Medieval II: Total War
Medieval II: Total War | ||
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Composer(s) Jeff van Dyck | Richard Vaughan James Vincent | |
Series | Total War | |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | |
Release | Microsoft Windows: 5 April 2007MacOS, Linux
| |
Genre(s) | Real-time tactics, Turn-based strategy | |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Medieval II: Total War is a
Gameplay is divided between a turn-based strategic campaign and real-time tactical battles. The campaign is set between the years 1080 and 1530. Players assume control of a medieval state, referred to in the game as a faction, and control its government, economy, military, diplomacy, and religion on a map spanning most of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. In battles, players control groups of soldiers and engage in combat with enemy forces.
Medieval II received mostly positive reviews from critics. Many reviewers regarded the game as an improvement over its predecessors, but criticized its lack of innovation. An expansion pack, Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, was released in 2007.
Gameplay
Similarly to previous titles in the Total War series, Medieval II: Total War consists of two main modes of play: a campaign mode and battles.
Campaign
The campaign, which is
The goal of the campaign depends on which type of campaign is played. The short campaign requires the player to defeat one or two enemy factions and control at least 15 settlements. The long campaign requires the player to control at least 45 territories and one or two significant cities, such as Jerusalem, Granada, Rome or Constantinople.[4]
Territorial control in the campaign is represented by "settlements", which are large, notable communities. Unlike in previous Total War games, there are two different types of settlements:
Factions primarily interact with each other through
Two significant events will also have a major impact on the game. First is the discovery of gunpowder in the 13th century, which gives access to cannons and
Medieval II is known for its high intelligence for the AI factions and compared to most games in the franchise, their lack of "cheats" or special AI advantages.
Battles
One of the main focuses on the Total War franchise is its representation of
Unit categories include:
- Spear infantry: Typically lose against heavy infantry but are effective against cavalry. Can use formations such as schiltrom and phalanx.
- Light infantry: Cheap and mobile but not particularly effective unless flanking.
- Heavy infantry: Beat most other types of infantry at close range but struggle against cavalry. Particularly excel in siege battles, as spearmen cannot use their formations on top of walls. Many Heavy Infantry have high protective values and are valuable for holding most foes at place.
- Missile infantry: Effective at range but weak at close range. Firearm-equipped missile infantry also heavily damages enemy morale.
- Light cavalry: Not particularly effective in direct combat against other cavalry and most infantry but excel at scouting, chasing routed enemies, flanking attacks, and harassing ranged enemies.
- Heavy cavalry: Their charges can heavily damage infantry morale and a flanking charge is likely to completely break an infantry unit.
- Missile cavalry: Use ranged weapons from horseback and is most effective at skirmishing. Very effective against melee infantry, though typically lose in a shootout against missile infantry.
- Siege engines: Can be used both in sieges and as field artillery, though any army with siege engines moves much less per turn than one without them. Can also cause heavy morale damage, particularly if the siege weapons in question are cannons. Unlike in Rome: Total War, siege artillery can be moved through city gates and wall breaches.
- Vessels: Vessels can be used to transport ground units on the seas. The game has no naval battle mechanics however and naval battles can only be fought through auto-resolve.
Though some units are shared across different factions, some are unique to a certain faction and certain factions tend to specialize more in certain types of units. For example, England and Milan have some of the most effective missile infantry in the game thanks to the
Factions
When first playing the game, the player can only choose out of five factions: Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Castile, Holy Roman Empire and Republic of Venice. Defeating a faction allows the player to choose them on a later playthrough while completing a campaign allows the player to choose almost any of the factions in game. In addition to regular factions, various rebel groups roam the map and control most of the cities in the beginning of the game, allowing the player and computer-controlled factions to take these cities without committing to a war against a faction.
