The Total War Rome 2 Critique: 10 Year Anniversary Review

[@Crouchy232323]

If they had implemented single unit hero characters and magic this game would probably be my favourite

[@sorrdiegamed695]

ur kidding right?

[@AndysTake]

Low tier bait, I can respect that

[@GermanOlle]

@@sorrdiegamed695 No, no, no! Great idea. Want to play with Asterix and Obelix against Romans riding boars!!!

[@fudgelology2030]

They should've also removed naval battles, I'm scared of the ocean, then this would've been my favorite game

[@kevinwatson96]

Yea. Gandalf would have been great in this game. Right lol 😂.

[@StefanP012]

Can't believe it's been 10 years, feels like yesterday when I bought it and installed it and was disappointed at how bad it would lag and bugg out 😂

[@AndysTake]

I keep saying time is fake! It’s unreal that it’s been 10 years

[@TheShadow079]

i remember as if it was yesterday. coming back from work. booting the game up. and being terribly disappointed. lmao

[@jonny-b4954]

Yup. I mostly remember the Angry Joe videos from back then. ME3 ending is still my most memorable disappointment in gaming. I was going on living alone, in the middle of a cornfield in Kansas, came home from work to a surprise at the doorstep. My grandma had ordered the game and paid for release day delivery for my birthday for Xbox 360. Couple days later, "WHATTTT THEEE FUCKKK WAS THAT? What?" as I yell at the tv and pace around the house hahaha. @@TheShadow079

[@LordNotlek]

Yeah the 2hr wait time per end turn was a pretty shitty feature 😂

[@imhollywood101]

10 years later and now you can have that same experience with every game released! Progress bois, progress. 😂😂

[@CALLE92JOHANSSON]

DEI Rome 2 is my most played Total War. Impressive how they did so much with the shallow systems of the base game.

[@AndysTake]

Yes, DEI truly is incredible

[@Sarcasmses]

This is what I was thinking when I saw the video title, while alt tabbed out of loading into a battle in Rome 2 DEI. Rome 2 and DEI are the same thing in my mind, one cannot be played without the other. I haven't played vanilla Rome 2 since release and never will again.

[@vandamsel5022]

This. I have a stupid amount of hours in Rome 2, 99% of which is DeI.

[@GamesExposed]

yes I played almost 1000 hours of DEI but man it still feels like something's missing, which is not DEI's fault of course...I'm surprised Andy is not bored of Total War in general but he has to keep the content flowing...I realised that I play the game more because I like history than the actual game, think about it for a second, if not for the great stories we know about all the factions in this game what would this game be? it's the same with warhammer, ppl play it because they know so much lore...but without all our role playing and lore/history would we actually like the game mechanics that much? idk, I think its bare bones megacorporation style mechanics...just think of something as simple as defending a camp and having that stupid square made of wood then drawing those silly rocks or spikes on the ground...idk it feels cheap, I would've liked something more complex...why can't we dig ditches as long as we want, why can't we sat better traps...why don't we have different styles of camps? but anyway with this lame camp you can beat 2 armies at those entry points or even more because there's only so many units that the game can register on the map so units are reinforced in a stupid way...so you can cheese the game that way always blocking the entry points with heavy spears in shield wall...idk, I don't want to offend anyone but it's just what I'm thinking, and they kept the shitty model of the game in the new games instead of innovating sieges and defenses, think about real history when someone would make a camp but then the other faction would build a wall around that camp so that they cut the supplies to that army and force them to sally out, look at the battles and sieges or camp situations during the roman civil wars between Octavian/Marc Anthony vs those who assasinated Caesar, you will see what I mean, if a new historical total war is made we need to have this kind of stuff, we need to have complex military engineering and options inspired from real history and realistic man to man combat not animations and tricks

[@maximusd26]

over 1200 hours of DEI here, modders > CA I said it and i ll say it again

[@avizvit9932]

The way CA made battles end quicker is such a stupid change, they now feel like an inconsequential chore, the actual action is over in less than a minute. Who in their right mind looked at Total War and said "The part where the armies are fighting is boring" ?

[@mixelplik]

That is why I only play Medieval 2 Total War, modded. The battles are so much more realistic, and one can use actual tactics on the battlefield and feel like a real general - unlike modern TW games where it's like an arcade game.

[@Pilps]

Thank you Andy for giving me the opportunity to help out with this! Amazing video, can’t wait to watch it all!

[@AndysTake]

Loved having you on, thank you so much for your time! 🙏

[@stevencass8849]

I’m with you Pilps. The game was such a disappointment that I didn’t touch it for years. I think after they released Rise of the Republic, I finally decided I was going to give a real chance and win a campaign as Rome. Which I did. And while the game had improved, the flaws of the original system (like only province capitols having walls), were too much for me to overcome. So I tried with DEI, but I still found it Meh. So I uninstalled and left it in the dust.

