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| Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Creative Assembly[a] |
| Publishers |
|
| Director | Michael M. Simpson |
| Designers | Robert T. Smith Mike Brunton Jamie Ferguson Chris Gambold James Russell |
| Composer | Jeff van Dyck |
| Series | Total War |
| Platforms | Windows,iOS,Android,Linux,macOS |
| Release | |
| Genres | Real-time tactics,turn-based strategy |
| Modes | Single player,multiplayer |
Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion is the firstexpansion pack for thestrategyvideo gameRome: Total War. The expansion was released in 2005 inNorth America andEurope and in 2006 inJapan forWindows.Feral Interactive released theiPad version on 28 March 2017, theiPhone version on 9 May 2019,[3][4] and anAndroid version of the game on 18 June 2019.[5] A remastered version of the game was released as part ofTotal War: Rome Remastered on 29 April 2021.[6] While the main game deals with therise of theRoman Empire,Barbarian Invasion covers thedecline and fall of theWestern Roman Empire during theMigration Period.
A game covering the same time period,Total War: Attila, would later be released in 2015.[7]
AsBarbarian Invasion takes place several centuries after the end of the original game, the factions and provinces are very different. While the originalRome: Total War focused on the rise of Rome,Barbarian Invasion focuses on the decline ofWestern Rome during theMigration Period, as numerousGermanic andAsiatic tribes, such as theHuns, theFranks, and theGoths, migrate into Roman lands and the religion ofChristianity begins to replaceRoman paganism. Meanwhile,Eastern Rome struggles more with theZoroastrians ofSassanid Persia than they do with the "barbarian" tribes. Several new gameplay features were added to reflect the tumultuousness of the era, while most of the fundamental gameplay mechanics are the same as they were in the original game.
InBarbarian Invasion, most barbarians are able to transform their faction into a "horde". When a barbarian faction loses its last province, rather than being destroyed, it becomes a horde and is forced to settle elsewhere (two factions, the Huns andVandals, begin with no provinces, while other factions can appear later in the game as hordes). Barbarian factions with only one province may also choose to voluntarily abandon their province and become a horde. Hordes are very large armies that represent an entire faction, but they do not require upkeep. When a horde army successfully seizes a city, it is given the option of sacking the city (which does massive damage to the population and buildings of a city and gives the horde a large amount of money) or of settling in the city, which allows the horde to begin anew, with the new city as its capital; the faction is then able to conquer other provinces normally. When the horde settles, a portion of the horde army is disbanded and the population distributed into the city. Horde factions do not "die out" unless they are totally defeated on the battlefield and/or their major family members are all slain.[8]
Barbarian Invasion also introduces the concept of religion. The three religions represented in the game arepaganism,Christianity, andZoroastrianism. Characters in the game may adhere to one of the three religions, and the religious composition of each province is also stated. Provinces may gradually convert to a different religion in a variety of ways; for example, constructing temples dedicated to one of the religions will help that religion spread in the province. Religious conflict within a province will usually cause a great deal of unrest, which may force the player to either take steps to make the province happier or try to convert the province in order to avoid a revolt.[3]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 82/100[9] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Eurogamer | 8/10[10] |
| GameRevolution | B[11] |
| GameSpot | 8.2/10[12] |
| GameSpy |   [13] |
| IGN | 8.8/10[14] |
| PC Format | 88%[15] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 86%[16] |
The expansion received "favorable" reviews according to thereview aggregation websiteMetacritic.[9] Many reviewers expressed disappointment with the small number of new features that the expansion introduced. However, most concluded that they still enjoyed the expansion despite the lack of innovation.[10][15]
Barbarian Invasion received a "Silver" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[17] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[18]