Customer Reviews

Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms Expansion Pack

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Okay, first off about the multi-player hotseat thingie..don't really know about it and not my cup of tea so in this review I won't touch on it because quite frankly this is a game I really wouldn't want to play with anyone else. It's a "me" game.

With that being said, this is a nice addition to the Total War franchise. Sure, there are mods you can pick up to tweak it, but nobody makes a mod better than the folks that actually designed the game. In each of the campaigns you have cool triggers that add a dynamic flavour such as Richard and Philip II reinforcing the crusades in the Holy Lands and the Baron's Alliance in the Brittania campaign.

I had some preconceived notions about Kingoms, in that I fully expected some dinky little maps and about 5 hours playtime per campaign. Ohhhhhh no sir, these are full fledged campaigns with lots of territories and tons of time to eat up. They are all quite large, but the Americas campaign map is vast and was extremly fun playing the Apachean tribes. Nothing says "yippie" when your apache dog soldiers are charging and doing that Indian war cry you've heard in every John Wayne movie.

There is no big upgrade over Total War II...ergo, there is no major graphic or engine overhaul, it's simply more campaigns to play - a lot more. One of the nicest things I liked on the new campaigns is that you get a few of the top end units to start so you don't have to wait years to see how that Greek Fire Thrower works or get the uberest Templar Cavalry.

I have had no technical problems on Vista 32-bit with Dual core 2.13ghz, 2gb RAM and NVIDIA 7600 video card.

Not much more to say that hasn't been showcased in previews and you can read from the description up top (which is accurate except the multi-player thingie which I really don't care about) other than if you liked Total War 2 then you are going to really love Kingdoms.

Pros:
- Same good looking graphics as Total War 2
- Sound is amazing with new songs for each of the factions and campaigns
- Tons more units
- Very big campaign maps

Cons:
- Ummm...perhaps the multi-player capability which apparently isn't that great.

I have been a loyal fan of TW since Shogun but I doubt I will buy another. This XP will install securom onto your PC without your permission and unless you are very computer savy you will not be able to remove it. Securom is known to conflict with many other programs (including other anti-piracy programs ironically enough). The only way we can fight this nonsense is to "vote with our wallets" and not purchase games that employ such tactics.

At the very least, SEGA should clearly state on the box what is installed on your PC when you install the game and the consequences of that action. Then you as the buyer would be able to make an educated decision about whether you still wanted to purchase it.

I have more than got my money's worth from the original. Will I with this release? Perhaps. As others have noted, it really is a collection of mods - but then I don't do multiplayer anymore, so poor functionality in this respect doesn't bother me.

I had a lot of difficulty installing. It kept on getting hung up trying to install patch 1.3 saying the patch 1.2 had "modified the files" (well DUH!). I tried doing a clean install of the original game and had the same result. These processes took a lot of time and produced a lot of frustration. Eventually I had do do another clean install, then install 1.2 & 1.3 manually - then the individual campaigns installed correctly using the install engine. as usual, the official sites were of zero value in troubleshooting. I reduced the rating to reflect these problems.

So far, I have nearly completed the Crusades campaign as the Kingdom of Jerusalem. At medium difficulty for game and battle it hasn't presented much of a challenge. I still have issues with the attack ratings of some of the units - armoured knights and quality archers should DEVASTATE light infantry, but they don't. Historically, a light infantry man (not a spearman) had about as much chance of killing an armoured knight as a guy throwing rocks has at disabling an M1 Abrams tank. While we're on that topic, just because a knight's horse got killed didn't mean he was out of it or dead - he simply fought on foot, and quite effectively too - but this is not reflected in the game.

The bottom line: is it worth $29.95 plus shipping? Yes. Buy it. I look forward to trying some of the harder factions and campaigns.

Use must have "Medieval II - Total War" to play the Kingdoms expansion. The Kingdoms expansion uses core game elements from the Medieval II: Total War game, therefore, if you purchased M2-TW from a retail location "in-the-box," then purchase Kingdoms at a retail location "in-the-box;" if you downloaded M2-TW from the internet then download Kingdoms from that same internet provider (e.g., Steam, Direct2Drive, and Digital River, etc.). To play the retail "in-the-box" version of the Kingdom expansion, you will need a DVD drive (the newer the better). The Kingdoms expansion will AUTOMATICALLY upgrade "Medieval II - Total War" up to version 1.3, eliminating the need to obtain and install "Medieval II - Total War" update patches 1.1 and 1.2 before installing the Kingdoms expansion. Be sure that your graphic card and RAM are adequate to the task. Also, be sure to update your graphics card driver, if necessary.

The Kingdoms expansion includes four sub-modules: the Americas Campaign, the Britannia Campaign, the Crusades Campaign, and the Teutonic Order Campaign.

