Buggy as hell ai in both battles and on the map, stripped down features, graphical problems, multiplayer that does not work, unbalanced units, and whoring of dlc that should of been included in the full game is what you can expect from this rushed title that is once again a classic example of a game that has spent all its money on advertising and buying out journalists than actually making a working game that enhances the series.

Don't get me wrong I love total war and creative assembly but when a game this broken is getting only the highest reviews and awards by established games journalists who clearly haven't played the game or are lying something needs to change.

For a fully honest and in-depth analysis of the cons and pros of the game I would check out Angry Joe's channel on youtube.

Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, Sim City, and Rome 2 are all examples of why you should not preorder a game even when they try and force you too with taking parts of the game out as dlc if you don't. Its hurting the game industry and lets game companies profit from crappy broken games if they have enough money to hide it in advertising.

Also on a critique to mighty ape, why let people review games before they are released- These reviews, bar one, are not proper reviews. They just people talking about how much they love the series and how they have seen the adverts and can certify that it looks like its going to be a good game. Not helping anyone except fuelling this broken system the games industry is in.

I agree with you jack… I love total war games.. But rome 2 is dissapointing

Creative Assembly have returned to their most famous Total War setting in Total War: Rome 2. In doing so, they have taken almost everything that was enjoyable about the previous Rome title and disregarded that for this game. The end result is a broken and buggy game that lacks the depth and character of the original Rome.

At the same time, Creative Assembly seems to have failed to take into account any of their more recent successes – particularly from Total War: Shogun 2 – and has released a stripped down empty game with illogical or plain unentertaining game mechanics. The political aspect of the game appears to have no actual purpose or effect on the game, while the UI isn't anywhere near as user-friendly or informative as the previous titles.

The great multiplayer systems of the previous titles in the series is now also gone, replaced with a system no better than those used in the original Rome. Multiplayer is also sluggish and unstable, leading to more pain then it is worth. This game shouldn't under any circumstance be considered for its multiplayer.

As is, by now, tradition for Creative Assembly, their AI is entirely broken to the point where the game is a piece of cake on even the toughest difficulty settings. In battle, the AI acts illogically and in contradiction to everything Creative Assembly advertised. It beggars belief that Creative Assembly wasn't aware of this prior to releasing this game.

The game isn't entirely void of entertainment however, with beautiful visuals and some interesting gameplay mechanics scattered throughout. The game shows a lot of potential, but is hampered by it seeming to still be in a state of early beta. It is hard to see the game being finished or brought up to scratch through just patches however, with a strong need for future expansions to introduce gameplay mechanics that were unnecessarily stripped out of this title.

Overall, Rome 2 is the worst Total War release since Empire: Total War. It has greatly damaged the credibility of Creative Assembly and has brought into question their commitment to future PC titles. Their decisions has left a game bereft of the interesting and entertaining gameplay from previous Total War titles, while also indicating disturbing greed in their removal of key factions for future DLC.

The best possible overview of the state of the game can be found on YouTube, where the AngryJoeShow gives a strong argument for the strengths and weaknesses of this title in their review of the game.

My recommendation is to not buy this game until it is either suitably patched or expanded on, and the issues experienced at the moment are resolved.