Review of the game Total War: Rome II. Rome II - an overview of the political system

Total war: Rome 2 is a computer strategy game set in a historical setting. It was released in 2013 by Creative Assembly. Is one of the most prominent representatives Total War series. It was meant to be a game that would revolutionize the strategy genre. And it became such, but only 4 years later after several dozen additions and fixes. It was initially crude, not optimized and poorly received by fans. But gradually all the disadvantages of the game began to be corrected, and now fans of the series really remember with warmth in their hearts the hours spent in Total War: Rome 2. But what is so attractive to the players in this in this creation?

Historicity

The main campaign takes place in ancient times, when Rome was a small republic on the Apennine Peninsula. He is the power on which the whole game is concentrated. In addition to the Romans, the map also contains Greek city-states at the end of their existence, Carthage, the enmity with which is intensifying every year, barbarian tribes ready to pounce on the Eternal City at any moment, as well as the states of the East, politely waiting for the right moment to attack. All cultures have their own identity and differ from each other. In addition, there are additional campaigns in the game that tell about a small time interval, for example, a war.

There are also historical reports, as well as real personalities that existed at that time. All this is supported by an excellent musical accompaniment that conveys the spirit of those historical periods.

In Total War: Rome 2, people play as one of the factions. There are about 40 of them in the game. Each of them contains unique public buildings, combat units and bonuses in diplomacy. The player will have to make every effort to cope with hordes of enemies in order to prevent unrest within his power in order to establish world domination on the map.

In this article, I continue to tell you about the agents available in Total War: Rome 2, as well as their abilities. Today we will talk about the Dignitary.

Dignitary Is a very interesting agent. This is not a Warrior with a sword, calling everyone into battle, and not a Spy who acts quietly on the sly. A dignitary is rather a sly, unsurpassed intriguer and, at the same time, a skillful manager.

Thanks to its abilities, it is versatile and can help you in both military and civilian affairs.

His abilities will help you:

Put things in order in the provinces.
Create disorder in the enemy province.
Kill another or a character or agent.
Lure the enemy character.

All Dignitaries' abilities in Total War: Rome 2.

War economy. As I wrote above, the Dignitaries are excellent managers, so if you order him to conduct the affairs of one of your armies, then, thanks to his abilities, he will be able to:

Reduce the cost of maintaining the army.
Increase the commanding ability of the general.
Reduce the possibility of subversive actions of foreign agents.

Civil authorities. A dignitary is able not only to skillfully manage the army, but also your province. Thanks to this talent, he can:

Reduce administrative costs.
Increase public acceptance.
Reduce construction costs.
Increase resistance to the actions of enemy agents.

The Dignitary can also make the enemy General and his army much more vulnerable to the next attacks of agents.

Distortion of orders. The ability will help you a lot if you do not have time to prepare to meet the attacking army. Just send your Dignitary to the enemy and with the help of the ability "Distortion of orders" he will be able to slow down the offensive of the army for one turn. Also, if this ability is successful, the recharge time of the commander's abilities will increase in the battle of the enemy army.

Deadly threat. This ability implies that your Dignitary skillfully spreads rumors, which worsens the mood of the spirit in the enemy army. This action affects:

The strength of the enemy soldiers in the onslaught.
The strength of enemy soldiers in a melee attack.
Reduces the effectiveness of shooting.
Increases the vulnerability of the enemy army on the strategic map.

Corruption. If you want your enemy's province to be overwhelmed by corruption, send your Dignitary there. With this ability, he will reduce the enemy's control over his province, thereby increasing corruption. In addition, the Dignitary will increase the chances of success with your other agents.

Incitement. Incitement implies that the Dignitary will travel to an enemy province and try to raise the discontent of the citizens against their rulers. This ability lowers order and leads to disorder.

Bribery of merchants. If you want to undermine the economy of a foreign province, the skill "Bribing merchants" will help you in this. By bribing the merchants, the Dignitary will inflict economic damage on her.

Planting culture. I hope you know that culture plays a big role in Total War: Rome 2? Planting culture is a very useful skill. As you know, cultural homogeneity affects the public order of a province. What does it mean? If a province is dominated by its “native” culture, this has a positive effect on public order. The dignitary with the help of the skill "Planting culture" spreads your culture, respectively, alien - for the enemy.

Abilities with which you can kill or lure an enemy agent.

Hired assassination. This is a talent with which a Dignitary can eliminate an enemy agent. Unlike the Warrior, who deals with the enemy with my own hands, The dignitary is more careful and hires mercenaries for these purposes, who do all dirty work for him.

Betrayal. This is perhaps the most elegant way to eliminate the enemy. The dignitary rubs his trust in him, and then, with a good opportunity, betrays an unsuspecting target. If the betrayal succeeds, the enemy agent will disappear.

Provocation. This is another way to eliminate the victim without raising suspicion. The dignitary provokes the enemy, as a result of which he attacks him. And the Dignitary has no choice but to kill the attacker, ostensibly for self-defense 🙂 Thus, remaining clean before the law.