[@bobcornholio7805]

Love you pilps ❤

[@donpizzaplays8529]

It's insane how CA changed so many systems and mechanics from Rome 1 and Med 2 that were working just fine. The way provinces and settlements worked. The way armies worked. The way replenishment works. The way recruitment works (think Med 2 system based on a pool that replenishes with time).

[@simenandersen3262]

And remember in Rome 1 and Med 2, if you had a good armourer or training ground in your city, you could just go there with your army, retrain them and get your army got the upgrades? Now in Rome 2 it's almost the same, you just have to... rebuild whatever army barracks required, then disband your entire army, then recruit your new and improved soldiers, and also having to regain all the chevrons you had with your previous troops..

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

I have heard the code is flimsy and they increasingly don’t know how to use it make of it what you will

[@ton5699]

@@simenandersen3262 You could just click on your troops and select the upgrade button instead of disbanding everyone...there is a yellow arrow on every troop that indicates you can upgrade them.

[@armandom.s.1844]

The fact that Syracuse, one of the greatest and biggest cities in the West has no walls and is forced to remain a garbage tiny village for the whole game just because Brundisium had to be a provincial capital to make game easier for Romans is just criminal.

[@ismaelhossam]

Play DEI

[@sauromatae9728]

​@@ismaelhossam wrong. Just don't play rome 2. Good mod doesn't do anything. The game is just awful

[@ismaelhossam]

@@sauromatae9728 I already had enough of it , am just advising him how to play with walled Syracuse

[@zaleost]

To be honest I do agree that this is one of the major fundamental flaws with the current TW system. In that regardless of population or settlement level, ever where is fundamentally locked to being either a walled major or unwalled minor city. They did mitigate this somewhat in WH with the ability to build walls for minors if they're in a position that puts them very much at risk, but in R2 this is very much still an issue.

[@sauromatae9728]

​@@ismaelhossam I dont care. Mods dont save this game. Do not play it and do not recommend it

[@GamelinPK]

Perhaps the most infamous Total War, but certainly one of the most beloved as well

[@AndysTake]

The duality of man

[@letemcook1]

Literally my first and favorite total war game got me through college

[@christiandauz3742]

Shogun 2 >>>>>>>>>>> Rome 2 anyday, especially at game launch Which is worst Rome 2 or Empire?

[@Aethelhald]

Beloved by who? It fucking sucks. It sucked on day 1, it sucks now, it sucks with overhaul mods, even with DeI it's still nowhere near as good as Rome 1.

[@declanjones8888]

​@@christiandauz3742My two personal favourites are Shogun 2 and Medieval 2.

[@happycompy]

Despite its major flaws, Rome 2 has held my attention since release more than any other TW game. Wish CA would continue supporting it. Thank you for the feature, Andy!

[@donaldcrawfordiii554]

Not enough money in it pal.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you for the awesome contribution, Happy, was awesome to collab with you!

[@kopicat2429]

I really liked it on release. Didn't really experience all that many bugs myself, or at least not that I'd notice. But for me, top 3 will always be Rome, Medieval 2 with Kingdoms and Shogun 2. Followed by Warhammer 2 and Empire. First two are just because of pure nostalgia though, won't deny that. But still really love playing them now and then. There's just something special about Rome and Medieval 2, since I grew up on them. Rome 2 is number 6 on my list. So one can even say it's dead last since I do not play any of the other titles, like at all. But despite that, it is vastly superior to any of the other titles I consider ranked below. Didn't really like Attila expansion, just as I didn't really like the barbarian invasion expansion to the original Rome. Edit; I've generally been really lucky with notoriously buggy at launch games. Such as with Rome 2 and later Cyberpunk 2077. Didn't really experience any. Cyberpunk only had one recurring bug for me, but a save and reload fixed it. And the bug was just a disappearing quest NPC.

[@ares106]

I wasn’t too excited about the fall of Carthage trailer. It felt like they were trying too hard to do ancient private Ryan instead of showcasing an actual relevant historical pitched battle like Cannae or Zama which would have been infinitely more interesting to me. It was a red flag that they cared more about buzz and advertising using tie-in instead of showing a typical land battle. That said I was still very excited for the game and I never imagined it would be so horrible at release.

[@RedBaronFlyer]

I remember that being the consensus on the TW center forums as well but, as per usual, they got buried under the hype.

[@DarkRaven2020]

Without DeI I wouldn't have over 4,000 hours in Rome 2 in head to head campaigns with my cousin! Thank you DeI team!

[@martentosin]

DEI saved this game, at this point CA might aswell just make a game engine and modding tool and call it whatever they want, modders will take care of the rest.

