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5/5 for newbies to series. 3.5/5 for veterans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: March 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you like turn based or real time wargames and if you haven't played any of the Total War franchise (Shogun, Medieval 1, Rome) so far, you are in for a treat. Medieval is a gorgeously rendered game that immerses you in lengthy nation & economy-building, back in the middle ages. But the key are the real time battles and boy are they fun to play and watch. In any case, the other reviews speak for themselves.

On the flip side, if you have played games in this series before, Medieval 2 is not without its flaws...

AI:

Med 2's strategic AI is pretty easy to beat, even at the highest level. This is unlike Rome which is much more challenging. My _guess_ is this: Rome and earlier games were heavily scripted, meaning that the computer would be _told_ to always play the same aggressive and effective way at the start of the game. With one script for each possible human player faction. I remember playing Scipio in Sicily 3 or 4 times before I finally learned how to stay alive. Sure, once you knew how to play a faction, you would win, but getting there was fun.

Medieval is, I think, less scripted and relies more on the AI actually figuring things out on its own. And it isn't very good at it, so the campaigns are actually a tad boring. If the AI does improve (a big if) then the game should have more replay value in the future. In the meantime, I'm not playing Medieval 2 much. The tactical battle AI is better, imho.

Graphics/individual soldier animation:

The graphics are eye candy. Graphics shouldn't make or break a game of this type. Wargames _can_ work with iconic/stylized graphics. I remember being thrilled by playing Harpoon, which had very very rudimentary graphics, even for its day. In fact, I rather prefer Rome's campaign map to Medieval's, because it is more stylized and easier to grasp at a glance. Granted, Medieval's battle map is a _big_ improvement, but I would have preferred to get naval battles instead of upgraded graphics.

Other new things:

The Pope: great idea. What a annoyance he is with his constant orders, just like Popes apparently were in those days.

Resources + merchants: good idea, would be better if resources weren't such a pixel hunt on the main map and if merchants weren't so preposterously difficult to assassinate.

Artillery: pretty good idea and fairly well represented - they are invaluable for city attacks and pretty good elsewhere. They sometimes can't fire somewhere and it is unclear why - no LOS? no spotters?

Princesses: what are they for anyway? I would have liked more strengthening of existing alliances by marriage, not just an underpowered Diplomat.

Religion: getting better and better in its effects.

Heretics: waste of time as shown, mostly useful to ramp your bishops' Piety and there aren't enough of them for that purpose.

City happiness: they've tuned the system a bit. Large cities do need lots of stuff to keep the locals happy. But it can be made to work and large cities don't _always_ oscillate between growth, revolt, suppression, growth...

May '07 addition: I've now installed the 1.2 patch and the strategic AI is as lame as ever, at 'hard' level. Nations that have me outnumbered send in their armies one by one so I can deal with them piecemeal. The AI really shows very little _strategic_ initiative. Again, this should not deter new players from this great game, but veterans will find little new challenge, just a different setting.

Addictive gameplay, nosy Pope, and a feeling of strategic brilliance with well-timed victories

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: December 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Graphics:
Having played every Total War game since Shogun, I knew what to expect going in. This game is quite an improvement over the original Medieval graphics-wise. The graphics are slightly better than Rome Total War - with an included option to select widescreen or fullscreen format, something that I wish more developers would include in their games these days. (Here's looking at you EA).

That and the fact that your individual soldiers within a unit have a randomized appearance put this a step above Rome in the graphics department - especially with the sheer number of units that can be in a battle.

My verdict? A+

Gameplay:
While I can only speak to the single player portion of the game, I have found myself playing 5 - 6 hours at a time, and have had to begin pacing myself. The politics, intrigue, and of course - warfare wrap things up into a nice little package of fun.

One thing I have found annoying (albeit probably realistic) is that the Pope - if there are lots of cardinals from an enemy nation, or if he is from one of the enemy nations can be downright hostile towards you.

As England, I was minding my own business - when France and their ally Denmark invaded me and declared war. Although I was caught by surprise, I was not off guard thankfully as I had just landed an army commanded by my best general in the general area they were attacking. This was a fortuitous coincidence as I was mainly getting him out of the mainland because there was an inquisitor poking around and executing my generals and family for heresy - and my best general, a "Pagan Magician" was someone I didn't want to lose despite his religious failings.

In short order, I beat the invaders out of my country and was on the outskirts of Paris - when the Pope told me to "quit spilling the blood of your fellow Christians with your aggression." I was perplexed long enough to realize that between them - France and Denmark made up half of the college of cardinals.

If they wanted to play dirty, so could I - as I began grooming new priests as candidates for cardinals - and assassins to open up the college itself.

Brute force isn't the only strategy in this game, and the politics and intrigue add a whole new level of depth to this series.

My verdict: A+

Overall - I am pleased to see the return of special mission videos that have been lacking since Shogun, although these are not quite (but almost) as interesting to watch. I have had an excellent time with this game, and recommend it to old fans of the Total War series - as well as new fans alike.

