Medieval: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics computer game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Activision. Set in the Middle Ages, it is the second game in the Total War series, following on from the 2000 title Shogun: Total War. Originally announced in August 2001, the game was released in North America on 20 August 2002 and in Europe on 30 August for Microsoft Windows.

Following a similar form of play to Shogun: Total War, the player builds a dynastic empire in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, spanning the period of 1087 to 1453. Gameplay is both strategic and tactical, with strategy played out in turn-based fashion on a province-by-province level, while military units of varying types and capabilities fight against each other in real time on a 3D battlefield.

Medieval: Total War received acclaim from reviewers; several critics commending it as a milestone in gaming. The real-time battles were praised for their realism and the new feature of siege battles but also received some criticism for unit management. The depth and complexity of the strategy portion was also received well by reviewers, together with well integrated historical accuracy. The game was a commercial success, topping the British video game chart upon release.

Gameplay

Medieval: Total War is based upon the building of an empire across medieval Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It focuses on the warfare, religion and politics of the time to ultimately lead the player in conquest of the known world. As with the preceding Total War game, Shogun: Total War, the game consists of two broad areas of gameplay: a turn-based campaign map that allows the user to move armies across provinces, control agents, diplomacy, religion, and other tasks needed to run their faction, and a real-time battlefield, where the player directs the land battles and sieges that occur.

The strategic portion of the game divides the campaign map among twenty factions from the period, with a total of twelve being playable. The initial extent of each major faction's territory, and the factions available, depends on the starting period of the game, Early (1087), High (1205) or Late (1321), reflecting the historical state of these factions over time. The factions themselves represent many of the major nations at the time, including the Byzantine Empire, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire and the Turks. Several factions, such as the Golden Horde, emerge during the course of play at their historical time. These factions, together with several other factions appearing at the start of the campaign, are unavailable to the player in the main campaign. Each faction varies in territory, religion and units; however, factions of the same culture share many of their core units.

In addition to the main campaign, Medieval: Total War also features a game mode where the player can undertake various historical campaigns and battles. Historical campaigns allow the player to control a series of famous battles from a war of the medieval period, such as the Hundred Years War and the Crusades, playing as historic commanders like Richard the Lionheart. Individual historic battles have the player controlling a historical figure in an isolated battle that occurred in the era, such as controlling William Wallace through the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Diplomacy and economics are two other aspects the player can use to advance their aims, as well as having access to more clandestine means such as espionage and assassination. Religion is very important in the game, with the player able to convert provinces to their own religions to cement the people's loyalty. Another campaign mode is available, called "Glorious Achievements", in which each faction has several historically-based goals to achieve, which score points; the faction with the most achievement points wins the game. The campaign mode is turn-based, with each turn representing one year, allowing the player to attend to all needs of the faction before allowing the artificial intelligence to carry out the other factions' moves and decisions.

thumb|left|The campaign mode features a strategy map with different provinces, with castles, agents, and armies indicated by figures.

The campaign is carried out in a similar fashion to Shogun: Total War, but features many enhancements. The game is set mainly in Europe, but also features the Middle East and North Africa. Occasionally in the game, a character will be trained bearing the name of a famous historical figure, with better than normal starting abilities. A general such as Richard the Lionheart, El Cid or Saladin will be a capable military commander, while a bishop such as Thomas Becket will have higher piety than normal. In the event of a civil war, the player is given the choice to back either the current rulers or the rebels. It had been planned to allow other factions who had established a prior claim to the throne by marriage to princesses to join in a civil war to claim the throne for themselves; however, this was never implemented.

During battles, players take control of a medieval army containing various units, such as knights and longbowmen, each of which has various advantages, disadvantages and overall effectiveness. Players must use medieval tactics in order to defeat their enemy, using historical formations to give units advantages in different situations. All units in the game gain experience points, known as "valour", which improves unit effectiveness in combat as it increases. Sieges are an important aspect of the game introduced to the Total War series, occurring when the invading army elects to attack the defending army which has retreated inside the province's castle. Upon starting the engagement, the attacker has to fight their way through the castle's defences, winning the battle once the enemy units have been defeated. Each unit in the game has morale, which can increase if a battle is going well for their faction, or decrease in situations such as sustained heavy casualties. Morale can drop low enough to eventually force a unit to rout off the battlefield, with the player having the option to attempt to rally the men back into the battle through their general.

Development

thumb|Siege battles are a new addition for the Total War series in Medieval: Total War. A castle can consist of several curtain walls; when breached the player must fight for control of the keep.

