Rome: Total War

Initially, the player takes command of one of three Roman families during the later years of the Roman Republic: the Julii, the Brutii, or the Scipii. Eventually, the player can play as other factions in the world by either conquering them individually or by accomplishing the objectives of the campaign. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to become emperor by conquering fifty provinces, including Rome itself, but a "short game" can be played in which the player must control fifteen provinces and outlast a certain faction or factions.[10]

A Julii family member governing a settlement. His character traits and retinue can be seen beneath his portrait, while his fundamental stats are to the right of his portrait. Further down is a list of the troops that can be trained in the city that he is governing. To the left, the campaign map can be seen; the character is governing Arretium. A diplomat can be seen outside the city. To the north, a Julii army is besieging the Gallic city of Mediolanium.

Control over territory in the game is represented by capturing and holding a major city in that territory. New cities are conquered by either training soldiers in cities that are already owned and then using those soldiers to besiege enemy cities or by bribing the city into switching sides. Apart from simply expanding one's faction, cities can have positive or negative effects on a nation. For example, well-managed cities can provide the faction that owns them with valuable tax income, but poorly-managed cities may cost the player more money in maintenance than they make in taxes. Cities have a variety of buildings that may be built or upgraded, such as temples, aqueducts, and amphitheatres. Buildings have different effects on the city; for example, aqueducts improve public health and decrease urban squalor, which in turn makes the inhabitants of the city happier. If cities grow too unhappy, they may revolt and either return to a faction that previously owned them or become a part of a generic "rebel" faction.[11]

Each faction starts with a set of family members. The head of the family is the leader of the faction; any male above the age of 16 can be designated as the current leader's heir. Males above the age of 16 can govern settlements and command armies as generals. Male family members can be added through births between married family members, adoption, or marriage with a female family member. Family members eventually die; natural causes, battles, assassinations, diseases, and natural disasters can all cause a character's demise. Family members can develop character traits from life experiences or heredity. These traits can have both positive and negative effects on the character's stats, which in turn affect their battlefield performance, how well they manage their settlements, and how persuasive they are in negotiations. The stats of family members can also be affected by members of their personal retinue.[12]

Agents can also acquire traits and retinue members. Agents are special types of characters that can be recruited in cities with the proper buildings. There are three types of agents: spies, diplomats, and assassins. Spies can be used to gather intelligence about the composition of armies, infiltrate foreign cities, and serve in a counter-espionage role in the players own cities. When besieging an enemy city, spies stationed within that city have a chance to open the gates. Assassins can assassinate characters and commit sabotage in settlements. Spies and assassins can both be killed during their missions. Diplomats can offer a variety of diplomatic deals to other factions, such as alliances, tributes, and trade rights. They may also attempt to bribe foreign armies, cities, agents, and family members into either defecting or, if the soldiers being bribed are not "compatible" with the other faction, deserting.[13]

An example of a battle in progress. Here, a group of hoplites are utilizing the phalanx formation to better defend themselves at the cost of decreased mobility.

In addition to the turn-based campaign, Rome: Total War also features 3D, real-time battles. Battles can be played as a part of the larger campaign, as a custom battle against the AI, as a preset "historical battle" based on a real-life military engagement, or as a multiplayer battle against other players. As opposed to the campaign, which features an overhead map of the world, battles take place on individual battlefields. The terrain of the battlefield can play a key role in how the battle plays out. In most cases, the ultimate goal of the battle is to defeat the enemy forces by either killing or routing all of their troops; in a siege, the attacker can also achieve victory by capturing and holding the town center for a period of time. In battles, the player commands a variety of soldiers that are arranged into units. The game features a variety of units for battle, which may be broadly categorised into infantry, cavalry, archers, and siege weapons. Different units have different morale, hit points, and general combat skills. If a unit's morale drops too low, its soldiers try to flee the field.[14] Units can create different formations that alter how they perform in combat; for example, many types of spearmen can form the phalanx formation, while many Roman soldiers can form the testudo. Both of these formations sacrifice mobility in favour of defensiveness. The player can also employ complex tactics to help them achieve victory; for example, soldiers can ambush enemies from a nearby forest or flank them to avoid a frontal engagement.[15]

Barbarian Invasion allows the player to take control of the barbarian nations of Europe and the Middle East during the migration period. It also adds a more complex portrayal of religion, with changes in the state religion affecting unrest and the popularity of the ruling family. The campaign takes place from 363 AD to 476 AD.

The Alexander expansion puts the player in the role of Alexander the Great and replays his conquests and battles. The campaign takes place from 336 BC to 323 BC.

Rome: Total War allows for the manipulation of some game resources, including its text files and textures, which has led to the creation of many modifications. This includes unit editing, the ability to control previously unplayable factions, and total conversion mods such as Rome: Total Realism and Europa Barbarorum. There are major modifications covering eras of human history from the 9th century BC to early 19th century, and put in fantasy settings like Middle-earth and the Warhammer universe.

According to The NPD Group, Rome: Total War was the 20th-best-selling computer game of 2004.[21] It maintained this position on NPD's annual computer game sales chart for the following year.[22] In the United States alone, the game sold 390,000 copies and earned $16.8 million by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to declare it the country's 40th-best-selling computer game, and best-selling Total War title, released since January 2000. The series as a whole, including Rome, sold 1.3 million units in the United States by August 2006.[23] By 2013, Rome: Total War alone had totaled 876,000 sales in the region.[24] It also received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[25] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[26]

Rome sold at least 100,000 units in the German market by December 2004.[27]

The game received "universal acclaim" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[28] Many reviewers regarded it as one of the best strategy games of all time; it won numerous awards and high scores from gaming websites and magazines alike.

• PC Gamer (UK): All time 5th best PC game "95%"
• IGN: Editor's Choice Award, 4th Best PC Game of all Time, 14th Best Game of all Time.[7][34]
• PC Gamer (US): Editor's Choice, Best Strategy Game of 2004
• GameSpot: Editor's Choice, PC Game of September,[35] Strategy Game of 2004[36]
• Adrenaline Vault: Seal of Excellence
• GameSpy: Editor's Choice
• E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Game

Computer Games Magazine named Rome: Total War the fifth-best computer game of 2004. The editors wrote, "If there's a magic formula for how to make a great strategy game, Creative Assembly has it down pat."[37] The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Rome as their 2004 "Strategy Game of the Year (Real-Time)", although it lost to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.[38] It was nominated for GameSpot's year-end "Best Graphics, Technical" award.[36]