Bugs and crashes mar, what is otherwise a very fun game.

User Rating: 8.3 | Medieval II: Total War PC
By xts3 | Review Date:
What is there to say? Well if you haven't played the first game (and I haven't) then coming to this game can seem like a breath of fresh air. Medieval 2 is a slower paced hybrid strategy game, on the main map your troop movements are taken in turns, but the battles can be fought in real time controlling and moving units. Note that, There is not a lot of strategy in this game, most of what you end up doing is making decisions on where to keep your armies while holding your enemies at bay. The game while in itself is fun to play, is an acquired taste. It's very "hands off" in many aspects of town management and things are very easy in this regard. Any management you do is in choosing whether a settlement remains a town or a castle, and building the buildings you need to get the units you want to produce at the correct locations.

The game takes place on the main map and everything in the main campaign is fixed. All cities and settlements, and resource locations are predetermined, there is no "Expanding" beyond conquering your enemy, in fact, war is the only way to expand. But as you would have guessed from the title: Total war. The fun thing about this game is the units and their formations, it can be very exciting taking down an AI with less troops due to superior troop movement and management. Taking down an army twice your size, and coming out barely alive or cleaning the floor with them is an amazing experience to behold!

Note that this game can be very frustrating since you need to download the patch right away to prevent a slew of bugs and crashes.

The bad things about this game are:

-The game feels like it was rushed out the door (note the game is full of bugs, even after the 1.01 patch). -The game is exceedingly slow during the main campaign when everyone is taking their turns, also speeding up animations of the unit movements is not obvious there is little feedback beyond watching units move.

-Many aspects (like diplomacy, princesses, etc) feel very unfinished. Diplomacy most of the time is simply an excuse to gain access to resources in enemy lands, which most of the time are worthless.

The good thing about this game:

-Making strategic choices about City management and troop locations on map map
-Fighting and managing you troops when the odds are against you and coming out alive!
-Graphics and sounds are first rate

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