Medieval 2: Total War Review

By Alec Meer Published 13 November, 2006

Still top of the pile.

Version tested: PC

Dissing Total War would be like strolling into an army base and proclaiming "you're all only doing this because you're sexually inadequate" - in either case, it'd be massively misinformed and essentially suicidal. But, can I get away with something like, oh, I don't know, "is there likely to be a time when I will not be strung up by my lungs and left for dead for inquiring as to what point one might safely inquire into whether there is a small danger that, at an indeterminate point in the future, some folk might start to question if Total War games might have a small risk of not being considered quite as groundbreaking as they currently are?" Oh, God. I've gone and done it, haven't I? I'm dead. I'm so dead.

Well, seeing as my days are numbered now anyway, maybe I'll just come right out and say it. As fabulous a game as Medieval 2 is, the majority of its (absolutely worthwhile) improvements and changes are on the subtle side. Earlier Total Wars Rome and Medieval 1 both felt like significant jumps on from their predecessors; Med 2 focuses on honing its revered formula rather than taking The Next Step. Right now, the honing is definitely enough and the return to the era that's the motherlode of historical warfare so very pleasing that there's no real cause for concern just yet. If there isn't more of a shake-up come the next game though, there'll be justification in looking a bit stern.

So, without question, we're still looking at the most detailed and absorbing strategy game to stalk the Earth. The real-time battles look incredible, a beefed-up Rome engine offering far more detailed landscapes as well as newly varied-looking soldiers. It's the change in animations rather than polygon count and face textures that makes the greatest difference - there's now much more of a sense of hundreds of people fighting, rather than a bunch of robots charging at each other. It's let down a little by continued use of an ugly and slightly clunky interface that'll still present a mild barrier to more casual players.

The strategy map is where it's at, though, and the home of the bulk of the improvements. Though the mechanics of actual warfare haven't, apparently, changed enormously since Roman times, the mechanics of Empire building have undergone a more dramatic shift. For instance, there's now a choice as to whether a city is dedicated to its populace and to prosperity, or whether it becomes a costly Castle that can churn out a stronger army. A well-placed castle may turn the tide of war, but can result in an empty purse and thus disaster. Perhaps the most compelling change, though, is in religion - as in Rome, the true power in Europe lies in Italy, but now it's the Vatican rather than the Senate. In other words, don't mess with the Pope.

'Medieval 2: Total War' Screenshot 1

The strategy map's a hive of spies, diplomats, priests and merchants, all subverting the enemy in subtle ways.

His demands and expectations are more stringent than the taskmasters of the previous game, and disobedience carries twofold threats. Inquisition agents swarm locust-like across the map, scouring it for heretics and witches; if you're not in high favour with the Papacy, any major character, including generals, priests, princesses and merchants, not barricaded in a city might suffer horrible, screaming and sudden death. Continue to displease the hat - most commonly by attempting to seize an enticingly vulnerable city owned by a Pontiff-beloved state - and you may be excommunicated. This is, of course, rather more serious than not receiving Papal Christmas cards; in a worst-case scenario, you could find the entirety of Europe turned against you, as well as losing a serious cashcow in the shape of the Pope's invitations to well-rewarded missions and Crusades.

Combating this - without combat - is fascinating. Popes come and go, sometimes very quickly (two of 'em popped their Catholic clogs within the space of three turns in one campaign I played), offering an opportunity to elect a new Pontiff. If you've retained enough favour to still have one of your Priests on the College of Cardinals council, you can vote, picking a chap who may be predisposed towards you (or at least doesn't hate you). Essentially, the slate is immediately cleaned, as the new Pope turns his attention to his own elaborate political interests rather than those of his predecessor. One man's act of war is another's contrition, after all. If your Cardinal is favoured enough, there's even a chance you might get the keys to Vatican City yourself. Finish the main Campaign once, and another 12 factions are unlocked, several of which are Muslim. Formerly targets of European Crusades, the worm can turn by declaring Jihads on troublesome foes.

