A most impressive game, full of rich graphics and gameplay...that will last as long as it lasts...
User Rating: 9.2 | Rome: Total War PC
From Shogun to Medieval, the Total War series was always revolutionnary. The cool 3D real-time battle have always been impressive and rich. Easy saying: Rome:Total War is the best of the series, plain and simple. First of all, the graphics are simply amazing. During a battle, 3D zoom will catch your breath away. Watching a cavalry charge , or 10 units of Urban Cohort infantry marching toward their enemy, lifting dust and shaking ground is impressive. There are many cool units, the coolest being the elephants. When they charge, zoom in, prep Coke and popcorn and enjoy ! Dozens of enemy soldiers flying in the air singing "I'm like a bird and only fly away!" (did I get the lyrics good? :)) and falling back dead on the ground. The environement is astonishing: shadows, mountains, snow, rain and lights are beautiful. Obvisouyl, the folks at Activision revised their recepee before they cooked that baby up, because there is a definite improvement when we compare Rome with its predecessors. Two thumbs up for the graphics ! The sounds were also amazingly done! If you have a good 3D sound system, you will hear everything single sound. I just love the voices: "UNITS ! MARCH !", "ARCHER ! USE FIRE!", "CAVALRY, CHARGE!" and then seeing those units responding makes you feel like you are in the game. The music is ok, althought repetitive. Too bad the music wasn't given so much effort as the voices and sounds... all-in-all, it was also very well cooked ! When it comes to the gameplay, it is easily mastered. The gameplay on the map was heavily rebuilt, and it is much more fun ! Graphics were also heavily retouched to make it look more real. You can now position your armies on the map to block opponents, or position them in forests for ambush,ssuming one army will come this way and pass by the forest, a battle automatically engages , the enemy still marching in a row, while you can position your units to maximise the damage. A lot of fun, again ! There are some camera angles issues sometimes that I found annoying. They do not ruin anything, it just makes it harder when fighting on cliffs. Strategy is very important in Rome: Total War. The weather, the altitude, the terrain, the angle.... all very important. Using your general well, positiong your armies, counter-units will play a gigantic role in the outcome of a battle. Numbers are the least of your concern when facing a 10 stars general... There ARE downsides to this game, and people who give it a 10 haven't played it long enought to have discovered them. Like its predecessors, the game gets boring. Eventually I will be able to replay it when I'm bored ... you will feel a surge of enjoyment for the first 5-6 hours, then slowy the excitement goes away until the only reason you play is to conquer the entire map (which is huge!) without even bothering to fight the battle and automatically resolving them ... All in all, Rome: Total War is an amazing game, that will keep you going for a few weeks, if not months. Its rich graphics, sounds and gameplay will catch your breath away. This is again one game worthy taking space on my HD. If you were a fan of the previos titles, do not hesitate and grap a copy at your closest shop! If you're a strategy game freak, again do not hesitate and buy this game right away ! If you hate strategy game, still get it ! Plain and simple: althought repetitive after a while, it is one of the best game I have ever played. 
