

Failing to carry out missions earns the displeasure of the senate and affects your standing with that body. If you carry the orders out successfully, you stand to gain a monetary reward, a useful new military unit, or influence in the senate. It's up to you whether you actually obey the order, as sometimes the senate will try to stretch you thin on purpose. The senate will order you on missions, from blockading a hostile port or conquering a city (and perhaps exterminating the populace, depending on the level of enmity between Rome and the faction in question) to forging a trade deal or an alliance with a foreign faction. But there's a fourth, unplayable Roman faction, one that can influence your course during the campaign: the Roman senate.

And the Scipii are tasked with subduing Carthage, Rome's great nemesis to the southwest.Īt least, that's the principle goal of each faction. The Bruti are required to deal with the remnants of the Greek city-states and expand the empire to the southeast. The Julii must deal with the Gauls and Germania to the north in a difficult, landlocked campaign. As all three factions are Roman, there's literally no difference between them in terms of units and building types, though they do have different responsibilities. You play as one of three powerful Roman families-the Julii, the Bruti, or the Scipii-attempting to increase the size and glory of Rome and shore up your faction's power and influence. After the helpful and informative tutorial campaign, you can tackle the main imperial campaign. There's the overarching turn-based campaign in which you conquer cities and provinces, make improvements, and move armies around the map as you expand your empire, and then there are the real-time battles in which you use tactics and maneuvers to crush your enemy in combat. Now Playing: Rome: Total War Video ReviewĪs in the earlier Total War games, there are essentially two distinctly different types of gameplay in Rome. By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
