Imperium Romanum,  Great Game
925782
The Good Side:

Even though the Military action is a bit hokey, the overall emphasis is on City Building, and although some reviews state that it is basically the same game as before, I tend to disagree.

The graphics seem to be a little more realistic and eye pleasing, and with the pleasant music playing in the background, it is actually a very relaxing game.

The Bad Side:

The Roman citizens still tend to complain quite a bit, even when you have provided them with a flourishing economy, and for some reason other citizens still remain poor and resort to crime. The number of fires and vacant buildings have been dwindled down quite a bit from the original version and that is the biggest relief.

Overall, I love this game and highly recommend it.
1556247
Great game. Rules appear intimidating at first but are very easy to pick up on. Mostly 2 player firefights, but still very fun. The only very minor issue we had was there was way to identify "active" units so we supplied our own pieces for that. Every firefight gives an overview which is historically accurate as well as a synopsis of what really happened in the actual battle. If you like smaller scale war games and good strategy you will enjoy this game.
2646843
Anyone interested in ancient cultures, military tactics, or both will enjoy this game. I played it at a friend of mine's house and loved it. I couldn't believe I got it on Amazon for $11 total with shipping and handling, but then again this game is about 3 years old. For that price, definitely worth it, but even at $20 this is a great game. It will last you a very long time.
28452
Of course, the customization options in Galciv are a rare luxury - ones this game doesn't offer. However, don't think you'll regret buying it one bit! The, in fact three races (in case like me, you were a little mislead on the number), human, Advent and Vasari are plenty of fun and would appeal to a wide range of people. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but generally equal out. This is very similar to Starcraft, being Terran, Protoss, and Zerg, in that order.

Stardock did a marvellous job to make something equivalent to Galciv on steroids. Although in Galciv you try to conquer the galaxy, going to and fro different stars with their own planets - some inhabitable, some not - this game revolves around taking over different planets IN a single solar system and waging space battles with opposing factions aiming to do the same. However, you can play custom maps (all to do actually, there isn't an actual campaign) where you may throw in multiple suns to create different worlds altogether to the game, making the playing field very multi-dimensional. Not to mention one has the ability to alter the number of and distance between planets, or planet-like bodies orbitting their star.

This is the best sci-fi RTS I've come across in a long time. I used it to fuel both my wait and my dissapointment in Spore, and I highly recommend it. However, once Starcraft 2 comes out, I suggest going out for that instead. ;)
909743
Having a lot of fun with this game.  I have played Rome Total War and Medieval Total war in their several variations and loved them.  Empire Total War, not so much.  This game is looking great - haven't hit a bug yet.  It is visually gorgeous, and quite playable.  I find single player game more challenging than other Total War games.  The UI is different enough form the others that it takes a little while to get used to things.  Overall, a great game.
One note - I bought a brand new $1200 computer a couple weeks ago.  I was planning to buy a new computer anyway, so I used the Shogun Total War game specs as a guide.  The machine I got meets the recommended spec rather than min and works great - very little lagging or creeping.

Been playing a couple weeks now - one thing I notice is little difference in units between factions.  Different from other Total War games.  Minor complaint.
4903908
This game is great, it's one of the best C&C games to date. If you like starcraft you'd love this game.
3073135
The game runs great, no patches or updates needed. No missing files, no crashes. Great support for the game. It has alot of vaiety and replayablity. You play in real time as you grow and move and conquer so does your enemies. Its not a tedius micro management game. You get henchmen choices, you also can use more than one group . Its challenging without being unbeatable. It is set up so that even if you play the same map, foes or campaign it is different each time. The size of map you play on is available for your choosing. You can do a quick small map or a large time consuming map. One foe or many. Combat is smooth and easy to learn. Skills and ablities are well thought out and run smoothly. It is classic turn based games. The package is a great value.  The graphics and sound are great and work great.
3834008
Control the world and reign it anyway you desire. Great strategy gameplay.
2369726
I'm a big fan of GMT and their card driven wargames. This one is really great. A great balance of complexities, while being generally pretty easy to learn and dig into.
1553051
This game is nothing less than a complete Roman Empire simulator. Decide when and where to invade, form and recruit armies, control the economy, and then take real-time control of your forces in every battle in a spectacular 3D engine. This is the first strategy game (either real-time or turn-based; this one is both) I've ever spent money on, and worth every penny.
4640184
I just finished the Lizard campaign, and it the most fun I have had with a game in a long time. The dev's definately found a great blend of RTS and RPG aspects. The art is really great, as good as WOW IMHO.
4331777
Majesty is super-fun.  I love it.  And I don't know if there's another game like it.

