head to head
vs
Age of War 2vsRome: Total War
Age of War 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Age of War 2Rome: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Rome: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro rewards quick unit handling
Reads3 vs 2
Age of War 2 leans harder on reads: Mostly versus AI; minimal opponent adaptation
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 8
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.