Rome Total War

Rome: Total War (often abbreviated to RTW or Rome) is a PC strategy game developed by The Creative Assembly and released on 22 September 2004 by Activision. The Mac OS X version of the game was released on 5 February 2010 by Feral Interactive. The game is the third title in The Creative Assembly’s Total War series.

The game’s main campaign is set during the rule of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire (273 BC – AD 14), with the player assuming control of one of three Roman families; other factions are playable outside the main campaign. Gameplay consists of real-time tactical battles framed within a turn-based strategic campaign, taking place across Europe, North Africa and the Near East. On the large strategic scale, players spend each turn managing diplomacy, developing infrastructure, moving armies, and managing the population’s growth and orderliness through taxes and gladiatorial games, among other tasks. On the smaller scale, real-time battles against enemy armies take place within or between cities, with the player commanding forces which can contain thousands of individual soldiers.

Rome: Total War was released to near global critical acclaim, and has been well received by gamers, going on to generate a persistent and loyal modding fanbase. It is widely regarded to be among the greatest video games of all time.

The mechanics of the singleplayer game consists of two distinct phases. One is the Strategic, where game play is turn-based and the player is presented with a map of the Ancient Mediterranean world called the Strategic Map or Strat Map. This is where city building, economics, troop recruitment, diplomacy, and army deployments take place.

Tactical battles showcase the Real-Time-Strategy half of Rome Total War. They are initiated in the Campaign Game when either when the player attacks or is attacked by another faction and the player elects to fight on the Battle Map rather than allow the computer to automatically resolve the battle. They can also be played through a Custom Battle, Quick Battle, or in Multiplayer. In fact these latter modes of play consist entirely of tactical-level battles on the Battle Map.

As noted previously, battles fought on the Battle Map are done in real time. However, the player may pause at any time and and issue orders to their units, check their status, and verify where they may be moving to. This makes the game very forgiving for those not accustomed to RTS gameplay.

Sequels:

  • Barbarian Invasions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome:_Total_War:_Barbarian_Invasion
    Barbarian Invasion is the first expansion for the personal computer game Rome: Total War which takes the action forward to the period of the decline of the Western Roman Empire. The Rome Total War Gold Edition includes both the original game as well as the Barbarian Invasion expansion pack. The campaign begins in 363 AD and ends in 476 AD. If the player has not achieved the campaign goals in 476, an option to quit or to continue the game is presented. The expansion includes simulation of the religious tension of the period, as three major religions (Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Paganism) fought for dominance. Also depicted are the great migrations of the Germanic and steppe peoples (notably the Huns) throughout Europe.
  • Alexander: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome:_Total_War:_Alexander
    Rome: Total War: Alexander is the second expansion for the personal computer game Rome: Total War. It is set in an earlier time period, putting the player in the role of Alexander the Great. It begins with Alexander’s ascension to the Macedonian throne in 336 BC and lasts for 100 turns, each of which, unlike the original game and the first expansion, Barbarian Invasion, do not represent six months (assuming that it follows Alexander’s actual reign of thirteen years, each turn would represent nearly seven weeks). The game is much the same as the original Rome: Total War, but with fewer factions, different units, and a different map. The player’s goal is to conquer 30 provinces, including key cities such as Tyre, Halicarnassus and Babylon, within the 100 turn limit. The game allows Alexander to live longer than the 33 years of his actual life. He died in Babylon on the afternoon of June 10–11, 323 BC, just one month short of turning 33.

Strategy guides & Fansites

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