Belief. Why kill your opponent when you can force him to side with your faction? The Persuasion ability allows your agent to try to convince the enemy to serve your faction.

Compulsion. The same as "Persuasion" and "Temptation", only the Dignitary does not try to bribe or persuade the target, but simply threatens it. If the threat works, then you will have one more agent 🙂

As you can see, the Dignitary is a very interesting and useful character! Such a gray eminence and cunning, who has a very large arsenal of different methods in order to achieve the goal in Total War: Rome 2.

A game that immerses you in the culture, history and atmosphere of the ancient world. And what else: Rome II is the main strategy of this year.

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Series TotalWar- one of the pillars on which the entire genre of strategies rests today. Rome was one of the most successful games in the series, so it's not surprising that huge forces were thrown on the part of the developer to relaunch it. And the expectations of the fans have long passed the critical point. Even before the release, it was clear that the changes in mechanics would be quite global, and the scale of what was happening would increase significantly.

Quintilius Var, give me back my legions!

In addition to the obvious thing - the growth of the game in breadth, there is another, less obvious one. This, of course, is about the depth of what is happening. If earlier thanks to the series TotalWar you could have studied history well, now you will know this science for sure. Moreover, with all its political, economic and cultural aspects.

The campaign is structured in such a way that you need to follow literally everything here. Recruiting gallant legionnaires and then capturing some Celtic village is only a quarter of the case. To keep it, it is advisable to cut out half of the inhabitants (there was no one to show dissatisfaction with the Roman government), demolish all the barbarian huts, and erect cobbled streets in their place, stone houses and aqueducts. After all this, it is necessary to intensively instill in the remnants of the population the Roman system of values, and appoint a faithful dignitary to the leading post. Only then will the settlement grow and prosper.

In general, the plebs have a habit of surprisingly quickly raising all kinds of riots and uprisings, so you need to make sure that he is provided with a sufficient amount of both bread and circuses. All this is accompanied by pitiful pictures about how bad people live, how quickly they run out of food and how disadvantaged they feel under the influence of a foreign culture. If such messages are ignored, then very soon a crowd of bearded barbarians will appear at the gates of such an "unfortunate" city, striving to return everything as it was.

The well-being and contentment of the population is only the tip of the iceberg. The player must choose the right companions for military leaders and agents, promote their wards to political positions, monitor the expansion and development of cities, conduct numerous political negotiations and quickly respond to random events such as earthquakes and surprisingly spontaneous appearances in slum cities. As a result, over time, each move turns into a natural brainstorming session with a huge number of nuances. It is worth adding here a truly huge world map with some fantastic number of factions in order to understand that it will take a very, very long time to conquer all this.

By the way, in pursuit of historical accuracy CreativeAssembly got rid of abstract rebels, replacing them with real barbarian tribes and free cities. As a result, the completion of each turn takes quite a long time, because you have to wait for each provincial king to make his turn. And he, in turn, can offer you a trade or simply start begging for money. Needless to say, the in-game encyclopedia is replete with information about everything and everyone, and the game here and there refers to real historical events.

However, this seriousness also has its drawbacks. So, the playful scenes on the engine, which accompanied, for example, the failure of the assassin, completely disappeared from the game. The heartfelt speeches of the commander before the battle have sunk into oblivion. At the very beginning of the campaign, the player is instantly piled on with all state problems at once. As a result, if a taken aback newcomer is unfamiliar with the series, and, what a good thing, missed the training, then, most likely, it will not last long. By the way, training also clearly demonstrates the quality of the approach to development. It lasts about three hours, and as a sandbox we are given neither more nor less the Apennine peninsula of the times of the Samnite wars.

I came, I saw, I won!

RomeII as we already said, has many structural changes compared to other games in the series. They mainly relate to the global map. First, it looks gorgeous without any exaggeration. Cities from abstract fenced fortresses have turned into large-scale settlements, inside which you can even see the buildings and infrastructure actually located there.

Secondly, the map is still divided into provinces, but instead of one settlement, they now consist of several. Only the capital of the region is walled, and all cities are governed from one common menu. When holding the province as a whole, it becomes possible to issue edicts that give certain bonuses to the entire region. Thirdly, the army from now on is collected not by the city authorities (which has always been rather strange), but personally by the military leader. At the same time, the general himself is recruited in the right city - you no longer need to wait for the AI to select a worthy candidate.

Naval battles have greatly changed. No, they did not become less stupid: the ships still clump into a shapeless heap, and the most effective tactic in such a situation is to recruit more assault quadrirami and batter the enemy to death. Nevertheless, all this looks much more impressive on the new engine. However, this is not the main thing. In order to transfer an army to a small island, it was often necessary to build a port first, then ships, and then, risking the entire army, break through to it on a single fragile boat. Now, the land army, directed into the water, is simply loaded onto transport ships (you do not need to build anything separately for this), which, if necessary, can even take battle. The fleet itself has become no less versatile. If necessary, he can act as a reinforcement for the ground forces, landing troops in the right place.

