If you like strategy games, real time of turn based, or have any interest in ancient history, i'd highly reccomend this.
Gameplay: In Rome: Total War you play out the game as one of three Roman Factions (later on you can unlock other factions). You've got the Julii, who are looking to conquer Gaul and Germania. Then there's the Scipii, who are tasked with defeating Carthage and expanding the empire in North Africa and Spain. Finally, you have the Brutii, who have to deal with the Greeks and Macedonians. (The Brutii are probably the hardest Roman faction to play as in the beginning. But if you can overrun the Peloponnesus, they can quickly become very rich). Once you've chosen your faction, you get to the campaign map, where you can used turn based strategy to recruit your armies, manage your cities, and attempt to conquer settlements. Once you engage an enemy army or town in combat, you can drop down to the battlefield to fight it out in real time, or you can "auto-resolve" the battle, and the aftermath can be determined based on how good the generals were, and troop strength. The game offers you the oportunity to use any number of strategies, both on the campaign map, and on the battlefield. For example, as the Julii family I would try to fight on the open field, and I would use my legionairres' superiority to win the day. Another time, when I was playing as the Germanic tribes, I found myself trying to set up ambushes against advancing Roman legions, in the hope of catching the superior force off guard. Just like in real ancient warfare, numbers don't always win the day. With clever tactics, you can overcome any opponent. The game also comes with a number of historical battles, which let you fight real battle situations that occured in the time period. So you can fight a short battle or a long campaign, depending on how much free time you have.
The gameplay is very addicting. I found myself doing something that I normally don't do. I would set my alarm clock on the weekends so that I could play for the whole day.
Graphics: The battles in Rome look simply amazing. You can watch all the action of thousands of soldiers battling it out, and then you can zoom in to see individual soldiers duking it out. You can almost feel the impact when a cavalry charge hits a line of infantrymen.
Sound: The musical score in this game really gets you into the action. During the course of a battle, the music can change depending on what is going on in the battle, which really gets you in the appropriate mood. Then on the campaign map, you can hear soothing Latin songs, upbeat wind instrument music, etc.
Value: You can conquer the known world as any Roman faction, and then attempt to fight the romans as 5 other non-Roman factions, giving this game excellent replayability. Not to mention the online battles, historical battles, and other custom battles you can set up. All of the game's features ensure that you'll be coming back countless times.
Tilt: I love Rome: Total War, and i'm confident that you will too. As a history and strategy game buff, I fell in love with this game from day one. If you're into history, Roman Culture, or any kind of strategic game, by all means give this game a try.