Rome Total War Alexander Preview

Strategy gamers were in for a pleasant surprise when it was revealed that Sega would be releasing another expansion pack for Rome: Total War series. Creative Assembly, currently working on the next game in the Total War series called Medieval 2:Total War, has completed rendering the finishing touches to Rome: Total War Alexander.

As the name suggests, the game follows the short but the exciting life of Alexander the Great spanning from 336 and 323 BC. Soon after ascending the throne, Alexander embarked on an ambitious campaign to conquer the whole world and in just 12 years was the master of almost the entire known world.

The campaign starts with Alexander crowned as a King of Macedonia at a young age of 20, after his father, King Philip’s death. One of the major changes in the expansion pack is the introduction of turns instead of years as seen in the previous games. In an attempt to mirror the swiftness with which Alexander vanquished his enemies, the player has to complete the campaign in just 100 turns. The aim of the campaign is to keep hold of atleast 10 key cities in 100 turns. This proves to be very difficult and only those who have mastered the previous versions will have a good chance to completing the game.

Four new factions have been introduced in the game including the Macedonians whose army is made up of powerful units like Hypaspists, Phalangists (spear carriers) and the nearly invincible Companion cavalry.

To start with, you will have to defeat the barbarians who are scattered around Macedonia and frankly are an annoying bunch who try from time to time to attack Macedonia. Actually they are the weakest enemy present in the game with not many horsemen, which is a wish come true for the Greek forces having an exceptionally strong cavalry. The barbarian infantry is made up of sicklemen and skirmishers. But what they lack in quality and numbers, they make it up with a high morale count and thus can prove to be a handful if taken lightly.

To the east lie the mighty Persians. This was the period when Persia was at the height of its power both culturally and militarily. Their armies constitute large number of Bactrian cavalry and an ultra powerful special infantry unit known as Immortals. The Persians have an added advantage as they start with a huge army. Should you attempt to enter Persia without a large and powerful army, then it is guaranteed that you will be crushed by huge Persian armies who harass your army from all sides.

If you succeed in defeating the Persians, then the Indians lie in wait further east. Historically, India was the only nation that Alexander failed to conquer. The Macedonian army, frightened by the elephants used in Indian armies, forced Alexander to abandon his dream of being the world conqueror and forced him to turn back. War elephants figure prominently in the Indian armies in the game along with female archers and charioteers. Though not as powerful as the Persians, they are very difficult to beat.

Along with the single player campaign, there are six new historical battles included in the game, which tells the story of King Philip II and his attempt to dominate the Greek peninsula. These battles can be played in both single player and multiplayer modes. They can also be played in a Tournament mode where the winner is decided by the number of points obtained at the end.

Rome: Total War Alexander is similar to the other Rome: Total War gameswith respect to graphics and gameplay. A major difference is in the
style of the gameplay. Not strategy but speed and tactics seem to be the name of game. In order to finish the campaign in 100 turns it is necessary not to waste time in consolidating the conquered cities nor spend time in building any economy or a quality army. An efficient way to play the game is to destroy any conquered city and kill all the natives so that they don’t tie up vital troops that will have to be placed in order to prevent a rebellion. As there is no time to build a trained army, mercenaries play a very important role if one has to succeed in completing the campaign. As the game progresses eastwards, it gets more and more difficult partly due to the inferior quality mercenaries facing against highly trained armies of Persia and India. Other changes in the game include the absence of diplomats and the location of the map. Previous versions saw a map of Europe but Rome:
Total War Alexander has a map stretching from Greece in the west to India in the east.

Another attractive feature of the Rome Total War Alexander game is its price. It is availablefor almost half of the price of other expansions at $14.99 and is a download-only game available at Sega. Considering the track record of Creative Assembly in churning out addictive strategy games, it seems good times are once again here for strategy gamers.

Vinay Mallabadi