Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion

It is the end of an era. The Roman Empire is in decline, split between East and West, and faces destruction at the hands of the barbarian hordes. Will you defend Rome’s glory to the last? Or will you bring the Empire to its knees?

The main campaign in Rome: Total War began in 270 BC and ran until around 14 AD, recreating both the expansion of Rome’s empire and the transition from Republic to rule by an Emperor. Barbarian Invasions does not continue from where Rome left off, but rather picks up the action several hundred years on, with an Empire divided and set upon by increasing threats from the northern and eastern barbarians.

You can choose to control the Romans, ruling either the Western or the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire; the Sassanids; or one of the barbarian factions – the Huns, Sarmatians, Goths, Franks, Saxons, Vandals, or Alemanni. Factions in the basic game had access to different troop types, but generally played out the game in a similar fashion. In Barbarian Invasion, however, choosing a side also means choosing the kind of campaign you will play, as each has its own specific victory conditions (slightly reminiscent of Risk), and starting situations vary greatly.

The game is different depending on the faction you play as, but across the board, it is a step up in difficulty. To hardened Total War vetenarii this means an exciting new challenge, but to more recent recruits it might be a little daunting. You have been warned.

The Romans – both Eastern and Western – start out with many territories, but with their armies stretched thin across them. As in Rome: Total War, the Roman Empire has access to a good mix of high quality troops. However, with over 300 years between the two campaigns, the structure of the Legions has changed. The bulk of the infantry is split between the Limitanei, regional defensive units, and the Comitatenses, tougher soldiers moved from place to place as needed.

Barbarian troop selection varies from tribe to tribe, though most have some kind of limitation (weak cavalry, for instance, or limited siege weapons). The barbarian factions also begin the game with precious little territory. The Huns and Vandals, in fact, start with no homeland, although this disadvantage is offset by their huge starting military. One of the genuinely new features in Barbarian Invasion is the ability of some factions to form a ‘Horde’ when they lose their last province (or if they abandon it willingly). Forming a Horde means uprooting a whole People; new ‘Horde’ military units are instantly formed to represent the civilians taking up arms, and features such as the budget are put on hold (you don’t need to pay your forces while the Horde is moving to new lands).

While most of the military units are new, and therefore have new graphics, the graphics engine as a whole has not been revamped. That said, Rome Total War looked pretty damned good already – soldiers may come off as a little blocky, but considering the size of the armies involved, the detail on individuals is quite staggering.

The music is still the same (or, at least, I can’t tell any difference) – staple background stuff – and those lovable sounds of battle haven’t changed either. Personally, I put this down to an attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: the audio didn’t need any changes because it still does all that is required of it.

The expansion does add a number of new gameplay features, though. And, even if these may not provide as much novelty as might be expected, they do give players more tactical options (and useful tactical options at that). Swimming units, for example, can be rushed across rivers to outflank the enemy from while they attempt a bridge-crossing. Night battles are another way to get an edge over the opposition, exploiting their confusion in the darkness – though I have yet to obtain a general who can actually choose to fight at night. Religion, which didn’t make it into Rome: Total War, is back, and more advanced than in Medieval: Total War. The new campaign also allows for civil wars, with splits creating whole new factions, and not just more generic rebels.

In addition to the new campaign and game features, Barbarian Invasion adds two extra “historical” battles. The first of these recreates the Battle of Chalons, with Attila the Hun facing off against the Roman Legions. The second – and the reason for the inverted commas around the word historical – is the Battle of Badon Hill, starring none other than King Arthur himself (or at least a supposed version of him). I can’t help but point out the awful cheesy narrator’s introduction to the battle, but I’ll keep the rest of my opinions on this subject to myself…

Barbarian Invasion is a good expansion pack. It takes the great Total War gameplay of Rome and builds on it. However, it does seem focused on providing more of the same, but at a higher difficulty level. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing, but it classes the expansion as ‘extra for experts’ rather than a must-have addition to Rome: Total War.