From Europe, Africa, the Middle East - and I understand America can be opened up... prepare for Total War. Crusades and Jihads abound during this representation of a tumultuous time in human history. The mongol invasion is represented as well - adding more and more levels than existed in the earliest Total War games.

Worth the money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: February 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Despite the problems now and then, this game is still very fun. Yes, there are those moments where the AI seems really stupid. For instance, besieging one of your castles with barely enough men to lift a ladder to a wall, or standing still while 300 of your archers rain a continuous shower of arrows on them.

But, I have had some very memorable moments in this game. Like assaulting a castle with three siege towers and a battering ram only to have all but one of the siege towers destroyed before reaching the walls. Then shifting my entire army to assault that single point on the wall where my one siege tower was still standing... once the wall assault began I remembered that a third of my army was cavalry (horses can't climb ladders); therefore, my only chance to win this battle was to get those castle gates open! My men were being slaughtered on the wall and their morale was breaking, so I sent my general forward to rally the troops and attempt to lift their fighting spirit. It worked... the men seemed to turn from whimpering fools to fighting mad men. They slaughtered their way towards the gate and finally opened it... my cavalry rushed in charging full bore towards the city center. The only thing stopping me from getting the castle now were about 40 spearmen. To make a long story short the battle was won to nearly the last man standing. It was perhaps the most awesome battle I've experienced in the Total War series so far.

Medieval 2: Total Failure

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: December 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After playing this game for several weeks now, it has become obvious that "crunch time" (the period of time that game developers are supposed to irons out kinks) was poorly executed. The game is adulterated by numerous bugs. For example, there is a widely known bug (aka 2-handed bug), which effects some units that implement 2-handed weapons. During battle in campaign mode, sometimes these units (for example, french dismounted noble knights) do not attack as they should, but instead many get stuck in parrying animation while they get pummeled to death by opposing units.
Also, there is poor unit cohesion. For example when you order dismounted knights to attack, only few knights will engage while the majority will sit back and do absolutely nothing. Units at times will not follow orders properly, especially when chasing down routing armies (cavalry are especially difficult to control when in pursuit).
The AI is quirky and noticably unintelligent. Small armies will sometimes seige a city defended by an army twice or triple their size. I've fought AI armies consisting entirely of seige weapons. The AI is passive and will just stand their while you fire multiple volleys of arrows into their ranks. Alliances and your reputation are now irrelevant, as you will always be backstabbed by one of your allies.
Units sometimes disband prematurely while on crusade. It is very difficult to traverse the map while on crusade.
I can go on, as the list is huge.

The 1.1 patch released on the 15th of December does not correct the most important issues.

You can visit multiple forums to confirm the contents of this review.

I suggest that gamers wait until patch number two is released (which had been delayed yet again), before you buy this product.

Took a good idea and didn't execute well enough

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 22
Date: December 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I originally enjoyed the title series MTW, and mildly enjoyed RTW. I was very excited about this release and bought it first order on November 16th when it was released. The game has more than a few problems and feels as if it was not tested well. Though it functions, it is not very exciting to play, it feels more like a chore.

I would write a better review, but you can get them at many other sites. I can only say that I wished I had waited 6 months to buy this game after they worked out the kinks and lowered the price. Unfortunately, I did not, so I can only rate this game having played it out of the box.

Major Disappointing Bugs bog down a would be masterpiece

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a huge fan of Rome:total war and its expansions, I was anxiously awaiting the release of this game. In Rome total war, the quick battles, amazing campaigns, and customized battle scenarios gave me months of playtime, literally. When I opened up Medeival total war some of its aspects met par, but many were a huge disappointment. Medeival total war 2 takes place in the time period of just before the 1st crusade to the early colonial era. There are many factions in the game, but all of them pretty much fall into groupings (Italian city state, muslim, nomadic, eastern european, western european, northern european). To start off on a good note, I began the campaign and I absolutely loved it. note I am one to simulate all of my battles. The map is much more vast than before, with more detail and more agents. The option between cities and castles is a nice addition to the game, and the ability to recruit more soldiers at once adds much more fun. Also, the economics have been fixed from rome total war and are now accurate (big cities don't operate in the red). The inquisitors of the catholic church are annoying but the crusades are fun. Overall, the campaign sets the stage for a masterpeice of a game that comes crashing down when I reach the quick and custom battles. Continuing the fix of the rome total war's monotonous quick battles, the quick battles have much diversity. The maps available are great however I would have prefered more bridge scenarios. You can customize your forces as much as before which meets expectations. However, when you get to the actual battle you are left scratching your head. First of all, the AI from rome total war has gone from just plain stupid to mentally retarded in this game. The AI pathfinding is horrible, and worst of all the enemy will always send forth its missile troops to engage and have their main force just sit there until their missile troops are out of amo or slaughtered. Battles are stupid, senseless, monotonous, and tedious with this kind of AI. When you play in siege mode, the AI is even dumber. They don't use their siege equipment correctly and once again believe that their catapults and cannons should destroy every single wall of your city rather its gates, towers, and units. The enemy will have oppurtunities to enter my city and will sit there, and they will walk back and forth like idiots. I am appalled and the rushed and pathetic effort made towards the battles in this game. Even the new combat animations are not much relief. This game makes me sad because it had all the potential, but was rushed onto the market.

