Medieval 2: Total War

Medieval Total War was a great game with many bad problems, and Medieval II Total War is a great game with many great problems. Problems like the Pope, who always seems to demand that you join in a Crusade right when you’re on the cusp of annihilating an enemy faction. Problems like Inquisitors, who execute your faction leader for heresy just before a critical battle. Problems like alliances gone bad; your best general shacking up with a “foreign fruitcake;” or half your army deserting on the way to Jerusalem because you aren’t moving fast enough. In short, problems fit for a king.

This isn’t some flawless masterpiece, but it does refine the Total War system much better than the Rome series did while delivering on most of the promises the original Medieval game taunted us with.

The strategic game, for example, now offers so many interesting decisions that it nearly crosses into role-playing territory. After a successful battle, do you want to ransom prisoners, nobly release them, or simply murder them? Should you march your army to the next objective you had in mind, or divert them to complete a special mission with the promise of rewards that will give you a leg-up?

Religion plays a huge role this time around, with crusades and jihads playing a central role in the strategic layer. Leaders of Christian nations must stay in the Pope’s good graces at all times as attacking the Papal States is purely suicidal. Priests from your faction are used to convert other lands to your faith, and keeping them busy increases the chance that they’ll be promoted to Cardinal - meaning you get more say in who becomes Pope when there’s a vacancy (and also increasing the chance that a Cardinal from your nation becomes Pope, which is quite a coup). Get on the Pope’s bad side and he is very likely to sick the Inquisitors on you, eliminating precious leaders. And if he decides to excommunicate your nation it’s pretty much Game Over.

“Requests” to join crusades can be denied as long as you are prepared to face the consequences, but there are many reasons to take up arms for the cause. Crusader army stacks can recruit powerful units very inexpensively as long as they keep moving in the direction of the chosen target, and they require no upkeep whatsoever until the end of the crusade. Participation in a successful crusade also grants some seriously good rewards, such as giving every unit an experience boost that can make it extremely formidable in later battles.

Aside from crusades and jihads, a number of special missions crop up from time to time that are optional but also come with rewards such as extra cash or powerful units. These quests spice up the gameplay considerably by forcing you to constantly choose between furthering your own goals or diverting some of your power to pick up a quick buck.

Faction leaders are more important than ever as it is crucial to keep your best city managers where they are needed and your best generals on the front lines. Unfortunately, it is often the case that leaders are either good at both of these things or unsuitable for either, and juggling everyone around where they can do the most good adds a great deal of depth to the strategic game. Diplomats, spies, and princesses all play the important roles they had in past games, although it is much easier to manage them in this game than it was in the original.

Only a handful of factions are available from the outset, but as soon as a short campaign is complete (which takes only a few hours) seventeen open up ranging from the Portuguese in the west to the Turks in the east. Short campaigns require eliminating only a few factions and holding fifteen regions, while long campaigns require holding at least 45 regions including a key area like Jerusalem, Constantinople, or Rome. City management can get out of control in the longer campaigns, but, fortunately, anything can be assigned to the AI so you can focus on the major strongpoints and let the backwaters take care of themselves.

Of course, this series earned its reputation by providing visceral tactical battles, and the presentation here outstrips even that of the Rome series. At last, we get to see units from this period in gorgeous 3D, and in typical fashion there are a staggering number of faction-specific troops to master.

Beautiful as the tactical battles are, the AI remains relatively weak and often makes some incredible mistakes. In one engagement, the entire enemy battle line stood a few hundred yards from a veritable wall of ranged units for several minutes, losing nearly half its men before charging. AI cavalry is rarely used as effectively as it could be, as they tend to charge the center of a strong line instead of hitting the flanks, and often reserve forces are so far removed from the frontline that the main force is annihilated before they can bring their arms to bear. Overall, however, the AI does a reasonable job (particularly on defense) and punishes poor tactics, and taking city centers is just as tedious and attrition-based as it used to be. It often is best to simply lay siege, wait for the defenders to sally forth, and crush them.

The interplay between cavalry and infantry works as it should, but ranged units are still overpowered. Mounted missile troops are absolutely devastating because they are nearly impossible to catch without fast cavalry, and loading up an army stack with the type of cavalry that can handle them seriously weakens the stack against more typical force mixes, which rely heavily on troops armed with spears. The AI rarely uses its mounted missile troops effectively, but players can exploit them to terrific effect, as was the case in Rome’s Barbarian Invasion expansion.

Despite the unevenness of the AI and the potential for abuse with certain units, the tactical battles are still a blast to play and they look better than ever. Whether you are taking on hordes of Aztecs with ancient Tenochtitlan looming in the background, watching tightly packed ranks of gleaming lancers smash into the tender back of a spear line, or being mesmerized by the arcs of flaming arrows during a night attack, Medieval II completely delivers on the sights and sounds of battle.