head to head

Rome: Total War cover artvsStar Wars: Force Commander cover art

Rome: Total WarvsStar Wars: Force Commander

Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Star Wars: Force Commander leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Rome: Total WarStar Wars: Force Commander

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 3

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads2 vs 3

Star Wars: Force Commander leans harder on reads: Skirmish humans add some build prediction

Variance2 vs 2

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization8 vs 7

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.

full breakdown

Rome: Total War

full breakdown

Star Wars: Force Commander