Medieval: Total War
Creative Assembly return on top-form.
Until the release of Creative Assembly’s Shogun: Total War in 2000, mainstream real-time strategy games had always kept a discrete distance from realism. There were games that sought to replicate the factors involved in war realistically, but these were limited to a handful of niche products, commonly in the form of turn-based WWII games. The major part of the genre stuck doggedly to unworldly settings, with mainstream offerings like the Command and Conquer series, as well as Blizzard’s multiple offerings. All these games shared one common element - the tactics needed to succeed were invariably utterly unrelated to any kind of real tactical know-how. If you knew the best units to build, as well as being familiar with the oddball strategies of the particular game being played, then victory was assured.
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Shogun, however, was different. It utilised tactics that were taken straight from the history books, gaining special insight from Sun Tzu’s Art of War. At the core of the battles was a paper, scissors and stone system - archers beat spearman, cavalry beat archers, and spearman beat cavalry. This was fleshed out to include various infantry troop types for different situations, heavy and light cavalry, mounted archers and musket units. Also included were special troop types like samurai and monks, which were dedicated to direct assault.
This commendable troop variety was only half the story, however, since the terrain could be exploited to ensure maximum tactical advantage. The key to victory was retaining the high ground. Archers could fire further, while melee units received combat bonuses for fighting downhill. Forests too could be used to conceal troops and attack unexpectedly. Troop positioning was also of great importance, with units receiving bonuses for attacking another unit from behind or from the side. Underpinning all of this was an excellent morale system that could result in larger forces turning tail and fleeing before a superiorly managed opponent. Killing an enemy king or general dealt a huge blow, with all units in the enemy army taking a morale check. Certain unit types were almost guaranteed to flee before others, and battles that had seemed only moments before to be balanced on a knife-edge could suddenly become a rout as fear swelled throughout the army. All these factors meant that Shogun: Total War was the first mainstream title to realistically model a real battlefield, and it was implemented in such a way as to render the game hugely enjoyable. The game sold well, and ever since the expansion pack was finished all eyes turned to the sequel. Medieval: Total War is now here, and I for one am not disappointed.
Medieval is a much larger game than its predecessor, in almost every aspect. The game map contains many times the number of conquerable provinces than the original Shogun did, reaching from Ireland in the west, to eastern Turkey, Jordan and Russia in the east, Scandinavia in the north and north Africa in the south. Twelve factions battle over this massive area, split into three major subgroups - Catholics, Orthodox and Muslim. Factions of the same religious leaning will generally get on better. For instance, as a Catholic faction attacking a fellow catholic group will result in a warning from the Pope, with further transgressions resulting in the excommunication of your king. This opens the door for all Catholic factions to attack you with impunity. This is not an insurmountable disincentive, however, as the death of your king or the Pope results in the slate being wiped clean - it is at best a limited obstacle, should you want to use your armies to drive the French into the sea.
Comments
Something I should have mentioned in the review are system requirements. Despite being graphically very similiar to Shogun, Medieval in fact requires a beefier PC to stop things bogging down. Don't assume that because you ran Shogun perfectly, all is well here. Case in point, my 700Mhz Athlon ran Shogun like a dream, yet some of the battles in Medieval were practically unplayable if they involved more than a few hundered men. Keep this in mind...
I'd aggree in saying that maybe there are just too many units, making it hard to keepo track of what does what abd leading to some bloated and outdated armies roaming around your lands nearer the endgame. The interface for controlling the battles could have done with some more tweaking; for instance to make it easier to align your troops a certain direction or assign goup numberings.
But most of all, where the HELL is the campaign multiplayer???? It was promised for the Mongol expansion and hinted at for this release, so wtf is it?
If anything I found the 16 unit / 960 men limit one of the most disappointing things about the game.
Not to mention the huge lack of play testing apparent for XP and the corrupting save game bug...Big let downs on what might otherwise have been a great game - still good though, I just hope they patch it soon.
If there's demand for Civ3 multiplayer surely there'd be enough for this gamer as well. All I know who played Shogun wanted it. And seeing as this game is no great leap from the first one, apart from in terms of scale, considering the amount of time it has taken to complete I wonder what the developers were smoking that they couldn’t get round to including a multiplayer campaign.
Nice review....As for all those complaining of the lack of multiplayer, I think you overestimate it's importance to people. The developers clearly had to prioritise, and obviously deemed it less important than other new features. And btw, the sequel took around two years to make - a pretty standard development cycle, especially considering they also churned out an impressive expansion. Nope, I for one am impressed at the features they did include, though I expect we'll see a multiplayer campaign sooner or later...
There is a 16 Unit size limit but there is no 960 men limit. Check out the options in the game and you find that you can change the size of the unit.
Change the size of the unit but not the total numner in your army.
Ideas for the theme for the next game in the stable?
I would like to see a Roman theme, but not only the romans, but Huns, Vis goths, Vandals, Franks, Guals, Goths.
The history of the Roman Empire would make a suitable addtion.
In shogun Gieshas were something of an atomic bomb. Nothing in Mtw acts in this manner (thank goodness)but even a cursory reading of medieval history reveals the awe in which the English Longbowman were held. A regard not unlike the present SAS. This needs reflecting in the game and should be specific to the region of origin. Bowmen from Wales and Northumbria should have a battlefield presence second to none.
this is a great game but it is imposible to play it if you do not
have a damn PC with awesome
performance you need more than
a 3D 64MB card , 1.8 procesor
and 512 Ram to play it well.
This is not mentioned in any of the documentation and I cannot find it in other forums. There is no need to crudely do away with disloyal subjects, royal or commoner, if you leave the unit with the King(you need to be patient for a few 4-5+ years) the loyalty of the said unit will rise steadily and remains when the unit is removed from the Kings stack. This is a fantastis way to make useful governors from 5,6,7 quill generals with 2 shields,
i have a amd athlon 1ghz processor and a memory of 128mb can anybody give me any solutions whetther i should or i shouldn't buy the game because i'm unsure that if it might not run????
For the love of God, how do you put the medieval total war cheat codes in.
Why isnt there an 'age of rome'!
This is the most addictive game ever. Do not reccomend if you you have a demanding job, late nights with early mornings. Battles are excellent, the campaign map is supurb. once you start there is no trning back 10/10
do u have any full downloads of total war mongal invasion or total war viking invasion or tell me a website that would had them PLEASE DONT GIVE ME A DOWNLOAD THAT DOESNT WORK : - )
how do i play shogun totalwar on the pc
How du u get the cheats up???!!! iv bin tryin 2 find out 4 ages! pls tel me!
wers d cheats?!?!?!?!?! som1 pls tel me! pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls tel me!
how do you put on the cheats on the map
Anyone happen ta know why i can only play the battle mode? Anytime i try to play a campaign or the tutorial, my screen freezes up and my cursor leaves trails of it self.
to put the cheats in u hav to end the year and type in the cheats while the com is taking its turn . k!
cheats :
.deadringer.:1,000,000 florins (money)
.badgerbunny.:fast construction of building
.worksundays.:builds building on 1 turn
welcome ppl!
when putting in the chests.............. dont forget the fullstop first...then the word...then finish with a full stop
well done
where can u get a download that worksof mtw!
I was late for the review but 2 YEARS PASSED WHERE IS THE MULTIPLAYER CAMPAIGN???? EVEN EUROPA UNIVERSALIS, HEARTS OF IRON HAVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
hello my name is jessie
hello my name jessie
MY GAME DID NOT COME W/ A MANUAL. WHERE DO I GET ONE?
Before and after you write the cheats in campaign mode, press period.
how do u put cheats in for medieval total war?