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What an expansion should be...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 83 / 86
Date: September 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Total War community has given a lot of feedback to the developers on the improvements they would like to see. I'd say pretty much all of the biggies were addressed and added in Barbarian Invasion. Rome: Total War is hands down one of my all-time favorites and a game I can still pickup and play again and again.

There is a lot of upgraded features you would expect from an expansion...little better graphics, upgraded units and increased functionality. The upgrades to the AI are the most noticeable, in my opinion.

The Total War community waited over a year for this to be released and it is readily apparent the developers spent this time to deliver an outstanding expansion. The price tag is definately worth it as well. The time period for the expansion is set in the declining years of the Roman Empire so basically you are getting a whole new game with this expansion.

The new game element rearranges the map to take into account what has happened historically in the last three hundred years. The Roman Empire is split between west and east and all the old factions from Rome:Total War have been assimilated into the Roman Empire. An interesting historical note when the game begins for the Eastern Roman Empire is the Faction Leader Valens. His defeat against the Goths was considered a milestone in the decline of the Roman Empire (for both halves). Not only was his army defeated, but the Emperor Valens was also killed. Oh and the Goths will come for you...Oh yes, they will come.

The Parthians have been surplanted by the Sassanid Empire in the east, but essentially all the old factions have become roman provinces. Basically, it's the barbarian factions battling it out for the choice pieces of real estate.

The new expansion is noticeably harder depending on which faction you play. The Western Roman Empire is by far the most difficult which took a great deal of time to beat. Why is it so difficult? Barbarian factions with a few exceptions don't die when you take their last city - they become a Horde. This is challenging in that you can't just move through and conquer cities to annihilate the Huns, Vandals, Sarmatians,etc. You need to not only conquer all their cities but kill every single family member in order to wipe the faction from the map or they will just keep spawning as new Hordes. You must fight them out in the open which pits you against their horse archers. As you play you will find different strategies on dealing with them, but needless to say it's very fun and challenging. My personal method is the very liberal use of assassins and fortifying cities while I pick apart their horde until I get their family members eliminated.

Bottomline - 5 out of 5 and highly recommended no matter what game genre you typically lean towards. You won't regret it.

The game as it was meant to be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: September 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A few fans got the game early and have been able to put RTW:BI through its paces. They have confirmed that the dreaded AI "reassessment" feature that crippled the original game has been fixed in the expansion. Everyone who played the original owes it to themselves to pick up the expansion for this reason alone, never mind the great improvements to battle AI, the addition of night battles, and the chance to pit yourself against the Huns. I was one of the first to criticize RTW for its failings, now it's right that I should be one of the first to praise BI.

A solid follow-up to the finest game of 2005

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 18
Date: October 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

In the newest addition to the total war series (Rome total war: barbarian invasions), the game undergoes several changes from the original. Now instead of building up the Roman empire, you must recapture its glory or crush the already divided super power into peices. Instead of the old feeble senate, you have the Eastern and Western Roman empires. Both who maintain large territorys with thinly spread defenses. Other playable factions include the saxons, goths, franks, vandals, and the ever terrifying Huns. There are several pros and cons to these new additions in different aspects.

graphics: arrows and seige fire made more realistic, a moderate upgrade from the already outstanding graphics engine 5/5
quick battles: No more monotonous battles where yo No duplicates through 50 battles so far.ur always egypt at the start. Quick battles are completely random now. Also a lot more bridge fights. 5/5
Custom battles: Lack of new maps and maps period is a dissapointment. Bugs in the seige mode have been fixed, Although battering rams are still not armoured enough. Good selection of factions. Could use more unit diversity. 4/5
campaign: No more havening to beat the Roman campaign first. Generals dont gain command traits at all, bug or not a bug, I dont know, I just hate it. Campaign map is more spread out with fewer settlements. More open fighting. Hordes are too large and send you on wild goose chases. Nice idea that was way overdone. New factions that emerge. Better and more mercenaries for hire. Greater selection of retenue. 4.5/5

Conclusion: RTW:BI is a solid but not perfect addition to the total war franchise. A good buy for all RTS and total war fans.

More Challenging!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: October 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Same game but much better. The extension represents a new challenge to players who became serial winners at RTW. It adds a new level of complexity to RTW, seven centuries later, during the sheer decline of the Roman Empire (the game logo is rusty and cracked...).

Graphics are better: more realistic, richer and stable. Sound track is the same, but the red-ish transitional pictures are now in gothic style. However, AI is only slightly smarter, and still makes irrational decisions both at the diplomatic and battlefield levels.

There are main differences in the game itself. Societies and city landscape have changed; and religion now plays a more important role in keeping social order (with Christianity, Paganism and Zoroastrism). It is more complex thus to manage public order. The extension emphasizes individual generals and warlords who now enjoy more attributes (such as personal religion, nocturnal fighting skills, loyalty, and charismatic weapons). Another main difference is nomadic troops: you can win a settlement and loot it without occupying it, otherwise military units of this specific type will disband and join the local population.

