Hello,
For the record, you can get a small demo mod at Gamespot that will let you play as Romans in the demo.
What do I think of the game? Well, First of all, let me be a bit more critical of this game. The inferface wasn't like what I expected from Total War series. The cursor moved too slowly and you can't right-click on a unit to bring up an advanced menu. You can no longer select different formations other than a loose or a tight one. It is much harder to control the camera.
Now, let's move on to more positive sides of the game. The graphics look awesome, it's much more detailed than what you'd see in previous Total War series. The trees are much larger and more lifelike. The terrain looks very real and the model is done nicely. The units are 3D, they are no longer 2D sprites like in previous Total War series. If you turn off snychorization of animations, they look much better when you view them on the battlefield. The only gripe I have with animations is that they all look alike no matter what side you take or unit you have. The faces are all same, but I suppose it's done to reduce strain on computering resources and allow the game to be run on low-end computers.
The review on gameplay and units will be continued....
Watch out for more to come!
Dan