Rome: Total War Gold is easily the best strategy game for 04 that anyone can enjoy. Plus it comes with 2 in 1!
Rome: Total War
In the original game Rome: Total War you'll play as 3 Roman families which are supposed to expand its borders and make it a glorious empire. As you'll play you'll receive mission from the senate in Rome to take over cities, blockade a port, or reason with another faction to do something. You will have allies with you in the game which are SPQR (the senate), and the other families which are the Brutii, the Scipii, and the Juilii families. But later in the game they will turn against you in a civil war to dominate Rome. LAter in the game as you crush enemies you can unlock some of them and play with them in the Imperial campaign. The game also has other modes like custom battles (factions are already unlocked in custom battle), a quick battle, a historical battle, and a tutorial campaign if you have never played the Total War games before.
In the game there are at least 15-20 different factions with their own unique units to play as with different or same abilities like Roman legions, Greek spear men, Egyptian chariots, or even powerful Carthaginian elephants! There are also some noncombatants you can recruit like spies, diplomats, or even assassins. Generals in the game which are family members can govern cities or fight battles. But be careful if that general dies before he produces offspring then a family branch might die off and never have sons to fight or daughters to marry.
For the economy or resources all you have to do is charge a tax rate not collect resources. In construction buildings provide bonuses, protection, or getting new units. If you charge a high tax rate the civilians might get rebellious, riot, or even conquer your own city. There can even be plagues or natural disasters.
In order for a battle to happen you must move one of your characters to attack another one or they come to you. The battle deployment scroll pops up and tells you the ratio strength of each army and which can win. You can choose to auto-resolve which lets the computer calculate the winner or fighting the battle on the map. You can besiege settlements as well with huge siege towers, ladders, and rams try to break into the city. In order to win you must hold the central plaza or kill or rout all enemy units. In battle you must give your soldiers orders to attack who, fire at will, guard position, or withdraw from battle to fight again another day. What makes it realistic is that each unit has morale and stamina. If your troops run a lot they might get tired or if troops are overwhelmed they might break off and flee for their lives. But you can use your general to rally them and bring them back in the fight if it works.
The graphics and sounds are just great, you see beautiful sceneries with grass, trees, water and buildings. There are hundreds of soldiers fighting for their lives with the sound of clashing swords, shields, arrows, spears, and orders from men yelling march as boots thunder the ground. The music changes every time from a marching theme to fighting theme.
There are some flaws to the game. When navies attack each other you can't even fight them, they only can be auto-resolved and some of the results of the battle won't make any sense at all. The units are all clones with not really any distinct differences to their faces. It also might look strange when you tell a whole group of people to chase one unit down.
Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion
The expansion Barbarian Invasion brings some new features to R:TW. But there's not much in the expansion pack.
In Barbarian Invasion it's the decline of Rome, barbarians invade and conquer some areas. The Roman Empire is now divided into the western and eastern halves. You can play as the Romans or either any of the barbarians because they're already unlocked from the start. The game has all new factions like the Huns, Franks, or Goths and the AI has improved greatly having much bigger armies assaulting.
The new features in the expansion pack are small, but good. You can now fight night battles with soldiers having torches in their hands lighting up the night sky. If you are a barbarian tribe you can become a horde where you're on the move looking for a new home to settle in. The civilians that moved out are horde soldiers and if most of them die you new city might not replenish its normal population. Last, but not least, religion is a major concept in the game.
The bad is that you still can't fight naval battles and the results are still confusing. The game doesn't really include much historical battles, just 2 only.
Summary
Rome: Total War Gold Edition is a must have game for any strategy game fan. There's excellent graphics great sound and most of all it's just one of the most realistic strategy games ever!