Agents are divided into three types. Spies, warriors, and dignitaries. The first is a typical killer who is not visible on the global map, the second is a kind of Bruce Willis of the ancient world, relying on brute force. And the third is a diplomat who never gets his hands dirty on his own, but successfully promotes the advantages of his own culture. Unfortunately, as before, they do not work for nothing, but they are great for decapitating an enemy army or neutralizing an annoying enemy agent.

There are not so many playable factions, which gives the game good potential for upcoming DLCs. Some even more so differ only in what surname will stand at the head of the country. For example, in the case of Rome, these are the families of Julius, Juniev and Cornelius. Fortunately, unlike the original Rome, there is only one Roman faction on the map.

Gloss and gloss

The tactical mode, in contrast to the strategic one, has not changed much. The key innovation here is the ability to actively use the relief. The fact is that units from the enemy can now be hidden not only in the forest, but also, for example, behind a mountain. True, the same should be expected from the enemy. Thanks to this, the gameplay has become a little deeper. And, of course, one cannot fail to mention the significantly increased scale. Initially, it may seem that even in the mode of maximum acceleration of the battle, the units move from point "A" to point "B" very slowly. In fact, the maps have become so huge, and the units are numerous, that with the participation of several armies, what is happening begins to resemble the movie "Troy" in the moments of battle scenes.

Custom and fully customizable battles have not gone anywhere, as well as branded historical battles. Only their modest number is a little depressing. Multiplayer is represented by both battles on a tactical map and a network campaign. Moreover, the latter can be passed in two modes: joint and individual, in which the main goal is just to destroy your opponent.

The study of the area is also pleasing. Big cities got really big. There are temples, theaters and even slums outside the city walls. There is a famous lighthouse in the port of Alexandria, and an equally famous colossus on the island of Rhodes. All this makes the battlefield much more alive than it looked before. As we were promised, the soldiers represent a rather motley army.

What else deserves special mention is artificial intelligence. He's really smarter. The enemy can keep units in reserve, hide behind the mountains, distribute forces, lure the player to an advantageous position for him, and even very successfully avoid meeting your troops on the global map. At the same time, as before, sometimes he does just amazing nonsense. For example, having a significant superiority in forces, the AI once sent the entire army defending the city in pursuit of half-defeated spearmen, which allowed your humble servant to land two squads on the other side of the settlement and occupy the central square, thereby ensuring victory.

It is clear that the game consumes a significant amount of computer resources. RomeII can slow down even on powerful machines. There are also technical flaws. So, even in the "ultra" mode, the textures of the fighters sometimes do not look the way we would like, and the enabled anti-aliasing does not provide sufficient elaboration of the edges of objects. Nevertheless, thanks to the careful study of the terrain and the scale of what is happening, the game looks very, very good.

In conclusion, I would like to say about the atmosphere. Yes, in RomeII there is something of a dry and pedantic historian, extremely picky about details and giving out too much specialized information. However, a number of factors are so fascinating that you want to understand all the intricacies of history, politics and economics yourself. Great art as loading screens, great music that accompanies us throughout the entire action, the difficulty with which each conquered settlement gets - all this makes you sincerely become attached to the game.

Sometimes too complex and oversaturated with details, Rome II can alienate many newcomers, but having tasted it properly, it will most likely be impossible to come off. Impressive scale, meticulous attention to detail and ample scope make it the top strategy for this year.

"The Creative Assembly ... Oh, The Creative Assembly ... Give me back my legions!"- I suffered every time I found out that the next game in the series Total war will not be dedicated to Rome. But it never came to despair. Confidence that the sequel Rome: Total War nevertheless, it will see the light in the future, was always present, was unshakable and warmed the soul in any situations. The only question was when such a joyful event would happen. Alas, they had to wait a long time - all nine years, but the truth is they say that the longer the parting, the stronger the joy of meeting.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

What Total War: Rome II would be a hit, no doubt about it. "Rome" from 2004 was, and to this day is one of the best, if not the best game series, and let them shower me with tomatoes if I'm not telling the truth. Developers simply had no room for error, as the stakes were higher than ever. Players could survive potential failure Empire or Napoleon- experiments are not always successful, that's why they are experiments. One could accept and knowingly forgive the "creatives" for a misfire with Shogun 2, if this opportunity really happened - a return to the origins often turns into a fiasco, and everyone understands this very well.

