Rome: Total War

Rome: Total War
Studio	Creative Assembly Feral Interactive
Publisher	Activision Sega (since 2005) Feral Interactive (Mac OS X, iOS)
Senior Developer	Michael Simpson
Erstveröffent- lichung	Windows September 22, 2004 Mac OS X February 5, 2010 iPad November 10, 2016 iPhone August 23, 2018 Android December 19, 2018
platform	Windows , Mac OS X , iOS
genre	Combination of real-time strategy game and turn-based strategy game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (real-time mode only)
control	Mouse , keyboard
system advantages preconditions	OS : Windows 98 / 2000 / ME / XP CPU : 1 GHz RAM : 256 MB Graphics card : 64 MB Storage requirement (HDD) : 3 GB
medium	3 CD-ROMs , download
language	German
Current version	1.5 / 1.6
Age rating	USK PEGI

Rome: Total War is a turn - based computer strategy game released in September 2004 that was developed by the British developer Creative Assembly and published for Windows by the Japanese company Sega . It represents the third part of the Total War game series .

In a combination of turn-based and real-time game elements , the player takes control of a regional power of the 3rd century BC, such as the Roman Republic or the Seleucid Empire , and tries to develop it into a great power. For this purpose, the player has primarily military but also diplomatic means at his disposal. In turn-based mode, the player takes on administrative and logistics tasks in his empire. If an army of the player meets an enemy army, the game switches to real-time mode, in which the player commands his troops as a commander.

Rome: Total War received consistently very good reviews from the trade press. It achieved a meta rating of 92 out of 100 points at Metacritic . Two expansions were released for the game, Barbarian Invasion in 2005 and Alexander in 2006 . On July 2, 2012, Creative Assembly announced the development of a new edition of the title entitled Rome II . Feral Interactive released a version for Mac in 2010, followed by a revised iPad version in 2016 and an iPhone version in summer 2018. In December 2018, the game was also released in a version for Android devices.

Gameplay

General

Rome: Total War is a strategy game set in ancient times at the time of the rise of the Roman Empire . It includes and simulates influences from various subject areas such as economics and politics. Strategically oriented elements come into play in turn-based game mode, while military conflicts and tactical moves take place in real-time mode.

The player takes control of a great power of the time such as B. the Roman Republic, Carthage or Macedonia and tries to expand their influence. Diplomacy is available to him for this, but primarily warfare. The turn-based part of the game takes place on a campaign map, on which the player controls the economic, political and military development of his nation through building buildings in cities, army movements, attacks, defenses or the use of agents. The real-time part is represented by the battles that arise when armies of rival nations meet.

Turn-based game

The turn-based part of the game is controlled from an overview map, the so-called world map or campaign map . For each round, which is unlimited in time, the player can define various actions and have them carried out after the round has ended. Turn-based activities include administering provinces, issuing orders to military units, and using diplomatic means. Then the moves of the computer-controlled factions are carried out, after which the next round begins for the player.

Each faction has a family tree of the faction's ruling family. At the beginning, this only includes two or three characters. As the game progresses, this continues to grow. The adult male characters listed in the family tree are available to the player as commanders and governors. Every character has certain attributes that affect the way he conducts office, both positive and negative.

The three-dimensional campaign map, which shows various regions of Europe and Asia Minor, is used to organize the administration of the provinces in order to obtain economic and military resources. There is a provincial capital in each province . There taxes are levied with which the player can finance military expeditions or the construction of barracks, administrative offices and fortifications. In the provincial capitals, revolts and revolutions are possible, depending on the mood of the indigenous population. During revolts, buildings in the city are damaged, during revolutions the occupying army is driven out by a rebel army and the city declares itself independent.

In addition to these elements, military companies take center stage in the turn-based part. The player can control the units available to him on the campaign map. Units can be grouped into larger formations to increase combat strength. After selecting an association, the player can assign target coordinates to them, which he then drives to using the shortest possible path. How far an army can move per turn is determined by the movement points assigned to them . Each military unit has a number of movement points that can be used per round, which is proportional to the movement speed of the slowest type of troop carried. So have z. B. Movable cavalry troops over more movement points than heavy infantry or siege equipment.

When enemy armies clash, be it in open terrain or when attacking enemy provincial cities, the player has the option of either fighting the enemy or withdrawing. If the player decides on a fight, this can either be automatically calculated by the computer based on parameters such as troop strength, number of troops and the prevailing weather, or it can be fought out in real time by the player on a three-dimensional map.

