I got Rome: Total War last week and thought I’d give my initial impressions of the game in an easy-to-digest Q&A format.
Title?
Rome: Total War.
Not to be confused with …?
Paris: Total Whore.
Box contents?
3 CD-ROMs, an adequate manual and a map with the Roman tech tree on the flip side.
Hard disk space required?
The game folder is about 2.3GB and savegames are pretty small. My early campaign savegames have taken up less than 2MB each.
Is it hard to get into?
It’s certainly a complex game but there’s a good tutorial campaign for those new to the Total War series and there are plenty of context-sensitive tips provided during the actual campaign itself.
Does it require a knowledge of classical Latin?
No, it turns out everyone in Rome speaks English — sometimes with a posh accent — although like some folks today, the ancients would occasionally spout a Latin phrase in a pretentious fashion.
Is it an improvement over Medieval: Total War?
Oh my, yes. It appears Creative Assembly have managed to address all my M:TW complaints. The endgame should be much easier to manage.
How’s the AI?
I’m still in the early phases of my campaign but I haven’t been impressed with the tactical AI at all. Unless vastly overmatched (or supremely incompetent), you should have no trouble beating the computer opponent. However, the AI is decent enough on the strategic level and will wear your forces down by attrition if you’re not particularly careful.
Worth it?
Yes. This is an epic game.
