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Medieval II Total War is a revisiting of the Medieval II, now more than five years old. This incarnation, set between 1080 and 1530, covers a theater of operations extending from England to Egypt, and encompasses most of eastern and western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. I enjoy the historical details, and the illusion that you are playing history. Creative Assembly have included historical events to add to the drama and realism.

I find the slow pace of the game conducive to thinking about what to do next and plotting the next invasion. This turn-based strategy game focuses on exploration, colonization, development of cities through building construction, production of troops (called units), upgrade of troop weapons and armor, developing the economy needed to support the troops, and diplomacy to provide an advantage in warfare. Characters are elevated to heroes and family members by marriage, birth, adoption, and success in battles.

Combat units come in several types: heavy, medium, and light cavalry, archers, and melee troops. Special units that are historically appropriate to the geographical area, and political affiliation can also be spawned from special training buildings. Units can be combined or retrained when depleted by battle.

Politics play an important role in furthering your cause. Agents include spies, assassins, diplomats, priests, princesses, and merchants. Like units, they go up in level of skill proficiency if they survive. The more agents perform their functions and survive the more experience they gain and the more traits and retinue they acquire.

Agents and generals can develop a retinue which includes bards, dancers, courtesans, doctors, apothecaries, and others. Agents and generals develop traits according to what they do in the game. A general who is a governor of a city takes on the trait of builder if he builds enough new buildings in a city. Princesses develop their charm and have a unique ability to marry opposing generals away from the opposition.

I grew attached to my characters as I watched them born, mature into adulthood, get married, have their first military victory, and begin to accumulate skill and maturity as evidenced by the stars of command. Generals can also increase in level of command, dread, chivalry, piety, loyalty, or authority. I loved following their lives as they developed, and mourned their passing after a good full life.

When I play, my games easily grow into over one hundred turns. The time taken per turn can be adjusted so that different actions can happen more slowly. I enjoy the games that take less time because I hate to see my characters age and die.

The 21 playable factions were enough to keep me busy. Initially, only five of the factions are playable, but you unlock the other factions by defeating them in scenarios and occupying their last settlement prior to defeat. Three of the factions are only playable in custom, historical, or multiplayer battles or by editing the game files. One faction, the rebels, will always be your enemy, and can only be bribed by diplomats. I enjoyed taking rebel units and rebel settlements, since the other playable nationalities can hold a grudge and will declare war if you attack their cities.

I had difficulty avoiding excommunication from the Pope and war with the papal faction. The Pope often puts you under an order not to attack other Christians usually right when you are getting back at a faction that attacked you. As long as you don't attack during the turns prescribed by the Pope, you are ok. The Pope will also elevate your bishops to cardinals. When the Pope dies, your cardinals have the opportunity for promotion to become Pope. Diplomacy can influence the election of the Pope, and if you didn't vote for the Pope who gets elected, this could harm your relations with the papacy.

Underneath the turn-based strategy game is a pauseable, real-time, tactical battlefield, where you control your troops in a real-time battle. The computer has the real advantage here because it reacts more quickly than you can to the ebb and flow of battle. You do have the option to pause the game to gain back that control and enter multiple commands.

The overhead oblique view of the strategic battlefield was awkward at first to control, but I found the view on the mini-map to be revealing as to the locations of general groups of troops. I found it essential to examine the enemies for their composition and attack them with the correct troops. Heavy infantry can shake off arrows, so using them against one another was futile for one and devastating for the other. The tactical game can be avoided by auto resolving combat. I found that it took a lot of time to master the tactical game - I am still working on it. It is a lot of work positioning troops just to find them outflanked.

Because Medieval II Total War is not a real-time shooter, I could enjoy the turn-based aspects and the time to explore and examine the map for heretics and rebel threats, not to mention enemy assassins or spies. Heretics are destroyed by a holy war. When you send a bishop, cardinal, or priest after a heretic you have some idea of the success rate. A spy can reveal a heretic's power the same as it can for all units, armies, and cities, but the percentage chance of success is always revealed when you attempt excommunication. Most agent battles will reveal these details.

I have played and enjoyed Total War game since that first, released in August, 2002. I found this title enjoyable from a lot of aspects. I became attached to my generals, spies, assassins, diplomats, merchants, and religious leaders. I watched them develop from weak into powerful characters. I watched the generals marry. And, when they grew old I watched them die. The lives of characters are more personal than in other games of this type. The game requires thinking and study to learn and provides an interesting diversion that I enjoyed.