The enemy outnumbers us two-to-one and reinforcements are still days away. The raucous Gaul army is at our gates, baying for blood; each enemy soldier is coated in white and blue war paint and a select few operate battering rams that'll plough through our modest wooden defenses in a matter of minutes. The scent of death is in the air and we've got no choice but to stand our ground and fight. "One of you is worth any number of them," bellows our general, shattering the tense silence with an impassioned war cry. "We face adversity, a band of brothers, dedicated to the warrior's code of strength and victory," he continues, rallying the troops. "But we will never know defeat while we stand together! This day we add another triumph to the history of our people! We will be honored as men!"
Whether you go on to achieve victory or succumb to overwhelming odds, moments like this are part of what made Rome: Total War such a beloved strategy game when it launched in 2004--and why its popularity still persists today. It put Total War on the map and laid the groundwork for what has since become a blockbuster series in the strategy genre. With Total War: Rome Remastered, developer Feral Interactive has updated Creative Assembly's seminal title by overhauling the visuals and adding a number of quality of life improvements that make it slightly more appealing for modern sensibilities. Under the hood, however, this is still very much the same game as it was back in 2004, for better or worse.
The Imperial Campaign, for instance, still ingeniously divides the Roman empire into three powerful families: the Julii, Bruti, and Scipii. While there isn't a discernible difference between the three factions in terms of units and building types, each one is fighting wars on different fronts in a bid to conquer the region and expand Rome's power and influence. The Julii are entrenched in a battle with the aforementioned Gauls and Germania in the north, the Bruti clash with the Greek city-states in the southeast, while the Scipii are tasked with defeating Carthage in the southwest. Eventually, all of these disputes turn inward as the three factions descend into a bloody civil war with each other for sole control of Rome. This gradual collision course propels the campaign along and gives the late game a momentous shot in the arm that maintains the intensity until your final turn.
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