But if the second failed "Rome", it would be a collapse, an end, a local apocalypse. How so - Rome ii, on which huge hopes were pinned, which everyone had been waiting for almost ten, and suddenly it turned out terrible? Direct heir "Rome", which once became that "magic pendel", thanks to which the franchise received a powerful impetus to development, and suddenly - shit? Does this really happen? Fortunately, this does not happen, and The creative assembly once again proved that it is one of the few development companies in the world that always lives up to expectations.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Yes, the "Creatives" could do something better - for example, bring naval battles to mind. Yes, some game moments presented in Rome ii, cause bewilderment - why, one wonders, cut out the speeches of the generals? Why did you save on video inserts on the strategic map? You can even argue with some decisions ad infinitum - for example, with the decision to "shave" the walls of most cities. But I was very, very fond of sieges in Total war, no matter how crooked they sometimes seem. But all these are particulars, errors. When you have an ocean of spicy honey in front of you, then at least pour the whole ointment into it - this will not affect the taste of the product in any way.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Campaign featured in Total War: Rome II, does not stand on ceremony with us, but immediately takes by the scruff of the neck and plunges into the thick of events, which pleases. From the very first moves, the urban population begins to show signs of discontent, incomes for inexplicable reasons cease to flow to the treasury, food supplies disappear in the blink of an eye, the troops, from some kind of fright, lose their personnel on the union territory. We are informed that the state leaders sitting at the top. the leaders are corrupt bastards, and the people hate them. Some barbarians invade our lands without declaring war. Direct opponents are stalking nearby, who have not yet attacked, but are sending agents to dirty, crap and spoil our lives in every possible way. What fast and merciless seizures of the surrounding lands are there - you would keep your own while you understand the intricacies of the game, making mistake after mistake.

So you decided, without thinking, instead of a farm to expand the city somewhat - well, get an instant riot from the hungry plebs and the rabble. He did everything the other way around - he pleased the lower strata of the population, but at the garrison he put an end to it for a couple of moves. I ignored military technologies, taking up a peaceful life - regretted it in the very first major battle. How difficult it all turns out. Here you can't even send troops just like that, out of the blue, into a raid on enemy lands, because, forgive me, the Empires has not yet grown. Empires are the power of the faction. The higher the parameter, the more troops, fleets and agents we can hire on the strategic map. At the very beginning, we have a maximum of three land armies, and even if we take into account that some related functions are performed by the fleet, it is still impossible to arrange a blitzkrieg with such "capacities". Thus, our task has become much more complicated, but at the same time it has become much more interesting to play - when you soberly assess your strength, you start looking at the strategic map in a completely different way.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

You can tinker with the territories already under our control for a long time, persistently, but it will not be boring anyway. It is necessary to solve all sorts of problems, and gradually rebuild cities, and develop the economy, and special decrees (edicts) publish, and engage in internal political squabbles - push characters to the top of power, spread rumors, quietly kill competitors, keep track of how many senators or leaders support you, and if necessary, then make relatives with a rival House through a newsletter. By the way, if you want to play for Rome or Carthage, get ready for the throes of choice - the first faction is divided into three Houses, the second - into three Clans. Everything, naturally, with its own unique features, advantages and disadvantages.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Of course, domestic policy no need to let it go - this can lead to all sorts of troubles up to premature civil war... But also about foreign policy we should not forget, especially at first, when our state is still weak - it is necessary to conclude trade agreements, find an ally, and reconcile with enemies, if they are sniffling at their side, for a while. Actually, nothing bad can be said about diplomacy, everything is on the level. The ambassadors react adequately, they do not admit stupidity, they agree to counter offers, the agreements are respected in most cases. New diplomatic tools added to the list of possible actions (creation of a confederation or defensive alliance, non-aggression pact, etc.), as well as the function of coordinating military actions - for this you need to open a diplomacy window and mark the province that the allies should attack. And they attack, which is the most interesting!

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Technologies in Total War: Rome II divided into two components: military and public / peaceful. The sections, in turn, are divided into three subsections, where the very progressive trends are grouped - in the form of not too branched "trees". Subsections, depending on which faction the game is for, are called differently. Barbarians, for example, do not have "Tactics", but there is a tab "Order in the troops". The Romans have a subsection "Philosophy", and the patlatic Celts have a "Council of Druids", and these same druids, obviously having collapsed from an oak, immediately offer to study the progressive and luminous technology "Wisdom of the Oak" + 5% to the effect of the consumption of fly agarics. The technologies of the barbarians / Hellenes / Romans / peoples of the East are different from each other, and the difference is felt even at the level of factions belonging to the same culture. There are also similar technologies, but as a rule, you need to get to them in different ways. So, the icens learn to build a ram in literally three moves, while the Romans will have to spend more than 10 moves on it, and at the same time jump over two knowledge. But there is no imbalance. The mechanics of studying technologies works on the principle of "somewhere it will arrive - it will decrease from somewhere", so if at a certain stage of the game we start to lag behind other factions, then it is purely our fault - either we focused on one thing, or were lazy and did not study anything at all.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Peace to the world, but war is war. Sitting in one place, you will not achieve victory in any of the victory conditions, so you still need to expand your possessions. Yes, it has become a little more difficult - the restriction on the recruitment of armies is harsh and adamant, so it will not work to fill the entire map with troops. On the other hand, computer opponents find themselves in exactly the same situation, so you won't see how they move 10-15 stacks for a minute, one unit in each - remember what "kind, affectionate and tender" feelings this caused you earlier. There is one more important point- ordinary units (both foot and sea) not able to travel on their own, but move exclusively under the supervision of the commander. This is also a bit embarrassing. But it has become very convenient to move troops across the seas - now it is enough to indicate the path, and then the army will do everything on its own: it will reach the coast, sit in cargo ships, which it will instantly build, and will sail itself along the chosen route.