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | PC: 88/100[8] IOS: 76/100[9] |
Publication | Score |
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Eurogamer | 9/10[3] |
GameRevolution | B+[10] |
GameSpot | 8.8/10[4] |
GameSpy | [11] |
IGN | (UK) 8.9/10[7] (US) 8.8/10[12] |
PC Gamer (US) | 90%[13] |
TouchArcade | [14] |
Medieval II: Total War received a "Gold" sales award from the
Medieval II: Total War received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[8][9]
The exclusive review was given to PC Gamer (US), which gave it an "Editor's Choice Award".[13] IGN said that the game was not as revolutionary as its predecessor, but still introduces some new ideas and builds on others from Rome: Total War, which would still be enough for anybody to buy it.[7] GameSpot noted the game's "epic, engrossing gameplay", but also criticised its "beefy system requirements".[4] Hyper's Anthony Fordham commended the game for its "incredible gameplay, both in battle and on the world map." However, he criticised it for being "more a refinement of the series than a huge leap forward."[17]
Swedish historian and member of the Swedish Academy Peter Englund reviewed the game for Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter where he made comparisons to traditional battle depictions such as old copper engravings and paintings, and the more recent film medium. In the review, Englund concluded that Medieval II represents a form of battle depiction "amazingly similar to an engraving from the 1600s."[18]
The editors of Computer Games Magazine named Medieval II the eighth-best computer game of 2006. They wrote that "No scripted encounters or overly dramatic cutscenes can compare with the stories Creative Assembly allows you to write as your armies beat down all who would oppose you."[19] Edge ranked the game at #26 on its list of "The 100 Best Games To Play Today", calling it "as complete a depiction of war as there has been in a videogame."[20]
Although most reviews were positive,[4] some reviews have noted negative aspects of the game, such as pathfinding bugs,[21] some AI problems and some uninteresting new features.[11]
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Medieval II: Total War for "Strategy Game of the Year" at the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[22]
Expansion
An expansion, Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, was announced on 30 March 2007 and released on 28 August 2007 in the US, 31 August in the UK, 7 September in Australia, and 22 November in Japan. It adds four new campaigns to the game: "Americas", which focuses on the Spanish colonization of the Americas, "Britannia", which focuses on several conflicts on the British Isles, "Crusades", which covers the Third and Fourth Crusades, and "Teutonic", which deals with the Northern Crusades. In each of the campaigns, a small part of the world (e.g. the British Isles) is taken and enlarged, with many settlements added to it.
The Gold Edition of the game, containing the original game and the expansion pack, was released on 1 February 2008; this was later released/renamed on Steam as Medieval II: Total War™ Collection.
References
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (4 April 2013). "Another Sega Studio Bites The Dust". Kotaku. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "The Medieval II: Total War™ Collection gallops to Steam for Mac and Linux on January 14th". Feral Interactive. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ a b Meer, Alec (13 November 2006). "Medieval 2: Total War". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Ocampo, Jason (14 November 2006). "Medieval 2: Total War Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ Toose, Dan (6 September 2006). "Medieval 2: Total War Designer Diary #4 – Religion". Gamespot. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ Toose, Dan (24 July 2006). "Medieval War II : Total War : Developer Diary". Hexus. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d O'Hagan, Steve (8 November 2006). "Medieval II: Total War UK Review". IGN. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Medieval II: Total War for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ a b "Total War: MEDIEVAL II for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ Ferris, Duke (15 December 2006). "Medieval II: Total War Review". GameRevolution. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ a b Kosak, Dave (17 November 2006). "GameSpy: Medieval II: Total War". GameSpy. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
- ^ Butts, Steve (10 November 2006). "Medieval II: Total War Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Medieval II: Total War". PC Gamer: 28. December 2006.
- ^ Madnani, Mikhail (12 April 2022). "'Total War: MEDIEVAL II' Review – A Must Play Strategy Game for iOS". TouchArcade. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the originalon 19 March 2009.
- Gamasutra. Archived from the originalon 18 September 2017.
- ISSN 1320-7458.
- ^ Englund, Peter (24 November 2006). "Medieval II: Total War". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
- ^ Staff (March 2007). "The Best (and Worst) of 2006; The 16th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine (195): 46–51.
- ^ Edge staff (9 March 2009). "The 100 Best Games to Play Today (Page 8)". Edge. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ Molloy, Sean (January 2007). "Medieval 2: Total War". Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (2). Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ "2007 Awards Category Details Strategy Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 8 November 2023.