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69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent strategy game, December 30, 2004
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the first Total War title I bought (yup, I'm one of the five that didn't play Shogun. Give me a moment to cut holes in this paper bag so I might hide my shame and continue...) and I consider it one of the better game investments I've made to date. Though its graphics are dated by current standards- especially compared to the latest installment in the series- Medieval is a whole load of fun.
As with the other games in the series, Medieval is split into two modes- the strategic map, where you build up you provinces, manage taxes, dispatch strategic agents, and move armies; and the real time battlefield, where you lay siege to cities, face off against rival armies, and generally show off your tactical prowess (or lack thereof). Both are well done, and so this game can appeal to both fans of turn based strategy and real time strategy. I happen to be one of the latter and definitely not one of the former (in fact, I absolutely hate Civilization and its spinoffs) but I found myself enjoying both aspects of the game.
The battlefield AI is relatively well schooled in standard tactics, and units move and act realistically. For example, archers are likely to miss when shooting into or out of a forest, or in bad weather. Heavy cavalry will naturally mow down anyone with light armor, but has serious problems with spear or pike-armed soldiers in tight ranks. Standing on higher ground gives missile weapons more range, and artillery landing in the middle of your troops has serious negative effects on morale. There's no base building to worry about in battle mode, which is fortunate since you'll have plenty to think about as is. Though it's sometimes quite complex managing all your men, there's nothing better than winning a great victory and knowing that it was your superior tactics (not your ability to micromanage harvesters) that let you pull it off. The graphics, while not the best, are passable. Terrain and weather effects are generally dependent on the area you're fighting in, which is a nice touch.
On the strategic map, you can perform all kinds of actions- quell uprisings, dispatch assassins, send preachers to convert the heathen, manage trade routes and fleets, propose alliances or declare war, and otherwise plot for world domination. This mode is absent in multiplay, but the depth of the single play campaign more than makes up for it. You can play as any major power in the medieval era, and have the entire European continent, plus much of western Asia to conquer. Many provinces have trade resources, allow for the training of special units, or provide bonuses to units produced there. Of note is that your unique national units are likewise based on ownership of certain provinces- if you lose these, you could end up facing them in battle! Hopefully, if you're a wise national leader, this will never happen.
There are three period campaigns, and many major historical events and personages appear over the course of your rule. Some units only appear in certain periods, and if you start in an earlier period, you will eventually advance to the later ones (and to the end- alas, the medieval age can't last forever). Building stronger fortifications in your territories serves two purposes- it lets you hold out better if put under siege, and it allows you to make other structures that in turn allow training of more advanced units. Some such units (e.g. English longbowmen, Gothic knights, halberdiers, or the Byzantine's elite Varangian Guard) are war-winning in power, so this must be a national priority. You can also resort to such things as inquisitions, bribes, crusades, and jihads to stymie or conquer your enemies.
Managing your provinces and armies is quite an involved process. As they say, the devil's in the details, and there's details to spare in Medieval. You want to make sure that your battle-hardened veteran units are kept at high strength, perhaps at the cost of some cheap or less experienced troops. You also have to make sure you don't go broke which is (believe me) a lot harder than it sounds. Armies in the field cost money to support, and you need loads of money to build up provinces. Thus, it might not be a good idea to invade all your neighbors at once, as this would likely have a detrimental effect on trade. In this respect, Medieval truly asks that you be a politician as well as a conqueror.
This collection includes Viking Invasion, which is a special campaign that lets you play as one of the factions living in the British Isles or as the infamous Viking raiders. It has significantly different units and tech trees from the standard Medieval campaign, and adds some of these units to the original game. Being Viking in particular gives you some unique capabilities (e.g. the ability to retreat over sea without a port in the province) that alone are worth checking out.
Aside from campaign and online battle modes, there's a few small historical campaigns and battles, including such famous engagements as Crecy, Bannockburn, and Poitiers. Some are incredibly difficult, and a true test for the armchair generals out there. Just as interesting, most of the single play modes have historical summaries of the battle or campaign, which (to me at least) was quite fascinating.
