Today, publisher Sega announced its plans to release a sequel to the critically acclaimed strategy game Rome: Total War. Developer The Creative Assembly will produce Total War: Rome II for the PC with the goal of a 2013 release.
“In our 25th year of games development, it feels fitting to return to our most critically acclaimed era,” said The Creative Assembly brand director Rob Bartholomew. “There’s been a multi-generational leap in technology since the original [Rome: Total War], and we are ready to set another benchmark in gaming.”
Total War is a strategy series that features cinematic real-time battles and overarching turn-based campaigns. Rome II will force players to contend with the workings of the Roman senate and the betrayal of friends and allies. It will have a malleable storyline, depending on whether gamers decide to transform Rome into an empire, a republic, or an autocracy.
“Our games have always encompassed a grand vision,” said creative director Mike Simpson. “But we’re now pushing that vision at both ends of the spectrum. From the immense reach of the sandbox campaign right down to the human-level drama of a single warrior on the battlefield, we’re aiming for an unprecedented level of detail and scale.”
Rome: Total War was released in 2004 to a 92 rating on Metacritic. In March, Sega announced it would cancel many of its in-production games to focus on popular intellectual properties like Sonic the Hedgehog, Aliens, and Total War.