Rome Total War Expansion This Year

Rarely can you describe a corporate buyout as heartwarming, but SEGA’s recent purchase of esteemed British developer Creative Assembly was certainly rather less tragic than some of the acquisitions we’ve seen over the years. Creative Assembly has until recently had its games published by Activision, but before that it was Electronic Arts, and it would have been upsetting indeed to have seen the talented crowd going the way of Bullfrog, assimilated into the IP-hungry borg-alike that is EA.

Known chiefly for their Total War games, CA’s first release with a SEGA label on it will be Spartan, a suitably arcadey slash ‘em up based on the very impressive and versatile 3D Total War engine.

But this September will see the SEGA label release CA's expansion pack for the popular Rome: Total War, subtitled the Barbarian Invasion. Whilst the original R:TW is set against the background of an ascendant, dominant Roman Empire, Barbarian Invasion sets the scene two centuries later. Rome is crumbling from the strain of administrating an unsustainably large empire and the ever more decadent, demanding and divisive tastes of its bloated and cosseted rich. The barbarians to the north have waited long for the chance to throw off their imperialist shackles and bring the complacent patriarchs to their knees. Fans of the series should welcome a Total War game set in this more desperate time. The game will also feature ten new playable races and battles taking place at night.

Check back at SPOnG for more titles issuing forth from SEGA’s British foothold. If anyone’s listening, a RTS on the DS is what we’d really like to see.