Medieval: Total War was originally announced by The Creative Assembly on 3 August 2001, with the working title of Crusader: Total War. Development of the game started shortly after the release of Shogun: Total War. Early in development it was decided to change the name to Medieval: Total War; this was to have a name that better reflected the scope of the game. In a press release, The Creative Assembly announced that the game would be published by Activision instead of Electronic Arts, the publisher of the previous games. The Creative Assembly also outlined the features of the game, including the game covering the medieval era from the 11th to 15th century, with players being able to participate in various historical scenarios of the time, such as the Hundred Years' War. The improved game engine also allowed more battle maps than previously possible, now based upon where the conflicting armies are located on the strategy map. Other new battlefield enhancements included terrain detailed with villages and vegetation and improved castle siege mechanics, with players now having to focus on destroying the walls before assaulting and capturing the castle. The game features improved artificial intelligence from Shogun: Total War, with the individual unit AI and the tactical AI—which controls the overall army tactics—separated to more effectively control the opposing forces. The game was released on 20 August in North America and on 30 August in Europe. The Creative Assembly released a patch on 5 November 2002, which was targeted to fix the several bugs that were still present in the game. A new historical battle based on the Battle of Stamford Bridge was later released by The Creative Assembly, made available through Wargamer.

| Allgame = 4.5/5

| CGW = 5/5

| EuroG = 9/10

| GSpot = 8.7/10

| GSpy = 4.5/5

| IGN = 8.9/10

Medieval: Total War received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. It ultimately received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The United States charts saw Medieval: Total War reach fourth in its second week after release, behind Warcraft III, The Sims and its expansion The Sims: Vacation. It sold over 100,000 copies in the region by August 2006, but was beaten by its successor Rome: Total Wars 390,000 sales there.

Reviewers praised the many different factors adding to complexity of the campaign, ActionTrip noting that "Medieval adds a new strategic balance to the game, which teaches that great empires come with an even greater responsibility". The number of factions in the game, each with their own historically accurate units and territories, was commended, with IGN and Game Informer stating it "gives the game huge replay value", with GameSpot praising the religion in the game, "religion played an enormous role in shaping history, and so it is in the game". However, GameSpot commented on a problem with a lack of information, "you'll have a tough time keeping track of all the goings-on in your provinces", suggesting this could be solved through a more informative interface.

The battle system in Medieval: Total War was considered by many reviewers to be the highlight of the game. In their review, Eurogamer felt "The sensation of scale and drama in these conflicts is incredible", praising the visual effects and combat. The game received an EMMA award in Technical Excellence for its audio by Jeff van Dyck, commended for having a "game soundtrack and score that is lush, well-mixed, and adds dynamically to the gameplay. The extensive diverse musical tracks sound authentic and fully engage the user." The Creative Assembly itself was also awarded the European Computer Trade Show PC Game Developer of the Year award, for the production of Medieval: Total War.

GameSpot selected Medieval as the best computer game of August 2002, and later presented the game with its annual "Best Single-Player Strategy Game on PC" award. The editors of Computer Games Magazine named it the eighth-best computer game of 2002, and called it "rich in atmosphere and compelling for long hours." It was nominated for PC Gamer USs "2002 Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" and Computer Gaming Worlds "Strategy Game of the Year" awards, which ultimately went to Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin and Freedom Force, respectively. During the AIAS' 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Medieval: Total War received a nomination for "Computer Strategy Game of the Year"; it was ultimately awarded to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

Expansions and versions

The Creative Assembly announced the development of an expansion pack, Medieval: Total War – Viking Invasion, on 7 January 2003. The Viking Invasion expansion pack adds a Viking campaign taking place from 793 to 1066, set upon an expanded map of the British Isles and western Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon and Celtic factions have the goal of repelling the Vikings and ultimately controlling the British Isles. New historical units were included with the expansion pack, such as the huskarls. Medieval: Total War: Viking Invasion brought several enhancements that were also added to the original campaign: flaming ammunition giving the player an option to set alight enemy castles,

Activision, the game's publisher, produced a combination of Medieval: Total War and Medieval: Total War: Viking Invasion, called the Medieval: Total War Battle Collection, released on 7 January 2004. Medieval: Total War Battle Collection contained both games, patched to the latest version, and their manuals. On 30 June 2006, Sega, the company that took over the publishing of the series, released a collector's edition version of the Total War series, called Total War: Eras. The edition included patched versions of Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War and Rome: Total War, together with their expansion packs, a documentary detailing the creation of the game series, and Total War memorabilia.

Reception

Viking Invasion received "favorable" reviews, albeit slightly less than the original Medieval: Total War, according to Metacritic. The pre-battle screen was commended by GameSpot, calling it a "handy new feature." GameSpot also praised the new additions to the original campaign, mentioning they have "made castle sieges more interesting". It was also a runner-up for Computer Games Magazines "Expansion of the Year" award, which ultimately went to EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath.

References

  • Total War official site
  • The Creative Assembly official website