I preferred Rome over Medieval 2.
First of all i like the era better, but everything about the game is better to me: music, atmosphere, especially general speeches were extremely lacking in med2.
But most importantly, the ways battles played out in Rome is vastly superior to Medieval 2. As an example, archers are effective and a serious threat in Rome, but in Med2 units often can take ridiculous amounts of arrows before dying, and this is something that has always pissed me off.
Horsemen seem more effective in Rome too, because they kind of keep moving while in a fight, as opposed to Rome and Empire AND Napoleon where once horses collide with infantry, they stand still.
That means that if you do not break the infantry at that specific moment, be prepared to lose your horsemen to even the simplest of blokes.
As to the Shogun 2 preview at IGN:
[url]http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/109/1093664p1.html[/URL]
"The scale is also different in terms of the presentation of the story. Empire was a game about a global war. Shogun 2 is about eight warring fiefdoms. So if Shogun 2 won't have the epic geographic scale of Empire, it will have to compensate by emphasizing character and story."
- This is not for me. I havent played any of the shorter storybased campaigns from Empire or Napoleon for any extended period of time because they feel too restricted. This seems to continue for Shogun 2 with no where else to turn if i want a more open experience.
"One particularly novel development is the introduction of hero units. These are warriors who have perfected a fighting art and can carve their way through enemy armies without much trouble at all. Based on mythologized historical figures like the warrior monk Benkei, hero units are a nearly unstoppable force on the battlefield, capable of holding bridge crossings against entire armies, or smashing through a battle line to engage the enemy general. You can counter heroes with the right tactics, such as filling them full of arrows, or by having your own hero units engage them in duels."
- So much fail. Cant. Breathe. Are we still talking about a TW game here, or about Joe Average RTS?