A province can either be starved or taken by storm. The main difference for the attacker lies in the time required and the amount of troops required. If successful, a decision can be made as to whether the defeated city is either "only" conquered, that is to say that the inhabitants are either enslaved (divided between other cities) or wiped out. A conquest keeps the damage to the buildings and the population relatively low, but the loot is low and the general mood of the population is retained. With enslavement, the population is reduced considerably, but the mood of the rest of the population is considerably better, the booty is somewhat higher and the province receives a new commodity with "slaves", which increases the trade income. The most drastic means remains the "erasure" of the population. This results in high loot and a better mood among the survivors, but the damage to buildings and especially people is particularly high.

In sea ​​battles , the individual fleets lead up to 20 ships into battle, some of which differ considerably in terms of manpower. The two large groups of ships are the barbarian boats and the Greek / Roman / Carthaginian / Egyptian triremes . The principle of sea battles is similar to that of land battles, but can only be waged automatically. From a strategic point of view, ships are primarily used to transport troops and to block trade ports.

Real time game

In real-time play, battles between two or more factions are fought in a three-dimensional environment. In a battle, each faction involved leads up to 20 units into the field, each consisting of 24 to 240 soldiers. The number of men carried per unit depends on the type of unit. B. a unit of cavalry consists of significantly fewer soldiers than a phalanx unit.

The factions have numerous unit types available for the battles, which are based on the historical framework. Common types of troops are hoplites , archers , peltasts , cavalry, but also machinery in the form of ballistae or onagers . Many factions also have individual units. So have z. B. Asian cultures through chariots and cataphracts .

A battle is divided into three phases. First the armies are formed. After this has ended, which the player can decide at the push of a button, the combat phase begins. Since the battlefields are usually very extensive, a variety of tactics and strategies are possible. There are numerous commands available to the player that he can issue to his troops. This includes movement and attack commands as well as formation and behavioral instructions. The latter can affect both the direct combat power and the morale of the units. Morale is an important factor in combat because it measures the steadfastness of soldiers. Soldiers with low morale are more likely to flee the battlefield. Factors that negatively affect morale are e.g. B. surprising cavalry attacks or significant numerical inferiority. The weather can also have an impact on the battle. So lowers z. For example, heavy rain reduces the accuracy of archery hits and prevents them from firing arrows .

The third phase begins after an army has been defeated. The player then has the option to pursue and fight all fleeing opponents. An army is defeated either when all its units have been wiped out or when all units are on the run. Defenders can also win a battle by playing for time. Because there is a clock that sets the maximum slaughter time 45 minutes. If the attacker fails to defeat the defender within this time, the defender has won the battle.

campaign

Rome: Total War covers the period from the rise to the fall of the Roman Republic , it takes place between the years 270 BC. BC to AD 14. The focus is on three Roman families, the Julier house, the Scipion house and the Bruti house . The three factions try to increase their influence in Rome, which is ruled by the Senate, through conquests. Influential families get access to Senate offices, which bring certain bonuses to the factions. Each faction has the goal of developing its own faction into a great power. To this end, each of them tries to take military control of Rome. A civil war breaks out later in the game between the Roman factions, which are allied from the start. The campaign is won by the faction that succeeds in conquering Rome and 50 other provinces.

The course of the campaign is largely dependent on the actions of the player, there is no linear course of the campaign. There is only one predetermined event that significantly affects the course of the game, the Marian reforms . This event occurs from a certain stage of development among the Roman factions. At this event, which historically saw the Roman army transformed into a professional army, the Romans gain access to new, powerful troop types that are clearly superior to most other factions. In addition, the Senate from time to time gives orders to the Roman factions to conquer a particular city or to siege a port. The factions receive financial or military support for completing these missions.

units

The units in the game can be divided into tactical and strategic units. These are largely based on historical models. In addition to military use, units can also be used to maintain public order in their own cities and provinces. For example, a heavily manned garrison significantly reduces the risk of revolt.

Hoplites armed with spears are one of the most common troops in Rome: Total War

Strategic units

There are three different types of strategic units, diplomats , spies and assassins . Your recruitment depends on the existing buildings in a settlement. The quality of an agent can be recognized by the level of his agent talent. This value is still relatively low when recruiting and is increased by successful missions. Diplomats enable cooperation with other peoples and can e.g. B. Negotiating trade agreements and alliance treaties. Spies are used to gather information about enemy settlements and armies. Assassins are able to murder enemy characters and sabotage buildings.

Tactical units

Tactical units are used in real-time mode and can be directly influenced by the player. These units include all contemporary military branches such as hoplites , legionaries , archers or close- range or long-range cavalry . There are also war machines, such as ballistae and onagers . The units differ in terms of their armor and weapons. The types of troops differ greatly between the factions. For example, nomadic peoples like the Scythians have a focus on cavalry, while Roman cultures have a strong infantry.

Factions

Rome: Total War includes 20 factions that are more or less based on historical models. The factions differ in terms of their starting position and the troops and buildings available to them. The factions are divided in the game according to their cultures. The culture has hardly any influence in most of the factions, only the peoples described as barbaric have severe limitations in their possibilities. So it is not possible for them to manage big cities as effectively as other cultures can. This also limits their number of troops. This is particularly detrimental to the barbaric cultures late in the game.

