Rome: Total War

Rome: Total War for PC and iOS is the third installment in the acclaimed strategy series developed by Creative Assembly. In the previous games (Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War), the players visited the sixteenth century Japan and the medieval Europe. This time, the creators offer a journey deep into the past, when the Roman Empire was in its prime. The players are given an opportunity to participate in such exciting historical events as the Spartacus's slave rebellion, the Punic Wars (Rome fighting Carthage over the western part of the Mediterranean Basin), the famous Hannibal's crossing of the Alps or Julius Caesar's annihilation of the Gauls.

Mechanics

Similar to both the previous installments, Rome: Total War for PC and iOS pays a lot of attention to historical details and recreates elements such as military units belonging to the Romans, Egyptians, Greeks and different peoples of the ancient world faithfully. The player can use war machines which truly existed and were used in military operations of the period. All the innovations introduced by the previous installments were implemented in this game as well – these include sieges of cities and keeps (introduced in Medieval: Total War), reconnaissance, reserve units (Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion), etc. All the political, economical and trading-related aspects were recreated in accordance with actual history as well.

Rome: Total War for PC and iOS continues the tradition of separating the game into two parts. While ruling the empire is turn-based, battles are fought in real time. However, the game utilizes a new, more capable graphical engine which provides the view over the battle. Over ten thousand units can take part in one battle – although the number is similar to what the players dealt with in case of Medieval: Total War, the in-game units are more detailed and of better quality in general. As a result, battles are even more spectacular now. Similar to its predecessors, gameplay subtleties in Rome: Total War can be adjusted to the player's individual preferences, making it possible to skip the battles in order to focus on the economy, foreign policies and such (AI takes control in the battles), or conversely - to automatize the actions related to leading the empire to be able to jump straight into the battle instead.

It is worth noticing that the creators increased the level of advancement applying to the AI-controlled forces. Thus playing against a computer-controlled opponent requires more effort. Additionally, up to eight players can meet in an online multiplayer session or via local area network.

Last updated on 10 December 2007