The demo that is available for download will give you a taste of what is to come and leave you drooling for more. Although it only gives you an example of what combat is like, I think it shows the dedication and hard work that the developers have put into the game so far. The graphics are gorgeous and the detail of the soldiers, mounts and environment is fantastic. With the environmental controls turned up, showing shadow, dust etc, it brings the battlefield to life and creates a chaotic nightmare of movement as the opposing forces come together and enter the melee.

Controls for the game are fairly simple, and the tutorial gives you a good overview of how to manipulate your view of the battle field and the basics on moving your troops about. Of course, once they have engaged the enemy they are pretty much on their own, since trying to keep track of your troops mixed with the enemy troops and everyone killing each other is nearly impossible. Yeah, I know, there is a UI at the bottom of the screen that shows all your troops. As if I can tell which icon goes with the guys getting the crap beat out of them... I'm sure once the game is released and I've had more practice it will be easier to do...

One thing that was missing, that I'm hoping will be in the game at release, is a more detailed list of options for formations and detailed controls of the troops. Some of the options that were available for troop controls in the demo included: Double time movement, setting skirmish mode, setting troops to guard an area, fire at will for archers, etc. All of these options are available on the UI at the bottom of the screen.

To quote a section from the Dev Diaries on the official site; "History is on our side in Rome. It's got wars, and civil wars, and politics by the bucket load, and barbarians, and Punic Wars, and elephants, and Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra, and pyramids, and blue-painted British loonies, and great big hairy Germans lurking in forests, and Gauls with comedy moustaches, and Carthaginians, and Hannibal, and more elephants, and catamites, and the Games, and "epic" written all over it. Actually, it has the word "EPIC" in letters carved from bloody enormous marble blocks several stories high all over it. It has, in short, Historical Flavour, with a capital "H" and a capital "F". Cool."

Did I mention the elephants? And not just some puny miniature circus elephant, we're talking humongous zeppelin sized elephants covered in armor that stomp through the opposing infantry as if they were just so many ants on the picnic blanket. I wonder if the Romans would hang small cages filled with mice off of their shields to try to scare off the elephants…

But I digress. Though the demo only presented a very small aspect of the game to give you a taste of combat, as you can see from the diary excerpt, the developers have an almost endless supply of options to work with in the creation of the game. The period of history that is being covered is one that shaped the destiny and future of Europe and now you to can be a part of history in the making. I highly recommend that you take the time to download the demo and check it out for yourself. You'll get a first hand view of the potential that Rome: Total War has to be a great RTS game, and it's well worth the experience.