Total War: Rome Remastered announced, coming in April
With a 50% discount for owners of the original
Creative Assembly today announced they're revamping 2004's Rome: Total War for modern PCs with a re-release. Total War: Rome Remastered (flipping to the new naming style, I see) is due April 29th, with a little visual polish, a few new bits and pieces, and some tweaks to the interface and other systems. It's not a full fancy remake, but they are sweetening the deal a little by offering a temporary 50% discount to folks who already own the original on Steam.
A lot like Rome: Total War, Total War: Rome will be a strategy game set in the centuries leading up to Rome's imperial period, with the Barbarian Invasion and Alexander expansions included too. The remaster is being handled by Feral Interactive, who've previously done Mac and Linux ports of many Total War games. This new version is spruced up to play nice with modern high and ultrawide resolutions, and Creative Assembly say it has "overhauled environment, battlefield, and character models."
The remaster certainly doesn't match the look of modern Total War games, but maybe is the level of fidelity Rome has in my memories - which always are better than a game actually was. I've just checked old screenshots and ooft yep, this seems an improvement.
It's not just looks. The FAQ reels off other new features including Merchant agents, 16 extra playable factions, campaign map overlays, improved diplomacy, Steam Workshop mod support, redesigned UI, a redesigned tutorial, cross-platform multiplayer between the Windows, Mac, and Linux versions, and more.
Total War Rome: Remastered is due out on Steam on the 29th of April, priced at £25/€30/$30. If you already have the original on Steam, you'll be able to pick up Remastered with a 50% discount until May 31st. But yep, this only counts for Steam owners. They say they "cannot track users who own the CD version in order to offer the discount."
Creative Assembly have now removed ye olde Rome: Total War Collection from sale on Steam. However, they are including a copy of it with purchases of Remastered so they're not fully obliterating the original, unlike some remasters.
It's curious to see a remaster from a series so enamoured with sequels and spin-offs. They say they "do not currently plan to remaster any other classic Total War games" but they would say that, wouldn't they.
You interested, gang? I know ye olde Rome has its fans, though others question how well it stands up.
"Rome was impressive for its time, but it left a legacy of mediocrity," Rob Zacny said when he ranked the Total War games in 2016. "Rome was a huge success in part because it was so gorgeous and atmospheric that nobody noticed the game didn't work."
I understand this opinion proved controversial.