Total War is back, and it takes you back to Rome! The Barbarian Invasion is an expansion to last year's hit strategy title, Rome: Total War. This expansion takes place 700 years after the first game. Now, instead of building up the Roman Empire, you have to struggle to stay afloat during its decline. By this time period, the Empire has grown so big that it has fractured into two parts. The East is governed by Rome while the West is governed by Constantinople. In the meantime, nomads threaten the unsteady empire, including the fearsome Huns.

The Barbarian Invasion offers a lot of new content to mark how remarkably the landscape has changed since the original Rome: Total War. Players now have the option to play as either the Eastern or Western factions of the Roman Empire, or as one of the nomadic tribes such as the Franks, the Saxons, or the Huns themselves. Out of all of them, the Huns have a distinct advantage in that they have the most advanced mounted bowmen in the game. History recounts the Huns as being ruthless in their pillaging as they moved across the continent, and the Romans resorted to bribes just to keep them at bay. In playing this game, the player has a chance to rewrite history and watch things develop.

Don't think things will play out quite the way the history books talk about! While the Barbarian Invasion goes through the standard motions of including new factions, it has also made some AI upgrades too, making the game significantly more difficult. Unlike the first game, the computer will no longer send series of small armies out to attack you. Instead, it will do as the ancients did, and amass a huge force to beat you into submission. It will lay siege to cities for as long as it needs to, forcing you to send relief. Even allies can't be trusted, except that you can rely on them to stab you in the back if they see an opportunity. Even on easy difficulty, this is a very challenging game!

Each faction also has its pros and cons when starting the campaign. The nomadic tribes start off with practically nothing, and they are surrounded by enemies. The West has a lot of power, but it is the frontline of the Hun invasion. The East has grown rather soft in its wealth, and the player will have to tap into all available resources to create a strong military. Essentially, the player will have to juggle numerous tasks from making key diplomatic decisions, to defending borders, to raising a substantial enough army to maintain order.

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