Summary (TLDR):
This is an amazing Total War game that has come close to perfection by attacking ends of total war that i never thought they would address, like having your army walk across Russia in a single 3 month turn (does anyone know how HARD that would be???). It did take some time for them to iron out the kinks, but the game has approached a true long-term strategic point of view that makes the fans of the series well rewarded for waiting.
Overall: Great game, gave it a 9 because they have the guts to go out there and try new things even after all these games.
----------------- Full Review -------------------
After having nearly 9 patches (at least two major to playing the game), the game is finally playable in all its glory.
The game has taken a very different approach from say, Napoleon, Shogun, or Medieval Total War. I've played well over 800 or so hours in the last 10 years of total war releases and honestly, i like the change of pace.
This game is centered more on long-term, random strategy than other games in the series. With this game your allies are not always your allies and NPC's act as normal people do, completely randomly, each play through. There are expansive powers, conservative powers, and powers that are more prone to be your allies than your enemies, which is a very nice change. In contrast, Shogun 2 just recently released could be played again and again once figured out and the scenarios would almost never change, the dynamics would never change, you could exercise the same exact strategy again and again. You simply pit one enemy against another and built up your base and wrecked their home territory — you win. Rome II game requires thought, time and a lot of effort. I cannot tell you how many times I've conquered other Total War campaign games in Normal - Hard modes without even having a Navy at all. That is not strategy, that is disappointing.
Rome II is a whole new breed, it requires agents (imagine that!) Navy's and Army's. Your levels are not determined by your economic backing but your "Ranking" which is a culmination of Gravitas, Conquests, and some other factors.As with any game, the rich get richer, and the powerful get more powerful, but with this system it seems a little more smooth and does not encourage cowardice as i noted in prior games.
Pros:
- Game is not decided in the short term, may take several hundred turns (20-40 hours) to play through one single game.
- Game requires both a navy and an army (finally) to beat it.
- Game uses Agents Effectively, each has a defined and valuable purpose that is not a waste of money
- Map is HUGE, finally. Its about time they actually scaled this up.
- Stances are a huge bonus to the play-ability of the game— don't want to pay for your army? Go raiding in someone else s lands!
Cons:
- Time, the game takes A LONG time to play, and can get to the point that you forget all the dynamics and make huge errors late game because you had two days between your former actions and forgot that the Greeks were angry with another faction
- Civil Strife. Having to choose between ruling families within your own clan feels like a stunt. Political intrigue is an afterthought while i'm playing through.
- Performance. With a GTX 480 and a Raid 0 setup in my system i feel like this game is pretty much putting it on its knees in medium, substantially increasing load times.