Recent reviews by Varus

The game needs a VERY strong computer to run. Granted my laptop isn't built for gaming and doesn't have the GeForce graphics card the minimum specs call for, but it lags even on the worst graphics settings and a comically low resolution. I very much hope it gets optimized, and soon.

Besides that, there just isn't a whole lot to it just yet. That will change of course as time passes and they make the game more complete, but at this first build it's a bit bare bones.

The game is simply great. It uses very modern, user-friendly game mechanics, it had all the good elements of Rome II rolled into a package that is mostly bug-free and brings back the good elements of the older games. Game balance is comparatively good despite the franchise's history of questionable balance. With 10 factions to start, this game has slightly more base game factions than the Total War average (Rome II started with 9 but got some more free ones later, Shogun 2 had 9, RTW had 9 after unlocking all of them, Napoleon had 4 but on multiple campaign maps, etc.). I honestly have not a single bad thing to say about this game.

However, there is a large community of people who are fed up with the DLC. I don't see what the fuss is about, the culture packs are no different from Rome II ($8 for three factions), which is much better than Shogun 2, which charged $5 for only one faction. If you don't want the DLC, don't buy it--nobody's forcing you to.

It's a fun game, but suffers from a SEVERE case of pay-to-win. When you get into a lobby with characters decked from head to toe with custom clothing and armed with OP weapons, it's so unbalanced that you just want to leave and find a new lobby. Really kills the experience in an otherwise quite fun game.

Excellent survival horror game. Puts you up against an enemy that cannot be killed, in an environment that cannot be escaped without finding proper tools. Get killed, and it's all over--no save files mean that death puts you back at the beginning in a newly randomized ship, with randomized item locations, and possibly a different monster.

Difficult, beautiful looking, great sounding. Also utterly terrifying.