My Rome: Total War 2 review

[Lord of Lost Socks]

He shows a lot of example to back up his statements. And pretty much shouts at the game for being the suckage.

 

Which in my opinion is more than justifitied. I've shouted more than 40 minutes at this game while playing it. Although, granted, 3 hours of that time I was just sitting try to get the AI to attack me in my village that it supposedly was sieging. I won 3 defences just by leaving the game on and play on my Playstation.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Lord of Lost Socks

[Calax]

It's angry joe, the entire reason he exists is to scream stupidly at stuff. 

 

The game has flaws, we get it, partly because the crew behind it is focusing on the wrong things in an attempt to get money. They went mostly for atmosphere, and succeeded for the most part, but it's starting to remind me a bit of EvE online where the suits were focused on stupid stuff (cosmetic items, in game store) instead of game mechanics thinking that that'd make them more money. TW2 feels similar in that they keep improving the look and the feel of the era... while forgetting that the gameplay and underlying mechanics and systems for everything needs to be updated too because that's what got your fans in the first place.

 

 I'm convinced that if they had focused mostly on ensuring that the games systems were well utilized and meaningful, rather than on ****ing clouds and "politics" they'd end up with a much better game.

[Leferd]

Yeah, it's being angry is his Schtick, but his presentation is clever, funny, and effective. He's one of the better known indie reviewers and his opinion carries heavy weight in social media circles and in the Total War communities. His video was released yesterday, and his thread on the official TW forums is nearing 200 pages - and the Creative Assembly is definitely listening.

[Lexx]

He does have good points. I skipped over the video and couldn't find a lot to disagree. Also he is not just ranting about it. He also says that the game is really good in it's core, but that the ****ty elements are pushing it down.

[Leferd]

 

Old Microprose / KOEI games are more historiclal and have better strategic gameplay

http://www.mobygames.com/game/sword-of-the-samurai

http://www.mobygames.com/game/nobunagas-ambition-ii

http://www.mobygames.com/game/bandit-kings-of-ancient-china

http://www.mobygames.com/game/lempereur

http://www.mobygames.com/game/genghis-khan-ii-clan-of-the-gray-wolf

http://www.mobygames.com/game/liberty-or-death

http://www.mobygames.com/game/romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-iv-wall-of-fire

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/celtic-tales-balor-of-the-evil-eye

http://www.mobygames.com/game/new-horizons

 

 

I've always wanted to play Sword of the Samurai. Feudal Japan is a fantastic setting and lots of great games are derived for the setting. Nobunaga's Ambition and both Shogun Total War games at the forefront. That said, I prefer solid and fun gameplay over strict adherence to realism or myopic deference to historical accuracy.

[ShadySands]

I love Sword of the Samurai and have thought about making a let's play of it

[Leferd]

Tom Chick's take on Quarter to Three. Probably my favorite "professional" vidya game critic.

 

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2013/09/06/creative-assembly-fiddles-rome-ii-loads/

[Calax]

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/599266384649329024/547845C50AC6943038881C7F16E19129DB83A015/

 

... Right at the furthest point from my legions!

 

Friggin Senate.

[Leferd]

Would you still have control of your garrison at least? Lols.

[Rosbjerg]

He shows a lot of example to back up his statements. And pretty much shouts at the game for being the suckage.

 

I'm sure his points are valid, but are you seriously telling me that who couldn't present his case in 10-15 minutes? I could go over all the flaws of all the games in the series in less than 5 minutes.. We're not talking about the finer points of a Monet painting here, it's a strategy game and a fairly average, albeit entertaining, one at that.

[Gorth]

The only "Roman" games I've really liked so far is Europa Universalis - Rome (I'm a bit of a Paradox fanboy), nefore that, there were two old games, 'Annals of Rome' for C64 and 'Centurion' for the Commodore Amiga.

 

If they would just ditch the RTS part, I might actually give this game a shot.

[mute688]

 

He shows a lot of example to back up his statements. And pretty much shouts at the game for being the suckage.

 

I'm sure his points are valid, but are you seriously telling me that who couldn't present his case in 10-15 minutes? I could go over all the flaws of all the games in the series in less than 5 minutes.. We're not talking about the finer points of a Monet painting here, it's a strategy game and a fairly average, albeit entertaining, one at that.

 

Angry Joe isn't just a reviewer.  Although I don't particularly enjoy his style, he is offering entertainment, not just reviews.  If you want short, succinct reviews there are a multitude out there.  Joe offers something different that a lot of people obviously enjoy while still making some good points.  In regard to his TW:R2 review, he apparently had to edit it down from around 2 hours of yelling at the camera.    It also contains a few gameplay vids as examples of the problems with the game that take up a bit of time.

[Humanoid]

I watched the whole 43 minutes. At the end I felt a bit of dissonance with the review score: all that had come before that point made it feel like a 0/10 game. So, uh, 6/10? Bloody generous given the displayed problems.

 

Disclaimer: I have not ever played a Total War game, and have no particular desire to do so.

[Rosbjerg]

he apparently had to edit it down from around 2 hours of yelling at the camera. 

 

 

So he's in love with his own voice obviously - but you're right of course.. to each their own.. I certainly have my guilty pleasures of time wasting.

[Jarmo]

Played every Total War game so far (except a few add-ons) and will get this as well, but I think I'll wait for discount and patches.

 

Medieval 2 is the one I've played for about a million hours, the main game was so-so, like every other TW,

but  http://www.twcenter.net/wiki/Stainless_Steel fixes so much and makes everything so much better it's actually pretty historical and fun to play.

