Total War: Rome II

Still looks very over-saturated!

Still looks very over-saturated!

The colour tone certainly is different from the older games in the series. Shogun 2 was very bright and was filled with garish colours, but it worked because they reminded me a bit of Akira Kurosawa's samurai movies like Kagemusha and Ran. The brownish colour palette is supposed to represent the game's grittier tone. The Creative Assembly has already mentioned they are gearing the battles towards being like a Roman version of Saving Private Ryan, although personally I find some aspects of it off putting, but at other times I'm glad that the Total War is leaving the brightly coloured scheme of the past behind. I for one couldn't stand to see another representation of the Parthians in bright pink pyjamas.

New video has been released showing more of the battle at Carthage. Carthage Battle Gameplay Walkthrough - Total War: Rome II

Carthage looks amazing.

Fantastic footage. And all the more mouth watering when you consider that it's Pre-Alpha work, and there's still about a year or so of development on the game until release. Just look at some of the Beta-footage of the original Rome: Total War on shows like Time Commanders in 2004 and notice how much it improved by the game's release only a few months later.

The Creative Assembly have now started releasing information about the factions included in Rome 2. So far those featured include the Romans and Carthaginians (obviously!)

Interestingly it seems that this time round we could play the Romans as a single faction, instead of the ahistorical Julii, Brutii, Scipii and SPQR factions. Roman families will appear in the game, but I'm not sure in what context. Either way I hope the Creative Assembly stick to this decision as I'd rather control the Romans as a whole rather than individual families.

The new screenshots look impressive as well, including what looks like Carthaginian troops in Hellenistic gear.

Rome 2 - Carthage Faction Features

Gotta love how The God from the Sea (Poseidon/Zeus) is in every picture from Carthage...

Make gestures like that with a genuine toga and the thing would fall off. Don't care though. Want. Want.

I'm going to have to get a better computer before I play this. LOL Not that my computers are bad, I just need something with a better processor and more ram. I have a feeling I'm going to be neglecting a lot of responsibilities when this comes out. And think of the Mods that will be made... *Drool*

I'm going to have to get a better computer before I play this. LOL Not that my computers are bad, I just need something with a better processor and more ram. I have a feeling I'm going to be neglecting a lot of responsibilities when this comes out. And think of the Mods that will be made... *Drool*

I hope you are right about the modding tools. The MODs improved the original Rome Total War by expanding the map, creating historically accurate re-skins, adding factions, removing the 4 Roman factions and giving you total control over the Republic and so on. About 90% of my time playing RTW was spent on mods. Unfortunately since Empire Total War in 2009, the Creative Assembly have been very reluctant about adding modding tools as it disrupts their sales of DLC packs, considering they are now working directly through STEAM. As a reult it's unlikely we will see any substantial modding tools until a long time after release. Shogun 2 has finally recieved limited modding tools on STEAM almost 2 years after release. The good news though is that Rome 2 appears much more historically accurate than the old one. One of many reasons I used Mods in the original RTW was to avoid all the ahistorical content such as head hurlers and ballista mounted chariots.

I wish I had known about the ballista chariots before, those sound hilariously awesome.

I wish I had known about the ballista chariots before, those sound hilariously awesome.

To be honest though, the ballista chariots were more a feature of the Barbarian Invasion expansion pack rather than the original Rome. Historical accuracy declined considerably between 'Rome' and 'Barbarian Invasion' - with the ballista chariots just being one feature of it. I can't decide whether the berserker-like Hounds of Culann was the worst, what with their superhuman strength, and their ability to send a dozen soldiers flying 20 feet in the air with the one swipe of their war clubs.

I haven't been paying much attention to ROME 2 updates lately, and as a result I've missed out on lots of cool new developments. It now seems as if the Creative Aseembly have added three new factions to the roster - Macedon, Iceni and the Arverni. I find it interesting that we have Iceni and Arverni instead of Britons and Gauls, a sure sign that Rome 2 is moving towards greater historical accuracy.

You can Read up on the latest Factions - as well as see their respective screenshots, here:

Rome 2 Faction List

The new screenshots look very impressive. I can't wait till its release.

The Iceni Painted Warriors:

Macedonian Phalanx:

Arvernian Noblemen:

For those who are interested, the Creative Assembly have released information about the next faction, a Germanic tribe called the Suebi.

There are now two unknown playable factions left. The next faction will be announced tomorrow I believe. I wonder what faction it will be? Perhaps Egypt, Parthia, Armenia, Pontus, Sparta...

Ahh i can't wait!! I've been following it since it was announced; I'm betting on the next faction to be announced will either be Parthia or Egypt.