Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Rome: Total War – Anthology delivers a sprawling grand strategy experience on both the campaign map and the battlefield. In the core Rome: Total War installment, you manage your faction’s economy, diplomacy, and military expansion, plotting conquests from the British Isles to Egypt. Real-time battles command hundreds to thousands of units, forcing you to consider terrain, formations, and morale as you clash with rival legions or barbarian hordes.

Barbarian Invasion builds on this foundation by introducing environmental pressures and migratory mechanics. Hordes of Goths, Huns, and Vandals sweep across the old empire, compelling you to adapt new defensive strategies or join the waves yourself. Raiding for resources, securing alliances, and weathering harsh winters add layers of challenge—turning Rome’s twilight into a deadly survival puzzle.

Rome: Total War – Alexander shifts focus to a more narrative-driven campaign, following the conquests of Alexander the Great. The playable area narrows, but the intensity rises: every battle feels climactic, from the Granicus River to the gates of Persepolis. Unique heroes, scripted events, and historically inspired objectives give the campaign a tighter, more cinematic pace without sacrificing the strategic sandbox that made the original legendary.

Graphics

Though the engine hails from the early 2000s, Rome: Total War’s visuals remain impressive when viewed through a modern lens. Unit models are detailed and recognizable—from the red-clad legionaries to tribal horse archers—while the battlefields feel expansive, dotted with hills, forests, and siege works. The user interface is clear and functional, allowing you to issue complex orders with minimal fuss.

Barbarian Invasion adds darker, more subdued color palettes to reflect the era’s instability. Misty battlefields and burning settlements reinforce the sense of a crumbling empire. Though textures can appear stretched at ultra-high resolutions, communities have produced unofficial graphical patches that polish character portraits, unit icons, and terrain tiles without altering the core gameplay.

Alexander dials up the visual drama with unique map skins and custom unit artwork for Macedonian phalanxes, Indian war elephants, and Persian cataphracts. The cinematic event animations—such as faction leaders rallying their troops—enhance immersion, even if the underlying animation system remains largely unchanged. Overall, this anthology’s graphics still convey the grandeur of ancient warfare.

Story

Rome: Total War provides an open-ended narrative that you craft through conquest, diplomacy, and internal politics. Will you guide Rome to unprecedented glory, or will rival families seize power and plunge the Republic into civil war? Every campaign plays like a saga, with surprising betrayals and epic last stands emerging from player-driven decisions.

In Barbarian Invasion, the storyline revolves around the fall of Rome. You can choose to defend the Empire against migrating tribes or play as one of those tribes, leading them to new homelands. This reversal of roles turns familiar maps into new storytelling canvases, as past underdogs become unstoppable forces reshaping history.

Alexander’s campaign is the most linear of the three, but it shines through its historical authenticity. You relive Alexander’s legendary march from Macedonia through Asia Minor, Egypt, Persia, and into India. Scripted events—such as the sacking of Thebes or the founding of Alexandria—lend a cinematic flair, making you feel like the architect of an empire that would alter the ancient world forever.

Overall Experience

As a package, Rome: Total War – Anthology offers incomparable value: three full campaigns, dozens of factions, and hundreds of hours of strategic gameplay. Whether you prefer the sandbox freedom of the original, the end-of-empire tension of Barbarian Invasion, or the focused narrative of Alexander, this collection has something to satisfy every historical wargamer.

Mod support and a thriving community further extend replayability. From graphics enhancements to total conversion mods that transport you to medieval Japan or Napoleonic Europe, the engine’s flexibility ensures that your next conquest is never far away. Multiplayer battles still draw dedicated players eager to test their tactics online.

While some systems feel dated—diplomacy can be simplistic, and pathfinding occasionally frustrates—these quirks are part of the series’ charm. The depth of strategy, combined with the scale of battles and the richness of historical detail, make Rome: Total War – Anthology a must-own for anyone passionate about ancient history and grand strategy gaming.