Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion

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Rome Total War:
Barbarian Invasion
Rome Total War - Barbarian Invasion.jpg
Developer(s) Creative Assembly [lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Michael M. Simpson
Designer(s) Robert T. Smith
Mike Brunton
Jamie Ferguson
Chris Gambold
James Russell
Composer(s) Jeff van Dyck
Series Total War
Platform(s) Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, macOS
Release
27 September 2005
  • Windows
    • NA: 27 September 2005
    • EU: 30 September 2005 [1]
    • AU: 21 October 2005 [2]
    iOS
    • WW: 28 March 2017
    Android
    • WW: 18 June 2019
    Linux, macOS
    • WW: 29 April 2021
Genre(s) Real-time tactics, turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion is the first expansion pack for the strategy video game Rome: Total War . The expansion was released in 2005 in North America and Europe and in 2006 in Japan for Windows. Feral Interactive released the iPad version on 28 March 2017, the iPhone version on 9 May 2019, [3] [4] and an Android version of the game on 18 June 2019. [5] A remastered version of the game was released as part of Total War: Rome Remastered on 29 April 2021. [6] While the main game deals with the rise of the Roman Empire, Barbarian Invasion covers the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire during the Migration Period.

Contents

Gameplay

As Barbarian Invasion takes place several centuries after the end of the original game, the factions and provinces are very different. While the original Rome: Total War focused on the rise of Rome, Barbarian Invasion focuses on the decline of Western Rome during the Migration Period, as numerous Germanic and Asiatic tribes, such as the Huns, the Franks, and the Goths, migrate into Roman lands and the religion of Christianity begins to replace Roman paganism. Meanwhile, Eastern Rome struggles more with the Zoroastrians of Sassanid Persia than they do with the "barbarian" tribes. Several new gameplay features were added to reflect the tumultuousness of the era, while most of the fundamental gameplay mechanics are the same as they were in the original game.

In Barbarian Invasion, most barbarians are able to transform their faction into a "horde". When a barbarian faction loses its last province, rather than being destroyed, it becomes a horde and is forced to settle elsewhere (two factions, the Huns and Vandals, begin with no provinces, while other factions can appear later in the game as hordes). Barbarian factions with only one province may also choose to voluntarily abandon their province and become a horde. Hordes are very large armies that represent an entire faction, but they do not require upkeep. When a horde army successfully seizes a city, it is given the option of sacking the city (which does massive damage to the population and buildings of a city and gives the horde a large amount of money) or of settling in the city, which allows the horde to begin anew, with the new city as its capital; the faction is then able to conquer other provinces normally. When the horde settles, a portion of the horde army is disbanded and the population distributed into the city. Horde factions do not "die out" unless they are totally defeated on the battlefield and/or their major family members are all slain. [7]

Barbarian Invasion also introduces the concept of religion. The three religions represented in the game are paganism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Characters in the game may adhere to one of the three religions, and the religious composition of each province is also stated. Provinces may gradually convert to a different religion in a variety of ways; for example, constructing temples dedicated to one of the religions will help that religion spread in the province. Religious conflict within a province will usually cause a great deal of unrest, which may force the player to either take steps to make the province happier or try to convert the province in order to avoid a revolt. [3]

Reception

The expansion received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [8] Many reviewers expressed disappointment with the small number of new features that the expansion introduced. However, most concluded that they still enjoyed the expansion despite the lack of innovation. [9] [14]

Barbarian Invasion received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), [16] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. [17]

Related Research Articles

<i>Total War</i> (video game series) Computer strategy game series

Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on October 11, 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.

<i>Shogun: Total War</i> 2000 video game

Shogun: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows personal computers. Released in June 2000, the game became the debut title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series. Set in Japan during Sengoku jidai—the "Warring States" period from the 15th to the beginning of the 17th century—the game has players adopt the leader of a contemporary Japanese clan, attempt to conquer the nation and claim the position of shōgun. The turn-based aspect of the game focuses on a map of Japan where military force, religion, diplomacy, espionage and economics all influence the player's actions, whilst battles are fought in a 3D real-time mode.

<i>Medieval: Total War</i> 2002 video game

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<i>Rome: Total War</i> 2004 video game

Rome: Total War is a strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and originally published by Activision; its publishing rights have since passed to Sega. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in 2004. The Mac OS X version was released on February 5, 2010, by Feral Interactive, who also released the iPad version on November 10, 2016, the iPhone version on August 23, 2018, and the Android version on December 19, 2018. The game is the third title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series, following Shogun: Total War, and Medieval: Total War.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War</i> 2004 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. It was released by THQ on September 20, 2004 in North America and on September 24 in Europe. Three expansion packs have been released: Winter Assault in 2005, Dark Crusade in 2006, and Soulstorm in 2008. Its first sequel, Dawn of War II was released in February 2009. Another sequel, Dawn of War III, was released in April 2017.

