Total War: Rome 2 release date and Greek faction pre-order DLC announced

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Total War: Rome 2 is out now; here’s our Total War: Rome 2 review.

Total War: Rome 2 is finally set for worldwide release on September 3. You can pre-order it today and, if you’re the sort of person who might enjoy having three extra factions to play with at launch, you’ll be pleased to hear you can get the newly announced Greek States Culture pack thrown in for the same price.

If you’re the sort of person who likes firing ball bearings from miniature siege catapults – I kid ye not – you might even be interested in the Collector’s Edition.

The DLC pack will incorporate three playable city states: Athens, Sparta, and Epirus. Each state will boast its own unique units, buildings, missions and win conditions, as well as individual tech trees. Sparta will make for a particularly challenging playthrough, as players take control of the famous state long after its glory days have receded.

The “fierce independence” of these Greek neighbours will often cause them to come into conflict, but all share a number of common objectives and philosophies, and will sometimes leap to each others’ diplomatic aid.

Other factions confirmed for the game proper include Rome, Carthage, Macedon, Iceni, Arverni, Suebi, Parthia and Egypt, though Creative Assembly also plan to release the Pontus faction as free launch DLC.

Rome 2’s Collector’s Edition will be subject to a limited run of 22,000 Roman-numerated leather-effect boxes, and is only available via certain retailers. It’s filled to the brim with Roman-themed games – some designed by Creative Assembly, others by men thousands of years ago to whom the thought of pre-order bonuses never even occured. Plus a fully-functional catapult, natch:

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Collectors’ Edition

Tabula set

  • The Roman forerunner to Backgammon, this Tabula set comprises 30 bone-effect game pieces supplied in their own burlap drawstring bag; the board itself is built into the base of the Collector’s Edition box.

Tesserae Dice

  • Three replica bone-effect dice for use in a variety of games. The design is based on original Roman Tesserae, found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum.

Total War Cards™: PUNIC WARS

  • Designed from the ground up to echo elements from ROME II, Total War Cards is a game of skill and luck for two players. Involving combat, territorial control, resource management and technological development, PUNIC WARS consists of 58 high-quality playing cards and a game-board printed with the PUNIC WARS tech-tree.

Canvas Campaign Map

  • A reminder of the world you must conquer, this ribbon-tied canvas map depicts each of the 57 provinces of the ROME II campaign.

Roman Onager

  • A complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult. This easy-to-assemble kit is constructed from weathered wood and steel, measures 26cm x 12cm x 12cm, and is capable of unleashing small projectiles at a variety of inanimate objects which may have affronted the glory of your empire