“Veni...Vidi...Vici” It's been 2,050 years since Julius Caesar uttered that memorable phrase, after defeating the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II, at the Battle of Zela (in Asia Minor). Short of someone building a time machine and taking cameras back to give everyone the real deal, Rome: Total War is the closest we'll really ever get to announcing “I Came. I Saw. I Conquered.”

Rome: Total War is the third game in the Total War series, created by English RTS wunderkinds Creative Assembly, and certainly has a distinguished pedigree to live up to. First, there was Shogun: Total War, set in feudal Japan, that once and for all destroyed the notion that no game could be both a good battle simulator and a good political/feudal simulator. Then there was Medieval: Total War, which was more fun then you could legally have in several nations, including Greece. So, does RTW live up to the hype?

At the risk of infuriating my editor for the totally needless and uncalled-for pun...

Totally.

The primary players you're allowed to start with in RTW (more on that in a bit) are few. Three Roman factions are initially available. The Julii, the Bruti, and the Scipii. All three have goals of one day crushing the other two families and taking the title of Caesar for its own. But all of them have major stumbling blocks in their paths to glory. The Bruti need to absorb the remaining city-states of the Greeks, The Scipii have the unenviable task of trying to end the menace, once and for all, of Carthage, who had warred with Rome for generations, and the Julii must deal with the scattered kingdoms of the Gauls and Germania.

As it stands, it's a volatile enough mix already. There's enough intrigue right there to keep a legion of Imperial spies busy for lifetimes. But then, there's a fourth player in Roman politics. The Roman Senate is the balance between the families, and it’s their bidding you will be doing in RTW. They will be assigning you missions that they expect you to fulfill, at risk of loss of glory and support. Depending on Rome's current relationships with other factions, you may be required to block a foreign port, or to a conquer a foreign city...or if the Senate's REALLY pissed off, you may get told to raze the city and kill all who lived inside it.

But every craftsman has to have his tools, right? To gather the gold and men needed for your foreign military adventures, you need to have prosperous lands behind you. And that brings us to the Campaign map. Veterans of the Total War series are well familiar with this feature, but it's been taken to the next level in RTW. The map is presented in 3d, giving you all the information that your units have been able to gather. The map is not just eye candy, either; it helps you by showing you areas like mountain passes, where a properly supplied detachment could hold off enemy armies for weeks. Hold those strangle points, and you can be sure to keep your nation growing.

Game play-wise, Creative Assembly did a revamp of how troop movement is handled in RTW compared to the previous games in the series, and it shows. Movement of troops is much easier in this version, allowing you to dispatch your armies and navies easily wherever they are needed. Trust me, they will be needed. Also, your spies and diplomats will always be busy as well, gathering information, signing treaties and trade deals. After all, it was said at one time that all roads truly led to Rome. Put the roads to good use.

But it can be said that the true glory and shine of the Total War series is in the battles, and Rome: Total War far surpasses even the efforts of the prior games in the series. The engine behind battles in RTW is so powerful that it was used for a History Channel series called ”Decisive Battles.”

In fact, it's so powerful that at first you may see a battle start, and slowly edge away from the computer, mumbling to yourself, “I'm not so sure I can handle this...” Don't worry...the battle system is fairly intuitive, and is crunchy enough to satisfy most grognards while remaining easy enough that you can begin to understand it after a couple of tries. After a while, you will look forward to the battles, and even use the game's ability to set up battles for you, even when you're not off campaigning for Rome's glory. Or any of the other nations that come with the game. But that brings us to one of our low points.

When you first install the game, until you complete a campaign, you are limited to just the three Roman factions. The other playable factions (the tribes of what we now call Germany and Britain, the Greeks, Gauls, Parthians, Carthage, Egyptians and the Selecuids) remain locked until you complete a normal or extended campaign. While I can understand the logic behind the move (letting you stay with the three basic factions until you can get grounded in the game's tactics), it still smacks of a condescending pat on the head, and having to unlock a major part of the game's content doesn't sit well.

But that is a minor glitch. Seeing your characters grow, gain skills and stats due to their skill in victory (or cowardice in defeat), marry, have children (the next generation of Roman Generals!), and eventually die... it's something that sucks you in. When I was writing this review, I looked up at the clock, expecting it to be 11 PM, or midnight at the latest... it was 3 am. Talk about value for your money!

I've spent more then 40 hours on the game so far, and have enjoyed every minute of it. I've cheered when the opposing army starts to break, crumpling under the assault of my legionnaires. I've laughed at the misfortune of my opponents, wondering how incompetents can rise to the leadership of the opposing families (but not mine, oh no...not that I’ll admit to!), hissed in impotent rage when the two other families banded together and declared me outlaw for rising to prominence too fast and too soon, and then serving revenge as cold as an Italian winter, finally sacking Rome, and claiming the role of Caesar for my family.

We have a legitimate PC Game of the Year candidate here, and a worthy addition to the Total War series. With deep, absorbing game play, and a spectacular, breathtaking battle engine, the fight for Rome will be waged over and over again. Now if you don't mind, I have to go back: the Egyptians just sacked one of my series, and I have to serve up some major payback...