head to head

Rome: Total War cover artvsWar for the Overworld cover art

Rome: Total WarvsWar for the Overworld

Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); War for the Overworld leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Rome: Total WarWar for the Overworld

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 2

Rome: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro rewards quick unit handling

Reads2 vs 3

War for the Overworld leans harder on reads: Skirmish humans adapt; campaign AI is scripted

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.

full breakdown

Rome: Total War

full breakdown

War for the Overworld