Oh yes, I've got Rome, Empire and medieval 2, but have only played Rome so far. It's a fantastic series.
It is def a fantastic series to play with, not Rome 2?
I got to say, I never got into Rome.
But - to be totally fair - that's purely a taste thing. It's not a complaint, it's just...I find the Roman era of military combat and history strangely uninteresting. Sengoku Jidai? Fascinating! 17th century colonialism? Endlessly fascinating! Rome? Eh. Not so much.
And that is why I love the Total War series. They cover so many eras and manage to capture the differences between them so very well. They've covered the early iron age, the tipping point between muskets and spears, the age of sails and...soon...the AGE OF CHAOS!
You can not like one Total War game.
It's hard to not like ALL of them.
True, Napoleon was my favorite TW, but I found it was a bit lacking in the historical department, so I downloaded NTW 5.0 mod and that clearly is needed to play an epic Napoloenic game. Shogun 2 was by the far best, plenty to do, plenty to create, but 5 min battles was a ruiner. ETW is still my fav, though trying to find the right mod is extensive since not many were created. You don't like Rome? Well that's the first I've seen, I love the Roman period, am not a big fan of the Attila period. RTW is and is the best, but I find Medievial 2 combined with mods to be good, but I don't play much of it often now
, yeah all the titles are great!
I like all the Total War games. I still use sound files from Medieval (the first game) for various sound options on my computer (starting Windows, etc.)
I like playing Rome as Carthage, and wiping out the Roman factions in as few turns as possible.
My favourite is to play the underdog factions. The ones out to the east of the map, with one territory, surrounded by rebels, and right in the path of the Mongol Horde. Or Denmark. The fewer territories they start out with, the better. I love the Total War games.
I haven't played Age of Empires. I had Age of Kings, which came bundled in with Windows 98, I think it was, and I liked that a lot.
Ah I'm not the underdog player type, I prefer the major ones, either France, the Turks, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire. I love fighting big epic battles - and glorious clashes as knights stomp over the field, sweating in their heavy clad armor as blood and gore is split out through dangerous weapons of war. Age of Kings was awesome, Empires 2 and its expansion just made the game even better - I download the custom scenarios - they really give the game a lot of longevity.
Honestly, my favorite part of Age of Empires 2 was seeing my kingdom grow and generally change the landscape around it. I really do love that aspect of the game.
The combat? Eh.
But building cities? Fun as a bun!
Def, I rec you download Oxam's building mod - its makes building even more fun! The combat was alright, but the city building really was awesome!
I have never played the battle maps, apart from the compulsory bit that was part of the introductory tutorial. It's all about the campaign map, for me, and micromanaging everything. At some point, maybe I'll get into the battles, which will open up a whole new level of addiction to those games, I'm sure.
Really? I guess you auto-resolve battles, for me its finding the right battle to take some epic screenshots. I usually don't tend to fight battles early on, I focus on building first, then expanding.
YES!!! I was total PC-gamer fiend in my day ... I still would be if I wasn't working full time, and occasionally trying to squeeze in time to write! I also played online versions like Evony and Alliance Warfare.
I should totally download these and play them again. I miss building my cities and conquering my neighbours.
Did you pay AOE? I haven't played those games but I'll check them out. Download them now I say, otherwise you will be waiting to play them.
On another note, but related, does anybody have any recomendations for newish games that can be played on Mac that fall into this genre? I'm feeling tempted to go on an online gaming spree -- but playing a game I can pause is healthier.
Here are some that might be useful, but I don't know the game genre, I gave it a go and have a look:
http://www.cdkeys.com/pc/games/elde...Ui94U-PLTdSvSIUG95i2mCZBai2x0jG90ShoCppfw_wcB
http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/best-mac-games-3484158/
http://www.mmobomb.com/games/mac
http://mac.appstorm.net/general/30-awesome-free-games-for-your-mac/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-role-playing-games-mac-os-muo-gaming/