KILL ALL YOUR PRINCESSES!!!!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having logged in thousands of hours playing Rome Total War, I find this new version of the franchise satisfying, but lots of areas, namely the AI, seem to have not improved at all, in some cases, it is even worse than in Rome total war.

In battle, especially the cavalry units lagged behind your commands, and sometimes tend to waste incredible amount of time performing simple actions, such as chasing down a handful of retreating enemy.

The Single Player Campaign map is basically exactly the same as in Rome Total War, (except for slightly more buffed-up textured terrain), there hasn't been any improvement there whatoever. The worse part is that foreign nations tend to send those little annoying agents to trying to make negotiations with you, this ended up taking up most of the game play- you waste hours of time watching badly animated diplomats and princesses bowing their heads, present a document to you, and THEN bow their heads again, all of those CANNOT be skipped, and you know what? They do this AGAIN and AGAIN, for every single f**king turn.

This one time, I have THREE scottish princesses making silly dances around
Dublin which is just a small city with nothing going on, and I spend about three minutes each turn just to watch the incredibly retarded animation. The only way to stop this seem to be sending assasins to kill the princesses, but too bad I ran out of money then. The game simply COULD NOT be played when s*%t like that happen to you.

Obnoxious AI at Strategic Level

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: February 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is exceptionally frustrating on the strategic level! I actually prefer the old game piece model in Medieval Total War I to this. The map causes all sorts of unintended tactical and strategic dilemmas. The AI's diplomacy is atrocious.

I'm playing the latest patched version as Venice, Russia and Scotland respectively at Medium Difficulty. Wave after wave of all types of countries attack, allies break their alliances and attack, I never declare war ever and despite my attempts to buy peace I end up at war with the entire map. After this when I check my reputation the deal-breaking snakes have something like a "reliable" reputation and I have "mixed" or worse. Sound like fun?

Then there is the Pope. You get hammered by some snake of a Catholic nation and try to retaliate or take out an offending fleet and the Pope (who was very often from my faction) slaps you with a cease hostilities "mission" effectively tying your hands. This is especially fun when the offending party has troops or fleets in delicate bottleneck locations of the map. If you "fail" the mission you get excommunicated and your cities will promptly revolt. Your basically screwed until the Pope dies and you get reconciled (meanwhile your war effort gets it in the shorts because you are too busy trying to quell revolts and lower your taxes so you can't afford to keep your army up).

Expect to see wave after wave of generic troops pounding into you for no good reason until you uninstall the game and place the DVD in your waffle iron; eyes leaking tears of frustration as the iron leaks wisps of smoke

Great graphics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have only played the game a couple of days now but am very impressed with the graphics. I love Rome: Total War. I am surprised to read the opinion that the graphics are not much different - they are very different and much clearer.

The start-up screens are finally in high-res and the transition from day to night is amazing - you should see the clouds. A night siege with fire breathing balistas is incredible.

However, I haven't been able to adjust the video settings to reduce lag. I have a Dell XPS GEN4 running at 3.75ghz and 4gb of RAM (max available) and the game still lags annoyingly. In Rome:TW you could adjust the graphics mid-battle and the screen would refresh emmediately and a great difference in game-play speed would result. However, in this game, when you modify the graphics settings during battle nothing seems to happen - even when reducing all the way down to 'low'.

Maybe someone has a tip on this. It is causing a graphically beautiful game to be frustrating to play on a high-end machine.

Total War does it again.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game follows the Rome Total war system, but lets face it you always back a winner. The new game is graphically excellent, the game play is great and overall its a definite winner. Its stable and doesnt crash well at least on my system and only slows when the numbers being crunched are very high.

The strategic side of the game is better, improvements to diplomacy are good but not infallable, I recommend you play this game knowing that any alliance is going to be short lived and that eventually you or your ally is going to take advantage, which given the period is quite realisitic. The only patch recommendation I would add is to make dynastic marriages a little more binding.

The Castle/City idea is great though it takes a long time to build things up the new system is more realisitic. The combat system is much improved over RTW with the battles very realistic and quite a bit more visually pleasing, the AI does need some tweaking, the bad guys need to be a bit brighter but its only noticable if your a mad keen gamer. A bit of tweak and the enemy will behave with a bit more brain, like run before you die and be all good. Attacks on Castles can be fun as either the defender or attacker, defending is harder as your opponent generally attacks in a few locations so pay attention to you garrison size and composition.

Overall its a great game and worth every cent.

Cheers

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