For more battle-inclined players, religion is a fussy thing to manage indeed, and occasionally becomes frustrating, especially as there's something of a split between your empire's overall favour with the big guy and that of your individual Priests. It's appropriate and welcome complexity though, and the single greatest proof that you're not in Rome anymore, Toto. If played very carefully, it's even a method of helping to expand your Empire without resorting to open warfare at every opportunity. In keeping with this approach, the new Merchant agents can squat on resource tiles, meaning a steady influx of extra revenue. A Merchant's a useful method of garnering income from territories you don't directly own, unless he suffers a hostile takeover from a rival merchant, in a non-violent scuffle that sidesteps most of the political machinations of their native Empires. This is, after all, business, not war.

'Medieval 2: Total War' Screenshot 2

Hmm. Archers with flaming arrows on a hill. This isn't going to go well.

It's symptomatic of the direction as a whole the game is taking. Though spectacular and as strategic as ever, the real-time battles sometimes feel like a distraction from the mesmerising high strategy of the world map, which increasingly does Civilization in a very non-Civilizationy way. Because you know you're going to get dragged away from your master plan for ten minutes or so, the temptation to hit 'auto-resolve' grows ever stronger, save for those situations where you're clearly on a back foot and taking direct control of an outnumbered force is the only hope of saving a vital general or family member's hide. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

It is in the battles, both real-time and on the turn-based map, that slight cracks show. In general, the AI feels a little more organic than previously, but I hit very occasional odd moments where an enemy squad suddenly ground to a halt and waited for death, or a group of my own archers simply refused to let loose the dogs of war unless I did a bit more frantic mouse-clicking. Such foibles are frankly rare, but jarring when they occur. There also seems to be a spot of over-compensation for complaints that enemy naval units rarely did much in Rome, to the point where I felt constantly hounded by rebel fleets in Med 2. Many were pointless, often out-and-out suicidal, others were simply hugely irritating barriers to simple acts like shipping a new governor to a far-off province. The only solution was to consistently send out massive, expensive armadas, or occupy coastal rebel cities sooner than I was necessarily comfortable with. It wouldn't rankle so much if there were an option to manage the sea battles myself and thus have a hope of pulling a shock victory out of the hat, but instead I only have the auto-resolve option, which very rarely seems to roll the dice in my favour. Naval combat's a growing part of the strategy map, and it'd be a major misstep if a real-time element of it wasn't introduced to the next Total War.

Which takes me back to the start, and that concern that next time, Total War really does need to do something a little different. There are hopeful signs that it might, as the closing stages of the Campaign lead into the New World, and a new foe in the shape of the Aztecs. It's only a minor addition here, but could bode well for a future Total War documenting colonialists and revolutionaries; a game, perhaps, of gunpowder, intercontinental trade and massive naval battles.

For now though, we can all rest safe in the knowledge that this is the best Total War yet. It's an absolute joy to take the accomplishments of Rome to the broader world, politicking and technology of the 11th to 16th centuries. Though familiar, MTWII is breathtaking in its depth, fiendishly challenging in all the right ways and a big old phlegmy spit right in the eye of anything else foolish enough to claim ownership of the strategy crown.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Alec.

About Alec Meer

A 10-year veteran of scribbling about video games, Alec primarily writes for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, but given any opportunity he will escape his keyboard and mouse ghetto to write about any and all formats.

Read more articles from Alec by visiting the Alec Meer archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Azazel #1 5 years ago

    TW is top notch all right. Although I miss the the original era of guys with big Samurai swords... Anything suffers from a lack of Ninjas I think. I hope they revisit Shogun at some point to.

  • TonyBlair #2 5 years ago

    Dissing Total War would be like strolling into an army base and proclaiming "you're all only doing this because you're sexually inadequate"

    Im sTrolling on this board yelling "you're all only doing this because you're sexually inadequate"

    C'MON THEN!

  • Salaman #3 5 years ago

    Wow ... about halfway through I seriously started to wonder whether it was heading for a 7 or an 8. A bit surprised to find a 9 at the bottom of that review.
    It seems a bit odd to elaborately explain how the TW perhaps needs a bit more change than offered in this title, then elaborate on al the defects, faults, niggles and annoyances found only to then turn around and slap an 9 onto it.

  • HarryPalmer #4 5 years ago

    Phht. Strategy Smattegy

  • PlugMonkey #5 5 years ago

    I have 2 questions:

    1. Can you save during battles?

    2. What is the likelihood of my 40 hour old campaign being brought to an abrupt standstill by a bastard immortal Almohad king who cannot be killed by any natural means? Which is what happened to me in the original M:TW. He thought nothing of single-handedly disposing of 360 elite cavalrymen.

