30 replies to this topic

[Cheeseinator]

http://www.totalwar.com/en_gb/rome2

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh yes. It's finally happening. I haven't been excited for any game since Battlefront II. This just might be the last game I'll ever buy. *wets pants*

Live action trailer:

[Erix]

Hell yes! Best news in almost a decade!

[Piglet]

as long as i can view my city outside of battles, and if it just plays basically the same only with better graphics, I am happy.

I didn't really like the new gameplay from empire through Shogun 2.

[slornie]

CGI obviously just isn't enough nowadays. Live action trailer FTW?

But anyways. ROME 2 TOTAL WAR?? AWESOME NEWS!

[Sean_Seanston]

Should be awesomesauce. Loved Rome Total War... seemed to spend ages playing it, even though I only ever played 1 campaign and didn't complete it properly.

Still have to play Shogun 2 and Napoleon. Quite liked a lot about Empire but yes, definitely wasn't as good as Rome, but certainly nice for a change of pace and whatnot.

Also need to finish my damned Medieval 2 campaign

Haven't played that since February or something. Dangit.

[Cheeseinator]

Here's a little PC gamer tidbit, one of them got to watch a demo: http://www.pcgamer.c...name=0&ns_fee=0

Important highlights:

-more emphasis on game cut scenes, dialog, and whanot

-beach landing battles, ships + ground units

-individual units can take cover

-new secondary tactical view:

Quote

They were keen to stress, however, that in the final game it’ll no longer be necessary to swing the camera around to keep track of the battlefield. Rome 2 will feature a tactical view that allows players to zoom the camera out to a top-down, kilometer-square overview where units are represented by simplified icons. Commanding individual cohorts effectively from this perspective won’t be possible, but it should make getting your bearings easier and reduce the amount of time you spend squinting at the mini-map.

-3rd person view:

Quote

The new closest zoom setting is an absurdly detailed close-up that allows you to hover over a individual combatant’s shoulder in third-person. In the demonstration, this was shown off by leaping into Scipio Aemilianus’ unit as they prepared to storm the Carthaginian walls using a siege tower.

-

Quote

Rome 2 takes the specifics of melee combat much further – men lunge and dodge and shield-bash each other, the game taking full advantage of both Creative Assembly’s meticulous research – which involves work with professional ancient warfare reenactors – and the new engine’s enhanced animation capabilities.

YES, all game devs should do this.

Scanty details but it's looking to be the game I've always dreamed of, a realistic, historically accurate, tactical, strategic, with bone splintering detail in all of it's gory epicness.

Edited by Cheeseinator, 02 July 2012 - 07:17 PM.

[Mizu]

Well thats just awesome! Played and enjoyed the original Rome game, yet I haven't completed the campaign. I conquered most of Europe, except for London. London was a pain in the butt for me to conquer.

Haven't tried Shogun II yet for some odd reason. It appeals to me, but I just didn't give it a whirl. Maybe later.

As for this? Has me as interested as Shogun II. That live-action trailer got peaked my interest heh. Hope to see how it'll shape up in the end.

[Sean_Seanston]

Mizu, on 02 July 2012 - 11:06 PM, said:

Well thats just awesome! Played and enjoyed the original Rome game, yet I haven't completed the campaign. I conquered most of Europe, except for London. London was a pain in the butt for me to conquer.

Thing is: it always takes about 50,000 years to complete a Total War campaign, doesn't it?
Which is part of why it's so good... but also makes it daunting to start a campaign.

[slornie]

Cheeseinator, on 02 July 2012 - 07:16 PM, said:

-more emphasis on game cut scenes, dialog, and whanot

Not sure if want. The rest of it sounds pretty interesting though!

[Sean_Seanston]

slornie, on 03 July 2012 - 06:15 AM, said:

Not sure if want. The rest of it sounds pretty interesting though!

Yeah, agreed... we'll have to see about that.

Would like more story if done right and the little bit of family politics in Rome and Medieval 2 were kind of cool concepts, they just didn't go anywhere but might be cool if they were developed a bit more.

[Cheeseinator]

I would assume that cut-scenes and whatnot are part of the story driven campaigns. Therefore I also assume that there is a separation between story driven campaigns/stand-alone battles and the usual open ended campaigns:

Quote

Obviously, these bookending cutscenes are too specific and too neat to apply to every campaign – as ever in an open-ended Total War game, Carthage is just as likely to be sacked by rampaging Gauls as it is by the Roman Republic – and Creative Assembly say that the siege of Carthage is more likely to end up as a standalone historical battle. It’s a striking statement of Rome 2’s cinematic intent, though, and my impression from the demo was that this new level of detail has the potential to enhance the drama of the whole game.

The new tactical macro-scale view is the most exciting news for me. A slight annoyance I had with all TW games is when you have a really big battle, and you have constantly pause the game or put it in slow motion while jumping around to all sides of the battlefields in order to simultaneously manage your whole army, That was kinda annoying, but it seems like this new feature will simplify the macro=management.

[Commander Loony]

Best game trailer ever?

[Cheeseinator]

I would have preferred a bone crushing battle, but this trailer emphasizes what I hope to see emphasized in the game. More political intrigue. How cool would it be to have hookers seduce enemy generals or governors and then assassinate them? Or getting rid of people within your own faction you don't like? In Rome I remember having useless family members, who'd anger the populace of my cities and dishearten my troops with their mere presence! I would usually just send them on suicide missions deep in enemy territory to rid myself of them.

Hopefully in Rome II the above speculations will be possible, that's what the trailer seemed to imply anyway.