In general, everything was done well with the ships in the strategic plan. With their help, you can hedge coastal cities against attacks from land and sea. (you just need to place the fleet near the settlement)- in the first case, we can land a combat landing and help the garrison, in the second, we can prevent the landing of enemy troops. Combat ships are allowed to be grouped with self-assembled cargo pellets within the same flotilla, and then the former, in the event of an assault on an enemy settlement, can calmly chase enemy ships and support the offensive from the sea, and the latter - crush crabs and other living creatures, throwing themselves like crazy whales on the beaches, in order to "give birth" to the troops with relief. You can also set certain modes for the fleet - for example, "double the pace" will allow ships to move faster from point "A" to point "B", and the raid mode will allow them to plunder coastal cities and sea trade routes. Note: also have their own modes ground forces... So, in addition to plundering the surrounding territories and the ability to move quickly, armies can establish fortifications and hide in ambushes.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

I did not consider how many regions are present on the strategic map, but with the naked eye you can see that the world has increased in size in comparison with Rome- it has expanded significantly to the east and southeast, and by itself somehow swelled, swelled, became larger. Actually, the expression "bloated" can also be applied to cities - these are no longer conditional two or three houses, enclosed or not enclosed by a wall, but real city-states, occupying a vast territory. Many of them are truly huge and surrounded by fortifications around the perimeter - these are the provincial capitals. There are also completely unprotected smaller towns, which are the capitals of the regions - territorial units included in the provinces in an amount of two to four pieces.

Thanks to this administrative division, the controlled lands have become much easier to manage - now there is no need to switch between individual settlements in order to understand what has already been built and what has not yet been - current information about objects is provided within a single menu. In addition to convenience, there are also purely gaming advantages. For example, if you build a workshop for siege weapons in the capital, then ballistae and other catapults will be available for hire throughout the province. But there are also disadvantages. So, if a nationwide anger flares up, then it will rage not in a single region, but everywhere within the region.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

If there are troubles in the regions from scratch, then, most likely, enemy agents have settled there. There are three types of them in total: spies, dignitaries and warriors. It seems not so much, but each of them produces so many dirty tricks on enemies that shinobi and geisha from Shogun 2 and never dreamed of. Although they can be useful for relatively peaceful affairs - the same spy, once in a friendly territory, in the blink of an eye will transform into a counterintelligence officer and begin to identify enemy scouts. The dignitary, in turn, will reduce administrative costs and save money, and the warrior by his appearance will motivate the inhabitants to praise the emperor / pharaoh / king and enjoy life in general. The better the guys cope with their tasks, the faster they grow in rank and the more skills - with our, of course, help - they get into their piggy bank. Also, in the course of their activities, they acquire additional features and so-called household members. (for example, wife + 4% to diligence), and items that give different bonuses.

The pumping of generals and naval commanders - any noble nobles or simply warriors with a high social status - is carried out according to a similar principle. At the same time, the armies and fleets that the characters lead behind them also lend themselves to improvement due to the so-called traditions. Simply put, these are the same bonuses a la + 5% to a dashing cavalry attack or + 10% to boarding, only they do not disappear anywhere after the death of the commander, but are assigned to the army. If you choose traditions not anyhow, but with fiction, then you can create a kind of militarized brigades, specializing in sieges, defense, unrestrained head-on attack, or something else.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Artificial intelligence in the vastness of the strategic map behaves quite reasonably, although there are some oddities. So, opponents sometimes like to leave their cities and capitals unattended. Playing as Rome, I captured Carthage from the very first moves with an army of 7 foot units, without encountering resistance (fussing with plebs from the garrison does not count) neither by sea nor by land. To the AI's credit, he immediately pulls troops to the breakthrough sites, but this is after the fact. Also annoying are the attempts of the enemy, dejected by computer brains, to storm our fortifications, but it is not the fact of the attack itself that upsets, but what forces the enemy has. Excuse me, but it's funny how a stack with two squads of gopnik barbarians is trying to take a huge and majestic Rome, and more than once or twice - until you completely destroy them, they will not stop posing as kamikaze. Fortunately, such idiocy is rare.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Well, since we are talking about massacre. As in all past games in the series Total war, we can use the auto battle function if we do not want to participate in the battle. At the same time, we are allowed to choose the tactics that the troops will follow. You can instruct them to go on the attack, order them to dance from defense, or force them to fight in the most normal mode. The system predicts the result in advance and shows what the outcome of the battle will be and approximately how many people we will have as a result. The keyword is "about". Even if the screen says that we are in for almost one hundred percent defeat, this is just a prediction, and predictions tend not to be confirmed. Although you shouldn't tempt fate anyway - it's better to take a step back and enter the battlefield in a personal, so to speak, order, in order to prove by your own example that there are no hopeless situations.