[@huitz1348]

Tht weight should be on molders shoulders. Mods should be tht extra spice ppl like not the whole sandwich cause the company was too lazy and expecting $60

[@kam2150]

Can't even imagine how long it took to make this video! Glad I could be a part of it!

[@AndysTake]

thank you for being a part of it :D

[@Pan_Z]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why CA stopped hiring Jeff Van Dyck. The soundtracks of Rome & Medieval II are still regarded highly. The music in Total War used to be one of its strengths. Now it's just there, neither awful nor amazing.

[@M3atheadGaming]

This was a joy to listen to. I`ve only played Rome 1 for around 50-60 hours, but man...that soundtrack is miles ahead of Rome 2, and it somehow made me feel nostalgic even though I`ve had no experience with rome 1 prior to the remaster release. As a fellow creator, I can only imagine the amount of work you put into this, I really appreciate it, its really good.

[@AndysTake]

Appreciate the kind words, my friend, thank you :)

[@RomulusBattles]

OMG 😮 2 hours of pure splendor. Thank you, bro, for the video.👍 Rome 2 is the first Total War game that I've started playing and absolutely loved it 👍

[@AndysTake]

Thanks bro, glad you liked it!

[@minidude112]

Wow, what an in-depth, insanely reflective, and good commentary. Why does this video not have many more views?... after thousands upon thousands of hours in a plethora of total war games many of these angles never struck my mind. This made me even sadder for the lack of a good Rome 2 though, but at the same time more thankful for Rome 1 and in any case good classics pre-Rome 2 era.

[@Agentcoolguy1]

Hard disagree on the unit card criticism. I love the period style unit cards. It gives so much charm to your armies.

[@ellis9290]

I like it a lot nowadays, I think they've taken on a timeless property. However I considered them a downgrade at the time.

[@scottwerner279]

Yep, never understood the criticism because I liked them so much

[@gabisuciu6785]

Aesthetically speaking, it's much better, but it's definitely harder to read initially. Having easy to read cards make it easier to organise armies and command in battle. It's not hard to get used to it, but it was definitely a risky decision.

[@adolfo777nica]

@Agentcoolguy1 just say you disagree, the "hard" is unnecessary.

[@irgendeinname9256]

I used to dislike them but now I just don't care anymore

[@F01V02i]

Total war Rome 2 the game we all love to hate for the last 10 years, yet we all still play it like drug addicts. Can't believe a game can be so hated yet so loved at the same time the TW series wouldn't be the same without it

[@VoPoHo]

this is a true Magnum Opus and a love letter to Rome 2. I can't imagine how much effort it took but the end result is the best strategy game review I've seen

[@AndysTake]

Damn, thank you so much!

[@torrvic1156]

Such an amazing review! It is hard for me to imagine as to how much work you put into this review sir. Back then I really enjoyed Rome: Total War but now I don’t know if I’ll like Total War: Rome 2.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you, glad you liked it! :)

[@Jeyeyeyey]

you most definitely won't, the game is just boring and terrible

[@sean1035]

In my opinion, Rome 2 with DEI is the best Total War experience.

[@reav3rtm]

How does it stack against Third Age Total War? TATW is mine best one for sure. Then maybe EB2 for Medieval2 and Broken Crescent.

[@isaacshultz8128]

Doversoty equity and inclusion?

[@reav3rtm]

@@isaacshultz8128 Yes, it's a mod that makes Jordan B. Peterson acolytes run screaming. Also swaps gender of whoever plays it.

[@isaacshultz8128]

@@reav3rtm under4at3s commmnt

[@schakal5682]

I love this game so much, no other game has managed to captivate me so much. I got the CD version for Christmas and installed it immediately.

[@LazyHoplite]

Small total war youtuber here. I still gladly remember how op spies were, it was ridiculous. I am still playing it now and then, despite all early and current issues I think it is a great game. Great job Andy, what a great video!

[@AndysTake]

Thank you, man, appreciate it! And good luck with your channel!

[@MrHyonD]

This is the one I'm playing at the moment :D Thank you for this great video!

[@AndysTake]

Thank you so much for watching! :D

[@kianqalashahar]

Your channel, which I just discovered recently, is single-handedly getting me to go back and enjoy all the historical Total War titles that I had long since abandoned. Thank you so much!

[@danik882010]

First time Total War player and I really enjoy your cannel I can't believe the modding community for Rome 2 is so alive 10 years later. I am playing vanilla campaign to get the hang of the overall game before I try out the DEI mod.

[@AndysTake]

Thanks, man! Enjoy the game, and good luck with DEI, it's truly awesome :D

[@ThePearcie1988]

I still play Rome 2 and love it. The epic music mod is a must, which has compiled iconic music from many films (such as Gladiator, Troy and Alexander) and done a great job of inplementing their music into the game. It's an absolute must-have!

