Developer Feral Interactive's Total War: Rome Remastered is a solid and faithful recreation of the original game's formula. This new version receives several impressive updates like higher quality graphics, an updated UI, and even a new merchant unit to experiment with. The gameplay itself is still the same as it was in 2004, however, which can be more than a little detrimental to the whole experience.
Total War: Rome Remastered is set during the late Republic period and early Imperial period of Rome. Rome has been split into three different families, each wanting to ensure that the Roman Empire rules over the entirety of the known world. In the main campaign players will take control of one of these three families and force other powerful kingdoms to submit. Strategy game buffs and lovers of Roman history will find a lot to be excited about here.
Growing the Roman Empire in Total War: Rome Remastered is no small feat. Just like in the original game, cities are grown by constructing new buildings that enable the recruitment of different kinds of military units. After units have been conscripted into the army other nation's cities can be seized by force, which makes the empire increase in size. When taking a city, the game switches from a Civilization-esque conquest game to a Warcraft-style RTS as the player orders their troops to attack their enemies. Almost everything about the gameplay aspects of Total War: Rome Remastered are unchanged, which in some ways are kind of a shame. There were many improvements present in later titles (like better AI and a more streamlined battle system) that make Total War: Rome Remastered feel dated.
There are a couple welcome improvements to Total War: Rome Remastered. For one, the UI is drastically better. The screen is nowhere near as cluttered as the 2004 version, and finding relevant information about units and settlements is now a much simpler process. Players now also have access to the aforementioned merchant unit that can be recruited into their service. These merchants can be sent to the cities of allies in order to trade resources and rack up more gold for the purposed of expanding the army. Considering there are few ways to earn gold in Rome: Total War other than taxation or looting, this improves the experience immensely.
The graphical update for Total War: Rome Remastered isn't overly impressive, but it is definitely a noticeable improvement. Character models and portraits are still kind of flat-looking, but those can also be improved by downloading the additional Enhanced Graphics Pack included for free with the game. Even with this pack the graphics never quite reach the standards set by more modern entries in the Total War franchise, like the excellent A Total War Saga: Troy.
Total War: Rome Remastered is a blast of nostalgia for those who have fond memories of losing hours of their night as they attempt to conquer just one more enemy city. Nostalgia is also the primary selling point for the game, however, as new players would be better-suited starting with a more recent title and experienced fans will miss certain quality of life features present in modern strategy games. While Total War: Rome Remastered does an honorable job of reviving an old classic, the fresh coat of paint does little to cover up its outdated mechanics, and it's likely that only established fans looking to return to a title they loved once before will get much out the remaster as a result.
Total War: Rome Remastered is available now on PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PC code for the purpose of this review.