If the god Mars is favorable to us, we win the battle and, of course, take prisoners. They can be either released, killed, or sold into slavery. In the latter case, we get growth economic indicators, but this is a double-edged sword - even Rome, whose love for slaves is understandable, cannot endlessly digest the stream of ancient guest workers.

With the capture of cities, everything is more or less clear. We can either occupy a settlement, or destroy or plunder. But different cultures the word "robbery" is understood in different ways. If the Romans are ordered to do this, they will not only requisition all the valuables, but will also remain in the city for permanent residence. But the barbarians, having received theirs, will not occupy the settlement, but out of their kindness they will leave it to its rightful owner. The latter, however, will not be any easier from this.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Wonderful, stunning, beautiful, stunning - what good words this most important part Total War: Rome II do not name, in any case you get to the point. Yes, now we are talking not about strategy, but about tactics. Damn it, how long have I waited for this moment. How I wanted to hire a couple of stacks of legionnaires, line them all up in battle formation, then slowly, in a united front, send this huge army into enemy positions. To print a step, so that the horn blows, so that dust from under thousands of feet rises to a height of many meters. And then, when they come close to the enemy and some of them will already fall dead under a hail of arrows, apply the "turtle" formation and watch how clearly and harmoniously the hellish machine called the "Roman army" works, which does not stop, but continues to walk over the corpses of barbarians, working on the principle of a giant skating rink - terrible, ruthless and merciless.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

The brave virtual warriors began to resemble the wooden soldiers of Oorfene Juice even less, although it would seem much further. Movements, facial expressions, individual and even joint actions on the battlefield - everything, literally everything went to new level quality. It is difficult for the eye to catch on repeating elements, be it appearance, equipment or weapons, and always, even if a fighter resembles his next-door "colleague" like one drop of water on another, he is at least a speck on his clothes, a scratch on his shield or dirt on legs, but will be different from that.

Of course, when thousands of people are mixed in one heap, you somehow don't care who looks like and what emotions they have on their faces, but often the game itself throws up interesting scenes. Here a barbarian with a powerful throw throws a Roman infantryman over himself, steps on his chest alone and immediately plunges a spear into his heart, twisting it several times, and a second later he himself dies from a treacherous blow to his back. Here is a legionnaire, being surrounded, spinning from side to side, grinning and waving a gladius raised high above his head. Here the Spartan raises the shield, taking two well-thrown darts into it, but the next projectile nevertheless reaches the target, after which the bearded hero first falls to his knees, and after that he slowly falls on his side. The beauty!

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

But that's not all - especially for amateurs thrill the game has a special mode that brings the camera closer to the selected unit distance with the subsequent ability to twist it in different sides- to achieve a cinematic effect. For riveting screenshots and eye candy - just a great tool. If, of course, the system allows you to set more or less high level graphics. I will not say that Total War: Rome II- this is entertainment exclusively for the rich Pinocchio with powerful computers "who are over fifty", but the systems of average and slightly higher levels still barely cope with their task, sometimes giving out an unrealistically low level of FPS. And this is very divine (not to be confused with divine) settings.

Of course, crooked optimization also plays a role, but I hope that in the future this problem will be corrected, since at the time of the same siege, when the opposing armies are traditionally for the series Total war form a "penguin bazaar" at the gate, it becomes simply impossible to play. Or when triremes and other biremes in the amount of twenty or more begin to swing the oars at the same time - just hang yourself here. The optional shutdown of all "picture" bells and whistles does not help either.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Up to 80 units can be on the field at the same time, that is, 2 stacks on each side of the conflict and 20 units in each stack. During the battle, one of the two stacks does not appear on the battlefield immediately, but after a few seconds - in the form of reinforcements. Additional units, if any, begin to come at our disposal after the destruction or flight of one of the units. Simply put, the scale remained the same as in Fall of the samurai.

Many types of troops have special abilities. For example, the foot soldiers of Sparta can create phalanxes and even some semblance of building a "square". Barbarians know how to close shields and cheer themselves up with shouts, Romans - to turn into "turtles", and so on. Artificial intelligence does not hesitate to use the skills of its units at the right time, and in general - behaves adequately and prudently. But sometimes he does stupid things, and his actions are often extremely predictable, and he can go into a frontal attack - not without it. To be honest, I did not notice the drastic improvement of virtual brains declared by the developers - it seems to be there, but clearly does not fall under the category of "dramatic". We have seen deep detours along the flanks before.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Sieges in Total War: Rome II cheerful and cheerful, but their total number in quantitative ratio has decreased, and all because of the reluctance of the "Creatives" to encircle cities with walls that do not fall under the status of the provincial capital. A controversial decision, very controversial, and I have already spoken about it. In fact, the capture of "castrated" cities is the same battle in an open field, but with the possibility of running into the city. And even in such "sieges" it is necessary to capture key points, control over which leads us (or our enemy) to victory. In small towns, there is usually one "point", while in the capitals there are already three. And there are walls. And towers with defensive catapults and ballistae. And siege weapons: wheeled ladders, "scorpions" and onagra different types, battering rams, mobile shields - a complete set of entertainment for playing King of the Hill.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

To win in the capital, you need to either kill all opponents, or capture most of the control points and hold them for some time until the number of victory points that the defenders have at their disposal drops to zero. Such a capture system brings much more variety to the siege process than it used to be - the party "is not going on in one area, but often on several at once. Control points are always located in different parts of the city, so whether you like it or not, but troops have to be divided. And who knows what enemy forces are concentrated near this or this square? Maybe a good half of the army gathered there, and we sent a detachment of torn plebs there. This is not immediately possible to understand, because we often simply do not see the enemy ... Note: Yes, in Rome ii there is such a topic - if an adversary is not in the field of vision of our army, then for the time being he hangs out in the "invisible" mode. True, sometimes the system works strangely, and sometimes it just doesn't work.

