Reynold Sanity tears R2TW a new
- Thread starter Mouthwash
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PhilBowles
Deity
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I played it as recently as patch 5, and it had improved to the point where it was a fairly bad Total War game with an oversimplified and tediously long campaign rather than the complete and utter dross it was at the start.
I read the patch notes for patch 7, supposedly an extensive fix, and was not encouraged that further substantial changes will be forthcoming - that was merely a lot of bug fixes and some minor AI issues, nothing to address fundamental game flaws.
I read the patch notes for patch 7, supposedly an extensive fix, and was not encouraged that further substantial changes will be forthcoming - that was merely a lot of bug fixes and some minor AI issues, nothing to address fundamental game flaws.
Peck of Arabia
Sociable Recluse
I love a good review that can't be posted on family friendly forums: This is going to be a fun half hour! I'll be right back...
Peck of Arabia
Sociable Recluse
Further proof that, with Rome II, we've been Empire'd. The more I see on Rome II, the more I feel I've dodged a bullet- I so very nearly bought it when it came out, it brings me out in a cold sweat thinking about it.
I don't know what they could do to make me want to buy it now short of a complete overhaul including an engine change... basically start again.
Still at least this fiasco has given me a new found appreciation of how good a game Rome 1 was.
I don't know what they could do to make me want to buy it now short of a complete overhaul including an engine change... basically start again.
Still at least this fiasco has given me a new found appreciation of how good a game Rome 1 was.
shadowplay
your ad here
Boy, am I ever glad I didn't drop any money on this.
It's good to see I wasn't the only one that dodged the bullet with this game. I only delayed my purchase because I didn't have the time (had a few busy months at work) and as it turns out it was a blessing in disguise.
Side note: really loved the review and pretty much hit everything on the head.
Side note: really loved the review and pretty much hit everything on the head.
PhilBowles
Deity
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Seems it's so unfixable they're already rushing out a standalone sequel (yes, standalone - the sort of expansion they'd normally release after a year or more, rather than the usual small campaign DLC, and Napoleon was as soon as it was after Empire as an emergency measure). The good news, it's a quarter of the price of the main game:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/261050
It's also the sort of content in DLC you should get for that price - if only it were associated with a better game, and we could have confidence it would be a less disastrous release. It does seem, from the addition of seasons, revamped character system and replacement of the broken civil war mechanic, that they are attempting to release a new Rome-setting game that reverses some of Rome II's least popular features.
As an aside, comparisons with Empire - as has been said elsewhere - are unfair. Empire was a very strong core game, with the best and most complex campaign system in the series and a lot of innovative changes; it was broken by bugs, a poorly-implemented multi-theatre of war system, dull sieges, balance problems, and dismal AI. Rome 2 has every one of these issues ... but it lacks the advantage of having any kind of solid core.
Rome 2's campaign is dull, simplified and overly long, nearly all the major game changes were not merely badly-implemented, but badly thought out to begin with (from the terrible general and unit recruitment system onwards through free transports and the now-infamous siege torches, down particularly to the new food and public order systems), and where Empire more than any other TW game focused on formation tactics, Rome 2 initially started without even a loose/tight formation toggle and overdosed on special abilities, some downright mystical and most historically absurd, and hurriedly patched in tactical play following player complaints. Empire was a good game in principle, but poorly-executed. By contrast, if you fixed every bug in Rome 2, scaled the economy sensibly so that you actually had to worry about not being able to afford units, and improved the AI so that on Legendary it was at least as challenging as Shogun 2 on Hard (and in fairness to CA it's quite a lot better than it was at release, but still no real challenge), it would still fundamentally be a mediocre and rather tedious Total War game.
While the expansion looks interesting, the minor gameplay improvements in patch 7 (which, from the TW forums, appears to have caused more bugs than it fixed) have pretty much turned me off R2 altogether, since while I was encouraged by the early patches, the minor fiddling now underway even in larger patches, and various statements from CA, lead me to believe that the fixes have plateaued, and that either the company genuinely doesn't realise that the game is fundamentally bad, or that it's decided that a bug-free but bad game is the best it can aim for.
Judging by the TotalWar forum (only one of those matters) it seems that MTW2 and expansions are still the most popular title in the series...
Most played on Steam:
#1 Rome II
#2 Empire
#3 Shogun II
Ok the older ones aren't on Steam..
Phrossack
Armored Fish and Armored Men
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Rome looks very pretty, but I have barely plummed the depths of M2TW mods, let alone even started Empire or its mods, or bought S2TW. And I haven't heard anything good about it. Free transports? Units automatically replenish? What the hell happened to the concepts of attrition and building invasion fleets? It seems like a dumbing-down of the series.
It doesn't, unless you've watched those fake "pre-Alpha" videos and believe that it bears any relation to the actual product.
Watch the videos. You will be a changed man.
Nah, when the settings are jacked up all the way, its a very pretty game. It just runs like crap because its horribly optimized. I can get a stable 60+ FPS in Shogun 2 and FOTS, while I get lucky if I can break 30 in Rome II, and that isn't even going into the frame drops associated with multiplayer.
Phrossak, if you're going to get any post Empire game, I'd highly advise avoiding Rome altogether, and just sticking with Napoleon, Shogun and FOTS, all of which are fantastic games.
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