Total War: Rome 2 will be released Sept. 3 worldwide on Windows PC for $59.99, and pre-order customers will receive the strategy game's first downloadable content for free, publisher Sega announced today.
Rome 2 will ship with eight playable factions, and developer The Creative Assembly announced last month that all players will be able to download a ninth, Pontus, as free day-one DLC. Pre-order players will also get the Greek States Culture Pack, which brings three additional factions into the game — Athens, Epirus and Sparta — on launch day. Each of the Greek factions offers its own units, buildings, missions, win conditions and tech tree.
Sega also announced Rome 2's Collector's Edition, which will be available only in a limited production run of 22,000 individually numbered boxed copies. The $154.99 set contains the game in a Steelbook case that's laser-etched with the number of the package, as well as the following additional physical goodies:
- Tabula set: The Roman forerunner to Backgammon, this Tabula set comprises 30 bone-effect game-pieces supplied in their own burlap drawstring bag, while the board is built into the base of the Collector’s Edition box.
- Tesserae Dice: Three replica bone-effect dice for use in a variety of games. The design is based on original Roman Tesserae, found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum.
- Total War Cards: Punic Wars: Designed from the ground up to echo elements from Rome 2, Total War Cards is a game of skill and luck for two players. Involving combat, territorial control, resource management and technological development, Punic Wars consists of 58 high-quality playing cards and a game-board printed with the Punic Wars tech-tree.
- Canvas Campaign Map: A reminder of the worlds you must conquer, this ribbon-tied canvas map depicts each of the 57 provinces of the Rome 2 campaign.
- Roman Onager: A complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult. This easy-to-assemble kit is constructed from weathered wood and steel, measures 26 cm x 12 cm x 12 cm, and is capable of unleashing mall projectiles at a variety of inanimate objects which may have affronted the glory of your empire.
You can check out an image of the Collector's Edition below, and pre-order it or the standard edition from the Sega Store here. Below that image are two screenshots from the Greek States Culture Pack.