This is not another patch, but a new level of game experience and complexity. It is a bit of a shame that one has to spend over $60 to get both RTW and BI, but it is well worth it if you are a big fan of RTW.

An awesome expansion!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: October 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I will admit that this game is hard. My first two attempts at playing the Western Roman Empire didn't go so well. I'm on my second attempt at the Saxons, and I have finally caught on.

In fact, my first attempt at playing the Saxons, I got on a ship to take out the Western RE's hold on the British Isles. After taking the two towns in the south, it triggered a horde of Romano-British to come and like the story/movie of King Arthur, they whooped me, lol. This time I have taken the few rebel controlled cities next to me, made some alliances, and have been fighting with the Romans. The Huns have not made it to me yet, but the civilizations they have dispossessed from their lands are starting to come my way... This should get real interesting!

This game is a lot of fun. I love the new units, different technologies, and the better AI. The new campaign map is very well thought out. Frankly, I am enjoying this even more than RTW itself.

It feels like a whole new game rather than an expansion. I highly recommend it, especially if you liked the original. Just remember, that some of the Civilizations are easy, moderate, or hard difficulties. It will let you know when you go to choose your starting civ. You may want to start on easy the first time.... :D

Game heaven, for me.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I started playing this series with Shogun and it has been my favorite ever since. The only disappointment was Medieval, with its endless whack-a-mole rebellions in the end phases.

In terms of mechanics, Barbarian Invasions isn't that different from Rome, except for the need to manage religious affiliations and the difficulty of increasing leaders' Command ability through battle successes. It is different in the historical context as we move from an up-and-coming Rome to a dying empire. I think that neither period are what we best "know" Rome for, which would probably be early Empire, circa Caesar or Augustus (50 BC - 100 AD).

The Total War series is almost unique in combining deep turn based strategic and economic management with real time tactical battles. Each aspect complements the other quite well, though the battle engine is the true jewel. The tactics, terrain, units and the rendering are just amazing. I generally find the strategic level more challenging throughout, because tactical battles become easier and easier as you upgrade your troops and they gain experience. Once you know your way around the solo campaign game, you can stretch out your investment by switching factions, playing historical battles (warning: only 2 of those in BI!) or play online.

My only criticism, at the strategic level, is Rome's unrest bias against large urban populations (inherited from Civ?), combined with the attractiveness of systematically exterminating cities to fill your coffers. My favorite strategy in Rome involves pulling troops out of a rioting city, making it easier for the city to revolt, then besiege and exterminate it. Which results in me collecting lots and lots of gold during the sack. Afterwards, depopulated cities are very loyal and have huge cashflows. That's an odd way to manage economies and feels morally repugnant as well. But it works :-)

Rome: BI is quite stable on my recent system which is a mid-power laptop, despite (because?) it not having been patched. Could other reviewers be experiencing instability due to older Windows installs?

She Hates this one too

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: January 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A great expansion to a great game. I look forward to more from the Total War Series. My girl friend hates this game too.

Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion Expansion Pack

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game primarily for my 16 year old who has played this game nearly non-stop hours on end since it arrived. I can tell you if the game wasn't enjoyable and challenging my son would have become bored with it and wouldn't have played it anymore than the first few hours or so the first day. I have tried the game myself and have found it very challenging. My son and I recommend this game highly.

More than an expansion, its a whole new game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While i waited a year for this game to come out, I was exptecting something similiar to VI, where it gives you a small, quick game but vastly improves the original. I couldn't have been more wrong. BI is, as the title states, pretty much a whole new game. The original dosen't change to much. All there is a patch. But BI itself is alsmost as in depth as RTW. There is only one major annoyance I have with both games. That is the lack of playable factions. It seems you can only play half the factions in RTW and only a third in BI. Fix this, and they have almost no flaws.

Rome Total War's Expansion Brings Great Improvements

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion is an excellent addition to an already excellent game. It expands the gameplay from Rome Total War from the Republic's Civil Wars to the invasions of the Barbaric tribes from the north. Play to destroy the empire as the Huns, Goths, Franks, or more civilized Sassanids or play to perserve the empire, as either the Western or Eastern Roman Empires. The game has also been improved by including religion. As Christianity sweeps across the Roman World, you will find that new power struggles and religious revolts spring up across the previously 100% pagan landscape. Generals also have a loyalty rating that ascribes their likelyhood to rise up in revolt. Couple these new features with the supreme Total War military engine (which has actually been used by the History Channel to recreate battles) and you have a wonderful military simulator. Of course, if your preference is for peaceful citybuilding, you'll have a harder time with this game. For more peaceful players interested in Roman times, I recommend looking at Caesar III or Civilization IV instead. But for those more interested in the military aspect of Classical History, this is as close to the real thing as you are going to get.

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