  • Clive_Dunn #6 5 years ago

    "Total war is good but it's no Gears of war"

    I think you'll find it's better than Total War as the little number at the bottom is 1 higher ! Pwned, or something.

    Best TW game ever imo. Thing is, I know loads of people love the TW series, but I always thought they were so nearly brilliant but at the end of the day something always niggled to the point where I refused to play again.

    This one doesn't, the campaign AI is strong, diplomacy works, and I can build some REALLY big fortresses and watching peasants burn is always going to be fun.

    Top game. Still some battle AI stuff that needs a patch, and why for gods sake aren't there sea battles yet ?

  • Bonzrat #7 5 years ago

    [To Salaman] Yeah, I know that's going to cause some consternation. I did seriously ponder an 8 for a bit, but it really would have been a disservice. Faults it may have, but it still does 'it' better than absolutely anything else, and the good outweights the bad by a frankly ludicrous degree. I just felt I had to actually document the niggles rather than peform the sort of breathless lip service Total War gets in so many quarters. Sadly, more folk pay heed to score than words, so it was important that the message that this was a great, great game was clear to the skim-readers.
    cheers,
    Alec

  • wattoo #8 5 years ago

    It does seem strange that a franchise that has so much depth is so shallow when it comes to the sea battles.

    I'm sure for the rest of the game Medieval 2: Not-Quite-Total War is exceedingly good though.

  • UncleLou #9 5 years ago

    Excellent review - and I agree with your cautious initial point - it's a brilliant game, no doubt, but it's maybe time it gets a major overhaul for the next version. Maybe it's just because it is, despite many improvements, very similar to Rome.

    Still, great, great game, I am loving it to bits.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/06 @ 16:30

  • El_MUERkO #10 5 years ago

    So better than GoW then >:D

  • krudster #11 5 years ago

    In other news bananas are definitely better than those less brilliant 8/10 apples that everyone's so excited about.

  • faselei #12 5 years ago

    "... at an indeterminate point in the future, some folk might start to question if Total War games might have a small risk of not being considered quite as groundbreaking as they currently are?"

    BUUUURRRRRRNNNNN HIIIIIMMM!!!!! HERETIC!

  • HarryPalmer #13 5 years ago

    "... at an indeterminate point in the future, some folk might start to question if Total War games might have a small risk of not being considered quite as groundbreaking as they currently are?"

    BUUUURRRRRRNNNNN HIIIIIMMM!!!!! HERETIC!

    At least he doesnt wear ladies knickers

  • El_MUERkO #14 5 years ago

    Apples rock you banana fanboy freak! You're in the pay of fyffes!

  • haowan #15 5 years ago

    I prefer to compare bananas to celery.

  • JediMasterMalik #16 5 years ago

    lol

    Anyway, I love total war, but for some reason, find it laborious to complete, I enjoy the battles, but the turn based strategy is not as fun as say Civ. Don't know why but yeh. I probably will end up getting this.. once I finish Rome, which at my pace will be years. :p

  • El_MUERkO #17 5 years ago

    I havent played Total War since its first outing, I was thinking of getting this but considering how quickly I lost interest in Company of Heroes and Dawn of War I'm hesitant to get another point and click.

  • President_Weasel #18 5 years ago

    I was saddened to see the naval battles were still completely out of your control, but of course it's not going to stop me getting a copy. TW is the mutt's nuts.

  • pollster #19 5 years ago

    I too hope they revist Shogan for an update. Best in the series IMO.

    "Running from the battlefiled like a whipped dog!" class!

  • UncleLou #20 5 years ago

    I'm hesitant to get another point and click

    You just described every game that uses a mouse...

  • Clive_Dunn #21 5 years ago

    Med 2 doesn't use point and click, it has an advanced voice recognition system. Unfortunately it only recognizes the voice of Brian Blessed and get ready for some overacting.

  • JediMasterMalik #22 5 years ago

    lol UncleLou.

  • MrChuckles #23 5 years ago

    I sent my prince off on the first crusade and he got burnt as a heretic, i mean, he was going on a bloody crusade!

