Name: Warrior of Rome II
Platform: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Gamepad
Genre: Strategy, Turnbased
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1992
Developer: Micronet
Publisher: Micronet
Players: 1
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Warrior of Rome 2 is a real time war simulation strategy game.

Released in '93 till date there is nothing comparable to what it has achieved. Set in the backdrop of the Roman Empire's heyday it tells the story of Caesar and his famous battles.

The game plays like hardly any other game ever made making it strikingly unique. Two armies face each other on a set map and are allowed to construct there own formation of useful buildings while at the same time fighting each other off and growing in skill level. As units gain experience from battles they improve their combat function, speed of movement, building skills, sailing skills, depending of course on what they have been experiencing. If a unit gets killed all of its experience gets lost along with it so the skill balance then tips in favor of the opposing army. If this happens too much a very balanced war then turns into a rout with the quickness. Controlling each unit is done with a host of specific commands allowing you to have pin point control over the movements of your units. You can have your units attack any structure from a peasant's house to the enemies main fortress or move to any point on the map you choose.

Having total control over the movements allows you to micro manage all aspects of your war strategy keeping in mind the bigger picture of what is going on on the map in general. This game plays like nothing else out there.

The story is that of Caesar which has been told many times by Shakespeare in his semi historical play. The only difference here is the ending and the fact that you follow Caesar step by step until he reaches Rome. The ending is a shocker for those of you familiar with the story of Caesar and I won't give it away here because that would be a spoiler of sorts. The symphonic soundtrack feels as though it was written especially for the many moments of suspension and tension through out the game as the story unfolds setting the mood perfectly.

Graphically this game performs on a very high level. The units develop different animations based on there skill levels. If the unit is specialized in speed it gets a horse. If it really is good at speed it gets a imperial white horse. If the unit is specialized in combat it gets a shield and sword but if it is better at aerial attacks it walks around with a bow and arrow. One of the most impressive animations are the volley animations when arrows or napalm are flying around they are executed with a fluidity that is impressive.

As for sound and music this game had some sort of master working on it.

Even though the music loops every 90 seconds it never gets old and it is composed to fit the atmosphere of the game, sort of old school music and it sets the mood perfectly for what goes on as the game develops.

The re-playability of this game is astounding. Mostly due to the 2 player mode that has 44 maps to select from, each one demonstrating a unique complexion of geography that makes you think and evaluate strategy on different levels. The 2 player mode is where this game really shines because the a.i. of this game is the only weak link. complex strategies that develop as you understand how this game functions are never executed by the a.i. but going up against a human player there is no limit to the combinations of strategies that will get played out against each side, creating some of the most outrageous scenarios you could imagine.

My final recommendation is that it takes time to learn how to play this game because of the depth and the unique control scheme that most video game players will find themselves unfamiliar with but once you have figured out how this game works you will realize that this is definitely a masterpiece.

(On a side note Warrior Of Rome 3 was released on the Super Nintendo in Japan and uses the same game engine as 2 except it is upgraded a little bit and has a new story. This is probably the most rare game for that system only 500 of them were printed due to financial constraints of the publisher. Considering how good 2 is 3 is probably real good if someone could find it that would be cool. As for now no one knows where a copy is.)

Hints:

- Tug of war mode -
To access a secret tug of war mode, start a new game, and press start. Go to Load Data, and put the cursor on the right edge of the box. Hold start on the second controller, and press A on controller one. Then press start on controller one. To play, repeatedly tap the C button.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/review/R111810.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/code/586588.html