The rebels play a special role in the factions . Rebels form when there is too much discontent in a settlement. If the population is very dissatisfied, the danger increases that the city will rise up against its occupier and raise its own troops. In addition, the rebels also serve to represent smaller peoples, such as the Bithynians , the Galatians or the Saks . This faction therefore controls most of the map at the start of the game.

It is possible, by making some changes to the game files, to make all other factions (including the unplayable ones, except for the Roman Senate and the rebels) playable. These factions have no faction description in the main menu and no intro video at the beginning of the campaign. They differ from the neighboring factions in that, for example, they only have a very limited pool of units (e.g. the Scythians almost exclusively have cavalry units), or they have limited options for building expansion.

Overview of the political groups
fraction	Culture	Playability	Remarks
Julier	Roman	✔	Can receive tasks from the Senate, initially allied with the other Romans
Scipions	Roman	✔	Can receive tasks from the Senate, initially allied with the other Romans
Bruti	Roman	✔	Can receive tasks from the Senate, initially allied with the other Romans
Roman Senate	Roman	×	Assigns tasks, does not expand
Egyptians	Egyptian	✔	very eclectic group
Parthian	east	✔	have a very strong cavalry
Seleucids	Greek	✔	enemies with most races shortly after starting, has access to most unit types
Gauls	barbaric	✔	balanced supply of barbarian troops
Greek cities	Greek	✔	has strong phalanx troops, weak cavalry
Carthaginians	African	✔	at the beginning has sea sovereignty, elephants and balanced strong units of every type of weapon
Germanic peoples	barbaric	✔	The only barbarian faction to own phalanx units
Britons	barbaric	✔	The only barbarian faction to own chariot units
Macedonians	Greek	×	has strong phalanx troops and a good selection of cavalry units
Thracian	Greek	×	has access to Greek and barbarian troops
Dacians	barbaric	×	balanced mixture of barbaric troops
Numidians	African	×	Have a strong cavalry in relation to the rest of your troops
Spaniards	barbaric	×	have strong infantry
Pontier	east	×	has access to Asian and Greek troops
Armenians	east	×	strong cavalry, otherwise good selection of other branches of service
Scythians	barbaric	×	have a very strong cavalry

reception

Reviews in game magazines

reviews publication Rating Mac OS Windows Eurogamer k. A. 9/10 GameSpot k. A. 9.1 / 10 GameSpy k. A. 4.5 / 5 GameStar k. A. 89/100 IGN k. A. 9.4 / 10 Macworld 4.5 / 5 k. A. Meta-ratings GameRankings k. A. 91.64% Metacritic k. A. 92/100

Rome: Total War received consistently very good reviews and was awarded, among other things, the “Gold Award” from GameStar magazine and the “Editor's Choice” from US magazine PC Gamer. Especially the impressive, huge 3D battles, in which up to 38,400 soldiers fight each other at times, received great praise. Numerous preview reports in various computer game magazines made it one of the most anticipated strategy games of 2004.

On the other hand, there were voices from the wargame community who complained that realism was all too often foregone in order to make the game more suitable for the masses. Many historical events are greatly simplified or even incorrectly presented and some of the military units were not in action in antiquity, unlike in the game (gladiators as a regular part of the army, city cohort as the elite troop of the Empire, druids fighting on the battlefield, etc.) .

The television broadcaster The History Channel used the game's game engine to present ancient battles such as the Battle of Kadesch or the battles of the Romans against Attila the Huns in detail in its 13-part series .

The British television broadcaster BBC Two , in cooperation with developer Creative Assembly, also took over the game engine to allow a team of four players to compete in real time in various battle scenarios against historical generals in its Time Commanders program .

Modding community

Around Rome: Total War , a large modding community formed among the players in the Total War series even before the final version was released. These initially arose from doubts about the historical accuracy. One of the earliest modifications, which arose for this reason and later developed into one of the largest modifications, was called Europa Barbarorum . In the course of time, players released several hundred modifications for Rome , ranging from changing textures to complete overhauls of the gameplay and scenario.

Extensions

Barbarian invasion

→ Main article : Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion

The add-on Barbarian Invasion deals with late antiquity : In the year 395 AD, the Roman Empire disintegrated into two parts, the Western Roman and the Eastern Roman Empire , and is threatened by barbarian tribes on the European side . The add-on replaces all races and most of the units from the main game. In addition, some new functions have been built into the add-on. It was released in September 2005.

The task of the Romans is to defend the respective empire against the barbarian hordes and to reunite the divided empire. The Western Roman Empire, which ruled Italy, Western Europe and North Africa, also had to struggle with uprisings, debts and religious differences. The Eastern Roman Empire, on the other hand, started much more pleasantly, but was more threatened by the advancing hordes from the east, including the Huns .

