Rome Total War 2

[eyebiter]

According to Rock Paper Shotgun the next CA title will be RTW2.

[Gusington]

Linky:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/02/total-war-rome-2-interview/#more-114276

Gotta say I am a little disappointed. Was really hoping it would be a game set in the 19th century Victorian era.

But I will definitely get this and I am sure I will love it, no matter how badly I suck at it.

Would have liked to see them branch out a bit more instead of another 'revisiting.'

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Hope they can fix the crashing issue with AMD 7970 cards.

[Nefaro]

Hope they can fix the crashing issue with AMD 7970 cards.

I dunno what they did with the gfx engine since Shogun 2, but it got worse somehow for most everyone.  NTW looked better IMO.  In CA's strive to add more BS post-processing effects, they also managed to make things less sharp & more blurry-looking besides originally screwing up anti-aliasing. 

They still obviously haven't fixed the graphics screwiness in S2TW, and judging by their past tendencies to leave games bugged, it'll probably stay that way now that their new game is announced and all hands turn towards that one.

[Martok]

No surprise there.  As of last week, it was already pretty much an open secret that Rome 2 would be the next game in the series.  If they manage to infuse/incorporate Shogun 2's gameplay & AI into the setting of ancient Rome, I will probably have to get this one. 

(Also, I'll probably have to get a new computer entirely, as the game will almost certainly make my current machine cry like a little bitch...) 




By the by, here's RPS' actual preview by the way. 


...And holy f***ing s**t!  Get a load of this: 

The battle of Carthage is the setting for a seamless assault by sea and land. A vast force of Roman ships pile from the black ocean into a sweeping coastline, expelling hundreds of legionaries onto a beach overlooking the towering fortress-city of Carthage as arrows and rocks rain down on them. It's Saving Private Ryan in sandals, and a dramatic statement that navies and armies are no longer separate, compartmentalised entities for Total War.

This has long been one of my biggest dreams for the Total War series -- or any historical grand strategy game, really.  If The Creative Assembly has, in fact, successfully pulled it off after all these years, I will literally have no choice but to buy this game, despite my disgust with both Steam and CA's past transgressions.  Gah! 




Other excerpts that I personally found interesting/noteworthy: 

As Romans clamber up siege towers, the shields on their backs lending them the appearance of aggressive cockroaches, Rome II's new unit-lock camera shows the battle from an over-the-shoulder perspective. Rows and rows of differing faces shouting and waiting as the tower rolls inexorably to Carthage's walls. Zoom out again and the size of the approaching army once again startles. Zoom out again to a Supreme Commander-esque tactical overhead map

It seems impossible that one player could control all this, but a developer assures me that a broad move up from squads to legions does not mean over-complication.

Carthage is nonetheless still a stronghold, and a huge one at that, filled with multiple roads, hills, towering structures and multiple capture points. The canny general can plot the most efficient/least defended/most defensible path through Rome II's cities, not simply rush for the central square – no more 'headshotting' cities, as CA put it.

The map will also be scattered with invisible, branching storyline triggers which demand consequence-laden choices and dilemmas beyond the merely military regardless of which nation/state/tribe/faction you play as. It's not quite procedural, but you won't run into the same story 'Easter eggs' every time and they're not locked to specifically Roman history and lore.

"We want the player to be thinking like a Roman military leader. A Roman emperor was not thinking about what to do with specific units of archers, he's thinking about where the tenth legion is. We want the player to be thinking about their legions rather than a random collection of units."

It also means those legions, being more enduring, generate their own history – gaining new traits and perks as they win or lose great battles, their behaviour and abilities reflecting their experiences to date.

[Gusington]

^A lot of kewlness there. Damn I wish I wasn't so fickle. Oh well.

D'oh!

[Keunert]

i have played the original Shogun. is it worth to get one of the newer iterations?
the same with Civ, is it worth to get a new one or is it all the same?

[Gusington]

To me, each is different. My two favorites of the last 10 years are the most recent Shogun 2 and Medieval 2 from 2006, plus the Medieval 2 expansions.

[Martok]

i have played the original Shogun. is it worth to get one of the newer iterations?
the same with Civ, is it worth to get a new one or is it all the same?

I despised the original RTW, despite wanting desperately to like it.  Empire also left an extremely bad taste in my mouth. 

Medieval 2 seemed...okay, from the little I played it.  Not great, but not horrible like Rome or ETW either.  Never played Napoleon at all, so can't comment on it. 


By almost all accounts, Shogun 2 is excellent, and a worthy entry in the series -- perhaps the first one since the original MTW.  I'm (finally!) considering picking it up myself. 

[Kushan]

I hate to say it but they have caught my attention. I swore after EW/Napoleoon I'd never buy another TW game. I'm not going to get my hopes up were CA is concerned. But if they can actually make the AI half decent, I'll have to get this. My hope for a Roman era game is still with the Hegemony guys though.

[Gusington]

^I'll be getting the new Hegemony as well. What is the release date on that?

You should try Shogun 2 if you have any interest in the era at all. It's their best release to date.

[TheCommandTent]

I really enjoyed the first RTW.  I never did so much learning about a game's period then I did while playing RTW.  I can only hope this one will exceed my expectations.

[Grim.Reaper]

Although I like Rome and welcome it, still kind of wished some new material.   I guess this means empire 2 and Napoleon 2 next up:(

[Kushan]

^I'll be getting the new Hegemony as well. What is the release date on that?

You should try Shogun 2 if you have any interest in the era at all. It's their best release to date.

I'm not sure of the Hegomony: Rome release date. Sometime this year I believe.

I got shogun 2 after hearing the 3MA episode right after it was released. I'll admit it was an improvement over Rome, empire, and Napoleon, it's an era that I don't know much about and doesn't interest me that much. IIRC there was some AI issues when it first came out as well, and that turned me off as well. Maybe I should redownload it and give it another try. Does the vanilla Shogun 2 hold up, or are the DLC expansions better.

Although I like Rome and welcome it, still kind of wished some new material.   I guess this means empire 2 and Napoleon 2 next up:(

Remeber that they always have two games in development, one revolutionary and one evolutionary. My guess is that RTW2 is the evolutionary step from Shogun.  WW1 Total War would be a nice evolution of the franchise if they did it right.

[jomni]

Will we still have those Flaming Pigs?  :o