[ChessRules]

Heh, this should be great.  I've only just been able to actually get into Shogun 2 (as in, without playing a few turns, getting crushed, and backing out from intimidation), and I just *barely* managed to scrape a victory on the easiest Historical Battle on Napoleon (Waterloo from the British side; won thanks to the Prussians and only had my General left by the end), so I think I'm finally starting to be able to play these games.  

Maybe I should go back and play the first Rome again.

Edited by ChessRules, 07 July 2012 - 01:38 PM.

[Piglet]

Some info from a dutch magazine, I couldn't upload some photo's which showed a pretty amazing detailed battle map (some of them were new!)

It looked really awesome and according to the magazine CA was still working on the graphics. They talked about more detailed models than in Shogun 2 in the end version, which was already the case. It basically looked like giant cutscenes.

They also said that the zooming is more like Supreme commander now. You can zoom out all the way that all you see is icons instead of the full unit. Zooming was eally detailed in the sense that you filled your screen with just one character. Detailed and all.

So graphically... Yeah... It's awesome.

You can now also control the towers on your wall in the sense that you could pic their targets. Fighting is also more detailed and in a sense chaotic. It looks like a real battle playing out. People pushing their enemy off a wall. Stabbing a sword in someones neck. One fighting the enemy head on while a friend jams his spear up the rear end.

The general now shouts inspirational speeches DURING the battle instead of ahead of it. More or less responding to your orders.

No real info on the campaign map though, there will be only 1 roman faction. The splitted 3 (4 if you count the city, Rome, itself) in Rome was useful for the rebellion part and making a empire out of the republic. But now there are new options on the campaign map that wouldn't work with multiple rome factions. There will be backstabbing generals and other treacherous acts, which will now replace the need for those factions. There also will be the choice to stay a republic and uphold the values of the republic against insurrection (AND SUCCEED!) Or you just grab power for yourself and face the possibilities of being 'Brutalized (which comes from brutus stabbing you in the back me thinks)'.

[Erix]

Damn. Sounds like I may finally have to upgrade my computer some time over the course of the next year.

[Piglet]

OH! It is said that low end PC's can run it too! without problems!

though there was nothing said about the looks of the game

[Cheeseinator]

Piglet, on 07 July 2012 - 02:47 PM, said:

They also said that the zooming is more like Supreme commander now. You can zoom out all the way that all you see is icons instead of the full unit. Zooming was eally detailed in the sense that you filled your screen with just one character. Detailed and all.

Must be that new macro-view thing. Excellent...

Piglet, on 07 July 2012 - 02:47 PM, said:

You can now also control the towers on your wall in the sense that you could pic their targets.

FINALLY! Oh the many battles I could have in all previous Total War games, had I been able to control fire from the towers.

Piglet, on 07 July 2012 - 02:47 PM, said:

The general now shouts inspirational speeches DURING the battle instead of ahead of it. More or less responding to your orders.

Oooh, that's a nice touch. In M2TW I would often use my general's rally ability just to hear the horn and the general to shout something, made the battles much more cinematic.

Piglet, on 07 July 2012 - 02:47 PM, said:

No real info on the campaign map though, there will be only 1 roman faction. The splitted 3 (4 if you count the city, Rome, itself) in Rome was useful for the rebellion part and making a empire out of the republic. But now there are new options on the campaign map that wouldn't work with multiple rome factions. There will be backstabbing generals and other treacherous acts, which will now replace the need for those factions. There also will be the choice to stay a republic and uphold the values of the republic against insurrection (AND SUCCEED!) Or you just grab power for yourself and face the possibilities of being 'Brutalized (which comes from brutus stabbing you in the back me thinks)'.

That's good as well. I would always have to help out my fellow Roman factions as they struggled to gain any ground over their respective foes.

Speaking of which, I also hope there'll be some sort of new coordination you can do with your allies. Suggesting targets for them to hit or something. Empire finally made defending your allies more feasible, as military access was more easily granted. I have never, ever, ever, EVER gotten my allies to give me military access in RTW or M2TW, so whenever I'd rush to their defense, they'd always get mad at me for stepping into their territory, even if they were down to one last region and under siege.

[Sean_Seanston]

ChessRules, on 07 July 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

I just *barely* managed to scrape a victory on the easiest Historical Battle on Napoleon (Waterloo from the British side; won thanks to the Prussians and only had my General left by the end), so I think I'm finally starting to be able to play these games.  

One thing I love from the Total War games is how much you can change the outcome of a battle based on the tactics you use.

For instance, I think it was in Empire where I once lost a battle by miles. I then reloaded (I know, I know... bad gamesmanship >_<) and using different tactics, I won the battle by a considerable amount.
It's great knowing that the right kind of tactics can render certain troops useless or lethal and completely change how the battle goes.

It's especially fun when you're outnumbered defending a settlement with only a few proper troops
Had a ****ing legendary defense of a castle in Medieval 2 against the HRE... but I won't get into that or I shall be here all day

I REALLY, really have to get back into that Medieval 2 campaign...

Then I have the entirety of Napoleon to get into.

[Piglet]

Cheeseinator, on 07 July 2012 - 05:50 PM, said:

That's good as well. I would always have to help out my fellow Roman factions as they struggled to gain any ground over their respective foes.

Speaking of which, I also hope there'll be some sort of new coordination you can do with your allies. Suggesting targets for them to hit or something. Empire finally made defending your allies more feasible, as military access was more easily granted. I have never, ever, ever, EVER gotten my allies to give me military access in RTW or M2TW, so whenever I'd rush to their defense, they'd always get mad at me for stepping into their territory, even if they were down to one last region and under siege.

I had the same problem. Since the news of R2TW I have installed Rome again, I have gotten a huge amount of europe in my pocket when the Brutii and the Scipii have still to conquer some parts of land outside Italy. The are trying in greece and africa and sometimes succeed in taking over a town, but it's hardly worth mentioning.