Creative Assembly is in the midst of Total War: Attila development, so you might be wondering if Total War: Rome II has been consigned to the history books. Thankfully, given that it’s really started to hit its stride, that’s not the case. A new expansion campaign has been announced: Wrath of Sparta.
Set in the earliest period a Total War game has tackled, Wrath of Sparta shines a spotlight on the Peloponnesian War, where the city states of Sparta and Athens clashed over control of Hellenic Greece. The war was a pretty big deal, and spawned the first proper history textbook, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides has a lot to answer for.
A bespoke campaign map has been created, focusing on the Hellenic world of the 5th Century BC, with four playable factions: Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Boiotia, each with their own factions traits and unique units and events.
New tech trees have been slotted in, representing the military and civil advances of the period, and Creative Assembly have fiddled around with the Hellenic culture a bit, too. Since each of the factions is part of the Hellenic culture, there are new tribal cultures representing the different Greek tribes.
It’s not all war and culture clashes, though. Between fighting and diplomatic shenanigans are annual athletic competitions and festivals. The Olympic, Pythian, Sithmian and Nemean games will all kick off throughout the in-game year, and rather than being hands-off events, players will be able to sponsor competitors and hopefully gain favour instead of misfortune.
While the focus is on Greece, the big ol’ Persian Empire is only a small stretch of water away. The Persians aren’t too interested in their overseas neighbours, but if one power rises to dominate Greece, the Persians will start to take notice, deploying their warriors.
Wrath of Sparta is due out very soon, launching on December 16th.