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Mac|Life has published a new review of Rome: Total War Gold Edition, Feral Interactive's latest Mac release. In Rome: Total War players take charge of one of three Roman families with the goal of increasing their family's power in Rome through diplomacy, economic skill, and war. Mac|Life gave the game a score of 4.5 out of 5.

From the review:

Set at the beginning of the Roman Empire, Total War lets you take command of one of the three great Roman houses of the era, working to expand your influence from one capital city to a full-fledged empire. The game combines old-school turn-based mechanics with real-time strategy, so you’ll get pleasantly lost in the many challenges of upgrading your cities, constructing essential facilities to keep your population happy, recruiting troops for your military, and advancing technologies to build more powerful units to use against your enemies. You can also make deals by sending diplomats to neighboring nations to hear their terms while presenting your own demands in return. If you’re not feeling very diplomatic or you just want a quicker line on what your opponents are doing, send spies to collect data on a nearby army’s forces or technologies an enemy has mastered. Your assassins can even attempt to murder an enemy leader or destroy a critical facility in a nearby town. It all spins together into a web of intrigue that’s fascinating to play through.

When it’s time to just brawl, though, Total War’s unique battle system lets you manage skirmishes in real-time 3D, moving your camera to an optimal angle, zooming in and out smoothly, and giving orders to individual units. Tactics make a difference, and you can salvage a seemingly unwinnable battle by flanking an enemy from the sides or killing your opponent’s general to destroy morale.

Mac|Life: Rome Total War Review

Feral Interactive

Rome: Total War Gold Edition

Buy Rome: Total War Gold Edition

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