Back in 2013, strategy fans were eagerly awaiting the release of Total War: Rome II. This is a sequel to 2004’s superb Rome: Total War, one of the best historical strategy games ever made.
Everyone was expecting Rome II to be bigger, bolder and better than its predecessor then, but sadly that wasn’t the case. Actually, the game had one of the worst launches in video game history, and shipped with a ton of bugs that ruined the experience for many gamers.
But much to developer Creative Assembly’s credit, the game has improved dramatically over the years thanks to a steady stream of patches that have not only fixed the game’s major issues but also improved its gameplay too. And Creative even put out a new edition of the game in 2014 which featured a brand new campaign and several new features too.
And it’s likely many Rome II fans will be pleased to hear that British outfit Creative Assembly is not only putting out a new, big patch for the game, but also new paid DLC later this month.
The DLC is titled “Empire Divided”, and is set in the third century, a time in which the Roman Empire found itself in trouble due to incompetent leaders and those pesky barbarian hordes. So it’s up to you to put things right in Rome, and take control of one of two Roman factions in order to defeat the barbarian hordes and get the Empire rolling again, or take control of another faction such as the Celts and try and bring about the fall of Rome ahead of schedule…
Empire Divided also adds some interesting new gameplay elements like cults and plagues, as Creative explains on its website, while there will also be new missions to take on throughout the campaign and new buildings for each faction too. Regarding the release date, this new DLC is scheduled to launch on November 30.
Aside from the paid DLC, all owners of Total War: Rome 2 will also be getting the new “Power & Politics” update. This adds some welcome depth to the game’s political system, as parties in the game will now also have a loyalty rating. If this goes too low, some regions might revolt and this could even lead to a civil war, something which adds an interesting new dynamic to the game.
It is clear, then, that most Total War fans will welcome the news that one of the best-selling, most popular games in the franchise is getting new content this month, something that long-time players of Total War: Rome 2 will no doubt be looking forward to, and which should tide strategy fans over until Creative Assembly’s next historical wargame hits shelves sometime in the future.
Read more: Ranking the Total War games from worst to best