The barbarians, for their part, are divided into two camps. On the one hand there are the local barbarians, for example the Franks , Saxons or Goths , who gained power in the course of the collapse of the Roman Empire and are now threatened by the storm from the east. They are at odds with one another and wage wars against their neighbors and against each other. However, it is easy to make covenants, but you can be sure that these covenants will not be kept. On the other hand there are homeless cavalry hordes approaching from all sides, such as the Huns or Vandals , who are attacking Eastern Europe and North Africa and trying to make a home for themselves.

Alexander

→ Main article : Rome: Total War: Alexander

The last add-on for Rome: Total War was released in June 2006 and deals with the campaigns of Alexander the Great and was initially offered as a downloadable product. A retail version also appeared later.

It mainly deals with Alexander's struggle against the Persian Empire. The strategy is severely limited by the goal of the game and the circumstances. In practice, it is a series of battles with minimal influence of financial decisions. The player always has the time pressure in mind. In contrast to the rest of the series, diplomacy is completely absent in this add-on. You are always at war with all other factions. Although the rules of the game have remained the same, the player in the role of Alexander regularly only has spear-bearers ( phalanx , hoplites ), cavalry ( hetaires riding ) and weak skirmishers ( peltasts ). This forces one to fight against numerically superior forces. Because of this, and because of the supply of troops on the extensive campaigns, the player must fall back on mercenary associations that can be recruited along the way.

In contrast to the add-on "Barbarian Invasion", "Alexander" does not automatically take older versions of "Rome - Total War" to a new level. Patch 1.5 or higher is required to play.

Trivia

• As in many other media that deal with historical topics, historical inaccuracies or errors appear in Rome: Total War: Mogontiacum ( Mainz ) is shown east of the Rhine on the campaign map, although the city is west of the Rhine. The city of Trier is more southern in the game than in reality.
• The province of Hyperboria is the name of the legendary country that was located far in the north by the ancient Greek geographers and mythographers. Their capital is Themiskyra , the legendary capital of the Amazons.
• The capital of the province locus Gepidae (place of Gepidae ) Domus Dulcis Domus, which translated into English Home Sweet Home means.
• There are several references to other media: the descriptions of the Judean Zealots or an aqueduct allude to The Life of Brian . If the game is played in the English language, the Egyptian faction will at some point require the player All your base are belong to us .

Web links

• Official website for the Total War series (multilingual)
• Rome: Total War at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ROME: Total War for iOS | Feral Interactive. Retrieved September 11, 2018 . 
2. ↑ feralinteractive.com
3. ↑ Oliver Schwuchow: Rome: Total War for Android is here. December 19, 2018, accessed on January 4, 2019 (German). 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Steve Butts: Test "Rome: Total War". ign.com, September 22, 2004, accessed February 26, 2014 . 
5. ↑ - Game test by Spieleflut.de - "Rome: Total War" sighted: February 14, 2014.
6. ^ ^{A b} Michael Graf: Test "Rome: Total War". In: GameStar . IDG Entertainment Media GmbH , October 8, 2004, accessed on May 11, 2014 . 
7. ^ ^{A b} Manfred Duy: Test "Rome: Total War: Alexander". gamona.de, October 12, 2004, accessed on February 14, 2014 . 
8. ↑ - Game test by 4PLayers.de - Test: Rome: Total War " Page 3, viewed: February 14, 2014.
9. ↑ - Game test by Spieleflut.de - "Rome: Total War" sighted: February 14, 2014.
10. ↑ - Playtest from netzwelt.de - "Test: Rome Total War" page 1, viewed February 14, 2014.
11. ↑ Rome Total War Tutorial: Unlocking Factions , accessed October 23, 2015.
12. ^ Test "Rome: Total War". macworld.com, accessed February 26, 2014 . 
13. ^ Jason Ocampo: Test "Rome: Total War". In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , September 23, 2004, accessed February 26, 2014 . 
14. ^ Kieron Gillen: Test "Rome: Total War". In: Eurogamer . Gamer Network , October 1, 2004, accessed February 26, 2014 . 
15. ^ Dave Kosak: Test "Rome: Total War". GameSpy, September 22, 2004, accessed February 26, 2014 . 
16. ^ Meta evaluation "Rome: Total War". In: GameRankings . CBS Corporation , accessed February 26, 2014 . 
17. ^ Meta evaluation "Rome: Total War". In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed February 26, 2014 . 
18. ^ Website of "Europa Barbarorum". europabarbarorum.com, accessed on May 11, 2014 (English). 
19. ↑ Tom Senior: Ten Essential "Total War" Modes. PC Gamer, accessed May 11, 2014 .