Hello. I'm Dan, nice to meet you.
I also write for Dooyoo, so you might recognise my reviews.
Hello. I'm Dan, nice to meet you.
I also write for Dooyoo, so you might recognise my reviews.
Member since:02.01.2007
Reviews:5
The rain thunders all around, clattering off shields and armour, splattering across the boughs of the fir trees, dripping from the rims of helmets. Rows of grim faced Romans grip their pilae and gaze into the mist, where the voices of seven thousand baying barbarians roar their battle cries, hammering swords, axes and spears on battered shields.
Welcome to Gaul. It is the year 263BC, and Captain Asinius of the House of Julii has just had his column of 800 men ambushed on the way to the frontier town of Alesia. His scouts report that he is outnumbered more than seven to one, with almost no hope of escape and no reinforcements. An experienced soldier, this is however his first battle at the head of an army. He quickly deploys his men on the nearest hill, legionary cohorts and archers ready to give the enemy army hell.
Welcome to Rome: Total War.
OVERVIEW
Ever felt the desire to lead hordes of troops into huge and bloody battles across the length and breadth of the Roman world, testing your leadership and the skills of your men to the limit? No? Well, let me change your mind.
Rome: Total War puts you in charge of one of the noble families of the Roman Empire, the Julii, Scipii, or the Brutii as they compete with each other and the many great nations of the Mediterranean to build an empire, please both Senate and plebs, and ultimately become sole ruler of Rome.
This, as you probably realise, is no mean feat. You have the mammoth task of training troops, keeping your citizens happy, filling your coffers, ruling the seas, dealing with numerous natural disasters, maintaining diplomatic ties with allies and defending borders against enemies. In the midst of it all spies have to be rooted out, assassins thwarted and marauding bandits crushed.
The game is split between the campaign map and the battle map, arguably two different games in themselves.
CAMPAIGN MAP
This is where you must oversee the growth of your cities and movements of armies, fleets, diplomats, spies and assassins. Basically it is one incredibly complicated game of chess, with armies able to defend choke points with forts, prepare ambushes and besiege or garrison cities. The need for supplies of money to power your armies means that complicated building schedules spring up within your cities to keep the cash flowing.
I say keep the cash flowing. It is a bit more complicated than that - you need to keep your cities clean and the gods honoured or people get upset and die too much. You need to improve your barracks, your stables,
your archery range and blacksmith to allow the training of the most elite and well-equipped troops. You need to keep up with the latest farming techniques, improve your markets and build ports to allow sea trade. On top of that you need to worry about the city's defences, and the building of academies to train your family members into brilliant generals, public speakers and managers. To allow a decent flow of traders and for your armies to move quickly, you need to build roads to connect your cities as well.
Trouble is, you have only so much time, and only so much money. And then someone comes over with a big army and messes all your plans up. So you decide to just fight that battle…and then that city needs seeing to, and oh, you need a little more money so you end your turn (advancing time 6 months)…and so on. If you're not careful, you'll end up spending your whole life on Rome, it is really that addictive.
The campaign map is an accurate map of Europe, North Africa and the western edge of Asia, divided up into squares. When two armies meet in a square and decide to fight, the action zooms to the battle map - if the square contains mountains there will be mountains on the map, the same going for rivers, coastlines, forests and so on. You can also hide armies for ambushing within forests - rarely are you lucky enough to get an enemy to wander past, but when you do it is very satisfying to encircle them and then run yelling at them out of the trees!
THE BATTLE MAP
There are in fact two types of battle - siege battles and normal battles.
NORMAL - Normally you will fight with two armies facing each other across a battlefield containing anything from snow and ice to forest to desert. Sometimes it will be a minor skirmish, sometimes a battle to end all battles with thousands of men present (my mid-spec PC can cope with about 8000 soldiers on moderate graphical settings).
First comes deployment. This will depend on your style and your army, but Captain Asinius deploys his archers and skirmishers in the front rank ready to fall back when things hot up, then heavy infantry in the centre, supported by lighter infantry on the flanks, and then his horsemen divided equally between the two flanks. Deciding that he has sufficient cavalry to take on the opposing horsemen, he deploys his bodyguard unit in the centre behind the heavy troops to give encouragement during the fiercest fighting and plug gaps in the line.
Then the battle begins. The troops are already demoralised by the rain and the shouts of the Gauls, but, as Asinius shouts in a rousing speech to the men, they are Romans! They will bend their backs to the task, and send these over-confident barbarians into the afterlife!
The Gauls however do not see it this way. As the Roman cavalry wheels out wide on each flank, a motley array of barbarian swordsmen, spearmen, druids and archers charges up the hill, yelling all the time. Arrows whistle in each direction - the Romans ducking behind their shields to avoid the worst of the volley while the barbarians rely on sheer weight of numbers and bloody mindedness. A few spears are thrown and then the skirmishers are pulling back, letting the legionaries take over.
On the flanks a violent scuffle has erupted between the horsemen of each side. The impetus of the charge has thrown many men from their horses, and the number of barbarians is considerably larger than the Roman force. However, they form a wedge and drive through their foes, cutting down men to left and right. It is a close call, but the Roman discipline proves to be the stronger, and the barbarian horsemen turn to fall back. Panting, the remaining mounted legionaries turn their horses to see how the main battle is going.
