Total War: Rome II

Total War Series

Total War: Pharaoh Total War Saga: Troy Total War: Three Kingdoms - Portal Total War: Three Kingdoms Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia Total War: Warhammer - Portal Total War: Warhammer III Total War: Warhammer II Total War: Warhammer Total War: Attila Total War: Rome II - Portal Total War: Rome II Total War: Shogun 2 - Portal Total War: Shogun 2 Shogun 2: Rise of the Samurai Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai Napoleon: Total War Empire: Total War Medieval II: Total War - Portal Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms Rome: Total War & Remastered Portal Total War: Rome Remastered Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion Alexander Medieval: Total War Viking Invasion Shogun: Total War Mongol Invasion

Total War: Rome 2 is the eighth Total War game by the Creative Assembly, announced in July 2012, and released on 3rd September 2013.

General Information

Rome 2 Total War, like its predecessor, is set in Classical Antiquity. The campaign allows the player to take control of the Roman Republic and, if they choose, transform it into an empire.

Campaign Map

The game has a larger campaign map than Rome: Total War, and apart from encompassing the extent of the Roman Empire and its environs, features new territories stretching further to the eastern edge of the map.

The diplomacy system is claimed to be revamped with a better artificial intelligence, so players can also plan their way to power diplomatically. Creative Assembly acknowledges the various anomalies in previous games, where the AI could perform strange or even suicidal actions, such as small factions declaring war on the whole Roman Empire. The AI is said to be more "intelligent" and cunning as ever. The choices of the player will influence the AI's attitude toward him or her.

Engine

A new graphics engine powers the visuals of the game, encompassing a new lighting system, particles that cast and receive shadows,and new unit cameras that allow players to focus on individual soldiers in a unit on the battlefield, which in itself may contain thousands of combatants at a time. Creative Assembly has stated that they wish to bring out the more human side of the war this way, with soldiers reacting with horror as their comrades get killed around them, and officers inspiring their men with brief heroic speeches before siege towers make contact with the walls of the enemy city. This is realized using facial animations for individual units, adding a deeper layer of humanity and realism to the battles, that allow the player to connect more easily with their armies and its troops. Along with new animations, lead designer James Russell stated in an interview that combat in Rome 2 was to be a "complete meatgrinder", as opposed to individual unit combat animations in Shogun 2. Furthermore, the campaign map is rendered with the battle map engine. This allows for a much more thorough and accurate terrain cell system, with cells as small as one pixel per meter on the battle map possible.

Gameplay

As with Total War: Shogun 2, the player is prompted with several decisions. The Creative Assembly is expanding on this mechanic, with each decision leading the player down a path which leads to a consequence the player must deal with. These decisions will then affect the way the campaign plays out, such as turning the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Additionally, rather than solely assigning traits to generals and family members as with previous Total War games, the player can now assign traits to legions as they become hard-bitten veterans through their years of combat experience and conquest. Players can also customize legions by choosing their weapon loadout. This probably means that players will still be able to determine the composition of individual cohorts, even though they will be building entire legions at a time unlike in previous Total War titles where the player had to build all units of an army separately.

Navies play an even more important role in Total War: Rome II than in its predecessor. Creative Assembly has introduced mixed naval and land combat for land battles and city sieges for the first time in the company's history. This reflects the naval strategies of the classical era, where coastal cities were conquered and destroyed in great invasions of infantry disembarking from warships. Amphibious attacks are one of the few new concepts that are available in Rome 2 Total War. Legions can now attack the enemy's ground forces and cities, while naval units provide supporting fire or ram each other far away in the seas. Navies can also conquer poorly guarded coastal cities by themselves. Creative Assembly has made naval units bigger in size, so instead of building one ship per construction, a player can have a formidable navy in shorter time.

Creative Assembly also seeks to capture the uniqueness of different cultures and fighting forces in the ancient times. Jack Lusted, the Creative Assembly's lead unit designer, explained that instead of the single 'Rebel' faction of the original Rome: Total War they designed a large number of smaller factions, including one for each of the Greek city states. The different factions have diverse play-styles. A tribe of British barbarians should look and feel completely different from that of a disciplined Roman legion. For example, different agents and technologies will also be implemented for different factions. After all, an inland barbarian tribe would never be able to research the technology for polyremes and other naval weapons of war or have much hope of manufacturing advanced ballistae, etc.