[@TWSummary]

Amazing video! Rome 2 has really come a LONG way since its launch and DEI just takes its replayability to another level entirely.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you! And agreed about DEI, fantastic piece of work!

[@Krelp]

Amazing review, can't believe the quality. Good job!

[@jruth77]

It’s already been 10 years since Rome 2 released? Wow I’ve gotten old

[@rastavelli]

You did not mention the 2% label , the official forum cleansing of any complaints, how any criticism was suspiciously met with a group of die-hard fans claiming that everything was fine, and degrading statements about the player expectations they were releasing during damage control period. Game itself was a huge disappointment that was a result of a lie that was sold, and then followed by a disrespectful ignorance and dlc dissection. However, that was only a part of the entire disgusting picture that was going on back then.

[@VilleMarjeta]

Incredible video Andy! Thank you for putting all this effort to this video!

[@dolfinofthesheep1417]

Thank you for including the clip of Brian Blessed, Andy - its a tough time, and hearing his voice and mannerisms made me just break out into a smile - thank you agian, amd every blessing! 18:50

[@AndysTake]

My pleasure, my friend, wish you all the best! 🌺

[@jasperlachance6211]

been watching you since you had 10k subs, now look at you! lets goooo!!!

[@AndysTake]

thank you!! :D

[@thorinparbst9365]

Ive got roughly 3.5k in R2 thanks to DEI. I was in the navy during its release so i didn't play it until almost a year later after patches and mod support. I loved it and didn't understand why it got the hate it did. Then a few hours turned to dozens, turned to hundreds and the issues started to show.

[@stevens879]

Hey same for me, think I had just got to norfolk. was patched up by the time I got access to a pc. Still it felt off when I got to finally try it

[@TheOnly01Gee]

more of these long form critiques Andy! awesome

[@AndysTake]

Thank you, glad to hear you love it! :D

[@RockDownCMC]

The timing of this is perfect. I was a huge Total War fan, but was burned bad by Total War Empire and the broken mechanics in that game. Had my faith restored by Shogun 2, only to have it destroyed again by the early reviews of Rome Total War 2. Never got it. I was debating and giving it a shot this week (10 years later) but wanted to know its current state. Half way through the video now. Thank you for putting this all together!

[@AndysTake]

My pleasure, man, hope it helps you out even a little!

[@davidspackman7534]

Now I would so recommend it and if you get mods it's even better

[@irgendeinname9256]

​@@davidspackman7534 can you recommend a mod besides DEI? That one gives me big performance issues

[@davidspackman7534]

@@irgendeinname9256 I would recommend Etruria Total War its similar to DEI in some ways but so crazy in the over haul. I also like to use unit mods like Meogron and Sebidees. Another mod pack I like if your aren't going for historical accuracy is New World Total War which is very unique by adding factions like Troy, Amazons, Atlantis and some other normal factions are playable like Cyprus, Rhodes, Bithynia.

[@davidspackman7534]

(Etruria total war is like mini DEI)

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

I can see why this is such an effort, this is a LONG video! Thank you for giving me the inspiration as I'm going to be making more of these total war style video essays man. This must have taken a long time Also can I have your reshade what are you using

[@francescomutignani]

Well, you know, you play later TW games, feel bored and then there's Rome 2 watching you from Steam library like Thanos... "Where did that bring you? Back to me".

[@nelson_sauvin]

💯

[@AndysTake]

LOL

[@iaindoherty9155]

Honestly I'm so incredibly glad to hear someone else that really misses the old population mechanics from early games. That was such an interesting mechanic, and carting armies of peasants out to remote settlements to boost them up was always entertaining.

[@ctirons]

I only started playing Rome 2 last year, but man is this my favourite historical Total War. OG Rome was fun and I liked the freedom of it, but overall I prefer this one. I hope if we get a Rome 3 it’s more like the first than the second. Naval battles are a MUST for a new game though, that’s such a cool idea.

[@SheepStrategos]

I think CA Sofia should get a raise, they just do great work but don’t get good settings, imagine if instead of pharaoh we got medieval 3 from CA Sofia.

[@legatuslegionarii2284]

Many thanks for this! Like many previous Rome 1 players, I could at the beginning never get into Rome 2 for the many reasons you mentioned. I really wanted to like Rome 2 and I have some kind of a love/hate relationship with the game. I play it today because of the many mods out there and because of quite good DLCs like HatG or RoR. However, Rome 2 will - at least for me - never be able to replace the depth and atmosphere Rome 1 and MTW 2 created.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you, Legatus! And yes, I can totally agree with you on that.

[@nathanlandrum8629]

Great review of Rome 2 Andy! I am very impressed as you provided a good balance of poignant, nuanced criticism as well as praise for what the game offered.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you, Nathan! Glad to hear you liked it!