After throwing a wave of pilae (Roman spears) the legionaries have drawn swords, locked shields and absorbed the waves of barbarian attackers. The fighting is fierce, and the group of men is quickly surrounded, archers and skirmishers using daggers to try and keep the flanks from being overwhelmed, and the captain charging into the centre to fight alongside his men.
The line is faltering though. As the Romans tire, more and more Gauls press forward to fill the space of their fallen comrades. Asinius has only four bodyguards left, and is fighting for his life amid a veritable sea of enemies.
Then comes the sound of a horn and the thundering of hooves. It may be uphill, but the impetus of the cavalry charge still splits the Gaulish horde in two - crushing bearded barbarians under the storming hooves of warhorses. Suddenly the balance is turned - the wavering Romans press forward, and the implacable Gauls falter. There is a cry of dismay, and like a wave receding down the beach, they are running, scattering to avoid the hooves of pursuing Romans.
Captain Asinius has gained his first victory!
Anyway, I deviate. That is however not (much) of a dramatisation of the battles found in Rome. They are very violent and realistic affairs - fire arrows at the front of shield-bearing infantry and not much will happen, fire them at the backs of men in loincloths and they will be considerably worse for wear. Charge cavalry into the front of a phalanx and they will be slaughtered (trust me - I tried it. Once), but charge the same phalanx in the rear and it will likely be destroyed. Troops' morale is important, as is their tiredness. Some fight better in deserts, some in woods, some in snow. Most units have special abilities - be it the famous "testudo" of Roman Legionaries or fire arrows. Take a hill and your men will feel happier, the enemies will get knackered charging at you, and your archers will be able to fire further.
Battles are very cinematic too - you can pause the action to admire a particularly violent elephant charge that has flung men in all directions, or allow the camera to follow the graceful curving arc of a volley of arrows.
SIEGES - Now imagine the same scenario except that there is a large wall between you and the enemy city, from which they persist in firing arrows at you and pouring oil on your heads. How do you crush this irritation? Well, if the wall is a pathetic wooden affair, simply knock a hole in it with a ram and stab the people inside. If it is a gigantic stone affair with ballistas mounted in each tower, then something more may be in order.
Siege machinery comes in every form from ladders to siege towers and includes rams, sapping and onagers. Elephants can tear down gates. Remember though that if you knock a hole in the wall of a city and then take the city you're going to have to repair the hole or someone else will use it.
Sieges can be huge and fantastic last stands with your men fighting every inch of the way until you have your general and one bodyguard fighting back to back in a sea of enemies, or they can be disappointing affairs where the enemy AI is too rubbish to use its siege engines properly. Last I checked however this wasn't a problem; perhaps one of the many patches has done the trick.
GRAPHICS
Rome uses an all-new version of the Total War Graphics engine - the main feature of which is its ability to render vast numbers of soldiers on a single battlefield. Excitable estimates range from 30,000 troops to about 50,000, but a supercomputer would probably be required in either case.
The graphics are good. They are not mind-boggling - almost all men in units are the same, and aren't 100% realistic, but when zoomed out this doesn't matter one iota, and when zoomed in it matters little.
The campaign map is slightly cartoonish (as it is supposed to be) and not graphically brilliant but it certainly looks nice enough - and you're unlikely to be worrying about the graphics anyway.
THE DOWNSIDE?
Rome does have its faults. The main one is that allowing the computer to command your men is effectively to throw them away - battles you should easily win are easily lost by the AI. (NOTE: this only applies to allied AI - the enemy commanders range from dithering idiots to master tacticians). Supposedly you can turn AI command of reinforcements off, but I found that often despite clearly un-ticking the box they ended up AI controlled anyway. Also there is no option to command your own sea battles, although they tend to be fairly unimportant anyway.
Critics have also complained about certain historical elements being somewhat dodgy - namely that the houses of Brutii and Scipii never existed. Also for the purposes of game mechanics each turn lasts 6 months - but while your buildings are built at a plausible rate, your armies and ships move incredibly slowly (a journey across the Med, in real life maybe taking a week, could take two or three years in Rome).
Diplomacy is also a failing. The system is fairly clunky, with some very reasonable offers rejected for no apparent reason. Nobody trusts anybody - and nobody expects them to honour their promises or threats. Threaten to attack if demands are not met, and despite the fact you have a vast army ready to march on their capital, they will probably laugh in your face. Then of course you can make them suffer for their insolence, but they won't learn.
Bandits are also a right nuisance. They randomly appear across your land and burn your farms whilst your armies are off campaigning, only going away if bribed vast sums or stabbed repeatedly. However, I suppose it's more realistic that way.
IN CONCLUSION
There are quite a few failings but in truth they mean little. Rome is a fantastic game, and since it is getting on a bit you can get the Gold Edition (II) for about Ł10 (with "Alexander" expansion pack) or Rome and all expansion packs for about Ł20. The only reason I give it four stars is because it has been superseded in terms of gameplay, realism and graphical quality by Medieval II: Total War.
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-Pentium III or Athlon 1GHz Processor -256MB RAM -8X CD-ROM Drive -2.9GB Hard Disk Space -16-bit DirectX compatible Sound Card -64MB DirectX compatible ATi Radeon 8500 or nVidia GeForce 3 Class Video Card -1024x768 Display
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