Broken Crescent and Third Age as well.

 

No more mods after that, meaning the games are no longer salvageable.

 

Empire was faulty in many ways, but still fun for a few long campaigns, Napoleon too limited to get much enjoyment out of.

Shogun 2 was the biggest disappointment so far, can't specifiy why, but it just wasn't as much fun as I wanted, played a it once or twice.

Can't remember if I won or not, don't care either. Didn't pick the DLC's.

 

Finish up with arcanum, pick up GTA5 and see about Rome in a few months.

[Leferd]

I watched the whole 43 minutes. At the end I felt a bit of dissonance with the review score: all that had come before that point made it feel like a 0/10 game. So, uh, 6/10? Bloody generous given the displayed problems.

 

Disclaimer: I have not ever played a Total War game, and have no particular desire to do so.

That's because despite all it's flaws, bugs, instability, and horrendous ai - the underlying design is still very solid. This would have been a great game if it was allowed a few more months to bake.

[Calax]

Yes and no... The only thing I've been noticing from playing further is that the AI... needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. There are a few bits of brilliance in it, when the battle is more akin to one from the olden days, but for the most part it's just becoming obviously unable to keep up with new tactics and mechanics. The only reason it felt smarter in Shogun 2 is because there was a MUCH smaller unit tree, and because units could just climb over walls.

 

With the reversion to not having that, the AI will automatically attack your walls.... but not be sure how to break it (sometimes never setting your gates on fire, other times getting it half way there...). I'd guess if they went and forced the AI to take a turn and build a few siege engines it'd act smarter during those... but honestly, it's just to far behind.

[Humanoid]

 

I watched the whole 43 minutes. At the end I felt a bit of dissonance with the review score: all that had come before that point made it feel like a 0/10 game. So, uh, 6/10? Bloody generous given the displayed problems.

 

Disclaimer: I have not ever played a Total War game, and have no particular desire to do so.

That's because despite all it's flaws, bugs, instability, and horrendous ai - the underlying design is still very solid. This would have been a great game if it was allowed a few more months to bake.

 

Sure, but I do wonder how far that excuse can go for a game where the advancements are merely iterative. It's one thing to fail when trying to make massive redesigns in the context of the franchise - see Civ5 and HoMM4 - but it's not quite as compelling an argument when it's applied for a game that's just trying to do the same thing as its predecessors. Again, an outsider's perspective, but the question that arises is whether there's any reason whatsoever to not just play the previous instalment, which has the same compelling underlying design, without the crud.

[Lord of Lost Socks]

Well, there is no reason to buy Rome 2 over any of the previous titles. Which is why he has scored the previous titles higher than Rome 2. I mean, he gives it a 5/10, 6 with the bugs fixed. That's not a completely unreasonable number.

 

And the reasons I play Total War is for moments like these that no other game offers:

 

"Frenchmen witnessing frenchies explode"

 

Duke of Wellington versus Ol' Bonie

 

French artillery lines

 

Approaching armies

 

Dwarves on a hilltop defence against Orcs

 

Approaching armies v2

 

First shots

 

Just some quick screenshots I've taken from various Total War games. I mean, it's pretty darned entertaining, though not that challenging most of the time.

 

My Rome 2 is bugged, so my graphics in Rome 2 looks like this. Pretty dreadful compared to the other ones.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Lord of Lost Socks

[alanschu]

 

 

Well, there is no reason to buy Rome 2 over any of the previous titles.

 

I guess everyone varies somewhat.

 

I am enjoying Rome 2, and I enjoyed Shogun 2, and continue it to be an improvement over the previous game.

[Leferd]

I'm thinking I'm going to stop playing Rome 2 at this point and revisit in a few months. Shogun 2 was easily the most polished and best game of the series so far, though ironically enough, probably the one I've played the least. I think Steam says I've put in less than 30 hours into it. And it's not that I'm unfamiliar with the setting and history of the period - far from it - I studied it extensively in college. But I reached the point where my evangelizing Christian daimyo (who happens to be a jesuit lapdog) with a Portuguese supplied matchlock ashigaru army and captured Black Ship is just steamrolling through heathen samurai armies with too much ease.

 

My personal favorite was Empire and up until Rome 2, it was the buggiest and most broken upon release. Still its scope and ambition was just so compelling and I really love just how..."epic" it was.

 

I was hoping Rome 2 would have that same grandiose feel as Empire, but...

 

[alanschu]

Hahaha, Empire is bar far the one I enjoyed the least XD

 

Shogun 2 did so much so well (and had some excellent DLC), but it lacked the faction diversity that Rome 2 has.

[Leferd]

Pre-Alpha footage released by CA, narrated by Rome 2's lead designer. He essentially stated at the end of the video that the game is going to look and play better as this is early Pre- Alpha code.

 

 

Bollocks. Did anyone's siege of Carthage look or play anything remotely like what was in this pre-release Alpha?

 

Gross misrepresentation much?

[Leferd]

Hahaha, Empire is bar far the one I enjoyed the least XD

 

Shogun 2 did so much so well (and had some excellent DLC), but it lacked the faction diversity that Rome 2 has.

Did you play Napoleon TW? It actually fixed many of the problems with Empire, but downscaled it to much more manageable levels. I especially liked the Peninsular Campaign DLC. Of course, I was on my Richard Sharpe, Horatio Hornblower, Aubrey/Maturin, Rifleman Dodd fix at the time.

[alanschu]

I did not play Napoleon.  Given that the setting of Empire didn't really resonate with me, I ended up skipping it.