[@nathanlandrum8629]

Are your graphical mods you used for this review the same as the graphical mods and settings mentioned in your Rome II Graphics video?@@AndysTake

[@AndysTake]

@@nathanlandrum8629 for the most part yes, they’re very similar. The mods are the same, the reshade has likely been tweaked a little but still retains the soul of what you see here I believe

[@Vincent-Mueller]

I love this game! Was my first Total War game and I love to come back to it once in a while.

[@GavinTheFifer]

Very much enjoy this video, and don’t mind the length. Hope you do more long-form in depth videos like this

[@AndysTake]

I intend to!

[@jhl6304]

It is so surprising even for me that I remember those musics all these years whenever I hear them. Such a timeless masterpieces.

[@sorelvio79]

2h review, this is like a full movie lol. Even if I never liked any total war after Medieval 2, good analysis though. And also, listening people talk about total war games is like ASMR to my ears :D

[@AndysTake]

glad to hear it ;)

[@Spartan265]

I was incredibly excited for Rome 2. I had played the first one when I was 12 and it became one of my favorites. So I was hyped for it's sequel. It wasn't as good as I had hoped but I still enjoyed it. Then I downloaded DEI and Rome 2 became just as fun for me as Rome 1. Although now with Rome remastered I find myself playing that more than Rome 2 in recent times.

[@MartinTraXAA]

Speaking of the music, the mod that adds Rome 1 music to Rome 2 was and remains the first thing I download.

[@samaranthae9671]

AS someone who played Shogun total war 1. The series peaked somewhere between medieval 2 and empire.

[@aaronfoss8956]

Music is so underrated. Glad you covered this topic in the video.

[@AndysTake]

Happy to hear it’s appreciated :)

[@ZubiForce]

I truly enjoyed the longer format that feels like a blend between a review and a documentary, THIS is content, so thank you!. I do have some disagreements however and things I want to point out that I hope you get to read: As a quick introduction, Rome 2 was the first TW I played, and while I was introduced to TW through Shogun 2 and Rome 2 as a viewer by seeing my brother play, my first experience of TW was right after Sofia's rework. As a player, I want deeper mechanics in the campaign to make it feel more complex, organic and consequential. I think this puts me in a good position to give an external and different opinion that at the same time has got many years behind its back since I have played a TONE of TW while not affected by the nostalgia of the older titles that I think contaminates to some degree some of these opinions. I'm afraid I have to disagree with the soundtrack, in fact, I think Rome 2's is vastly superior to Rome's or any other future TW I have plaid, it blends with the atmosphere and the environment and becomes one with the feeling the game aims for, the grandeur of the past and a sense of wonder and melancholy. Rome's just felt arcade-like and out of place, like is just a song playing over the game. The same applies to combat, Rome 2's feels epic as if you are watching an epic event or movie while blending with the atmosphere, Rome again stands out to me and feels arcade-like, but I do agree that it is more consistent, however, I really think is horrendous in comparison. I think match combat and how units feel is so much superior to the newer games, while it can look odd here and there it overall feels like it has so much more weight and personality than Troy's or Warhammer's, where it feels like a play in a theatre where no one is really hitting each other. Something feels off in them while in Rome 2 the units truly feel like they clash and the soldiers are fighting each other. Could be refined, of course, but I think it is so very superior to the newer titles. As for the culture packs, I think at the cheaper price they are good content/DLC and the good ones are worth it, HappyCompy's tear list is such a good guide for them. The culture packs could indeed have served as them for the grand campaign (like, common... how did we NOT get the Etruscans from the DLCs into the grand campaign?). I think they are okay, but indeed there is no excuse for the Greek states or pirates pack, for example. Overall, I really enjoyed it as a lot of your other content, but I do feel like at times some of these takes fail to recognise the level of subjectivity on certain topics and push it too far. With Rome in particular, I think the old guard has a very black-and-white approach to the comparison of the two and I would rather see a more open-minded narrative to the blend of the best/more popular features of these two games. As an example, here is a take from another player on the province system that highlights it isn't as black and white: "I played a few campaigns in Rome recently and I much prefer the province system in Rome 2 where you have limited slots and have to think about specializing regions. While in Rome you specialize a little initially then you spam all the buildings in all the towns every turn because you have too much money, just adds busy work in the game like babysitting 20 planets in Stellaris for the entire game." Again, I really enjoyed this longer, deeper format, it was a proper watch and thought-inducing take and the extra work does not go unappreciated! Take care and have a nice day!

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

You make an excellent point for Rome III. But how or when is it going to happen who knows. I'll include more of my thoughts!

