It's been years since I even so much as looked at my copy of Rome: Total War. I've been meaning to get back into it again, and now I've found both excuse and inspiration.
The glory that is Rome has held my attention since I was a child. I've always been fascinated by the legendary legionaries, their iron discipline, and superior technology. The empire's historical dominance and cohesion has been the subject of hours of my reading and study. This is what originally drove me to buy Rome: Total War when it debuted. I hadn't formed much of an opinion of The Creative Assembly; I'd played Medieval: Total War, but I forked up the cash for this with a glimmer in my eye.
I wasn't disappointing. I quickly became, and has remained my favorite among all the Total War titles, and I'm sure many of you can agree with me there. So why the neglect? Frankly, I have no excuse. I'd moved on to Empire, dabbled in other strategy titles (notably, the fantastic Sins of Solar Empire) and generally ignored my first love. I'd wanted to mod the title for quite some time, but I had an unreliable internet connection and an even dodgier machine to play it on. Well, all of that has changed, and so has my relationship with Rome.
If I tend to write like a giddy little school girl from this point forward, I make no apologies. Roma II Surrectum is the best thing that has ever happened to my copy of RTW. Massive sized packet aside, this mod has transformed what I thought I knew about Rome. I went into it not knowing what to expect, and frankly I still don't. The creators have made such sweeping changes that game feels like an entirely different title.
The Roman campaign is intensely challenging. You are given most of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, but Hannibal with an incredibly experienced, battle-hardened army is at your capital's doorstep, knocking hard. Enter player. Events unfold quickly and unpredictably, adding an element of chance that I makes the game exciting.
The Battle AI is the most difficult I've ever faced. I went in quite cocky, I then became worried, and finally shocked as I was roundly trounced. Never, ever, had I been beaten so soundly by the computer. I couldn't wait until my next battle. It felt like actually had something at stake, and I took care to consider my options with each decision I made. I found myself actually having to construct a strategy rather than just maintain an economy and feed more units into the meat grinder.
The economy. That's another aspect that the team has resolutely nailed. I simply love the fact that when a region is absorbed into the empire, you have the options of annexing them or regarding them as a client state; completely historically accurate, and the simple feature adds so much more depth to the player's decision making cycle. So far, I've only been playing as the Roman faction, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into the host of others.
The Roman campaign is intensely challenging. You are given most of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, but Hannibal with an incredibly experienced, battle-hardened army is at your capital's doorstep, knocking hard. Enter player. Events unfold quickly and unpredictably, adding an element of chance that I makes the game exciting.
The Battle AI is the most difficult I've ever faced. I went in quite cocky, I then became worried, and finally shocked as I was roundly trounced. Never, ever, had I been beaten so soundly by the computer. I couldn't wait until my next battle. It felt like actually had something at stake, and I took care to consider my options with each decision I made. I found myself actually having to construct a strategy rather than just maintain an economy and feed more units into the meat grinder. 
The economy. That's another aspect that the team has resolutely nailed. I simply love the fact that when a region is absorbed into the empire, you have the options of annexing them or regarding them as a client state; completely historically accurate, and the simple feature adds so much more depth to the player's decision making cycle. So far, I've only been playing as the Roman faction, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into the host of others. 
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