head to head
vs
Perfect WorldvsRome: Total War
Perfect World leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Perfect WorldRome: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Rome: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro rewards quick unit handling
Reads2 vs 2
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 8
Rome: Total War leans harder on optimization: Campaign economy, recruitment, and battle tactics are solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.