Playable Factions

There are eight playable factions on Grand Campaign without any DLC (at release) and thirty with all DLCs.

• Rome
• Carthage
• Macedon
• Iceni
• Arverni
• Suebi
• Parthia
• Egypt
• Pontus release day free DLC faction.
• Seleucids 2nd free DLC faction, released on 18 October, 2013.
• Baktria 3rd free DLC faction, released on 5 December, 2013.
• The Getae 4th free DLC faction, released on 29 May, 2014 alongside the Battle of Pydna.
• Armenia 5th free DLC faction, released as a part of Emperor Edition.
• Massilia 6th free DLC faction, released alongside the Black Sea Colonies Culture Pack.

Greek States Culture Pack

Players who pre-ordered Rome 2 got a Bonus DLC that adds three additional factions to the Grand Campaign, it was released on 3 September 2013.

• Athens
• Epirus
• Sparta

Nomadic Tribes Culture Pack

This pack adds three new factions to the Grand Campaign, it was released on 22 October 2013.

• Massagetae
• Roxolani
• Royal Scythia

Caesar In Gaul Campaign Pack

It's the first campaign pack of Rome II, which was released on 17 December 2013. It includes four factions to play as.

• Rome
• Suebi
• Arverni
• Nervii

Hannibal at the Gates Campaign Pack

It's the second campaign pack of Rome II, which was released on 27 March 2014. It includes five factions to play as.

• Carthage
• Rome
• Arevaci
• Lusitani
• Syracuse

Pirates and Raiders Culture Pack

This pack adds three new factions to the Grand Campaign, it was released on 29 May 2014.

• Ardiaei
• Odrysian Kingdom
• Tylis

Imperator Augustus Campaign Pack

It's the third campaign pack of Rome II, which was released as a part of Emperor Edition, on 16 September 2014. It includes ten factions to play as.

• Octavian's Rome
• Lepidus' Rome
• Marc_Antony's Rome
• Pompey's Rome
• Iceni
• Marcomanni
• Dacia
• Egypt
• Parthia
• Armenia

Black Sea Colonies Culture Pack

This pack adds three new factions to the Grand Campaign, it was released on 20 November 2014.

• Cimmeria
• Colchis
• Pergamon

Wrath Of Sparta Campaign Pack

It's the fourth campaign pack of Rome II, which was released on 16 December 2014. It includes four factions to play as.

• Sparta
• Athenai
• Boiotian League
• Korinthos

Empire Divided Campaign Pack

It's the fifth campaign pack of Rome II, which was released on 30 November 2017. It includes ten factions to play as.

• Rome
• Gallic Rome
• Palmyra
• Saxones
• Gothi
• Marcomanni
• The Sassanids
• Armenia
• Alani
• Caledones

Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack

This pack adds four new factions to the Grand Campaign, it was released on 8 March 2018.

• Meroe (The Kingdom of Kush)
• Nabatae
• Saba
• Masaesyli

Rise of the Republic Campaign Pack

It's the sixth campaign pack of Rome II, which was released on 9 August 2018. It includes nine factions to play as.

• Rome
• Tarchuna
• Senones
• Insubres
• Samnites
• Taras
• Syracuse
• Iolei
• Veneti

System Requirements

Minimum:

• OS:Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
• Processor:2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor / 2.6 GHz Intel Single Core processor
• Memory:1GB RAM (XP), 2GB RAM (Vista / Windows 7 or 8) GB RAM
• Graphics:512 MB Direct 9.0c compatible card (shader model 3)
• DirectX®:9.0c
• Hard Drive:30 GB HD space
• Additional:Screen Resolution - Minimum spec: 1024x768 minimum/ Recommended spec: 1280x1024 minimum

Recommended:

• OS:Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
• Processor:2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processor (or greater)
• Memory:2GB Ram (XP), 4GB RAM (Vista / Windows 7 or 8) GB RAM
• Graphics:1024 MB DirectX 11 compatible graphics card.
• DirectX®:11
• Hard Drive:30 GB HD space
• Additional:Screen Resolution - Minimum spec: 1024x768 minimum/ Recommended spec: 1280x1024 minimum

External links

• Discuss Total War: Rome II and view Modifications on TWC
• Live action trailer
• Computer and Video Games - New Engine Information
• Hader's Thoughts on Total War: Rome II (2014) from the Eagle Standard
• Rome II: 10th Anniversary Review from the Eagle Standard