Rome: Total War - Best Sellers PC Games and Downloads

Released on 13/10/2006

• Rome: Total War Preview

  GAME's Jonus Austinix does it like a Roman...

  Medieval: Total War must surely be one of the ten best titles in the history of PC gaming - featuring intuitive but incredibly deep realtime strategy, Risk-style map management, and an optional level of micromanagement to put most God-sims to shame, it turned millions of heads.

  Its sequel, Rome: Total War, has already turned millions of heads, before release, due to its involvement with the BBC TV show Time Commanders, which featured an earlier version of the exciting game engine.

  Smart cookies

  Rome of course, is a phenomenal subject on which to base a strategy game, though bizarrely there haven't actually been many - last year's Praetorians from Eidos was an enjoyable stab but let's face it, it wasn't Total War. The Romans were smart cookies when it came to battle - highly trained, efficient and organised, and the period that the game covers is one of the bloodiest in the history of man. Controlling - or going up against - such legendarily unbeatable troops, can't fail to be an amazing experience.

  The recent demo gives a fair idea of what to expect from the finished game but it's also likely to have barely scratched the surface. It begins with a truncated tutorial, in which you are taught how to use your spearmen, archers and cavalry to see off a horde of marauding Gallic barbarians, and then throws you into a more complicated battle against Hannibal of Carthage himself.

  It never ceases to impress when there are thousands of troops clashing on screen at the same time.

  You begin the full game as a representative of the house of Julii, carrying out missions which expand the glory of Rome. Get noticed and you'll grab a seat on the senate - from there it's simply a case of biding your time, amassing your power and waiting until the time is right to overthrow the rest of the senate and become Emperor - all for the good of Rome.

  It doesn't have to be Rome, of course. Several civilisations are available to control throughout the game (such as the aforementioned Carthage) and each have access to a huge range of realistic unit types - Carthaginian elephants are particularly impressive - they can cause massive damage and instil huge amounts of fear, but they're also troublesome - if they get spooked they can trample your own army just as quick as the opposing force.

  As the game goes on you expand your territory through negotiation, diplomacy or of course, force, choosing your battles in the main game map and overseeing those battles you wish to, personally.

  Amazingly epic

  It never ceases to impress when there are thousands of troops clashing on screen at the same time, and as well as your standard battles it's also possible to be the attacking or defending force in some highly impressive siege scenarios, with huge engines of war doing their utmost to topple defences.

  Rome looks like continuing the Total War brand with the same finesse that it started with Shogun and continued with Medieval. It's got to the point now where we don't even have to wonder if the next instalment is going to be any cop - it's just a case of how much exactly we're going to be amazed by this epic experience.

  Preview by: Jonny Austin
  

  Published: 09/09/2004

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