    The enemy AI is unfortunately a bit thick when it comes to the player sallying out of a city. A couple of units of archers can decimate the waiting attackers as they stand there not knowing what to do. then when you outnumber then 2 to 1, charge in and butcher the remains. Still, not as bad as Wardogs in Rome.

    Also, saw a pretty stupid mistake on the main map. Scotland sent a HUGE army over to take my small village of Dublin and left no (as in 0!) units in Edinburgh and only 1 in Inverness. The army disappeared into the fog of war, i took Edinburgh and they never returned.

    Basically a game aimed directly at stupid stat heads like me really needs to iron out these problems as i can't help but exploit them to gain an advantage.

    Finally, it is a lot easier than Rome so far, already have all of GB, and most of France without any real battles at all.

  • jmctavish #24 5 years ago

    There's too much good stuff on the PC at the moment. I really want this and Civilization 4 but worry that they will kill my social life for good.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/06 @ 17:49

  • PhakeDC #25 5 years ago

    IGN has given this 8.8. Why is EG being more generous than IGN? O.o

  • JediMasterMalik #26 5 years ago

    @PhakeDC - Learn how to round to the nearest whole number.

  • spongebob #27 5 years ago

    Stop referring to IGN. They suck.

  • UncleLou #28 5 years ago

    Finally, it is a lot easier than Rome so far, already have all of GB, and most of France without any real battles at all.

    If it's too easy, play as the Holy Roman Empire.

    /surrounded by the bloody Danes, treacherous French, the Venetians, and even the Sicilians want a slice of my pie

    That's after I elminated the Milanese faction, too. And I haven't declared a single war myself. And I am the No.1 faction, but I am crumbling now that the pressure is coming from all sides.

  • stoopidgreg #29 5 years ago

    just looked at the score. all i needed to know. buying the game. the last one was braw.

  • ave #30 5 years ago

    "So, without question, we're still looking at the most detailed and absorbing strategy game to stalk the Earth."

    Someone explain to the reviewer the difference between strategy and tactics.

    It may be the most detailed and absorbing tactical game, but the strategy side is severely lacking, and imo has degenerated from the system shogun used.
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/06 @ 19:58

  • stoopidgreg #31 5 years ago

    i thought the strategy side of the first game was excellent. it wasn't incredibly deep, but it was definately better than most games of its type. my old flatmate played the strategy part of the game exclusively for weeks on end (because his crappy computer couldn't handle the battles).

  • Collie #32 5 years ago

    Just a one page review? Aren't there enough adverts for PC games to span these reviews out across multiple pages like every other console game review here these days?

  • kid666 #33 5 years ago

    lol, better than GoW
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/06 @ 20:22

  • gamesb*tch #34 5 years ago

    I still can't be assed with all the 'management stuff' that's what killed the first version for me and it still seems to be heavily "marry this, pact that, paeons need wheat here ":/

  • Bm1987 #35 5 years ago

    As always another excellent tw game

  • Stickman #36 5 years ago

    What the hell is 'braw'?

  • UncleLou #37 5 years ago

    I still can't be assed with all the 'management stuff' that's what killed the first version for me and it still seems to be heavily "marry this, pact that, paeons need wheat here ":/

    If you only want the battles, you can set them up to your heart's content, independently from the campaign game.

  • stoopidgreg #38 5 years ago

    braw is scots for brilliant. "it's a braw moonlicht nicth tonicht"

    anyway, now i've read the review i'd like to say that was one of the poorer reviews i've read on EG. with a game as massive (and as popular) as total war, it deserves at least 2 pages. i also think there wasn't much crit of the game, just a brief overview of it, basically saying it's a lot like the previous game. i feel EG are getting lazier with their reviews of late. take consolevania / videogaiden reviews as good examples of quality, they have less than half the word count of a one page EG review but i learn far more about the game.

  • Veldaban #39 5 years ago

    There does seem to be a lot of tendency recently to just say, "it's a lot like the previous game in the series/genre, which is good but also bad". A bit like the reviews themselves I guess.

  • Metalfish #40 5 years ago

    I've been enjoying it thus far -though I miss the obsenely large unit counts one could muster out of Rome by choosing the "Huge" unit-scale option. I haven't investigated this in Medi2 yet for fear of breaking my pc....

  • WoodenSpoon #41 5 years ago

    Turn off shadows for big performance boost!

