'Warrior March', on the other hand, is a very rhythmically driven theme dominated by punctuated string motifs and primitive percussion it gradually builds in texture and dynamic towards a series of truly intimidating climaxes. 'Mayhem' instantly demonstrates the epic production values of the soundtrack the percussion sounds more thunderous than ever while the orchestral elements are more developed and the primitive instruments fluidly integrated. The action themes for Rome: Total War are definitely among the highlights of the soundtrack. Once again, Van Dyck's elegant and personal approach to orchestration and choral use never fails to surprise me. The exclusive theme 'Epic' certainly suits its name since it is 5:24 masterpiece that unites most of the stylistic threads of the soundtrack together. That said, a few hints of Van Dyck's approach to earlier Total War scores are welcome in tracks like the dark ambient event theme 'Death Approaches' or minimalistic Eastern wanderings of 'Arabic Winter'.

The slow-building orchestration 'Contemplation', the acoustic guitar solo 'Autumn', or romantic piano work of 'Mobilize' provide further heartrending moments on the soundtrack. The orchestral title theme, for example, expresses more humanity than earlier themes in the series, constantly building up to beautiful moments before betraying listeners with sorrowful turns. Though Rome: Total War still retains Jeff Van Dyck's characteristic musicality, it is for the most part an expansive and emotional score. Let's take a closer look at what the commercial release has to offer. Meanwhile the Rome: Total War Exclusive Soundtrack packaged with the game features a few notable absences. Plenty of highlights are featured in the score, though only the commercially available Rome: Total War - The Official Soundtrack features them all. He nevertheless hybridises many elements of these soundtracks with orchestral and choral tones inspired by more cinematic scores. It was with this score that Jeff Van Dyck went all-out with his compositions, having took a relatively ambient approach on Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War.

Rome: Total War was a new incarnation of The Creative Assembly's franchise that brought gamers back to the ancient civilizations of Rome. Rome Total War - The Official Soundtrack :: Review by Chris

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