How to successfully fail a game - A 400 page filling novel based on Rome 2

[alQamar]

available at amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-War-Ro...dp/0230770940/

or at .com
http://www.amazon.com/Total-War-Rome...dp/1250038642/

oder auf www.amazon.de
http://www.amazon.de/Total-War-Rome-...dp/3833226854/



Maybe worth a look for all bookworms.

If anyone read it please leave a comment. Perhaps it is also good to bridge till certain game aspects, like as sieges, battle AI and system performance, or night battles are fixed for me. Thank you for any honest feedback.

[Praetorian_BGX]

Is this DLC?

[alQamar]

lol no it is a BOOK, you can even read it offline if you like

[Arandir Tur-Anion de Bodemloze]

I've read the introduction. It is a complete freestyle (and I do not think it is because of the french translation). Just read pages 10 and 11 of the amazon preview.

[Foulmouth]

They gave the book away free with the game in Australia.Bloody good thing it was free, its terrible.

[alQamar]

Mm thank you for the reply. So as a consequence we may say it is not better than the game itself?

[douglas]

Is this the same book they were peddling on site? The one where the first chapter was free? If so, what a rip!

[alQamar]

What you m mean by "free"

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

I have the book. Got it for $15 from Amazon pre-order. I've read the first 2 chapters. I stopped there. FYI I like this genre and have read a good deal of other authors on the same topics.

This should tell you what I think of this book.

Don't waste your money. I'd sooner submit myself to the torture of reading my copy of the bible without chuckling than read this book.

[Humble Warrior]

I have the book. Got it for $15 from Amazon pre-order. I've read the first 2 chapters. I stopped there. FYI I like this genre and have read a good deal of other authors on the same topics.

This should tell you what I think of this book.

Don't waste your money. I'd sooner submit myself to the torture -.

I actually remember looking at this a few days before ROME2 was released with a little surprise. I wondered what the angle was here. Could it be as good as say, the Witcher novels?

But then I reckon it was some kind of hype using novels as an angle and sticking on the game picture.

Glad I never bought it. Boy, CA, I don`t know who their marketing men are, but they really pull out all the stops on pre-release.

[AngryTitusPullo]

I actually remember looking at this a few days before ROME2 was released with a little surprise. I wondered what the angle was here. Could it be as good as say, the Witcher novels?

But then I reckon it was some kind of hype using novels as an angle and sticking on the game picture.

Glad I never bought it. Boy, CA, I don`t know who their marketing men are, but they really pull out all the stops on pre-release.

I think it works something like this. They want book readers who have not heard of Total War games to know about the game and also as maybe civic duty to try to get people who spend 20 hours on the pc everyday to actually disengage and get an actual book to read sometime.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

I actually remember looking at this a few days before ROME2 was released with a little surprise. I wondered what the angle was here. Could it be as good as say, the Witcher novels
.

The Witcher was a case of games being based on books, which somewhat works better. In regards books based on games, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed and Hitman have had some success, and they're palatable if one needs something for a long plane ride. I wouldn't touch Rome 2's book with a full length sarissa. Not even an historically accurate length sarissa modded by the RTR gang.

[mavortium]

In all honesty what do you expect from a game tie-in book?

Edit: actual excerpts from the book-

....Consul Varro looked on with shock and disbelief as his men threw down their weapons in despair, while the victorious Carthaginians collected the loot and killed any who resisted capture. Hannibal's victory at Cannae was complete; his tatics had been flawless. His weak centre had drawn the Romans deeper and deeper into a trap, and soon they were surrounded when the wings of the Carthaginian army closed around their flanks. Meanwhile, Hannibal's Numidian cavalry had made a bee-line for the Romans' baggage train, and had quickly claimed the Victory Point for Carthage. As soon as the Romans came to know of this, they gave up the fight....

...."And just how do you propose we transport our legions to Africa, Scipio?" sneered Metellus. "Are you going to pull a fleet of transports out of your ?"
"Well, in a word....yes." said the ever-resourceful Scipio.

....Decius was a grizzled veteran. He had served in Rome's legions for almost ten years of his life, and had managed to secure promotion to optione for his level-headedness in a crisis. But at times, he too found a life at war to be quite a trial. Sometimes he felt that he just couldn't go on any longer, and at those times it was only the thought that he would be building a better life for his wife and family back in Rome that gave him the strength to continue.
His wife. There was something about that woman that made the mere thought of her strengthen his resolve. Perhaps it was her face, she was a real Roman beauty; her angular face looked like it was made of the most exquisite polygons, her scrunched up eyes (which had become like this due to a childhood accident) perfectly complemented her usual expression of utter imbecility. Yep, she was a looker all right. No doubt she was lying in bed, weeping and eagerly awaiting his return.
Like this-

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

......