  • WrongShui #42 5 years ago

    What more can you say about the game? Its basically more of the same RTW wise with a few things that where nifty in MTW missing. All in all its awesome just for cannons, which have a weighty umpf to um.

  • kangarootoo #43 5 years ago

    @EuroSexMachine

    "Total war is good but it's no Gears of war"

    Oh christ. At least on the FEAR thread I could see the connection, however slight.

    You sir are an idiot. You have my permission to hold your breath until you die.

  • kangarootoo #44 5 years ago

    @WoodenSpoon

    "Turn off shadows for big performance boost!"

    Hehe, you know sometimes a sentence comes along that just seems suitable for any occasion. Well thats one right there, so I'm pinching it for my own private use. I bet it would work a treat in the bedroom ;)

  • Salaman #45 5 years ago

    Fair enough Alec, I see your point:

    example:
    stoopidgreg
    13-Nov-06 18:53:49

    just looked at the score. all i needed to know. buying the game. the last one was braw.

    :-)

  • stormuk #46 5 years ago

    Bowmen seem dumbed down.

    Did the old attack with spearmen to block and oodles of lonbows to pepper the evil french. After half the ammo was spent very little impact on the basic enemy behind the gate.



  • glaeken #47 5 years ago

    I think I may have overplayed RTW a bit much to pick this one up yet given it sounds very similar.

    I am not too sure about the pope either as it just sounds like the senate again but even worse. At least in RTW you could kind of ignore the senate which it does not sound like you can do in this one with the pope.

    The next in the series should be during the Napoleonic wars but they would have to sort the navel combat for that one as it was too important in the that era to leave up to auto-resolves. A Napoleonic wars era TW would be my dream game.

  • captain_cupcake #48 5 years ago

    I was looking forward to this, but had a huge disappointment over the weekend, when I couldn't get it to install. After the first disc, it didn't read the 2nd and now doesn't read the first.

    Anyone have similar problems? I'm thinking it is to do with copy protection - I installed the game on my second (sadly hideously underpowered) machine with no problem, and this doesn't have any 'suspicious' (though legal natch) apps on it...

  • Fatnick #49 5 years ago

    I like my 360, but if my PC was powerful enough I'd take this over GOW any day of the week.

    The pope sounds a little too powerful though.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/06 @ 14:26

  • Collie #50 5 years ago

    "I couldn't get it to install. After the first disc, it didn't read the 2nd and now doesn't read the first.

    Anyone have similar problems? I'm thinking it is to do with copy protection - "

    I think RTW wouldn't install if you had a few Clone CD/Daemon Tools type programs installed on your PC. I remember quite a few people having problems back then. No doubt the same occurs with M2TW. Which takes the piss if you've paid money for the game, you should be able to install it no matter what really. As far as they know, you won't be copying their disc so it's none of their business what potentially dodgy stuff you may have. If you buy a book, no-one cares if you have a photocopier/scanner at home. Perhaps not an exact comparison but lets not get pernickety over things.

  • Bonzrat #51 5 years ago

    If it is a copy protection thing, you could try creating a second Win XP user account on your main PC that doesn't load Daemon tools or whatever on startup.

  • captain_cupcake #52 5 years ago

    @Collie, Bonzrat, many thanks for the feedback guys.

    I'll try what you suggest. Had no problems with RTW, but...

    And you're right - it sucks. All the software I have is used for legit purposes, it only potentially could be used for illegal ones. Meanwhile my £30 game is lying untouched...

  • stoopidgreg #53 5 years ago

    "I like my 360, but if my PC was powerful enough I'd take this over GOW any day of the week."

    have fun controlling the battles with a joypad :p

  • kasabian72 #54 5 years ago

    I'm a fan of the Total War series too. But i especially wanted to reiterate the sentiments of those who wanted to see the series re-visit the "Shogun: Total War" original. Can't get enough of those warrior monks, kensai, and yari calvaries. Great stuff.

    Or, perhaps, do a Total War version of the Three Kingdoms saga since koei can't be bothered to do one. Imagine Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce's forces meeting on the battlefield simultaneously in real time......

  • mezzomorto #55 5 years ago

    I found it quite hard to ignore the Senate in RTW once they started ordering my faction leader to commit suicide or be declared an outlaw for 10 bloody turns in a row.