Medieval II: Total War Review

Real-time battles are carried out the same as before, except this time you have an opportunity to employ a rather impressive variety of new units. Engaging in battles and accepting the challenge of wining a conflict in real-time is still of one the most enjoyable facets of this game. When two massive armies assemble on the battlefield, or if a massive siege is taking place, we encourage you to take matters into your own hands. On-the-spot tactics become imperative. When you're leading a siege, for example, you can use trebuchets and catapults to weaken defensive structures of the besieged city. After that, order your archers to launch a wave of fire arrows into enemy lines, just to sort of even the odds, and then you can move your infantry into the fray (spearmen, swordsmen, dismounted knights etc.). You should always begin a battle with additional cavalry units to flank enemy ranks when they are most vulnerable - a well-known and most useful approach.

The cavalry is always effective against regular infantry.

I'll take you all on, you filthy dogs!

In all fairness, Medieval 2: Total War is a technically sound real-time strategy. Still, one or two things could've been handled better. Throughout the main campaign I encountered some lousy path-finding (yeah I know, it's still a common symptom in RTS games). Occasionally, enemy units appeared slightly confused when they had to choose their targets. Their cavalry, for instance, may start running back and forth without engaging your troops at all. Or they would simply take way too long before issuing an attack. Also, opposing generals often die too quickly by marching needlessly into a cluster of your soldiers. Although these flaws were rare, they did blunt the experience somewhat.

The graphics in Medieval 2 are some of the best we've seen in the series. Units are extremely varied (no more of those cloned Roman legionaries) and each battlefield is vivid and highly detailed. Battle animation has also been improved, so when you zoom directly into the fray you can see individual soldiers swinging their swords and parrying with their shields. As you'd think, the epic soundtrack goes along brilliantly with the battles and you can also hear a range of realistic sound effects in the background. In a word, it all amounts to a spectacular ambiance.

Should you find the time, you can also enjoy the multiplayer mode which is playable online and via LAN. We created a few custom battles and started tearing into each other with massive assaults, rushes and sieges. It was fun, I can tell you that much. By the way, the multiplayer is still restricted to real-time battles (i.e. still without the turn-based portion of the game).

If you think Rome: Total War was an exciting and challenging strategy, you should try Medieval 2 on for size. Take the time to enjoy every aspect, from diplomacy, trade, politics, religion to warfare and real-time clashes on the battlefield. The variety of units is amazing and it's easy to get caught up in multiplayer skirmishes. Granted, infrequent AI bugs may cause a few annoying moments, but that can easily be fixed with an update in the near future.