The Republic rises again! - Total War Rome II: Rise of the Republic Review

INTRODUCTION

Despite Rome II being almost 5 years old, Creative Assembly have again released a new Campaign/DLC for it together with the Ancestral Update[Link]. Rise of the Republic takes place 127 years before the main Rome II Campaign and focuses on a smaller but more detailed version of Italy.

WAR... WAR NEVER CHANGES....wrong game?

A very "young" Rome

As I mentioned above, the campaign takes place 127 before the main campaign and focuses on the Italian area. There are 9 playable factions one of which being obviously Rome and features Government Actions, unique abilities for each factions that replace the Government Changing system. Each faction comes with their own extended chains of events/dilemmas and each specific region has it's own dilemma.

Roman Government Actions that replaced the Government Changing

Usually in a Total War campaign it takes a while before a faction is out for blood but in this campaign every AI faction is just waiting to start a war. So conflicts may very well start sooner than usual and it will keep you a bit on your toes, requiring you to balance tech research so you can keep up and go on the offensive while also requiring you to keep up a good management of your defense. Also it can get a bit stale in the late games as your armies can easily overpower enemy armies, making victories a bit too easy.

Crusader Kings II is that you?

THE BEAUTY OF ITALY

I must say, Rise of the Republic does a very good job at detailing Italy in all it's beauty on the map and it is quite well thought out, especially adding little details of the period like the Nuraghe(seen in the picture below).

The Nuraghe

WRAP-UP

While it can get a bit too easy and stale in the late game, the gameplay in this campaign really focuses on the WAR part of the name and it can be a refreshing experience for those looking for more combat out of the series. Should you buy it? Only if you love battles, if you prefer to focus more on development and peace in a total war game then this expansion might not be your cup of tea.

Overall Score 9/10

•     Graphics 9.5/10
•     Story 8/10 (in this case period/plot)
•     Content 7/10
•     Gameplay 7/10

DLC details:

Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: Windows
Release Date: Aug. 9, 2018
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Launch Price: 16.99 Eur

[Link to Steam]