Rome: Total War

Rome: Total War is a turn-based and real-time strategy game developed by Creative Assembly and released by Activision in October 2004. The game is the third installment in the Total War series and follows Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War.

Play as a Roman faction

Rome Total War is set in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East of Antiquity (270BC) during the transition phase seeing the Roman Republic transform into the Roman Empire . The game mixes turn-based strategy phases, in which the player manages his empire province by province, and phases of tactical battles taking place in real time in a three-dimensional environment. The player controls a Roman faction seeking to extend its domination over the region to found an empire. For this, the player must use the power of their army but also of religion, espionage, diplomacy and economy to exert their influence over neighboring cities.

Which factions can you play as?

Twenty factions are available in the game. At the beginning of the main campaign, the player can only play as three of them – the Iulii, the Brutii and the Scipii – corresponding to the Roman families controlling the provinces of Italy and Sicily. The latter are initially allied, their goal being to extend their sphere of influence and win the support of the people through the conquest of foreign provinces. When one of the families becomes too influential, it gradually alienates the Senate which declares it an outlaw, thus causing a civil war between the rebel family and the other three factions. A fourth Roman faction, S.P.Q.R., is not playable and can not invade other provinces, its existence being limited to the maintenance of an army charged with the defense of Rome. The other factions represent other Roman provinces or major nations of the time – including Gaul, Egypt, Greece, Armenia, Britannia, Dacians, Hispania, Germans, Macedonia, Numidia the Parthians, the Kingdom of Pontus, Carthage, the Scythians, the Seleucids and the Thracians – some of which can be unlocked during the campaign. Finally, many rebel factions – representing local tribes, pirates or slave armies – are also present on the campaign map. These rebel factions can neither train troops nor attack a province. Each faction has a different territory, religion and units, with factions belonging to the same culture sharing many similarities.

Can you win Rome Total War?

The goal of the game is to conquer and rule over an empire of a certain size. In the main campaign of the game, the player must take control of fifty provinces, win the support of the people and conquer Rome. A mode called “short campaign” limits the number of provinces required to be captured to only fifteen. Like its predecessors – Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War – the game mixes turn-based strategy phases, in which the player manages the different provinces under his control and moves his armies, with phases of tactical combat in real-time.