Hello there!
Now I like strategy games, starting with Age of Empires several years ago and now playing games such as Civ 5 and the brand new Total War Game.
So Rome II what makes it great? Well its huge, the game is ruddy huge. Not only does the campaign map now span up to the Bactrian Kingdoms of the steppes, but its just so much bigger, where you could fit Italy and Greece in the original RTW, now you get southern Italy. The battlefields have had the same treatment, they are just epic.
But scale isn't everything, its all just so beautiful. I thought it couldn't get much better after Shogun 2's blossom strewn hills but oh how I was wrong. Rome II is stunning, from the sun glinting off the helms of a phalanx as it marches onto the plain to the fronds of a palm tree wavering on the sure as ships collide in spectacular style (Oh, and Spartans actually look good now).
But of course a game can look great, be huge and still fail on the game play. Luckily Creative Assembly don't do that kind of shizzle and not only has Rome II kept the spark that made its father an amazing game, but its pushed it further. Units are easier to control, port assaults are just epic and artillery can now be aimed by the player themselves with the cinematic camera (Which is yet another awesome feature added). And the ambushes...Oh the ambushes. I never knew a strategy game could actually scare you, but try playing an ambush, at night, in the woods against a friend who can only laugh in a menacing manner at the idiotic manner in which your legion marches into the trap.
But its not perfect, there are bugs, annoying ones. I've had ships be taken out of the game by simply 'hovering' to the corner of the map and getting stuck on the red line with no control. I've also had battles freeze mid game with restarting the entire game being the only way out. But CA have already confirmed weekly bug fixes as reports come in from the hundreds of thousands of players.
So if I were to give it a score, say, out of a hundred, I'd give it 93.6. Its a truly awesome game, with free bug and DLC support, the multiplayer is amazing I might not see daylight for a few years
Red'
PS. Images soon...hopefully...or video, something at least
