What Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition is
ROME II is a strategy game that alternates between two layers. On the campaign map you move turn by turn: building chains, armies, diplomacy, politics, conspiracies, loyalty and betrayal all happen there, and your decisions shape your own story. When two forces meet, the game switches to real-time battle, where you directly control tens of thousands of men in land and sea fights. A tactical camera gives a god's-eye view of the field, and detailed camera perspectives let you watch the frontline up close.
Emperor Edition is the definitive version of ROME II. It bundles the improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles and improved visuals, plus every free feature update since 2013: bug fixes, balancing, Twitch.tv integration, touchscreen support and Mac compatibility. It also includes the free campaign pack The Imperator Augustus, set in 42 BC after Caesar's murder, where the Second Triumvirate — Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus — compete for leadership of Rome while external factions move in to exploit the chaos. Playable factions in that campaign include Marc Antony, Lepidus, Octavian, Pompey, Iceni, Marcomanni, Dacia, Egypt, Parthia and Armenia (also playable in the Grand Campaign).
Playing together with friends
The campaign supports two-player cooperative and competitive modes, so a pair of you can share a sandbox campaign, either working toward common goals or pushing against each other. Multiplayer also covers PvP and co-op in both online and LAN forms, which gives your group options depending on whether you're on the same network or spread out. Battles are where cooperation and rivalry get concrete: you command armies in real time, and your tactical choices decide how a fight plays out. Faction choice matters — each civilisation, including the three Roman families, offers a different style of play with hundreds of unique units ranging from siege engines and heavy cavalry to steel-plated legionaries and barbarian berserkers.
Before you start
Difficulty is adjustable, so your group can set the challenge to match everyone's experience. The game runs save-anytime, so a long campaign can be paused and picked up later, and Steam Cloud keeps your progress available. Volume controls are split by channel, and stereo and surround sound are both supported, which helps when your group chats over the action. Camera comfort options and the ability to play without timed input make longer sessions easier on the hardware and on you. The graphics and gameplay performance are highly scalable, tuned for both low-end and high-end machines, so it's worth checking settings before a session together. Total War Academy is there if someone in your group is new to the series and needs a primer before the first campaign kicks off.