Europa Universalis: Rome Gold

Europa Universalis: Rome Gold is the best simulation in video games of the development of the Roman Republic into Empire and the treacherous dealings inside the Roman senate. While many games exist that deal with building the cities and managing the legions of Rome, none managed to do that difficult core that has made what the Europa Universalis series (and its closely related Crusader Kings series) in terms of building your powerhouse with people that have their own ambitions and desires leaving you to juggle their interests in order to make your nation the most powerful and in EU: Rome you get all that good intrigue and behind the scenes action that you got used to seeing in books, movies and tv series. It has a more limited map than other EU titles (you are limited to the Mediterranean and surroundings), and you do not have the senate mechanic if you pick any other nation besides Rome (and there are plenty of others to pick from its timeline of 280BC to 27BC), but it is still a bona fide EU title and this was the game that finally got me into grand strategy, thanks to its smaller, more focused scope than its big brothers and great theme. I've played the heck out of this game since the Vae Victis expansion release (included in this Gold pack) and keep coming back... the visuals won't dazzle you but they do their job and you can play the game with widescreen resolutions but then again EU games aren't so much about how they look. If you think you would like to get into the Grand Strategy genre or have been aching for a strategy game centred around the Roman Empire that actually does a good job of representing the complexity of handling Barbarians, Generals, Governors and Senators ambitions and treachery, this might the one that you have been looking for.

After Europa Universalis 2, I lost interest in the "series" for a long while. That was till I decided to try Rome. Even without the expansion pack (which actually comes with in this bundle), this game is a must for fans of grand strategy games and of the classical/Hellenistic/ancient Rome times. If any of you loves LOVES, the movies such as Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire and gets excited when you catch them on TV, this is what I first felt when I got my hands on this game. The gameplay (controlling any state you wish in this world) the music and even the graphics style, make me feel the same. I know this will sound weird to most people, but some of you know what I mean and feel the same way. In terms of actual gameplay, it is very similar with other EU titles with some differences here and there. The one thing that I never fully liked is the same thing about the whole EU series, that it is a real time game and not turn based which for me would be better. BUT, even if you think like me about this, I still fully recommend this game. For me it is at the best level of complexity and balance to work better with real time than any other EU game. Get this game, take your favorite empire/kingdom of the ancient times and conquer the whole world (Med Basin)

You are going to fight! When someone thinks about a Rome themed strategy game people ofthen thinks in Rome: Total War... great fights with lots of tactical considerations, small groups of soldiers fighting for the best position to resist or push.... Nice, But in this game you can forget about that, this game is about numbers, you need a good army lead by a competent general to hope to overcome a common enemy... Add to the warfare layout the political, religious, and personal ones plus the economic, and you are trying to figure the game... One thing, you are not seing a single battle, you are only allowed to watch the battle resume

I was excited to see the game available for sale. Always been a big fan of the classical world. When I started playing it, everything lived up to my expectations - except for one thing. Whenever you bring up the diplomacy menu, it seems like there's a 60% chance of the menu going haywire, rendering the game's diplomacy unusable. Not only that, but the menu sort of superimposes itself on the game screen, requiring an exit of the game to clear the bug. Since diplomacy is a very necessary part of the game, it just takes the joy out of things. Running Windows 7, 64-bit.