Total War: ROME II Campaign map

A nice long look at the campaign map and some new gameplay

The guys over at Gamespot had Al Bickham from Creative Assembly over, to talk about Rome II and show off some new stuff.

We got to see how massive the new Campaign map is, as well as some new features and of course some nice battle footage. 

I feel the need to Conquer it all

During the video/interview Al Bickham hinted at some new multiplayer features that were being "tested" right now, more info is bound to come about that at a later date.
He also mentions that they are trying to make the minimum specs around the same as they were for Shogun 2, that way people with low end machines can still enjoy the game at a good framerate.

As I've said before, I am looking forward to Rome II quite a bit!

Total War: ROME II

Release Date and pre-order bonus.

For anyone that has been living under a rock the past month and missed the reveal of the release date for Rome II, well it's September the 3rd 2013.

In their latest Rally Point Video they also revealed that they will show the campaign map (in-engine) for the first time during Rezzed.

Early this month Creative Assembly revealed the release date and also showed off a pre-order bonus in the form of "The Greek States" DLC.

In this day-one DLC you get access to the following 3 "extra" factions:

• Epirus

  Epirus is a nation of great commanders and, as such, its generals and admirals enjoy a greater command aura in battle. As a nation centred more around village life than the city, Epirus also gains increased income from smaller settlements. However, their chequered past with the Greek states and colonies means they suffer major penalties to diplomatic relations with other Hellenic factions. 

• Athens

  As a city state, the capital city of Athenai enjoys great wealth, and its rich classical heritage makes it easier for their conquests to convert to the Athenian way of life. Its strong naval tradition gives its fleets the upper hand, with the downside being that her land units are less developed. 

• Sparta

  Trained to a level of martial prowess few others achieve, Spartan troops are excellent warriors, and, due to their oppression of the Helot people, they suffer less public discontent due to slavery than other factions. However, due to their Laconic austerity and focus on military training, Sparta benefits less from natural resources.

I usually don't pre-order games, it happens very rarely and only for games that I "know" for a fact will be something I will spend several of hours on and enjoy, I'm also against Day-one DLC in general.
However since the Total War series have a very special place in my heart, I will probably place a pre-order after the summer.