into play. Here you move your tropps, change formations, charge your cavalry into the enemy's flanks, order your archers to fire volleys of flaming arrows at the enemy and use your mighty siege engines to batter down the defense of the besieged city. The tactical battles are the real flavour of the game, as they are very well done and take into account real, working tactics. A headlong rush into a Greek phalanx only results in disaster. Rome:Total War offers months (if not years) of entertainment, especially if your are interested in ancient warfare. The add-one Barbarian Invasion is highly recommended, as it improves some aspects of the original game (night battles and river crossings, for example).