Rome: Total War goes gold

The Creative Assembly's ancient-world real-time-strategy game marches on to the factory.

In the beginning of each episode of the History Channel show Decisive Battles, host Matthew Settle brags of the "new video game technology" the series uses. Now, that technology is one step closer to being in PC gamers' hands. Rome: Total War, the real-time strategy game whose engine provides the graphics for Battles' re-creations has gone gold. The T-for-teen-rated title will ship for PCs on September 22, and will retail for $49.99.

Published by Activision, Rome: Total War is the latest installment in developer The Creative Assembly' Total War RTS series. However, unlikely Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War, Rome: Total War will be based on an all-new 3D engine with serious graphics firepower. It will allow for over 10,000 highly detailed combatants to to appear on the same screen at the same time. Said fighters' appearances will be fully polygonal, and their movement will be based on real-life motion capture.

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