Full-fledged sieges, if you still get to them, are no less pleasing than ordinary battles, although there is much more chaos in them, due to the abundance around hundreds of different objects. But thanks to the developers for coming up with a tactical map, having deployed which we can look around the whole area, determine where the enemy and allied units are, and at the same time give instructions, and the last action usually takes three times less time and effort. as if we were trying to do this operation normally. And the sketchiness pleases - everything is simple, accessible and understandable.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Battles and assaults of settlements in Total War: Rome II- it's exciting and perky, no doubt about it, but with naval battles, things are a little worse. The war at sea is more reminiscent of the duels of old and clumsy galoshes, which make unnatural, abrupt movements, knock, stick to each other and from time to time exchange "cockroaches". In its pure form, the "dish" is very bland, but if you dilute it with ground battles, the taste is completely different. Landing of troops, shelling of the city and enemy troops, battles with other ships in coastal zone, the support of allies - wow, it looks harmonious. Although there is also a minus here - in most cases the enemy's ships categorically do not want to engage in battle with our ships, but immediately turn towards the coast and disembark troops from them. Are they afraid, or what?

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

Historical battles are still not enough - there are already four of them, among which there is a memorable sketch called "The Storming of Carthage". Honestly, when James Russell showed me a working build Rome ii with this very mission, the scale of what was happening then impressed me a little more. But "The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest" is directed and performed very well. I really feel sorry for the Romans. There would be more such missions, but not within the framework of the DLC, but just like that - to our delight.

And Rome is still there. Total War: Rome II Review

I would love to tell you about the online mode, but my review version, unfortunately, does not support it, so it's up to you! Based on the reviews, multiplayer Rome ii very good. However, what is the bottom line? And what could it be like, for example, at international synchronized swimming competitions? Our girls always win, we got used to it for a long time. So it is with Total war- what is not a game, then a victory, and to Rome ii this applies fully. However, habit is a bad thing. Someday the thousand-year-old sequoia will fall from old age, and our synchronized swimmers will not win medals, and the Sun will go out, and the oil will run out - everything will happen in this world, and we will not be able to prevent it in any way, although we are "used to it." But until that happens, we should be happy with what we have. Rome ii Despite a small fraction of controversial issues and purely subjective shortcomings, it keeps the quality bar at a level unattainable for most modern strategies. Large-scale, beautiful, versatile and pretentious in a good way, he is a worthy descendant of the magnificent and crowned "Rome", and not only Rome, but the entire famous series can rightfully be proud of it. As they say, two ubo "Rome" not falling, but the third, I hope, to be.

Fans of computer strategies are well acquainted with the Total War series. And when the announcement took place Total War: Rome 2 worried not only them, but the rest of the gaming community. After all, a reimagining of the original Rome: Total War was challenging, and expectations from new game were very great. So what did the developers at The Creative Assembly do? Read about it in our review!

From the first minutes to the very end Total War: Rome 2 completely immerses the player in the world of ancient cities and tall legionnaires. An interesting and exciting prologue is just the beginning, then the player will have a long and difficult single player campaign, and after that many more adventures promised by the developers.

However, whatever civilization you choose to conquer the world, you will not be left with a feeling of deja vu, as if we have already seen all this in Rome: Total War. In the sequel, the developers really did their best, but, as often happens, the game still needs some work.

Has The Creative Assembly managed to maintain its quality label?

Rather yes than no. Significantly improved as small parts gameplay and its larger parts. Perhaps it's worth starting with the fact that the map in the game is simply colossal in size. And although the cities have become a little less, it is practically not felt - the game is so large-scale.

The development of the idea with the regions also turned out to be a very successful solution. It will take you some time to master all the intricacies of working with a new territorial unit, but once the intermediate stage is passed, you will appreciate how powerful this solution is.

It is important that in the region you can train the main and auxiliary units, and also have all types of buildings. It is no longer necessary to build the same buildings in every city, moreover, the developers even cut such an opportunity in the bud. You just need to select buildings suitable for other conditions, for example, build mines in the mountains, or combine the barracks of the main troops with the temple of Mars, so that the soldiers receive additional experience.

It is not enough to seize one city from the enemy - full control over the entire region is important. Until you take possession of it entirely, the population in the cities will riot and try to overthrow your power.

