Demo Review
By Doitzel
It's been about a week now since the Barbarian Invasion demo was released, and I'm finally getting around to catching up with everybody else. I took a good, long look at my expectations, which I'll admit were probably too high. I won't go as far as saying the demo was a failure – it certainly wasn't. There were, however, some things that just didn't click with me. Part of the problem is probably that Rome: Total War's historical battles never really appealed to me. Either way, this is my take on it.
The tutorial doesn't leave much to be said. It's essentially the exact same scenario as the original demo and later the released game. This time, however, it's the Eastern Romans rather than SPQR, the Goths rather than the Gauls, and the Western Romans rather than the Julii. I was a bit dismayed when I heard that same advisor's voice. I never really cared for that guy. Again, though, the tutorial is the same easy, guided battle that you faced with the original game, just with slightly different units.
The Battle of Badon Hill, however, was a bit more interesting. Of the two historical battles that the demo offered, I'd have to say I liked this one better. The Saxons seemed relatively uninteresting, to me. The battle was very easy on their side, and their units seemed to be a bit bland. The Romano-British, however, proved quite a bit more interesting. I wasn't too pleased when I saw that Monks were among my soldiers, but I was quickly reassured when I saw the fearsome-looking Hounds of Culann. A toned-down version of the original berserkers, it was really cool to watch them go out of control as they hunted enemies to the relentlessly. The rest of their units seemed to follow suit with the Saxons – just some plain, lightly armed troops. What really made me like the Romano-British was that they started by the next to a river. And where there's a river, men can swim. Realistically, troops take quite a while to swim across the river, but getting them ashore is somewhat awkward. I've got to say that this neat little trick can add numerous strategical tricks you can pull, making battles by the river a bit more interesting. The AI here still seemed very weak, to me. I did lose the battle once, but only because I was too preoccupied watching my Hounds of Culann rampage across the battlefield to bother making sure my ally's general survived.
The Battle of Chalons was a bit less satisfying for me. I was very pleased to see that the Huns had some very neat and downright cool units at their disposal. This pleasure disappeared, however, when I saw one unit that I was re-assuring myself wouldn't exist since some of the early screenshots. Yes, those would be the chariot-mounted ballistae. I'd be a bit less upset by these things if they were a bit less mobile. Okay, a lot less mobile. There's something irritating about a unit of chariots with swiveling mounted siege weapons – units that my cavalry have a hard time catching – that hardly excited me. However, I was very surprised to see the AI employing a suppress-and-flank strategy against me. I never saw that in the original game. They managed to engage most of my heavy cavalry on the left with their heavy cavalry. Then the rest of their cavalry came up from the right and charged the side of my infantry while their infantry simultaneously charged from the front. If I hadn't had cavalry hiding in the woods on the left, I could've been in real trouble. The battle was still fairly easy, but it could've been easier. The Western Romans, I was glad to see, had some fairly cool units, save for the chariots and Catholic priests. Their heavy infantry is their strong point, as it should be, though not quite as powerful as the original game's legionaries. They do still have some decent heavy cavalry, but nothing quite as powerful as the infamous Praetorian Cavalry (and nothing that's a match for the Hunnic cavalry).
I like the new look of the battle interface. Maybe just because the colouring is something new, but I do prefer it over the old one. Also, I was glad to see a few new little add-ons in the game. The charge bonus is now listed in the unit description, and I believe it is now working as it should. Also, the game now elaborates on why your units' morale is what it is. If their flanks aren't secure, or if there's an overwhelming number of enemies, it tells you. It can make it a bit easier to diagnose a morale problem during a close battle. Again, I noticed a few improvements in the AI, but nothing too significant. I'm still not quite sure if I prefer the addition of extra “spice” to the game at the expense of historical accuracy.
Overall, this demo was about on-par with the first one. It wasn't too great, but it also wasn't a total disaster. It added in some extra little surprises that satisfied my desire to learn more about what this enigmatic expansion had in store. There's definitely not anything disappointing enough to prevent me from buying the expansion. As I said earlier, it may just be a result of my distaste for historical battles. The visuals were, as always, top-notch. The soundtrack is the same intense battle music of the original, and the battles are still very entertaining. In the end, I think this expansion will still be a great addition to the game, just with some issues of its own. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!