The Americas Campaign contains the following factions (all of which may or may or may not be playable in "campaign mode," but are playable in "custom battle" mode): English Colonies, Chichimec Tribes, Apachean Tribes, the Mayans, New France, New Spain, the Aztec Empire, the Tlaxcalans, and the Tarascans. In the "custom battle" mode, one can select either "high" or "late" period (not "early"); and one can select one of seventeen (17) battle maps.

The Britannia Campaign contains the following factions (all of which may or may or may not be playable in "campaign mode," but are playable in "custom battle" mode): England, the Baron's Alliance, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, and Wales. In the "custom battle" mode, one can select either "early," "high," or "late" period; and one can select one of twenty (20) battle maps.

The Crusades Campaign contains the following factions (all of which may or may or may not be playable in "campaign mode," but are playable in "custom battle" mode): the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, Egypt, the Mongols, the Turks, and Venice. In the "custom battle" mode, one can select either "early," "high," or "late" period; and one can select one of nineteen (19) battle maps.

The Teutonic Order Campaign contains the following factions (all of which may or may or may not be playable in "campaign mode," but are playable in "custom battle" mode): Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, Lithuania, the Mongols, Norway, Novgorod, Poland, and the Teutonic Order. In the "custom battle" mode, one can select either "early," "high," or "late" period; and one can select one of eighteen (18) battle maps.

Of interest to modders, the Kingdoms expansion includes SDK tools, including a "Battle Editor" for the creation of custom battle maps, and an "Unpacker" tool which allows one to open data packs, and then edit and/or replace some of the individual files. Also included is "CinEd," allowing one to create movies using battle replays.

Look, to be perfectly honest someof these people are not being fair with this game. Yes, it's four mods, BUT they're four excellent mods of the best standards. The four new campaigns are HUGE and have excellent replay. The new factions are great(especially the Teutonic Order)and as are the new units. For all of those who are hesitating DON'T. Buy it, I promise you won't regret it

It' an expansion pack for medieval 2.As such it's a nice addition.
As for multiplayer, I did not read reviews that stressed any advancements
in that area. Total War has always had a board game feel,with real time
combat.The first two even used Risk style counters and movement.The
new editions are exactly what an expansion is,new units and campaign
elements. A total redesign is not what you would expect. I like the new
editions and have not been deceived into thinking this was supposed to be
revolutionary. Total War is a terrific game,and that is why I purchased the
expansion. If I did not like it the way it was then I'm sure I would not
purchase this edition.

Ok, so if you're even considering buying this then you already know of the greatness that is Total War. Mind you, I am completely biased. I think the Total War series is the best wargame/ strategy series ever created. They constantly improve on their games and surprise me.

The England, Crusade, and Teutonic Crusade Campaigns all rate as 4 to 4.5 stars to me and dont really give us anything too new other than being able to play fun new factions such as the Irish and The pagan Lithuanians.

The real gem for this expansion pack is the Americas Campaign though! It is truly well done (5 stars).

The Armies (in particular, the Aztecs and Mayans) are the most colorful this series has seen. The landscapes range from jungle to desert to mountain passes. The jungle battles contain the best scenary the series has yet presented (though fighting the Chichimecs ("Dog People") in a cactus filled desert is great too!).

I have played all the factions in the new game (multiple times) but continually find myself going back to the Americas Campaign again and again (for a challenge, play as the Tlaxcallans on "hard" settings).

Overall it comes down to this; if you are a diehard fan of the series, you will most likely love this expansion, in particular the Americas and the Teutonic campaigns, if you are a casualy vistor to the Total War series, this game will probably not be worth your time. Stick to your World of Warcraft.

Go Aztecs!!!

This expansion provides nearly twice as much content as existed in the original game. Each of the four campaign settings--Crusades, Americas, Teutonic, and Britannia--have been laid out in great detail and make for a fun and interesting new experience. The only downside I've seen so far are the somewhat excessive victory conditions for the Teutonic campaign. Nevertheless, it should provide plenty of challenge and many hours of entertainment.

Although the expansion game is everything advertised, I miss the strategic scope of Medieval Total War (I or II.) There are the four separate games, all on maps that are expanded fragments of the original scope of MTW2. It also updates the MTW2 basic game, and changes it in minor, annoying ways. I guess I was hoping for more new units from the expansion in an update. Overall, once I played most of the scenarios twice, it doesn't draw me back but leaves me wishing for a way back to the big map with the new units, for instance, the Byzantine flame throwers.

Kingdoms is an expansion to Medieval 2: Total War. In the expansions to previous Total War games, the developers focused exclusively on one area of the main game's campaign map. In this expansion, each primary area of the map has its own unique campaign.

Each unique campaign has its own set of new elements added to both game play and unit builds.

The Kingdoms expansion is very much a value added product. And, as with all the games in this franchise, there is even more potential for extended replayability and enhanced enjoyment once the modders have their go at tweeking and mutating it to fit their own wants and ideas. The Total War franchise has a very strong and dedicated modder base.