Recent reviews by Empty

Price well we can all argue that till the next DLC they release.

In terms of content I'm enjoying it a lot and it does put a good spin on the game with traits. I've found so far a lot more offers for the mercany armies when I'm struggling in a war and most importantly free offers of troops. I was fighting the Ottomans as Hungary and Poland offered me free troops to use which was great. You also have an easier time of renting your armies out I find compared to when the mechanic was introduced.

Good or bad I have found your armies get wiped out a lot easier in battles. Good when you are winning bad when you arn't I suppose. It at least does away with having to chase down an army repeatly beating them only to have them run away for the 10th time.

I have noticed the AI offering me more loans than well I ever have. I've never tried to offer a loan with the new patch and dlc but from past experience countries never accepted them it could be just me.

In terms of the traits well its great and much needed from the time of Crusader Kings. They are all over the place in terms of what they can offer your country some being good others bad and some well don't really matter but thus is life. It at least adds a little enjoyment to your rulers and gives them a bit of character. Your military leaders can also gain them which who doesn't like that.

So far what I don't care for is the institutions as I feel they don't really add anything to the game expect something else to manage for the sake of managing it. Basically what it does is requires you to keep developing your country or recieve a negative bonus to your ideas and adm levels requiring more points to upgrade. Now sure you should develope your country and you can recieve the bonuses for completing each institution without developing but by then you'll really be in the hole.

Some may enjoy it for me it adds nothing to the game. Does it take away from the overall addition to the DLC no but it's something you'll have to deal with.

Overall I'd reccomend this game in terms of price I'll leave that up to the person. For me the gameplay feels more engaging my allies and neighbours less bland but hell a good wait and catch this up on a discount is worth the wait I'd say.

I do like the game and I'm thankful for the modding community that has fixed the compliants I did have. I was still annoyed that at near point blank range I could miss with my rifle and get my guy killed at what should have been a no brainer spray my bullets with the barrel of my gun already pressing into your face. I didn't like seeing my rounds miss when even the tracers they should went into the guy I was shooting at.

Swords are overpowered in my opinion but I still love them. Having a soldier miss with a sword was a pain in the ass as well. I could understand with the viper soldiers with a higher dodge but still. Have a soldier trying to evac one advant in the way went for the slash missed, bullet into the face.

Accuracy for me is the one major compliant with my run through. Anothere example was three soldiers with rifles providing overwatch. All three missed a advant soldier that ran past them went into cover and shot my sniper in the back killing her. I mean what are the darn odds of that, I had assumed I provided the perfect cover..I was wrong.

I've also noticed with the viper soldiers their tongue grapping has gone through walls pulling my guy towards them, a glitch that could use a fix.

I think its a good addition to the series, my compliants are small and easily fixed with a few mods I've already installed, goodbye Avatar projecting rushing me to play. I love the concealment as it stands, could used some tweaks but man setting up a double ambush on two different advant squads is fun. Opening it up with a headshot on their officer with critcal..haven't got tired of it yet.

For what most games go for these days I'd say you get what you ask for with The Stick of Truth. It's pretty funny and my buddy was laughing just hearing me play in the background. It's a nice RPG adventure for those that are a fan of the series. Nothing is taken very seriously but thats the joy of it, I was laughing with Al Gore looking for man bear pig and fighting the aliens aboard their ship. You'll still get excited for gear and dig for the best, it pushes you to do the side quests not becasue of the reward but you want to see how it plays out. I haven't noticed any glitches, some directional issues when seeing how to complete a mission came up but nothing serious. Runs well I'm my middle of the range PC not drops and high settings was just fine. I enjoyed it and would reccomend it with the price drops. Its as much a movie as it is a game which isn't bad when it comes from these guys.

Favorite soldier dies, delete game start all over again.

Did this game become even more lazy with its DLC packs. I mean the game has not even been out for a month now and they released two culture packs for a money grab. Tell me this is worth the money when they could have just left them playable in the game. It's one thing with Rome 2 having new maps and campaigns like Hannibal at the gates these culture packs have no heart and soul to them neither did the Rome 2 culture packs but at least they added a little more flare. I remember in the day when Total War meant something for equality.

This game started off rough and even after these years it still doesn't seem to be the polished game I was hoping for. I was not one of those crying war when it first released and was littered with bugs as well all know. I could go file my taxes in the time it took to complete one turn. I still enjoyed the game, perhaps I was misty eyed at reliving my first experiences with the original Rome Total War.

For me the number one postive thing about this is game is the modding community. Without them Rome would still be a mess. I've installed everything from enhanced graphics to troop rosters. Having a larger selection of soldier types from the vanilla offerings is perhaps my favorite feature. On top of that people have taken it upon themselves to create entire campiagns rework general and agent perks and create new nations.

I still have problems with this game however, agents are perhaps the most annoying feature though am sure a lot of people like them. Create a spy spam coercion and watch your spy ranks grow to infinite proportions, at least I was able to do that, bypassing the agent limit. One can wipe out an army rather quickly with 8 spys posioning their supplies.

The AI is still rather dumb even after the latest patch, a year or so late to fix. Assault a town with a few artillery and watch them wipe out an entire army that refuses to leave the cap area. This has changed somewhat as the enemy will now rush you blindly instead and die. Though my last few games I've noticed them staying onto their cap again. I rarely play hard mode so perhaps its different but even the AI trying a simple tactic like flank rarely works unless its one or two cavalry units.


Diplomacy I've found to be a mess as well and its a feature I'd like to work the most. My latest game had myself fighting Armenia. I crushed 5-6 of their armies killings just as many generals, and took 3-4 towns and cities from them. Did they want peace, nope. My power rating compared to them was laughable and yet when I offered peace to recover my armies they rejected it. Common sense is gone, even bringing a nation to its last town on the verge of defeat offer peace and I've been rejected. Heck even make them a vassal and its no, though lets not forget having a vassal is a waste as well since they are dumb as bricks.

With my 500+ hours I clearly don't hate the game, it has its quirks like anything. I love the modders out there and I still enjoy the combat and history that Rome brings. I think am just dissapointed in the noise dive the series took, the response from Creative during its release was sad in the way they treated their community. The latest DLC is a joke from what I've been hearing, thank you reviewers for allowing me to dodge that bullet.

Would I still recommend this game?
Yes in using the mind set Rome II is a foundation for all the great mods out there. Make Rome II into the game you want it to be and it will be a fun ride, the sad thing being it took a loving community to make the game into what it should be.

Get in the van! not a perfect game, the police are fairly handicapped in terms of tactics merely rushing you with numbers. I will say I find fault in the fact you can "case" a bank wearing flank armor and somehow that is not suspicious but putting a mask on is?

The voice of the Unity will be heard, enough said