I haven't been much of a total war or RTS fan until I played LOTR BFME2, than I bought medieval 2 total war which I really like, but I've been thinking of buying Rome total war. I've heard that its a great game and some say it is the best Total war game. So my question to anybody with insight: Should I purchase Rome total war, or should I just be satisfied with Medieval?

I would say go for it if you can afford to. I myself own all the Age of Empires, Civilization III, and have played Warcraft 3, Command and Conquer 4, and only the Demo for Rome Total War. I enjoy playing RTS games on PC and would say that Medieval 2 is great fun, but Rome is also worth checking out. Especially if you get a friend to play LAN games with or online; if you bored of one, you'll have another RTS to play.

Hoochman : iv played and completed rome total war,medieval total war,medieval total war 2, and empire total war.they are all very different.
Even though you never asked il give you the basic differences.
In medieval 2 total war it is big christian nations v big muslim nations.while europeans still fight each other its rare.its also the first one with emphasise on religion with big churches etc.defenses are far better and enemys far more organised.
Rome total war is set about 800 years before so its very different.
In this its not established states.
You have the great civilizations of the middle east and the balkans(because at this time they were the richest)and of course italy.you can start as 1 of 3 roman factions.
The juliei start in the north and initial expansion is easy because your bordered on rebel forces that are disorganised and weak.then you hit on the gauls.the majority of europe is barbarian,small settlements with ferocious fighters.while theyre on your border you'll never have peace because they always want to fight.due to your wealth and greatness,if you train good units you will wipe the floor with the barbarians.the trouble is when you go out of italy your surrounded by barbarians on 3 sides,you need to conquer and defend at the same time.
The other factions are bruti in central italy,they start in central italy and generaly head straight for the balkans.greece,macedonia etc.
Thd 3rd is scipiai,they start in the south and generaly head through sicily into north africa.these 2 are harder because both the balkans and north africa are held by civilised and large countries.its a different type of war.
In this game,africa,russia etc are hard to conquer,they are vast and take a long time to reach,and are usualy well defended.
Another unique thing about rome total war,is that if you conquer a different culture,they are likely constant to rebel.britain,north africa and the middle east hate civilised cultures,i had a rebelion in britain every 3 months.
All the 3 roman factions are given tasks by the real ruler,the spqr who own rome.
If you do the missions you get rewards and positions in government which gives you more control.until you get a certain number of territories you cant attack the other romans.once you get too many the spqr start demanding your faction leader comit suicide.the next turn they demand it again,until you have no generals left.so you have to refuse and they all attack you.the first time i played i never knew that so i left gaps in my empire that the others went through to form there own.i beat the spqr after about 10 months(tough is an understatement)and forced the others out of italy but i was still fighting them in africa and europe for ages.
You can play as about 20 nations after you conquer them.i edited the main game file so that i could play any nation after i beat them which was fun.

So that was a long run through,but theyre both worth owning because theyre both so different.(note you cant conquer america in rtw though,they hadnt been discovered).
I play empire total war most,its completely different.all the nations are established and guns are the main weapon.you have to be tactical and you have to manage your economy more.plus you get to conquer india and america which is fun.

I would suggest you buy rome total war,certainly.

thenumberone : Cool so how large scale are the single player battles?

Hoochman :
here is the entire map(it looks better than this, its from the main menu.)



and heres when youre actualy playing:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=rome+total+war+map+overview&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=lQP&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1024&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=GvXvI4Dz6eadwM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sharenator.com/The_Total_War_Series/&docid=Ks1TNcIawIR6ZM&w=539&h=322&ei=8AVpTsnPKMKZ8QPZq-HwCw&zoom=1

as you may be able to tell, that is italy to the west and the balkans to the east.you can pan in and out which is nice.

i like how mercenarys play an integral part in the game too, when i first start i hire mercenaries and send them in first so my troops dont get slaughtered, nice huh =p

here is a battle being fought:



heres the map at maximum pan out:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/mapks.png

and now you've made me want to play it.lol.

Rome Total War. That game is easily the best in the series that is only slightly rivaled by the new shogun game. I love the total war series but that is the best. It feels like you are really there, above everyone else.

billythekidmonster : its got the most variety too,in what units each faction has,how the citys develop etc.
I think il invade britain with elephants,just for lol's =p
I really dont know whats my favourite,the games are so different.

thenumberone : Just a side thought, is playing as the Byzantine empire anything like playing as the Roman Culture?

Hoochman : the byzantine empire only emerged when the roman empire went into decline,so its not in this game.
You get
Barbarians:
britania,they have pretty good infantry and the best cavelry of the barbarians.
The gauls:they have large units,not great tbh.
Spain:youre not supposed to be able to play them,although i changed that.never played them though.
Germania:they have heavy infantry and lots of land.
Dacia:dont know much about them
Barbarians are similar buildings etc,but different units
You have civilised europeans:
4 roman factions,great weapons and a decent cavelry force but not great.
Greeks:slightly lighter/more agile units.
Macedonians:same again.
Then you have the middle eastern factions.
Carthage do well in africa,
Which is hard to hold as any other faction.
Thrace,armenia,carthage,egypt,numidia,pontus,parthia,scythia,selucid empire.
I like going the selucid empire because they are one of the few factions that have elephants,no europeans can get them unless theyre mercenary elephants,i invaded rome and killed 800 people with war elephants,i lost 3 =p
If youre a barbarian you can hold most of europe easily.
If your civilized european same story but britain,germany etc are hard to hold.(kinda historicaly accurate there).
If youre carthage most people hate you.
If youre middle eastern you can hold most of the middle east but civilized europe hates you,along with most of the barbarians.although egypt and jerusalem are rearly hard to keep unless youre egyptian.
I conquered the world as britain,i was having to re conquer half my territorys ever couple of turns =p.with elephants its a lot easier,i just flatten the rebbels.
Whats also good about rome total war is you can choose the heir to the throne,move the capital etc.

thenumberone : Well, I bought Rome total war a couple days ago. I think I won't be disappointed.

Hoochman : you aint played yet?i dont think you'll be disapointed either.