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<i>Rome: Total Realism</i> 2005 video game

Rome: Total Realism is a series of complete modification packs for the computer game Rome: Total War, intended to rectify historical inaccuracies in the original game. RTR has been featured in several major gaming sites and magazines, such as PC Gamer (US), PC Gamer UK, and GameSpot. Recent versions of RTR include Rome: Total Realism VII : Grand Campaign, which uses the newer Barbarian Invasion engine. In 2021, the RTR team joined forces with the old Roma Surrectum team in order to develop a new project called RTR: Imperium Surrectum for the remaster of the original game that has recently been brought on the market by Feral Interactive.

<i>Medieval II: Total War</i> 2006 video game

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<i>Praetorians</i> (video game) 2003 real-time tactics video game

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<i>Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms</i> 2007 video game

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<i>Empire: Total War</i> 2009 video game

Empire: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The fifth installment in the Total War series, the game was released in 2009. The game, which focuses on the early modern period of the 18th century, was announced at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2007. The macOS version of the game was released by Feral Interactive on 10 June 2014. The Linux version was released, also by Feral Interactive, on 8 December 2014.

<i>Rome: Total War: Alexander</i> 2006 video game

Rome: Total War: Alexander is the second expansion pack for Rome: Total War. It is set in an earlier time period, putting the player in the role of Alexander the Great. It begins with Alexander's ascension to the Macedonian throne in 336 BC and lasts for 100 turns. The game is much the same as the original Rome: Total War, but with fewer factions, different units, and a different map. The expansion was released in 2006 for Microsoft Windows. The macOS version of Rome: Total War: Alexander was released on 27 February 2014 by Feral Interactive. A standalone version of the expansion, also by Feral, was released for the iPad on 27 July 2017. An iPhone and Android version of the game was released on 24 October 2019.

<i>Total War: Shogun 2</i> 2011 video game

Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is the seventh mainline entry in the Total War series and returns to the setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe and the Middle East.

<i>Total War: Rome II</i> 2013 strategy video game by Creative Assembly

Total War: Rome II is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It was released on 3 September 2013, for Microsoft Windows as the eighth standalone game in the Total War series of video games and the successor to the 2004 game Rome: Total War.

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Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is a standalone expansion to the strategy video game Total War: Shogun 2, released on 23 March 2012. Taking place 300 years after the events of the base game, Fall of the Samurai is set in mid-19th century Japan during the Bakumatsu and the Boshin War, which pits supporters of the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate against supporters of the Emperor, who wish to overthrow the Shogunate. The time period coincides with arrival of the Western powers, which forced Japan to modernize and eventually abolish its traditional samurai-based society and adopt modern technologies. The players takes on the management of one of the many domains on either side of the conflict and must help their side win the Boshin War.

<i>Total War: Attila</i> 2015 video game

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Total War: Warhammer is a 2016 turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for Windows via the Steam gaming platform. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive. The game features the gameplay of the Total War series with factions of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy series; it is the first Total War game not to portray a historical setting. It is the 10th title in the Total War series and the first title to be released in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy.

References

  1. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (30 September 2005). "What's New? (Super Catch-Up Alpha Plus 3)". Eurogamer . Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  2. ↑ Van Leuveren, Luke (17 October 2005). "Updated Australian Release List - 17/10/05". PALGN. Archived from the original on 11 December 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 Vigdahl, Nick (4 April 2017). "Review: Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion". PocketTactics. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Madnani, Mikhail (9 May 2019). "'ROME: Total War – Barbarian Invasion' for iPhone Has Finally Arrived in a Free Update That Adds Various New Features". TouchArcade. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "'ROME: Total War - Barbarian Invasion' from Feral Interactive Has Finally Arrived on Android and Here Are the Devices You Need to Play It". TouchArcade. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  6. ↑ Bonifacic, Igor (25 March 2021). "'Total War: Rome Remastered' revives an RTS classic on April 29th". Engadget . Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion". GamesRadar. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Rome: Total Tar Barbarian Invasion for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  9. 1 2 Gillen, Kieron (30 September 2005). "Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion". Eurogamer . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  10. ↑ Ferris, Duke (14 October 2005). "Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion Review". Game Revolution . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Ocampo, Jason (10 October 2005). "Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Kosak, Dave (6 October 2005). "GameSpy: Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion". GameSpy . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Butts, Steve (29 September 2005). "Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion". IGN . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion". PC Format (180): 95. November 2005.
  15. ↑ "Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion". PC Gamer : 94. December 2005.
  16. ↑ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association . Archived from the original on 21 February 2009.
  17. ↑ Caoili, Eric (26 November 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status in UK". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
  1. ↑ Remaster and ports were developed by Feral Interactive.
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