[@drbangrim4205]

Damn this video reminded me why I didn't play vanilla once since DEI came out :D

[@DzinkyDzink]

The game that strayed away. The game that promised so much yet failed to delvier. The game that started the Dark Ages of the franchise.

[@aksmex2576]

36:36 that is the most magical and calming music I have ever heard. It is amazing. I found the Rome II music to be more immersive. Rome I sounds like some guy is throwing a party. Which might be your thing I guess.

[@savasolarov8424]

Good upload man, thanks for vid and the compilation of information.

[@ИлијаГајић-ю4ф]

I was waithing for this. DEI makes this game amazing even in 2023! I hope CA makes Rome 3 or Meddival 3 the best game ever.

[@AndysTake]

Hope it was worth the wait ;) all I want is a Rome 3 or Medieval 3 that returns to the roots of the series but which updated visuals and new innovations, man!

[@historychillasmr5623]

I also want Rome 3 or Medieval 3 but I fear they would ruin it with these individual general/hero mechanics from the newer games

[@Smaug2b]

i should prefer empire 2 personnaly because the first one was disapointed

[@zackhartley4718]

Going to play tonight after work.. good video

[@nelson_sauvin]

Are you in good terms with TheTerminator? I expected to hear him along the other youtubers. Very glad to hear from HappyCompy again. Great video man, I see you outperform yourself with every video you make. Like always, keep up the good work. Thanks for all the content you share with us. p.S: Your Attila video is precious to me. Though I buy it with a great pain.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you for the kind words, Nelson, I really appreciate it :D Loved having HappyCompy with me for this one!

[@DeadLikeMeJ]

@Andy's Take Nice addition adding the voices of people like Dresden and OffyD. One thing you completely skipped talking about and a crusial aspect & a failing one at that is the Autoresolve. On the one had it was the TW to add a few 'tactical' approaches but at the same time its the one that clearly shifted from random to deterministic autoresolve and one that is barely simulating anything - streamlined like the rest of the game. This was very clear when one would siege a settlement and easily autoresolve it with higher numbers despite that playing the fight would have been much more costly - this is one of the things that killed Rome II for me and many others.

[@AndysTake]

Very true, I could've talked more about that!

[@canuckasaurus]

I was super hyped for the original release and remember how poorly it performed at launch, but CA really polished Rome 2 over the years. My biggest problem with the game remains the DLC, which would be resolved if the game had a Gold edition like Total War games used to have.

[@Mr-tr1wc]

41:58 - Take a moment and imagine if the campaign overlay map had the armies represented diorama style like the actual campaign map in Shogun 1.

[@trowachess]

All the guest reviews!

[@AndysTake]

Loved having them!

[@jerryferus]

such impressive collaboration!

[@AndysTake]

very glad I could have them all on!

[@saltyyshow]

Rome II might not have been my first Total War, but with DEI & the timeframe god did it become one of my very favorite & most played games in my steam library. Great Video!

[@AndysTake]

Thank you so much! :)

[@irgendeinname9256]

What's the timeframe god?

[@saltyyshow]

@@irgendeinname9256 lmfao I never realized until this comment that I didn’t use correct punctuation with that sentence. I meant timeframe as referencing the timeframe Rome II is set in lol. My bad!

[@irgendeinname9256]

@@saltyyshow haha lol I thought it's another mod. Sounds fancy af

[@saltyyshow]

@@irgendeinname9256 I couldn't imagine, If only lol

[@mattg2306]

I absolutely love Rome 2: Caesar in Gaul. My favorite Total War Campaign to date.

[@dogman9657]

Couldn't tell you how many times I've ran that campaign. So damn good, sweet and short

[@khanofsteppe1667]

This video is perfect, sweet and concise 👍 Now I can't wait to play Rome 2!

[@Delwyn94]

Thanks for the review! I kind of fell out of love with the game and its new politics system as it just seemed to be there to limit the player, perhaps just not enough time playing. So I never thought about playing rise of the republic. Until now! So I’ll be keeping my eye out on the next sale! Great vid Thankyou!

[@grimaldur778]

Rome 2 will always hold a place in my heart. - And regularly a place in my installed games. For Historical it will always be the one I go back to the most. We can only dream of one day getting a medieval 2.

[@GameGodLazy]

You mean Medieval 3?

[@DMiso90]

I genuinely do not understand why the province system is still their go to system, i despise it so much

[@AndysTake]

me too man...

[@houndofculann1793]

I like the reality of it dividing your holdings to distinct areas, but they seriously need to bring back the population system and remove the restrictions on what cities can grow to what size category. The province system with edicts also should be such that you could decide yourself which cities belong in the same province, if any. The edicts should have costs involved and less benefits per edict but there should be more edicts to choose from and you should be able to apply even all of them at the same time should you wish to, just with proportionally increased costs the more of them you have on. This way the game wouldn't restrict or railroad your expansion into any direction (especially the dumbest thing of having to declare wars on friendly factions just to complete your province) but would give you a lot of options to customise whatever you want to accomplish.

