14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at The Creative Assembly and publisher SEGA announce that gamers will be able to take control of ten unique and powerful factions in the upcoming Imperator Augustus campaign, which will be part of the free coming Emperor Edition version of Total War: Rome II.
Gamers will be able to take charge of four types of Roman forces, loyal to Marc Anthony, Octavian, Lepidus or Pompey.
At the same time, there are six outside nations which are looking to strike at a weakened Roman Empire in order to assert their own power: Iceni, Marcomanni, Dacia, Egypt, Parthia, and Armenia.
The four roman factions are designed to have somewhat similar rosters, although influenced by their geographic locations, while the other countries will field their own unique and powerful troops.
The team states in the announcement that “External forces are on the move, looking to exploit the instability of Rome and expand their own territories. Will you fight as a defender of Rome and defeat the other members of the Triumvirate? Or lead another faction on a campaign of conquest and expansion, and take advantage of the chaos as the Roman civil war rages?”
Of the announced factions, only Armenia will also be added to the Grand Campaign of Total War: Rome II via the Emperor Edition, although fans also expected the Marcomanni to be included.
The strategy experience has been vastly improved
When Rome II was first launched, it had a number of problems, including with performance, and many fans of the series were disappointed with the strategy experience.
Since then, the team at The Creative Assembly has delivered a big number of patches and plenty of free downloadable content, which will all be included in the Emperor Edition that will be launched on September 16 free for all current owners.
At the same time, the company is making a number of significant changes to the political mechanics, the way civil wars start and the building chains, all designed to better balance the campaign.
Gamers will also get tweaks to the balance of the various units, and the Artificial Intelligence is supposed to be smarter on the battlefield.
The Creative Assembly will probably ramp down support for Total War: Rome II after Emperor Edition is launched, and the company says that it will make an announcement about a new major project in the series before the end of the month.