01/22/2006>> Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion (PC)

Genre: Real Time Strategy

 

 

 

 

 

Rome Total War barbarian Invasion is the highly anticipated expansion pack to Rome: Total War and I am pleased to say that it lives up to the hype. Barbarian Invasion takes place in 363 AD, 500 years after the start of Rome: Total War. A lot has changed in these 500 years. The once mighty Roman Empire has split into two-the weak Western Roman Empire and the comparatively stronger Eastern Roman Empire and both factions have hordes of savage barbarians at their door.

 

Gameplay

The core gameplay mechanics of this game are unsurprisingly identical to Rome: Total War's, so anyone who has played RTW could easily pick up and play this game. That being said, there are several gameplay changes, notably the night battles and Horde mode. Night battles not only look very nice, they can improve your chances of victory if you're up against an unskilled night battler. Throughout the game generals can earn the 'Night Fighter' trait, which allows them to choose whether to fight at night or day, provided he's the one who initiated the attack. Unfortunately, the 'Night Fighter' trait is pretty rare. A general either starts with it or earns it by winning night battles against the enemy but because the enemy rarely if at all attacks at night (I have never had the enemy attack me at night), it makes 'Night Fighter' generals that much harder to come by.

 

The other gameplay addition is the Horde ability. In the campaign, certain factions can become a horde when they are down to one settlement. This means their entire population abandons their last settlement and roams the map on the lookout for a new one. A typical Horde army consists of usually around four full stacks, but most Horde units are relatively weaker than non-horde units as they are not trained fighters but people on the search for a new homeland. If a horde conquers a settlement, they can either occupy it or sack the city, completely plundering it of all its wealth and destroying all the buildings. If you choose to occupy the settlement, your horde units will integrate with the population, leaving only generals and any regular army units you had left in your force. The horde ability is implemented very well and is definitely one of the better things of the game.

 

 

This game boasts all new factions and all new units but sadly some factions are just clones of each other, with exactly the same units as another faction, just dressed in a different color but you'll be pleased to hear all the units in the game are entirely new. As is typical with Total War games, there are several 'fantasy' units such as wardogs, carriage Ballistae, and 7 foot tall berserkers. You could argue these fantasy units detract from the game's fun but I feel it adds variety and that if you want an entirely historical accurate game, wait for the Rome Total Realsim mod to come to barbarian Invasion. Total War games have never been about historical accuracy so I won't mark the game down for its fantasy units.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are superb. They are very similar to the original Rome Total War's and that is no bad thing. The night battles also look incredible. The units all carry torches which leave smoke behind as they march off into the night. The fire arrows also look spectacular against the night sky. The only complaint I have against the Night battles is that, for me at least, they make my computer lag a fair bit. That is no fault of the game but if your computer isn't very powerful expect a good bit of lag when it comes to night battles.

 

Sound

The sound in this game is identical to the original Rome: Total War's, so if you were expecting a whole new soundtrack prepare to be disappointed. I would have liked a couple of extra tracks on top of the soundtrack but it is no big deal. Something that is worth complaining about is the pre battle speeches. There are few new speeches in the game and most are a lot shorter as here is less to say. Another thing they messed up is that the Goths have the Greek voice, so you'll have Gothic units calling you 'Strategos' which just doesn't sound right. They also occasionally will speak to you in a barbarian voice and will then sound Greek. This can only be attributed to the laziness of the developers and there is no excuse for it.

 

 

Replayability

Something Creative Assembly wanted to do in Barbarian Invasion was to make the outcome of the campaigns a lot more random. In the original RTW you could always predict what would happen to the other factions. Poor old Gaul and Carthage would always be promptly wiped out by the Romans, provided there is no outside interference from your faction. The repetitiveness of the campaigns in RTW really detracted from the replay value. For Barbarian Invasion campaigns are a lot more random and there is always a big struggle for power in Western Europe between the Western Romans, the Allemanii, the Franks and the Saxons. The horde ability also means if a faction is deprived of all their settlements, they will become a horde, provided they can, and wander around the map in search of a new homeland. this makes the game a lot more random and will make campaigns a lot more interesting for you.

Overall

Overall, despite the games small flaws such as the speech and the lack of night fighter generals, this game lives up to its hype and is a must have for Rome Total War owners. If you hate the Total War series, this game isn't going to change your mind but if you like the Total War games, you'll love this.

 

 

 

Game Score

 

8.9

 

 

Reviewed By: Contributed