Coming back to it a couple of years later, this is still the great, fun and engrossing strategy game that it was then.
The gameplay is were this game shines the most, as it should. The depth in the turn-based strategy map is surprising and not all of it is seen and first glance. One of the great reasons why this game is so immersive is because it covers so many details but doesn’t do it in such a way that would make the game overly complicated. For example if you conquer the norther Goth. region you better position some troops in each city, because if you don’t they will rebel and the rebel’s AI( since the game will then count them as a faction) is no slouch and will give you some trouble if you don’t take care of it fast. Many other things, like how your commanders actually age, which is at the same time a good thing and a curse. A good thing because it make you feel like the world is real, because people actually age, but at the same time having one of your best generals, who can defeat armies of 3,000 with only 500 troops, die in the middle of a grand campaign can really slow you down. This would have almost been a gimmick if not for the fact that you have a family that runs throughout the game, this ruling family bears you children who after a couple of years become you commanders.
The main over world strategic map is generally like Civilization II or IV, you can’t build cities but you can build forts and other things. You really don’t set out to improve the land around you with any villages, mostly that is done on the city screen where you select what improvements, from highways to temples to barracks, will be built. You can also choose which troops you can produce and a neat addition is tat certain cities can produce special troops, mostly you’ll want to have your small cities just provide income while your bigger cities can produce better troops. Once you have troops you can move them around the map, you can do the same with assassins and diplomats also, but they are not restricted by a grid system, which is nice. While on the move a commander can hire troops, like mercenaries, that can help in the battle. Many times if you have a really good commander and a lot of money, you can just send him out with some troops and build an army of mercenaries along the way. A plus to this is you have a diverse army and since each province has its own special troops, it makes it all the more interesting.
Once you actually get into a battle, you go into a real-time combat mode, were you battle it out RTS style but without the resource gathering and such. While this mode is fun I felt like there was more that could have been done. Many times it would be easy to sit an lure parts of the computers army toward yours were they would promptly be massacred. Other times, even with superior numbers of troops, it would seem like the enemy troops wouldn’t die. But with the whole commander rank thing, which doesn’t only apply to the player, it is possible for the computer to take you on and beat you with inferior forces. Overall this element it fun but at times felt a little unbalanced.
On a quick note the naval combat in this game leaves a lot to be desired, it is ver abstract and it is usually hard to gauge( outside of outnumbering your enemy 3 to 1) who will win and how many ships will be lost. There is no real-time naval combat which is a real letdown, since some really cool things could have been done. On the whole the naval combat is more of a side course to the land battles.
From the detail of the over world map to the scale of some of the RTS maps, this game has a lot going for it in the graphical department. The overworld map is lush with details, from actual convoys that you can see transverse the sea to the sheep and other cargo you can see transverse by land. The cities actually get and look bigger when they get bigger and the map itself looks great, you can make out the Pyrenees and other such landmarks clearly and these actually play a part in the gameplay, since it makes it harder for your troops to traverse such an environment. While the RTS parts of the game look good, they don’t look as great as the over world map does. The environments for the RTS mode look pretty good but the troops all look identical and they are generally low-poly. But that is made up for by the sheer numbers of troops that can be onscreen without any slowdown. Seeing six thousand troops battle it out is something few games can hope to match and this is were the game can really shine. Overall the graphics for the game are really good for a strategy game and serve to immerse you more into the game.
The clattering of swords to the banging of a battering ram, many of the sounds in this game are great and really make you feel like a battle is actually happening. The sound effects are generally okay, nothing is really great about them but they are not bad either. While the sound effects are okay, the music in the game is great, the score really draws you in a never really gets repetitive like many strategy games music tends to. The music and sound in the game are good and really draw you in, just don’t expect to be blown away with the sound effects.
In the end this is a great game, it has a lot of value from the fact after you win the first campaign you can go back as almost any faction that you defeated and play the game as them. Also the game ships with some pre-built scenarios for the RTS mode, like historic battles and such. The online I never got to try out so I don’t know if it is good or not but the offline portion of the game are really fun so playing against a human opponent would be that much better. If you are looking for a strategy game that will last you awhile, then look no farther than Rome: Total War.