The system of diplomacy is also pleasing. She drew inspiration from Civilization, so you can negotiate a variety of issues, as well as offer your terms, rewards, or resources. Agents also play a much more important role. Firstly, they plant your power in the captured provinces and achieve the loyalty of the population, and secondly, they destroy enemy agents and leaders. They perform all their functions for a lot of money, so you need to carefully choose from the available options. If the operation fails, no one will return the money to you, and the agent can be caught or killed.

The interface on the tactical map is also very convenient. No matter how outlandish the unit icons look, for the first time you can get such detailed information about each combat unit, quickly give the necessary order or use a special ability. Since everything is done in a minimalist style, you shouldn't have any problems.

As practice has shown, it is more convenient to manage 40 units alone than to pass armies of 20 units in turn. Large maps only contribute to this: with their help, you can easily unite two armies in an armada and arrange a "zergrash" to the enemy. But the most ambitious improvement, perhaps, can be called the system of legion traditions and general leveling.

Now you decide what abilities and bonuses all your Legionnaires will receive. Heavy infantry units can receive a significant increase in hand-to-hand combat, while support troops and cavalry are a bonus to unit recovery or damage. It is now that your fighters can be called battle-hardened veterans, time-tested and life-tested. In addition to this, the general, the main person in the army, receives experience points for each battle, distributed both to him personally and to the entire legion.

The technology system has also undergone a number of changes. The developers have grouped the discoveries of antiquity and tried to weave them into the gameplay so that they have a certain impact. For example, it is not enough just to pump in military power, you need to pay attention to other branches of development. Especially public order and cultural development. It is better to capture a city with a similar culture with weak units and not have problems than to walk through the cities of the enemy with a fiery tornado, and then run across the entire map and suppress the uprisings, because the local population is not ready to accept the benefits of Roman civilization.

Did The Creative Assembly manage to release a game that claims to be the best in the series?

More likely no than yes. At least for now. It can be stated that in Total War: Rome 2 was not without controversial gameplay decisions and negative changes. So, for example, there are no seasons of the year. This important feature of the entire series was removed because the developers decided that too many moves were preventing players from having fun.

Perhaps the change of seasons will appear through a fundamental update, with a fan modification or with another paid add-on, but their absence in the main game does not honor the developers. Be that as it may, this serious simplification does not make it possible to feel all the hardships of the life of a soldier and commander. The number of moves, which is limited to three hundred, also affects. You won't be able to play further.

Problems also affected the interface on the global map, namely the construction of buildings. The pictograms that have replaced traditional images of buildings do not give any idea of what will actually be built, so you have to refer to reference materials, and you need to read not only the description of the building itself, but also its subsequent improvements. The problem is that help information is only available online, so start playing Total War: Rome 2 is simply pointless without it. You will need help in any case.

Locholization

Highly big problems experiencing localization. No matter how the specialists of "1C-SoftKlab" assured, they still have a lot of work to do. Not only is the quality of Russian localization just lame, but the translation sometimes does not carry any load at all.

As you can see in the screenshot above, there was simply no time to translate the English text! All of the above problems affect not only the names of buildings and structures, but also the encyclopedia of the game. The translation is misleading, especially with regard to the characteristics of the units.

There can only be one advice in such a situation - play English version games, or wait for the localizers to fix the translation.

Gameplay as it is

Surprisingly, the gameplay in Total War: Rome 2 hasn't undergone any major changes. We can say that we have the original first part with a number of great improvements. We wanted to command a large number of units - please, land amphibious assault forces - to your health, use more equipment on the battlefield - you are welcome.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has also undergone significant improvements. He tries to go to the rear with the help of cavalry, takes into account the peculiarities of certain units (for example, the phalanx is placed in front, and the infantry covers it on the sides), takes a more advantageous disposition and no longer throws his general into the thick of the battle.

In multiplayer, things are not so straightforward. If in a duel everything is decided by ping and the number of combat units in your army, then in a battle of allied factions it makes sense to first overwhelm one opponent together, and then by joint efforts to destroy the second. In the meantime, it is impossible to boast of special tactics in multiplayer - they will simply be crushed by the number.

Optimization, graphics and design of locations

Another plus for Total War: Rome 2, they have become much more hilly, and the locations in the mountains are completely bumpy.

Conclusion

Total War: Rome 2 has made a move primarily as a global strategy. Now it's not enough just to build everything. You have to carefully study the economy and resources of the region in order to build really useful buildings. The division of cities according to the type of recruited units also migrated. In a specific city, you can create either main or auxiliary troops, but within one region you will have a full range of soldiers.

It is important at least occasionally to enter the diplomacy window and view the situation on the most important political events in the world. Perhaps you will see a neighbor weakened by wars, whom you can quickly defeat or help in order to forget about difficult borders for a while.

As for the tactical part, it has not lost the features that make it very similar to the original component. Rome: Total War. We can say with confidence that the developers have polished the classic gameplay to brilliance and even expanded the game with new units and interesting design solutions... As a result, the sequel has almost everything to be called the best part of the series.