A number of quotes and cliches come to mind when Rome: Total War is mentioned. However, the single standout has to be: "Rome wasn't built in a day." Nothing proves this more than actually trying to build the Roman Empire. The player has a chance to take on the role of a Roman General who hopes to have a strong lineage that will one day rule over Rome and conquer the known world. The "known world" in this case is most of Europe, the northern half of the African continent, and much of the Middle East. The scale of the planet has been adjusted for playability, but it is still a huge mass of land that needs to be taken. Even with alliances, it took a very long time to make our way from Rome to the border of Gaul (today known as France). Part of the reason is because Rome, like the previous two Total War games (Shogun and Medieval), is not just a real-time strategy game. There is a very deep turn-based element built in, making this an empire sim in addition to a real-time strategy title. There is an option to play a "quick campaign," which would require conquering 25% of the map instead of 50% and taking over the Senate, but either way, the experience is relatively the same.

The turn-based element is very similar to Civilization, where you have to form key alliances and use both military and political tactics to rise in power and position. You will need to take cities and build them up to recruit soldiers and acquire wealth. Some of your success depends on timing and a little chance because a deadly storm can be just as devastating as an ambush, and a city revolt will force you to change your focus from expanding your borders to quelling civil unrest. Large cities will require military units, a governor (who must be a general, and therefore usually a family member), and the appropriate buildings to keep rebel factions from rising and taking control. The unfortunate downside to this is that if your general is busy governing a city, he isn't out campaigning and earning you honor and prestige. The player can get by without appointing a governor, but that would mean that they'd lose direct production control for that city and hand it over to the computer. Luckily, the computer does a pretty good job.

Earning power and respect comes by having many successes in the battlefield and performing missions issued by the Roman Senate. These missions provide great rewards when they are carried out, often through money, but sometimes with soldiers. Failing or ignoring these missions deals a heavy blow to your reputation within the empire. This is where the game really starts to become overwhelming. While completing Senate missions earns you a great deal of respect as a loyal servant of Rome, some of their demands can be very unreasonable. In real life, missions are (or should be) delegated to those who are the most well equipped to do them. Many of the Senate missions seem to come out of nowhere and have no rhyme or reason to them. Not only that, but they force you to declare war against neutral factions you might not necessarily be prepared to face yet. They will tell you to take a city in five turns, and then after that is completed, they will say that another city needs to be taken. Before you know it, you'll have the brunt of your forces spread out across the south of Italy, when the Senate will suddenly request that a city in Northern Italy needs to be taken in five turns, leaving you at a total loss. Additionally, they will instruct you to blockade seaports, even when you don't have any ships built. Not only that, but nothing comes of these missions afterward. You will get your reward, but there is no follow-through. There is no invasion except for whatever campaign you decide to launch. This becomes more annoying when opposing kingdoms start building stronger ship fleets and the Senate asks you to blockade a port on the other side of map in five turns.

But the turn-based element is only half of the game. The part that truly earns the reputation for the Total War series is the real-time element, which puts you in command of hundreds of individual troops all grouped into squads according to type. The gameplay here is notoriously challenging, even for experienced players. We've been watching Decisive Battles on the History Channel (which uses the game engine to illustrate battles) just to get a few tips on how to coordinate our armies. When taking a city, you have the option to siege it and starve it out until it surrenders, which can take a lot of turns depending on the size of the city. Or you can launch an attack. Walled cities are incredibly difficult to take, and require heavy artillery like catapults and ballista. This is a very big deal, because you don't start off with the ability to build artillery. You have to acquire them through conquering foreign cities and taking their technology. Not just any city - one that is sophisticated enough to have that kind of technology. That means a lot of long sieges. Even then, only that city can produce it, so more time has to be spent getting artillery and specialized unit types to your other armies around the world. Not to worry, though. Breaking down the city doors is the easy part. It's the archers along the top of the wall and the army on the other side that you have to worry about. Chokepoints like bridges and doorways are very defensible, and getting past them requires a lot of planning and coordination. Not to mention, every skirmish must be completed before sundown, or else the troops won't be able to see each other. Troops are subject to exhaustion during long battles, but bonuses are given to armies when an experienced general leads them. Conversely, they suffer major morale losses when their leader is killed in battle. When thinned out, units may flee the battlefield in disgrace.

Everything about combat has been given attention down to the strictest detail. Archers will eventually run out of ammunition (unless you decide to turn on the "arcade" mode), and Calvary can sometimes mean the difference between failure and success. All the units are intricately balanced with strengths and weaknesses as they were in real life. Horse riders have a low chance of success against infantry carrying six-foot spears. Superior unit types and tactics can sometimes - though not often - overcome superior numbers. The only problem with the real-time element is the camera control. Moving the cursor to the right or left edges of the screen causes the camera to rotate instead of scroll, like most other RTS games do. There is already a great deal going on without having to worry about having to become accustomed to camera movement.

With great turn-based and real-time engines, Rome: Total War is like getting two complete games in one, all in a historically rich backdrop. There may be one or two issues, but none that can't be overcome. Be warned that this is not necessarily the kind of game that can be won in one or two hours. The turn-based portion alone makes that nearly impossible, since it can take forever for a town to develop into a strategically viable city. Players can choose to skip the real-time portions and just have the computer generate battle results, which makes the game much faster and easier but would mean missing out on the most spectacular aspect of the game. For all those looking for a great challenge, Rome upholds the Total War reputation by providing great, deep, and challenging gameplay. Fans will not be disappointed. So, go. See. Conquer.