Rome: Total War

THE BAD:
-The AI is pretty stupid
-Quite a few bugs
-Time consuming
-Not for everyone

SUMMARY:
Rome: Total War is an epic masterpiece of a game from Creative Assembly. The graphics are excellent, especially when you consider all of the men on screen. Thousands of individual men can be rendered in stunning detail that you can easily enjoy due to a camera that allows you to view the action very up close.

Equal to, or possibly better than, the graphics is the music. It fits the environment perfectly and is a joy to listen to. During battle, the music is interactive and changes depending on what is currently happening.

The gameplay is the best part of the game. In fact RTW is like 2 games in 1. The campaign map is turn-based and is where you will manage your cities, build and move your armies, and do all of the diplomatic stuff. The battle map is where RTW really shines, though. When you engage an enemy army (or they engage you) a battle screen will load that has terrain that perfectly matches the part of the campaign map that the armies were standing on. They are also massive in size.

In battle you can have up to 20 units of soldiers that have a number of men in them that depends on the unit scale that you have the game set on. Before the battle you can move your units around in any formation you want them to be in. Then, with the click of a button, the battle begins. You will definitely have to utilize strategy to win any battle where you don't have a massive advantage. The enemy AI is not very intelligent, but it is still tough. Everything you do on both the campaign and battle map is easily accomplished with the excellent interface.

Rome: Total War is a long and complex game so do not enter it lightly. You will not get instant satisfaction from it. You must work long and hard to win the game, but when you do finally win you will feel immensely satisfied.

The only real problem with RTW is all of the bugs in it. None of the bugs are greatly annoying and most have no real effect upon gameplay. Some are actually humorous!

This game is a must buy if you are a thinking person who is willing to place a large amount of time aside to enjoy it, or if you just like roman history. Immensely satisfying and fun, it is one of my favorite games of all time.