Total War: Rome 2 Demonstrated with the Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Creative Assembly and Sega have a new video to demonstrate gameplay from their upcoming game Total War: Rome II. In the video, we get to see and hear Creative Assembly staff play through some of a key event in Roman history, the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.

It's a useful battle to use to demo the game, as not only does Creative Assembly get to show off the beautiful forest environment in which it takes place but there's a story to follow, which makes things a little more interesting than if the video just consisted of clips of unrelated skirmishes. Here, we get to see the Romans face the Germanic Barbarians, coming up against a variety of troops as they make their way through the forest.

As is the trend these days, the game looks simple but seems to have an underlying complexity. The user interface is minimal, and directing your troops seems to require little more than clicking and dragging, with colourful arrows and markers to show you where your troops are headed. Zoom in really close, and you can ride into battle with your cavalry. Zoom out to the tactical map and you can get a neatly colour-coded view of the whole area to get an overall idea of what's going on.

This looks like a game that could draw in beginners to the genre, and yet it's bound to encourage more and more clever tactical thought as you consider how best to deal with war hounds, berserkers, and archers (a turtle formation ought to do the trick).

Total War: Rome II is due for release on PC later this year. Will you be getting a copy?