Yeah. its not the clearest focus in that photo. Well suffice to say previous total wars were better.
It's just a different color palate. To my eye the colors in Rome II look a lot less busy and more like reality. i think this has been a problem all along for Rome Two: the landscapes are more real in Rome II and people are not used to what real landscapes look like.
TW Rome II has it's own brown-ish color filter over the whole screen.
I was never a fan of this shit-smear filter, but the devs seemed to think it lended some mood of anitiquity.

It just looked like a constant dust storm to me. That said, I didn't let it detract from my Rome 2 gameplay, especially since it had so many factions in one of my favorite historical wargaming periods. Was more sore about them not bothering to put frame art in the UI.. lazy bastids.