Let me start by saying, I've been a fan of this series since the first Rome: Total War came out, and I have played every game since. So, I can honestly say this is the most disappointing Total War game I've ever played, and my review will be biased towards that belief.
This review is not an overall review (though the score is), but rather, a review that points out the differences between Rome 2 and the other installments in the Total War franchise (specifically Shogun 2).
NEGATIVES:
UNFINISHED/UNPOLISHED - When this game first came out, it had a lot of bugs. This was most likely due to a lack of polish. The developer probably got overambitious, and couldn't finish the game in time. There were no mini-movies like in Shogun 2, there was a unfinished political system that seemed useless, and, overall, just a huge lack of features in comparison to Shogun 2.
BUGS - The A.I. makes very poor decisions in most cases. I won't get into details, but this has been an age old problem with Total War, but it would seem as though it's reached its pinnacle in this game. For example, the A.I. never wanted to engage if they were on the offensive. Instead, their scouting units went back and forth as if they wanted to attack you, but would retreat when they came close to your units. This most likely has to do, again, with a lack of polish. There were missing textures in the game, and the performance on high-end rigs
POSITIVES:
STREAMLINING - The provincial management system is great. Managing a large empire has never been easier. Good job, CA...
... Yes, that's the only positive compared to previous titles.
MISC:
GAMESPOT'S REVIEW - Gamespot's review of this game is rather lacking in detail. It seems as though the reviewer, Daniel Starkey (whom I've never even heard of), played the game for only a few hours and slapped a rating on it. He doesn't give comparison to any previous games of the series such as Shogun 2. He also fails to mention online co-op and how it was simply broken at release. Is Daniel even an employee? Did Gamespot just give the job of reviewing this game to some nobody?
CONCLUSION:
This game is not as bad as most have labeled it. It's just disappointing, because it is a huge step backwards for the franchise. I believe CA became too ambitious with this game, and didn't have the time to implement all the features, and fix all the bugs they wanted to. Therefore, this game is not worth its asking price of $59.99 (dollars). However, if it's half off (Yay, Steam!), then it could be worth a try. Especially since, they've fixed many of the bugs now. Either way, hopefully, the next installment in Total War will get the much needed love and time this game failed to receive.