[@jvoodoochild2755]

Thank you for the content, for sharing your thoughts about the subject, and reaching out to other content providers for their short takes. I only made it half way through the video, not because it is overly long, but because I fundamentally disagree with the way you represent CA. CA is a for profit business. In order for us to get anything from them, they have to compromise to make a title with the allocated time and money budgeted within the technology of the time. By all means gives a thumbs up or down about how you feel about a particular title and it’s features or how those compare to other titles. The fact that the franchise is alive, this many years later, speaks to those compromises being sufficient to satisfy the public and make profit. And that’s all that matters for the next title in the franchise. Again thank you for the content

[@S4ngheli05]

For this game I bought my first "modern/fancy" pc and was super hyped, while at the start that broke down, it couldnt break it fully and over time I came to love it, now at over 1100hrs playtime and with mods like DEI or Medieval 1100 etc its still great!

[@NZAce13]

Great video honest review as a 20 year historical player I just stopped playing except the gold old titles they have their own genre of gaming and it's got worse over time very disappointing they let the fans down every year. Rip historical total war we loved you❤❤

[@ilko9992]

I've played so much rome 2 that even i cant believe it. Contless hours in vanilla and DEI coop and singleplayer also countless hours in multiplayer battles with friends roleplaying as rome or alexander the great. Man after watching this video i wanna go back and experience this again

[@DGPStudios]

I appreciate the effort, but for me Rome 2 marks the beginning of where CA forgot why we play their games. Units are not floaty because of short battles! I suggest watching the Rome 2 review from Reynold Sanity. They should honestly just scrap the entire warscape engine. It does well on ranged combat, but that's about it. Better armor is not reflected in different materials and weapons behaving different towards it, but because of +2 piercing armor. The units don't feel lifelike at all, they move in perfect unision, clip though eachother, search their targets like drones and when killed die with the same death animation. Units end up in giant blobs since Rome 2 as every unit tries to attack into the center of an enemy unit... I want a battle SIMULATION, no spreadsheet calculator! ​​⁠There is a lot of matched combat, but that just means that second rows in a formation will do nothing. If they do the entity stops mid-animation and dies by the only non-matched animation in the game. To this day they have not fixed the moments between matched combat animations, meaning units will stupidly stare at each other and awkwardly move into position for the next animation. Absolutely zero dynamics here. Compare that to Medieval 2! Battle lines do not move and still look inferior to Rome 1 heavy units simply pushing through peasants. New physics based engine, more lifelike animations, ragdolls, collsion, mass, formation combat, etc. Why is Total War rendering so many units only to handle them like Age Of Empires units? That one poor roman soldier does not have 75hp but 1 life and if he gets stabbed at the right angle he dies immediately. I think Totally Accurate Battle Simulator does a better job at Battle Simulation than Total War currently...

[@fudgelology2030]

But that would, like, cost money and take effort. CA and SEGA have just gotten wrecked financially by the Hyenas debacle, so I guess it's probably going to be a Medieval 3 with the Warscape engine for easy money.

[@DGPStudios]

​@@fudgelology2030 They should make Empire 2 on Warscape since it actually works on this engine and after that get a new one working. Melee engagements that look the same for over 10 years won't do it for M3, they absolutely have to excel in this department since their campaign alone can't compete with games like CK3.

[@alexs_toy_barn]

Listening to OffyD talk about stuff other than the first crusade or medieval times or the Arab conquests or anything that's not real history is so bizarre and surreal

[@AndysTake]

It was awesome to get him in the video :D

[@priestskorge]

Great video man! I am a huge warhammer fan but I want a good historical game so bad. I want a medieval 3. But honestly I don’t think they could do it justice right now. That why I don’t think they have done it. There scared. It’s the most beloved total war. But man I really really hope we get it. I went back and played it. I love how you can just have army’s with no general. Why they got away from those mechanics is beyond me. Was so much better in my opinion. Can you do that in pharoh again? I been thinking about trying pharoh not really interested in the time period but I think it look not bad although I think it should of been priced as a saga title prob wait for a sale

[@ancienthistorygaming]

I was running a very cheap laptop back then and it ran the game on low so I really didn't notice the bad issues with it. I got myself better PCs in 2018 and 2019 and by then the game was in a lot better shape.

