First-look previews are such a tease. Take for instance today's news, that's absolutely fantastic by the way, of Creative Assembly's Total War: Rome II. We learned the basics: when's it coming out (2013), why Total War is going back to Rome ("The fans wanted it"), etc. But as for getting down to the nitty gritty? That's a little harder to come by -- probably because according to Lead Designer James Russell, Rome II is less than 20% complete. But by looking at previous Total War games and the direction strategy games are taking today, I've got a few ideas of where Rome II might be heading.
Bigger Multiplayer Co-op
Creative Assembly is pulling out all the stops to create gigantic battles the likes of which we've never seen before in a Total War game -- the demo of Roman soldiers storming the shores of Carthage was reminiscent of the Normandy invasion from Saving Private Ryan in terms of size, scope, and drama. So what better time than now to open up this battlefield to several generals all at once?
Looking for boat parking in Carthage sucks.
For example, it would be great to have four players (doubling Shogun 2's co-op) working in tandem during the battle of Carthage. Imagine it: one player is controlling the naval bombardment, one commander is in charge of the archers, another is handling siege weapons, and another player is commanding his legion of troops through the city streets. Creative Assembly is pretty tight-lipped about multiplayer features in Rome II, and when I pressed him on the issue all Russell told me was they're "Not ready to say exactly what. Just that it's huge." Nothing would be bigger than a large co-op battlefield.
Let's Watch a Mature Story Unfold
In the last several Total War games the story is told through short pre-rendered cutscenes and dialog boxes. But now, with the impressive new in-game character models capable of actual facial animations, we're likely to see something much better. Based on that demo, there's already a lot of attention being put into the reactions of the troops as arrows strike down their comrades, or as they run away from charging elephants. All of these elements could be used to create more of a cinema-like experience for Rome II during the missions to help tell its story.
Is that an elephant in your city or are you just happy to see me?
Other strategy games have played with this -- most recently StarCraft II, which used high-res character models to show off (often cheesy) character development between missions, and Company of Heroes before that. This style of storytelling seems to be hinted at in the brief cutscene I saw, which first showed political infighting as the Senate elected to send Scipio Aemilianus to sack the city of Carthage, then transitioned to Scipio on board his ship, and finally zoomed to the field of battle.
Imagine if we could see in-engine cutscenes a little closer to the quality of HBO's Rome miniseries.
Imagine if we could see in-engine cutscenes a little closer to the quality of HBO's Rome miniseries (keeping it PG-13, of course). I'd much rather watch these deceits, blackmails, or backroom deals unfold during the turn-based portion of Rome II than read about it through dialog boxes. Which kind of brings me to my next hopeful feature... Let's Make it a Trilogy
The Rise of the Samurai/Fall of the Samurai expansions for Shogun 2 and the Barbarian and Alexander expansions from the first Rome game laid the groundwork for what I hope happens with Rome II -- a full-fledged, three-episode arc that covers the rise, peak, and eventual fall of the Roman Empire. Creative Assembly has shown us time and time again that it knows what it takes to create worthwhile DLC, so I'll be expecting the same level of quality here as well.
Carthage throws some of the best BBQs in the land.
Russell told me Rome II's so early in development that they're not even sure on the exact starting date for the campaign, but he did say he wants to have "the whole sweep of the ancient world and Rome's history, right from the days of the Republic, all the way up to the height of the Imperial era." He also mentioned that barbarians will be a prominent foe with their own special brand of undisciplined tactics, as opposed to the meat-grinder machine of the Roman Legion, so we know they will factor into the story somewhere.
We know the Punic Wars are going to play some role in Rome II.
And since the battle of Carthage was front and center during this demo, we know the Punic Wars are going to play some role in Rome II. But it's what follows in the years after Carthage that gets interesting: Rome's massive territory divides into two distinct regions, it tries to quell the spread of Christianity, and course having to deal with the Huns. All of these would make for engaging moments to unfold in an epic trilogy in the months following the retail release of Rome II. Slow it Down for History's Sake
Carthage didn't fall in a day. The conflict between Rome and Carthage raged for years, and the battle itself took many hours. I understand this kind of lengthy fight is tricky to represent accurately, since a game designer needs to keep players engaged, but I'd love to play the Battle of Carthage as close to reality as possible. Stretching it out over several large portions, starting from land battles and moving to methodically sweeping through the streets, all the way up to the dramatic end when Hasdrubal, the general who defended Carthage, surrenders. The street fighting in particular would be brutal because it's not like the Carthaginians were taken off guard -- they had prepared by turning their houses into a series of mini-barracks and every citizen was fighting the Romans.
Looking at this concept art just begs for someone to make a Battle of Blackwater mod.
Again, it's impossible to get every detail, but if Creative Assembly could make it so the Battle of Carthage takes more than a couple of turns to complete, that would go a long way toward representing the scale of the war. Considering the original Rome: Total War was used for the History Channel's Decisive Battles to showcase how these battles took place, I can't wait to see what's done to up the ante on historical authenticity for Rome II.
Again, this is another area Creative Assembly is still trying to tweak -- they're not even sure right now if each turn will be six months or a year, or how the lifespans of your mortal generals will factor into Rome II. Either way, I'm really looking forward to learning more concrete details throughout the next year.