Like many other games, you build a bunch of buildings that produce fighting units.  But unlike WarCraft or Command and Conquer, you have little control over what these units do.  You can place reward flags on enemy buildings or units, to encourage your own units to attack.  Or you can place reward flags on the map to encourage your units to go there.  But they all have their own AI, and make their own decisions.  So you can influence them, but not command them.  As I said, there's nothing like it.

My favorite part may be the voice acting.  The game is worth it just to hear the heroes talk, as they level up, fight, flee, etc.  When Barbarians decide to attack an enemy unit, they growl, "Here comes trouble!"  When Gnomes shuffle off this mortal coil, they let out a pitiful wail: "But I'm just a gnome!"  Fun stuff.

The game is highly replayable.  This CD includes both the original and the expansion pack, so it has a couple of dozen different scenarios to play through.  But you can also build your own scenarios, or generate a random map with one click.  You can get dozens, or even hundreds of hours of entertainment out of this game.

It's a great game, and still well worth the original price.  And since you can buy it now for the cost of shipping, there is no reason not to buy this.  It's super-fun, and just a little bit different.
4574676
This package contains both the "Game of the Year" edition of Dawn of War plus the Winter Assault expansion pack.

This "Game of the Year" edition of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (DoW) contains new battle maps, online features and an observer mode to enhance what was already a terrific RTS computer game. Each of the four races in the game look and behave as one would expect from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 (aka 40K) universe. The Eldar are graceful and cultured in their speech and appearance (think High Elves in space), performing marvelous acrobatic moves in combat. Orks are brutal, awkward and ramshackle in their appearance and gait, Chaos Marines and their demonic minions are dark, cruel and monstrous while regular Space Marines (enhanced humans) are very industrial and all business. The animations in combat are so good you'll want to play some skirmishes on easy difficulty so that you can take your time looking close up at the individual fighting using the fully moveable 3D camera. There are even special "sync-kill" animations when certain creatures destroy each other. For example, when the Space Marine Commander kills a gigantic Bloodthirster (huge winged demon), the animation sequence is one of the most spectacular in the game!

The skirmish option offers both single and multiplayer modes with many different battle maps from which to choose. This offers near limitless permutations, providing tons of replayability. The campaign is a wee bit linear and not overly challenging, but is loads of fun, has an entertaining story and can be completed by all players regardless of skill level. Difficulty level settings can be used in both campaign and skirmish play to make the game more or less challenging as desired.

The voice acting and music are quite good in DoW and enhance play enormously. The game is highly evocative of the dark, gothic feel of the 40K miniatures game produced by Games Workshop (GW).

Resource gathering is used as is expected in an RTS game, but it is very simple and does not occupy an enormous amount of game time. The emphasis of DoW is all on the action and combat! Resources are gathered by capturing strategic points and critical locations on the battle map. Capture more territory and more resources will be available to you to complete your research and build your army.

Note that the expansion pack for this game, Winter Assault, provides players with even more maps and options, as well as a new fully playable army, The Imperial Guard. The Winter Assault campaign can be played from either of two points of view, "order" or "chaos," and involves a war against CPU controlled Necrons! Skirmish mode, as in the original Dawn of War, adds a lot of replayability value to the game, with many different battle maps and play combinations. Play any of five armies, play with allies or play free-for-all, and that's not counting multiplayer mode!

Between trying to hear all the fun voice acting, see all the great animations, and actually playing the game, Dawn of War Gold Edition will keep you busy and enthralled for many hours. "Let the galaxy burn!"
4223360
One of the best board games out there. Takes a while to learn all the rules, but amazing experience, lots of fun, great for history and strategy nerds, and awesome replay-ability.
492706
It's the original oldie but goldie. Very fun to play. Stable, good graphics, excellent sound from the background music to all the noises of a growing roman city with construction, production and citizens' complaints/compliments. Lots to do to in real time to try and appease the senators as well as your citizens and fight off invaders. Many options as well as various advisor screens to let you know where you stand in your assignments as Clerk all the way to Ruler. Replayability questionable but a terrific buy.
805671
One of my favorite games of all time. I was glad to find it for such a deal. I have already played through most of the campaigns and still I keep coming back for more. I recommend this game for Strategy enthusiasts. I like how you can fight as different fractions, and also rewrite World war II history in the game. The graphics for the time seem to be really great.
890741
The Caesar series of games by Sierra have yet to let me down.  This is another great edition.  Your cities are beautifully rendered now with improved graphics.  You will also find walkers moving about your city which you click on to get interesting feedback about the status of your city.  You will build legions and other military troops to defend your city and go on campaign at the request of Caesar.  The trade mechanics have been improved as well making it easier to trade and track what is being traded and your trade deficit or surplus.