Medieval: Total War might have the look of an older game, but it is a great value that no strategy gamer should pass up. The replay value in particular is enormous, and there's innumerable possible tactical and strategic maneuvers. Just finding which ones of these work, and which ones don't, is months of fun. Don't miss out.
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Good To Be King, April 3, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Choices, choices. You are holding several hundred prisoners after your brilliant triumph outside Paris. Klll them, as an example to other upstarts? Or ransom them for 2000 florins? And here's a pesky crusade. You can fight it or let it pass, but it may sack your city (as they often did) on the way through.
This is a classic of its kind, dramatically improving upon "Shogun, Total War" in terms of strategic and tactical AI, weapons sets, and complexity. For fans of strategy/RTS games whose computers tap out at early XP games, the "Medieval War" and "Viking Invasion" games are very immersive. If I were to have only one or two strategic games on my computer, this would be one of them.
The hook to the "Total War" series is the merger of a sound turn-based strategic game with RTS tactical land battles using historical-based units such as knights, ballistas and various types of infantry and archers. The design is British, so there is a lot of military detail here. Unlile the "Civilization" games, civilian amenities and advances take a back seat to the evolution of military technology, from rudimentary melee infrantry units to the early age of gunpowder.
The real time land battles are fun, and actually are important to game play since an outnumbered army, well-generaled and carefully used, can defeat a larger force and alter the shape of history. I have replicated a number of Agincourts and Crecys with the right mix of "Band of Brothers" longbowmen and mounted knights. On the other hand, I've had a few 14th c. "Custer's last stands" as well.
What is intriguing about the strategic campaign games is that the AI throws new punches as your empire expands. In "Medieval", revolts are frequent. In "Viking", I had several empires collapse in a few years into civil war among factions. I also experimented with Machiavellian "Prince" strategies, such as allying close weak countries against larger threats. Most of the time, it worked, like the real thing.
The gaming system obviously lends itself to any pre-1900 conflict, and it would be interesting if the fourth or fifth in the series tried to tackle 18th Century warfare, the English or American Civil wars.
For a 2002-3 game, this was a tremendous development. There are still some weakpoints, such as the 1000-man limit on tactical battles. On the strategic map, the armies can be infinite in size, but the tactical engine requires that units over the 1000-man limit must wait out as reinforcements. After a while, one learns that no matter how large an invading force, a mixed out defensive army (say 1200), if properly configured and kept close to the reinforcement edge of the map, can often win as the enemy AI feeds the remaining hundreds in a drabble at a time.
While land battles are meticulously modeled, naval conflict is pretty sketchy, but then, decisive naval battles were genuinely rare before Lepanto. I appreciated the careful introduction of gunpowder units which make their appearance generally in the 14th c., and the fact that man for man, they still lag behind good stout Welsh longbowmen for quite a while.
The only other RTS games I have played are "pure" battle systems such as Waterloo or Sid Meyer's "Gettysburg" series. The "Total War" games are superior to both plus you get a fine strategic turn-based game to go with it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tactical Glory, Strategic Scheming, and History - all here!, November 27, 2004
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This game ROCKS!! And for the price now, it's a steal. Though the actual tactical combat is prettier in Rome: Total War, this game is superior in its scope and cerebral effort.
You can pick a faction of the Medieval era, any nation you want, and then you have to deal with the geopolitical situation, keep your provinces and generals loyal, groom your bloodline, build your economy and armies, and then, oh yeah, fight huge Medieval battles.
This game will take several hours of your life each time you sit down to play it, it's that addictive. Imagine: just as you finish building that Grand Mosque, or improving farmland, or a new armory, then the Golden Horde appear! . . .or you get excommunicated by the Pope . . .or your generals in far flung provinces decide to rebel against you. It's all here and in exceptional detail.
I bought this game in Feb 04 and haven't stopped playing it since. One recommendation: load Viking Invasion right away. Even if you don't want to play the Viking era, the new features and new units make the original MTW game even more enjoyable. I didn't load VI right away and I regretted it later.
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