Its About time a sequel added more depth than became dumbed down.
My first impression wasnt good as i dont like the new unit icons at the bottom and more importantly there was a conflict with my keyboard in the battles. However this was fixed quickly and then the fun began. Once i got to play for a while i instantly realised the game does a fantastic job of drawing you in. The atmosphere for the game is nothing short of Medevil. There are several new things to keep you occupied and i felt that a real effort had been made to give the game more depth which is very refreshing after the last year of dumbed down games. One of the first new things introduced are the differences between Castles and Cities. A good idea and well incorperated which adds to the stategic element rather than just mass producing cities. The other main difference is the new agents added into the game. For the most part they are the same as Rome TW but the addition of merchants and princesses is a nice touch and they have prevented it from being like the old MTW where you have more agents than you know what to do with. The battles are probably what people are most interested in and i am happy to say that these have also been very much improved. Once again they are going for realism. As they marketed, there are several variants for the men in each unit and this makes the battles look amazing. Though i personally find it gets a little confusing when your looking down at a mass of different men all killing each other. They have also made the units spread out when they get into battle, each man trying his best to get into the action. Again this adds to the realism and also to the confusion. The Graphics look fantastic and when you have catapults and Trebuchet firing flame at the enemy and archers and crossbowmen unleashing their hair of arrows at a well defended battle its very hard to ignore the outcome and just watch this spectacular scene. The sound is also good though i personally preferred the Rome music i could understand why someone would disagree with me on that. All in all this is a VERY nice addition to the Total War series and it adds enough to make buying the game more than worthwhile. To Sumerise + More new features than i can say in one review
+ The look and feel of the game is perfect
+ Excellent Graphics
+ Looks very real + Just a lot of fun
- Your life might pass by with out you
- Sound is good but not great - Battles get a bit confusing (im clutching at straws here)
- The unit icons dont look that good.