How Total War: Rome Remastered Improves The Original Game

With its Total War series having advanced considerably since 2004, Creative Assembly is collaborating with Feral Interactive on Total War: Rome Remastered, a dramatic upgrade of the game for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Previously known as Rome: Total War, enhancements will include not just a new name but better graphics, a slew of gameplay features, and even a smattering of original content. Sega is set to publish the title on April 29th.

The core of the game retains the Total War template, blending strategic maneuvering and diplomacy on a turn-based map with real-time battles in 3D. The latter take place on a large scale, with thousands of units skirmishing or laying siege. Players compete against a variety of factions scattered across Europe, made even more expansive because the remaster includes the Alexander and Barbarian Invasion expansions. For those familiar with ancient Roman history, there’s a lot to savor.

The chief upgrade is the game’s visuals, which now support 4K resolution and come with remodeled buildings and objects, given that graphics cards are considerably more powerful in 2021. The new paint job also includes sharper textures, environmental effects like haze and dust, and support for ultra-widescreen displays. The results aren’t quite as nice as Total War: Three Kingdoms, but are still substantially different.

What Total War: Rome Remastered’s Gameplay Changes Are

To modernize Total War’s experience, the in-game camera now offers map rotation and a wider zoom level in Campaign mode, along with heat maps and icon overlays in areas such as diplomacy and security. When descending into battle, players have access to a new tactical map, unit displays, and range markers. The combination should smooth out the original game’s rougher edges. Going a step further, added Merchant agents can be sent on missions to establish trade networks, and 16 previously unplayable factions have been unlocked in Total War: Rome Remastered for a total of 38 options.

Sega adds that the remaster includes cross-platform multiplayer, an overhauled Total War diplomacy system, and improved in-game help, such as a wiki and a revised tutorial. On launch Total War: Rome Remastered will be available new for $29.99 – owners of the original game on Steam, however, will be able to upgrade for half that price through May 31st. A Mac App Store version will lack any discounts, but does offer native support for Apple’s M1 processor when the port launches sometime after April 29th. Mac owners running the game through Steam will have to rely on Rosetta 2 emulation, at least until Valve adds M1 compatibility to the Steam client – unlocking a tremendous speed boost.

About The Author

Roger Fingas
(307 Articles Published)

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Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Roger now lives with his family in Austin, Texas. He has years of experience in tech writing, and his gaming specialties include FPS and VR games on the PC.

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