646f9e108c In this historically accurate adventure of several thousand years ago, the player serves as a leader in the lands of Rome. By managing warfare, battlefield tactics, economics, agriculture, and diplomacy, the player utilizes everyone and everything at their disposal to crush the enemy forces and bring the corrupt Roman empire under their dominance.
This expansion to Rome: Total War, takes place in the twilight years of the western Roman Empire, allowing you to take the place of the head of a crumbling empire, a nomadic hoard, or one of the many rising Germanic tribes.
Barbarian Invasion is set some few hundred years after the campaign shown in the original and the setting is extremely different. The mighty Roman empire has fractured into two factions the Western and Eastern. Despite still having large territories there are few troops to go around, and there are hordes of barbarians such as the Goths, Vandals and Huns waiting to take advantage of any weaknesses on their borders...<br/><br/>In this game you are given the option of commanding most of the factions present from the Saxons in the far north to the Sassanids (the only faction in the add-on with elephants) in the Middle East. The campaign is more limited in that some factions only need 10-15 territories for victory, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Whereas in Rome Total War most battles might be fought with 1000 or less on each side, in the expansion you can find cities besieged by closer to 5000 barbarians! There are some changes to the game-play - some units can now swim, offering an alternative to losing many men crossing a bridge head on. Some troop types can also form shield walls and 'schiltroms', offering better protection from a head-on attack and the ability to prevent cavalry attacking infantry from the rear respectively. Superior generals can now attack at night, which is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also has some benefits such as archers will be less accurate at night. There are a very large number of new units as warfare has changed a little since the earlier game.<br/><br/>All in all this exciting strategy game is better suited for those people who preferred the real-time battles in RTW to the more drawn out campaign map aspect. The battles are more numerous and often challenging as there have been some improvements to the AI, making it more intelligent than before.
One day I was at a local Wal-Mart. I was walking through the video game section looking at some PS2 games when I decided to look at the CP games. I looked over them and came across this. It looked entertaining. Eventually I bought it. WOW!<br/><br/>Rome: Total War is set in and around the highest point of Rome (270 BC - 14 AD). You are able to choose from a house of the Roman Empire (Julii, Scipii, or Brutii) and go from there. You are presented the most stunning graphics for a strategy game of this multitude. You can battle on the grassy plains of Briton, the deserts of Africa, and the forests of Germania.<br/><br/>Build a variety of units from Elephants, to Cavalry, to Headthrowers. There are something around 25 different factions you can choose from: Rome, Gaul, Carthage and Egypt just to name a few. I usually stick with a game around a month, I've been playing this for nearly six! the outline and design of this game is unbelievable. Full fledge armies confronting each other on the field of battle. Cavalry charges, arrows crashing into lines of soldiers, and elephants stomping men into the ground. <br/><br/>The graphics are top notch and no blood is present in the battles (thats a drawback to me but parents mite like that part). The game spans three continents and sea battles may also takes place. As you conquer cities you must learn to manage taxing and home guards for each city. You'll be confronted with the task of being the emperor of your own kingdom!<br/><br/>Rome: Total War.<br/><br/>Graphics: 5/5<br/><br/>Replay Value: 5/5<br/><br/>Design: 5/5<br/><br/>Overall: 5/5 A great strategy game.