Overview

Yes my liege

I get pangs of guilt whenever I think of my Shogun: Total War review. Considering the years of enjoyment it provided me, despite the quite legitimate flaws pointed out the review, it’s a crime that I did not grace it with an Editor’s Choice Award. It is quite simply a game that managed to overcome the difficulties that its design presented.

The famous battle with the pikes!

Gotta keep the knights safe

Obviously, secure the bridge!

Now, with its grand sequel – Medieval: Total War – I fear I face another such challenge. Medieval, as you might guess, takes the gameplay of Shogun and brings it over to a similar period in Europe’s development, the medieval era. The Dark Ages have ended and European civilization is recovering. Christianity is established even in the East and only a few spots of paganism blemish the world. However, the Europeans face a challenge from the surging Muslims in Spain and the Near East.

As the years go by

Players can choose to start the game in one of three eras – the Early, High or Late Mid Ages. The Early era starts in 1087, a scant two decades after the Norman conquest of England and paving the way for the Hundred Years’ War, 250 years hence. The vast plains and forests of Russia are untamed and the Byzantine Empire is a force to be reckoned with – the last barrier between civilized Muslim nations and the relatively barbaric Europeans. Crusades will be a daily fact of life before the High period comes around.

The High medieval times start in 1205, one year after the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. This Crusade marks the coming end of the Byzantine Empire and the end of the religious aspect of the Crusades, as they become political and commercial tools. Military technology continues to advance in a predictable fashion – cavalry gets heavier, infantry get more armor and spears to compensate, and castles grow as nations reap the increasing wealth that stability provides. Crossbows are the one surprise development, powerful enough to pierce the heaviest armor yet simple enough that any peasant can use them. This upsetting of the balance of power even has the Pope issuing what turns out to be a completely ineffectual edict banning the use of crossbows.

Argh, didn't get there in time

The AI should really let the sergeants loose

Now it's too late

Finally, the Late mid ages in the game start at 1321 AD. It’s almost a century since the Mongols crushed the budding Russian kingdoms and laid waste to the Muslim lands all the way to Egypt. The Holy Roman Empire (Germany) no longer stretches into northern Italy and threatens the Papal States. The Byzantine Empire is reduced to a tiny rump, and the Turks are becoming active, at the expense of the Byzantines and Egyptian Sultans.