Rome: Total War: Alexander

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Rome Total War: Alexander
Rome - Total War - Alexander Coverart.png
Developer(s) Creative Assembly
Feral Interactive (macOS) [1]
Publisher(s) Sega
Feral Interactive (macOS) [1]
Director(s) Ian Roxburgh
Designer(s) Melvyn Quek
James Whitston
Jeff Woods
Stephen Virgo
Alan Blair
Series Total War
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
macOS
iOS
Android
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: 19 June 2006
  • EU: 15 September 2006
macOS
  • WW: 27 February 2014 [1]
iPad
  • WW: 27 July 2017
iPhone & Android
  • WW: 24 October 2019
Genre(s) Real-time tactics, Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Rome: Total War: Alexander promotional screenshot. Alexanderbattle.jpg
Rome: Total War: Alexander promotional screenshot.

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. [2] An iPhone and Android version of the game was released on 24 October 2019. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay of Alexander is mostly similar to the gameplay of the original Rome: Total War, with the player commanding individual armies on the battlefield or leading their entire nation (called factions) on a campaign map.

Campaign

The main campaign of Alexander centers around Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. While multiple factions were playable in the original game's campaign, Macedon is in the only playable faction in the campaign of Alexander. As Macedon, the player must conquer 30 provinces, [4] including a number of specific cities like Tyre, Halicarnassus, and Babylon, from Persia and various "barbarians," like the Thracians, the Illyrians, the Scythians, and the Dahae. The player only has 100 turns to complete their objectives. Alexander himself must also survive until the player accomplishes their goals; if he dies, the player is defeated. The campaign is narrated by Brian Blessed. [5]

Historical battles

In addition to the regular campaign, there are also six historical battles in the expansion, [6] starting with the Battle of Chaeronea, where Alexander accompanies his father, Philip II, against the combined forces of Athens and Thebes. Next is the Battle of the Granicus against Memnon of Rhodes. After the Battle of the Granicus comes the Siege of Halicarnassus, in which Memnon is killed. The fourth and fifth battles are the Battle of Issus and the Battle of Gaugamela, respectively. Both are fought against King Darius III of Persia. It ends with the Battle of the Hydaspes against Porus, an Indian king of the Pauravas dynasty. As in the campaign, if Alexander dies during one of the historical battles, the player is defeated. If Alexander retreats, the player is also defeated. While the first battle is available by default, the subsequent battles can only be unlocked by beating the previous battle at "medium" difficulty or above. The battles can be replayed at any time after being unlocked.[ citation needed ]

Reception

The expansion pack received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [7] Many reviewers concluded that while the expansion offered some new content for dedicated fans of the Total War series, the short length and limited scope of the expansion harmed what was otherwise a good experience. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

This article concerns the period 339 BC – 330 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wars of Alexander the Great</span> Conflicts of Alexander the Great (336–323 BC)

The wars of Alexander the Great were a series of conquests carried out by Alexander III of Macedon from 336 to 323 BC. They began with battles against the Achaemenid Empire, then under the rule of Darius III. After Alexander's chain of victories, he began a campaign against local chieftains and warlords that stretched from Greece to as far as the region of Punjab in South Asia. By the time he died, Alexander ruled over most regions of Greece and the conquered Achaemenid Empire, including much of Achaemenid Egypt; he did not, however, manage to conquer the Indian subcontinent in its entirety according to his initial plan.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Granicus</span> Battle fought between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenids

The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the Granicus in the Troad region, which is now called the Biga River in Turkey. In the battle Alexander defeated the field army of the Persian satraps of Asia Minor, which defended the river crossing. After this battle, the Persians were forced on the defensive in the cities that remained under their control in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memnon of Rhodes</span> 4th-century BCE Greek mercenary commander

Memnon of Rhodes was a prominent Rhodian Greek commander in the service of the Achaemenid Empire. Related to the Persian aristocracy by the marriage of his sister to the satrap Artabazus II, together with his brother Mentor he served the Persian king for most of his life, and played an important role during the invasion of Alexander the Great and the decades before that.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "In the skin of a lion - Rome: Total War - Alexander, out now for Mac!". Feral Interactive. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  2. "ROME: Total War – Alexander arriving on iPad 27th July". Gamasutra. UBM LLC. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  3. "'Rome: Total War - Alexander' from Feral Interactive for iPad Just Got Updated to Go Universal Adding iPhone Support and Multiple Improvements to Coincide with the Android Release". TouchArcade. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  4. 1 2 Todd, Brett (20 June 2006). "Rome: Total War Alexander Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  5. Goodfellow, Troy (10 June 2006). "Rome: Total War Alexander". GamesRadar. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. "Rome: Total War: Alexander". Total War. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Rome: Total War Alexander for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  8. Gillen, Kieron (26 June 2006). "Rome: Total War - Alexander". Eurogamer . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  9. Kosak, Dave (10 July 2006). "GameSpy: Rome: Total War - Alexander". GameSpy . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  10. 1 2 Butts, Steve (20 June 2006). "Rome: Total War - Alexander". IGN . Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Rome: Total War: Alexander". PC Gamer UK : 86. August 2006.