....In a move of pure genius, Hannibal had managed to out-manoeuvre the two Roman legions completely. After a good night's sleep, he marched his men to foot of the hill where the legions were arrayed in battle formation. The morale in his army was quite high, as the men knew they would have an easy time of dislodging the Roman forces due to the natural advantage that they would have fighting uphill....

[brandbll]

In all honesty what do you expect from a game tie-in book?

Edit: actual excerpts from the book-

....Consul Varro looked on with shock and disbelief as his men threw down their weapons in despair, while the victorious Carthaginians collected the loot and killed any who resisted capture. Hannibal's victory at Cannae was complete; his tatics had been flawless. His weak centre had drawn the Romans deeper and deeper into a trap, and soon they were surrounded when the wings of the Carthaginian army closed around their flanks. Meanwhile, Hannibal's Numidian cavalry had made a bee-line for the Romans' baggage train, and had quickly claimed the Victory Point for Carthage. As soon as the Romans came to know of this, they gave up the fight....

This is retarded! Completely unreal according to game mechanics. You can't withdraw well fighting, so what happened at Cannae is impossible within context of Rome II. This guy obviously never played the game, another fail by CA!

BTW, anyone know whether the guy has his generals and troops activate special powers during battles like in-game?

[Mixxer5]

In all honesty what do you expect from a game tie-in book?

Edit: actual excerpts from the book-

....Consul Varro looked on with shock and disbelief as his men threw down their weapons in despair, while the victorious Carthaginians collected the loot and killed any who resisted capture. Hannibal's victory at Cannae was complete; his tatics had been flawless. His weak centre had drawn the Romans deeper and deeper into a trap, and soon they were surrounded when the wings of the Carthaginian army closed around their flanks. Meanwhile, Hannibal's Numidian cavalry had made a bee-line for the Romans' baggage train, and had quickly claimed the Victory Point for Carthage. As soon as the Romans came to know of this, they gave up the fight....

Wait- You're kidding, right? I hadn't read this book, but it cannot refer to lamest "feature" in whole game...

[Baleur]

In all honesty what do you expect from a game tie-in book?

Edit: actual excerpts from the book-

"Claimed the Victory Point"
HAHAHA! CLAIMED THE VICTORY POINT! VICTORY POINT!!

Truly an immersive book.
What next in the same chapter? He details the XP gained by the general?

[Mr_Cyberpunk]

How the hell do you even tie a novel to the game... this game has no story. (contrary to what the trailers suggested)

[krisslanza]

How the hell do you even tie a novel to the game... this game has no story. (contrary to what the trailers suggested)

The prologue actually has an original story set to it.
A novel seems odd for Rome 2 though, given there isn't an actual overarcing storyline aside from that tutorial. Though, in general, game to book never transitions well. They're games for a reason, after all.

[Foulmouth]

It was shockingly badly written with some really clumsy attempts to nail game mechanics into the story, a veteran attempting to "assasinate" the main character, a really dream sequence where the guy imagines the whole empire seen from above etc etc. And there was this garbage in the first battle where some bloke rides along the front line of the phalanx breaking their spears with a shield. It was actually much worse than the game (with which I am very disappointed but still trying to enjoy)

[✠Ikaroqx✠]

It was shockingly badly written with some really clumsy attempts to nail game mechanics into the story, a veteran attempting to "assasinate" the main character, a really dream sequence where the guy imagines the whole empire seen from above etc etc. And there was this garbage in the first battle where some bloke rides along the front line of the phalanx breaking their spears with a shield. It was actually much worse than the game (with which I am very disappointed but still trying to enjoy)

A bunch of the AARs here are a gazillion times better.

Are you serious about that? Couldn't he have written it like, oh I don't know, a normal Roman history novel?

I don't suppose there's a passage that goes something like this

Flavius declining his horse, began to rapidly rise in their air, as if he was flying. His men though paid him no heed; their wacky general often used the arcane arts to revolutionise command on the battlefield.

Flavius flew back to his army.

'Marius! I checked behind the hill but there's no sign of them. I'll need you to send your cavalry out to try to see the enemy!'

'Where do we go sir?'

Flavius wordlessly pointed at the horsemen down below, and a floating green arrow appeared beneath the horse's hooves, leading to the left edge of the far off hill. The horsemen obediently followed the glowing arrow.