[@kurgisempyrion6125]

Oh I thought this was about the only Rome Total war that worked - the first one :D

[@genluk]

A very good review of what this game is, still my favorite and (IMO) 2nd best TW game to date after Rome 1. I started playing shortly after release and luckily I didn't have to put up with the land battle capture points or the weird visual bugs, the game still has things I don't like as much (like buildings and the politics system), but I think that if TW was to change, Rome 2 was the best they could've done for that change. Love (most) TW games, been playing them since I was 10 and Rome 2, with all its flaws, will be my favorite for a long time, unless they release Rome 3 and it ends up being better in every way. Let's pray to Jupiter for that boys.

[@param1790]

It was released when I had graduated from grad school but hadn’t landed a job yet - I played empire total war nonstop instead of applying. I finally bought it in 2014 and I think it was in a better state by then.

[@AndysTake]

oh definitely, that year made a big difference, even though it didnt really come into its own before 2017

[@kairosmvr1900]

Sweet lord, when the Rome I battle soundtrack started playing i got goosebumps 😂. Can you imagine the absolute hype Medieval 3 would get if they announced they were hiring Jeff Van Dyke??

[@LordAntharg]

I love building and unit cards in Rome 2 and absolutely hate 3d cards because I am unable to distinguish them as easly.

[@mahakleung6992]

Andy, wow! What an incredible opus. Simply fantastic!!! I was a little groggy, and will definitely watch again. Your videos have always been good, but this went way beyond past efforts. Normally, I rarely watch reviews as they are rushed out by betas as soon as NDA's are waived on a pre-release build to score subs. A leave nothing out 10 year retrospective; ending with what is truly one of the best TW overhauls ever done. Simply, awesome. Yes, I have played RTW/EB1 and MTW2/EB2 which both exceeded DEI in pure historical education, but as a historic/entertainment offer DEI is much more well rounded. I am looking at 70. I recently built my first PC; i-9 13900KS + RTX 4900(OC). Believe it or not, I have a lot of games, but no new titles. They are all like ROME2 ... for example SH3/GWX/ALEX (2005). Most released years ago and heavily modded for 1080p or early access 4-5 years ago. I don't really have the time for the evolution of a classic ... it has to be there already. Thank you very much. My 2 other TW titles are SH2/DMS and I think I will do Attila/EP. I know Attila is poorly optimized, but there are a few tricks; and with this level hardware it really doesn't matter at 1080p/60 anyway. I rarely sub, but this video deserves a sub. Maybe one day, we can can chat on Discord as I would love to get your thoughts on what is the right mod list for Attila. Thanks!

[@CptSlow89]

After 3k diplomacy and campaign I can't play shallow older tw games😢

[@darthcheese7971]

OG Rome soundtrack is instantly recognisable to me.

[@AndysTake]

It always will be!

[@sagittarius5466]

Awesome video

[@thesiberianproductions3748]

I think the expanded maps from the dlc look so much better because the city models actually fit the environment scale.

[@AndysTake]

yes this is very true, they fit much more in with those maps. I do miss non-city things to interact with though, like small villages, resource hotspots, forts etc

[@anti-spiral159]

I am gonna take a sip for every time Andy says sin brb

[@AndysTake]

glhf

[@bofpwet9500]

Around 55:50, yes, worst thing that ever happen to total war.

[@Rex1987]

YES! i full agree - let armies move freely again

[@sebastianmenendez7657]

This is from 2012?! Wow impressive game

[@IchWeissNichtMehrBescheid]

My favorite Total war game in retrospective. I still remember buying my own "gaming PC" with my first own saved up money and playing this nonstop Radious Mod made me really fall in love with the game and without it I think it would have been barely more than just an average game in the beginning

[@Ratich]

58:59 that's accurate and quite immersive an army should be able to construct transports to ferry itself through water

[@luminoussun]

This was a awesome video. I agree with mostly everything you said. The music in rome 1 was epic. As soon as it started. I was ready to go into battle. I do not think any game i have played come closs to them. Rome 2 just sounded like a hippy playing on a flute. I wish they just revamped the original rome 1 songs. There is a saying. Do not fix something that works. Chess has been played for 100s of years.. At no stage did someone say "Chess is too tough. Lets just make it more like checkers. So kids can play it"

[@Bumzen]

Awesome video. I still love Rome 2. Many of the criticisms are very fair (like the province system) . But...HARD disagree on building icons. They are by FAR the best icons in total war history. Intuitive while telling enough to make us know what it is. The removal of these was a big reason why I just couldn't get in to Attila. It was just weird pictures.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you! Damn, agree to hard disagree then ;)

[@earningattorney9887]

I wouldnt build my first gaming pc until 2016 and rome 2 was one of my first pc games. I was not subjected to its miserable launch and it remains one of my favorite games of all time

[@benedictjajo]

Rome 2 is the the first total war game i played and I first played it around patch 15, and maybe it's because of that it's my most played total war game. And the mods really extended the lifespan of the game. To this day, i have tried all other total war games and i still love rome 2 the most which is probably because it's the first game i played in the series.