Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion

RTW: Barbarian Invasion is probably my favorite DLC I've played. It manages to take the core of the original game but add much flavor, multiple new mechanics, and an exiciting new setting and premise that make it a very worthwhile expansion.


Barbarian Invasion takes place during Late Aniquity and the decline of the Roman Empire in the west. The empire you presumably built up in the main game, is now in peril, and the game puts you at the task of defending and restoring it. This creates a very unique gameplay situation that differs from the straightforward empire building and expansion of the base game. Having to deal with poor armies, corruption, rebellion, and Invasion make it a strategic and administrative test of the player, most especially as the Western Romans where those issues are more severe.
In addition to Rome, playing the Barbarian factions is a unique experience in itself with the horde feature, allowing you to abandon your territories to create a massive army you can use to take over new lands. This is a very fun feature, in being able to both loot and pillage the world but also in carving out your own territory out of the Empire. Lastly, the Persians do provide a challenge to the Eastern Romans and are probably the most straightforward faction in the game.

Other features include religion, where a percentage of a region will follow certain faiths. Most notably this affects the player with the rapid spread of Christianity being an important historical development which you can either support or fight against in favor of the Pagans. The religion mechanic especially adds aot more flavor to administration where it was lacking in the base game, and makes settlements feel more realistic and interesting. Another change is emerging factions, with Roman Rebels, and late game Romano British and Slavic invasions keeping the game fresh and improving the immersion and difficulty of the game. There are also some new changes to combat like night battles, but those are most important other changes I can recall.

This expansion takes a look into a very interesting period of history and it allows the game to develop fresh and deep mechanics around it. The only critique I have is that the factions are not as interesting as the diversity as the original, but that is only the result of the time period and it does not ruin the game whatsoever. The mechanics make up more than enough for what is lost and provide a unique and engaging experience.

Barbarian Invasion takes place more than 600 years after Rome: Total War during the Migration Period. Despite the long time difference, this game plays basically exactly the same as the original, with the same brain-dead AI and unusable diplomacy.

The big difference to the main game is the different starting setup. The Roman Empire at this point in time rules over most of the map, however it is under attack from all sides and internally unstable. Additionally, peoples such as the Huns and the Goths are swarming in from the East, posing a threat to everyone. Hence, you can either play as a large, crumbling empire or a small fry which is trying to take the aforementioned down.

I enjoyed trying to hold the Roman Empire together. What I did not enjoy was the strong lack of variety among the factions. The barbarian factions and the horde factions are pretty much indistinguishable from each other.