Not a bad strategy game, but that's Total War?

I just have to answer this question in the negative.
This game is an undignified end to a great series.
At this point, thanks to Creative Assembly, for 13 years great fun. I devoured all parts of the series from Shogun. And shame on you directly to this concoction. Your and "Koch Media".
For graphics and performance is enough Other reviewers have omitted. For me it is useful liquid, like not doing it anyway. The graphics is too softened, colorful and everything is clean. A Rome 1 with a few mods High Res is considerably more beautiful (and runs better).
I see parallels to Age of Empires 2 and 3, a similarly large and not necessarily positive leap in attention to detail.

But in order to spare me the endless polemics, can not think of a few facts have changed compared to the old parts:

For me negative points:
- One can only recruit with General Armies. One can only very limited quantities generals recruit, depending on the size of his empire. Unfortunately, the logic behind the review is not clear, I conquer province to province, and yet I was stepped down again! The Total War Feeling missing here completely me. In Shogun 2 I stelllte towards the end times like 20,000 men in the field (as reinforcements for a primary army hochgezüchtetem General).
- You can not even set up in the cities without armies General, but is almost entirely dependent for the defense of garrison units. Of these there are many, but you can not stop playing with "his" Einheitenmix.
- There is no free urban development more like Shogun or the old Rome. A provincial capital has walls whose stage you can not influence. The smaller "satellite towns" around it have no walls and also not get. These can allow a lot of mistaken siege Feeling and potential.
- All "building" are integrated in the provincial capitals and satellite towns. Raids of outbuildings as in Empire / Napoleon / Shogun 2 are eliminated. The expansion slots are very limited.
- Placed act Technology Trees here and want little match for game mechanics. I have initially concentrated on military and me as Rome had about 250 v. Chr. My first Praetorians, with their superior morality times entire armies can be broken.
- The diplomacy is still attached. Here you can not even more self-BUZZ enter in corruption or purchase Try! You can click + and receives a fixed percentage of its treasury deducted. The more coal you have, then, the more you have to pay. The one that perhaps does not want to because the computer does not want to strengthen unlimited and so on ... Well, Bulls ***.
- The New Senate System with countless popups of intrigue and decisions (no pretty videos ...) might be quite fun, but can not be measured with the family and the Senate system of Rome 1. Consequences and traceability Poor.
- Regardless of whether one likes the look of the new interface, it simply lack information. Not only that unit and building icons loveless pictograms, No, you get eg the battle interface not even more man strengths of his units in the army list. There is no box for it! The symbols of culturally different buildings differ so little that they can actually identify only by the drop down text detail.
- The new battle-fog of war sucks. No overview One can give about where the enemy is or oneself. One can see the enemy only when one is already almost in melee it. May well be more realistic (buhuuu), but is not just epic. Feels at Total War for me wrong.
- Through the "no walls" control and limit Ruins I lack the "I create cities" feel.
- The Encyclopedia has been brutally reduced compared to previous parts (about 1 entry for HastatIi, Principes and Triarii) and, moreover, only available online.
- Pirates have no more ships, but be a percentage value for maritime regions. Since you can but up as well as armies very limited fleets (with admirals) that you then have to store in "patrol position" immobile in a sea section you can do little against piracy up.
- The campaign map is then smacked pretty loveless and lifeless. She no longer feels as if it were made with love. As far as I've noticed so far are completely disappeared seasons because with each round passes 1 year long. This is also quite a waste. (May be does not have to be as small as small as when Shogun be with 1 lap per month, but at least one summer / winter change would have.)

I could go on almost any forführen far with many small points.

Nevertheless, Rome does not make 2 all wrong, here are my pluses:
- I like the new army positions on the campaign map, such as a forced march position gives the army a double movement points for taking away her in the same round the option to attack itself. (Not bad for around defenders slide)
- The combined naval and land battles like me. To attack with Marines (= Only a fleet, no army) coastal towns is also quite nice. (Power but the coastal towns much more difficult to defend.)
- So far, my diplomacy makes a transparent in the way feel at least as regards the decisions of the AI.
- The campaign map is quite large, the conquest rate relatively low, I think this will take quite a long a campaign.
- The new victory conditions, such as economic or military superiority are a very nice replacement for "long campaign" and "short campaign".
But that was unfortunately about all I can think spontaneously.

Let's hope the times it soon a "No general Needed" Mod, or a "Recruit captains as general compensation" will be -Mod, and something about the fog of war ...

An opinion should form themselves each.
The 45 Euro here at Amazon for the Steam code go Given the scope of game in order.
The other usual local 55 Euro but not, it puts too little passion in Rome. 2
As a strategy game Rome 2 would receive in this day and age of me 4 star, but as a total was just for 2.

Update after the second day with many hours Rome 2:
The battles are much too heavy and fast arcade. Longer than 5-10 minutes usually takes no action.
The units turn incredibly fast, race Chill 90 km / h and formations hold up to no contact with the enemy.
After that then dissolves everything into an uncontrollable colorful balls.
At the end wins the one whose balls has the thicker Hammer. Tactics Feeling comes to none. The computer will "Very hard" like running on time individual units to their doom, inasmuch as the full and me actually superior army around is stupid.
Weak AI one is accustomed places in TW, but this is sending you a step backwards.

The battles that I personally have the most fun, but also arises here, for example, the question: Why build large fleets? Country armies automatically get carriers, which, although they are quite bulky, but can easily ram Enemy warships into kindling. Works very well!
Again, the fight times are rather short.

There are just too many different buildings (and far too many of them consume food btw.) In the game, the number of building sites. And I've only free research a fraction.

In addition, the load times between rounds with progressive game are extremely long.
All the many figures and statistics are very abstract and the game is much less intense than all its predecessors.

In short, I hope for many, many patches.
Again, just my main change requests and a must so that the TW feels like:
- Captains, unlimited generals, select an option that. More armies halt.
- An option or mod for more construction sites.
- Slower, more epic battles with formations such as in Rome I or Medieval II.
- No fog of war on Battle cards / option.

PS Here it's all about the download version of Amazon (for my purchase 10, - cheaper than on Steam), which means you buy a Steam code!
Has worked without problems and one hour after purchase I could loszocken. (Corresponding Internet line provided, of course, with DSL 16000 should take the approximately 20GB for a while.)