Rome: Total War is a strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and originally published by Activision; its publishing rights have since passed to Sega. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in 2004. The Mac OS X version was released on February 5, 2010, by Feral Interactive, who also released the iPad version on November 10, 2016, the iPhone version on August 23, 2018, and the Android version on December 19, 2018. The game is the third title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series, following Shogun: Total War, and Medieval: Total War.

The game's main campaign takes place from 270 BC to 14 AD, showcasing the rise and final centuries of the Republican period and the early decades of the imperial period of Ancient Rome. Gameplay is split between real-time tactical battles and a turn-based strategic campaign. On the battlefield, the player controls groups of soldiers and uses them to engage in combat with enemy forces.

Upon its release, Rome: Total War received widespread acclaim from critics. In the years since, the game has frequently been referred to by critics as one of the greatest games of all time. Two official expansion packs, Barbarian Invasion and Alexander, were released for the game. A sequel, Total War: Rome II, was released on September 3, 2013. A remastered version of the game, developed by Feral Interactive, was released on April 29, 2021.

Gameplay

As with previous games in the Total War series, Rome: Total War has two primary modes of play: a turn-based, single-player campaign that takes place on an overhead map of the world and a real-time battle system that occurs on 3D battlefields.

Each faction starts with a set of family members. The head of the family is the leader of the faction; any male above the age of 16 can be designated as the current leader's heir. Males above the age of 16 can govern settlements and command armies as generals. Male family members can be added through births between married family members, adoption, or marriage with a female family member. Family members eventually die; natural causes, battles, assassinations, diseases, and natural disasters can all cause a character's demise. Family members can develop character traits from life experiences or heredity. These traits can have both positive and negative effects on the character's stats, which in turn affect their battlefield performance, how well they manage their settlements, and how persuasive they are in negotiations. The stats of family members can also be affected by members of their personal retinue.

Agents are special types of characters that can be recruited in cities with the proper buildings. Agents can also acquire traits and retinue members. There are three types of agents: spies, diplomats, and assassins. Spies can be used to gather intelligence about the composition of armies, infiltrate foreign cities, and serve in a counter-espionage role in the players own cities. When besieging an enemy city, spies stationed within that city have a chance to open the gates. Assassins can assassinate characters and commit sabotage in settlements. Spies and assassins can both be killed during their missions. Diplomats can offer a variety of diplomatic deals to other factions, such as alliances, tributes, and trade rights. They may also attempt to bribe foreign armies, cities, agents, and family members into either defecting or, if the soldiers being bribed are not "compatible" with the other faction, deserting. Units can create different formations that alter how they perform in combat; for example, many spearmen units can form the phalanx formation, while many Roman units can form the testudo. Both of these formations sacrifice mobility in favour of defensiveness. The player can also employ complex tactics to help them achieve victory; for example, soldiers can ambush enemies from a nearby forest or flank them to avoid a frontal engagement.

Prior to release, a preliminary version of the game engine was used in two series of TV programs: Decisive Battles by the History Channel, where it was used to recreate famous historical battles, and Time Commanders by BBC Two, where teams of novice non-gamers commanded ancient armies to replay key battles of antiquity. Military historians fine-tuned the game engine specifically for these television shows, ensuring maximum historical accuracy. Both series also used the same music track as the battles in Rome: Total War.

Jeff van Dyck composed the original music soundtrack for the game and received a BAFTA Interactive Awards nomination for his work. Some of the vocals, including the song "Forever" played during the game's credits, were performed by his wife, Angela van Dyck. Angela also wrote the lyrics for the song "Divinitus," which was written in quasi-Latin.

In May 2014, GameSpy's multiplayer services were shut down, and as a result, the game was migrated to Steamworks as of Patch 1.51.

The iPad version of the game, developed by Feral Interactive, was announced on August 12, 2016 and released on November 10, 2016. The iPhone version was released on August 23, 2018. an Android version was announced on November 8, 2018, and was officially released on December 19th, 2018.

Modifications

Rome: Total War allows for the manipulation of some game resources, including its text files and textures, which has led to the creation of modifications. Among the most notable are Europa Barbarorum and Roma Surrectum, both of which aim to introduce more historical accuracy and rework how the factions are played.

Reception

Sales

According to The NPD Group, Rome: Total War was the 20th-best-selling computer game of 2004.<!--https://web.archive.org/web/20041114005805/http://www.gamespot.com:80/news/2004/11/11/news_6112295.html--> It maintained this position on NPD's annual computer game sales chart for the following year. In the United States alone, the game sold 390,000 copies and earned $16.8 million by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to declare it the country's 40th-best-selling computer game, and best-selling Total War title, released since January 2000. The series as a whole, including Rome, sold 1.3 million units in the United States by August 2006. By 2013, Rome: Total War alone had totaled 876,000 sales in the region. It also received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

Rome sold at least 100,000 units in the German market by December 2004.

Critical reviews

The game received "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

  • PC Gamer (US): Editor's Choice, Best Strategy Game of 2004
  • GameSpot: Editor's Choice, PC Game of September, Strategy Game of 2004
  • Adrenaline Vault: Seal of Excellence
  • GameSpy: Editor's Choice
  • E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Game

Computer Games Magazine named Rome: Total War the fifth-best computer game of 2004. The editors wrote, "If there's a magic formula for how to make a great strategy game, Creative Assembly has it down pat." The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Rome as their 2004 "Strategy Game of the Year (Real-Time)", although it lost to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. It was nominated for GameSpot<nowiki/>'s year-end "Best Graphics, Technical" award.

Sequel

On July 2, 2012, The Creative Assembly announced the development of Total War: Rome II as the next edition of the Total War series. Rome II became its successor on 3 September 2013 when it was released, featuring gameplay during the time of the Roman Republic and Empire, a larger campaign map, as well as a number of game mechanics both new and carried over from previous Total War entries.

Remaster

On March 25, 2021, 16 and a half years after its initial release, a remastered edition named Total War: Rome Remastered was announced. It would feature improved visuals, additional factions and a modernized interface; and cover the original game and all expansions. Developed by Feral Interactive, the remaster was released on April 29 of the same year. The reception was positive with reviews stating that the remastered edition was the best way to play Rome: Total War today, but that the game mechanics felt outdated compared to more recent releases in the Total War series.

Like the original game, the remaster supports modding. Among the most notable, Imperium Surrectum made by the mod developers behind mods Rome: Total Realism and Roma Surrectum for the original game.