Set in a time when the mighty Roman Empire emerged to conquer the known world against powerful enemies, when gladiators fought to a bloody death in the Coliseum; when Spartacus defied the might of the empire; when Hannibal led his invincible army and his war elephants across the Alps to strike fear into the very heart of Rome itself; and when Julius Caesar finally smashed the Barbarian Gauls. This was a time of brutal confrontation between civilisation and barbarism, and of civil war as the ancient world’s only superpower turned on itself.

A completely new Total War engine uses innovative technology and groundbreaking design to bring the world of ancient Rome to life to deliver the biggest and most cinematic battles ever seen in a videogame. So the battles in Rome: Total War maintain the epic-scale that fans of Total War are used to - but now use high detailed 3D polygonal troops and allows huge cities to be displayed on the battlefields.. The result is truly spectacular.

Sticking with the award-winning formula of Total War™ games, the campaign game lets players build an Empire using the arts of war, diplomacy and trade. The new engine recreates Europe as a 3D game world ripe for conquest - where the whole physical terrain of Europe has been re-created. Cities and settlements will grow and develop over time (providing they are managed properly) and as players develop the environment around their cities (eg by building roads and bridges or improving the agriculture) the battlefields will adapt to show these features. The result is a fully dynamic interactive world.

Features :

• Epic battles between collosal armies. Over 10,000 fully polygonal, motion captured units can be displayed simultaneously with virtually no sacrifice of performance compared to Medieval: Total War.
• Players can command entire Roman Legions, Greek phalanxes, barbarian hordes and the armies of Carthage, Egypt, and the Successor Kingdoms, each with a mix of exclusive units.
• The campaign game is accessible to all gamers from those who want to do everything through to beginners (who can use city governors and automatic systems to handle the detail of taxation, military training and building) and those who just want to fight enormous battles!
• Besiege huge cities and storm mighty fortresses with powerful artillery and siege engines. Bring your enemies' defences crashing to the ground with catapults, smash through their gates with battering rams as burning oil rains rains death from above, fight your way onto the battlements with siege towers and assault ladders and undermine their walls by igniting sapping points.
• Rome: Total War also allows up to 8 players to fight epic battles over a LAN or the internet.

Check the official Rome : Total War web site