Rome: Total War Hands-On

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When you decide to attack or are attacked, an option will appear to command the battle personally, have the computer figure it out without you, or flee. If you decide to command the battle yourself, the scene will change from the overhead global map to a battle map version of the square the units are meeting on. On top of having to use the topography of that little square where you meet, the armies will actually start on the map from the side they approached the map. So if your troops are coming from the south when attacking a group in a forest to the north, you'll begin in the southern part of the map while the defenders will begin in the forest to the north.

On top of that, any forces in adjoining squares will also be able to be used as reinforcements. So if, in that same scenario, I had forces sitting immediately to the east of the battlefield, they would be involved in the battle as reinforcements. The only catch is that the AI will be in control of those reinforcements on the battlefield. So they'll be doing their thing and you'll be doing yours. Who does a better job is a good question.

In my dealings with the computer controlled AI, I found that it wasn't as aggressive as I was, but it certainly added a bit of excitement to know that there was another ally on the field to give me help. Using them wasn't too hard. All I needed to do was send a contingent of cavalry out to piss off the Gauls and make them chase. Thankfully, they chased all the way into my reinforcements. Meanwhile, I was charging my cavalry around the flanks of the remaining enemy forces while slowly advancing my infantry as a wall. When the infantry engaged the remaining forces, the cavalry had made their way around to great position where they were able to charge the tangled troops and cause an incredible amount of damage.

My allies were making quick work of the other enemy forces and it wasn't very long before the enemy was routing in disgrace. This is probably the biggest lesson of Rome and the Total War series reaching into the philosophy of the Art of War. Conflict is inevitable. It's part of humanity. Winning a fight without killing is the best and most skillful solution. Therefore, if you can wrangle your way through a conflict with words and negotiation without armed conflict, you're the man. And when it comes to actual battle, because it will come to actual battle, winning with the fewest casualties is enormously important. Knowing your enemy and knowing your own forces well enough to use them in a way that will crush your enemy's spirit is the key. Afterall, the longer your enemy is on the battlefield, the more men you're going to lose. Using your forces correctly to inspire fear in your enemy is awesome. Morale is a huge factor in these battles, as it was in real life back then. People get scared when faced with death. Rome: Total War does a very good job approximating this.

Those thinking this is going to be another Command & Conquer or StarCraft are going to be pretty surprised. Consider the battles in Rome: Total War as more of a chess game then a lesson in clicking fast and micromanagement. Armies worked in divisions or troop types with a lot of importance placed on formation, pre-battle set-up, morale, flanking, correct use of combined forces, and movement management of troops so they aren't exhausted before the real battle begins.

Rome is an impressive piece of battle simulation. There are a lot of factors taken into account here. It's been said that the engine can render 10,000 units at the same time during battles. I've personally only taken part in battles with almost 2,000 on screen and that was pretty crazy. When you add in city sieges and assaults things will get even more intense. Just one piece of advice. Think carefully about where you knock holes in the walls when attacking a city. You could accidentally set your own forces up for an ass whooping. Make sure that you knock down enough wall to run through freely before attacking and that your forces aren't running into a small alleyway where they get backed up and cramped.

In any case, this fully featured build of Rome: Total War looked very good. It certainly gives me a lot of hope for the retail version, which should be hitting shelves in late September; even though Activision will neither confirm nor deny any dates we may or may not have seen around the net and on retail sites. We can probably expect an announcement to that effect very soon. Until then, dream sweet dreams of power and conquest.

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