head to head

Faces of War cover artvsRome: Total War cover art

Faces of WarvsRome: Total War

Faces of War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Faces of WarRome: Total War

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 3

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads2 vs 2

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 2

Faces of War leans harder on variance: combat outcomes have random elements

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.

full breakdown

Faces of War

full breakdown

Rome: Total War