Recent reviews by Flashman

With nearly 200 hours in this game, the most of my library, I'd like to make a few points; We must first go back to Shogun 2 and Empire/Napoleon, however. All of these titles were nearly broken upon release, something Rome II bashers are quick to forget when lambasting the state of Rome II when it was released. Today Empire and Napoleon are very playable, though they do require mods to shine, while Shogun 2 Vanilla is a damn near perfect game in terms of AI and Graphics with mods only improving on these. Bearing this is mind, it is not surprising that Rome II was fairly unplayable when it was released, but since that time CA has put out a plethora of patches along with DLC that do add to the base game (Ceasar in Gaul and Hannibal at the Gates), which has done much in improving the AI as well as optomization. In its current state (June 2014) the Vanilla game is playable, but certainly not at its prime, which is where mods come in. If you truely want to have a great game you must download one of the more fleshed out mods (My preference is Divide et Imperia, arguably the most extensive and wll done mod). These mods take the stunning graphics that Rome II is capable of, improving them and fixing historical inaccuracies, and combines them with a greatly enhanced Battle and Campaign AI to create an enjoyable Total War Experience.

Buy on a sale.

My day one impressions are thus; Solid and quick gunplay, you really feel the power behind the rounds flying out the barrel. The Maps and character models are absolutely superb. There are 10 maps and 8 game modes to play, which ensures you'll never be bored with this game. Remember that this game is so polished at this stage (with the minor glitch) even though it is still a beta! This game is well worth full price, but on sale you really cannot pass up such a title!

Grab your sword, take up your shield and march off in service of your God! (Buy this game right now you Son of Abraham!)

Five-Year Update:

This is perhaps Paradox's best title to date, and while not everyone may agree with Paradox's DLC policy, it had arguably been best employed with this title. This is most true for the latest DLC, Holy Fury. Completely revamping the central mechanic of the game, Crusading, not only in the Holy Land but also in the Baltics and Spain, Crusader Kings II has been given a complete facelift and new breath of life. I cannot recomend the game highly enough, if for no other reason than I've been playing it since release and it's never gotten boring or repetitive.