The first rays of light had not yet broken over the horizon, a cool wind blew out of the north and a light fog had begun to form in the low places. Pierre gazed across the fields, uttered a prayer to St. Bernard, patron saint of farmers, and began to sweep his scythe in broad strokes at the wheat before him.
After a few strokes, he stopped to listen to a clopping sound from the nearby road. And out of the mist and above the wheat, which was nearly as tall as he, the banners appeared. They were white, red and yellow, and there were crosses on them. Crusaders, he thought excitedly, and likely headed toward the castle of Vienne. Without a second thought, he moved quickly through the wheat toward the road, stopping only when he reached the edge.
There, he saw them: great horses, adorned with the livery of their master, emblazoned with symbols of the crusade; powerful knights sitting atop the horses wearing layers of chain and thick leather and wool, their crests and colors proudly displayed, their banners flapping in the early morning breeze. They were awash in color — brighter than Pierre had seen in many years, brighter even than the stained glass in the town cathedral.
He longed to join the march, to fight the infidel and to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem. In his dreams, he saw himself as a powerful lord, commanding great armies and bringing glory to himself and his family. As he stood silently in the wheat field, the column of knights, followed by all manner of footmen and sergeants, quickly passed before him and soon was out of sight. For several moments, Pierre stood quietly. The only sounds were the crickets in the ditches and the whistling of the wind in the wheat; the only sign of the crusaders' passing was a cloud of dust and the dreams of a peasant farmer named Pierre.
The Crusades and the entire period known as Middle Ages in Western Europe were a violent and dark time, dominated by religious fervor, casual brutality and the reign of tyrants. And what better setting to use for a game? Well, Creative Assembly and Sega have done just that. In a sequel to the original game of the same name, Medieval: Total War II places you as the undisputed king of one of a handful of growing kingdoms during the Middle Ages. Your goal is to conquer much of Western Europe and lead your armies on a grand crusade to capture and hold Jerusalem, holiest of cities for Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
As with the previous Total War games, Medieval II allows you to lead your kingdom, build troops, develop your cities, and use trade and diplomacy to your advantage, but it also allows you to fight your battles on a tactical level and lead your troops personally. The tactical battles are, in fact, one of the best parts of the entire Total War series, and Medieval: Total War II does not disappoint. There are an expanded number of maps, towns and cities, and fortresses, and the graphics in the battles are truly breathtaking. In a recent game, I found myself as the English, facing off against the Scots, in a great battle. The armies stood on either side of a valley, lined up in long rows, weapons glinting in the sunlight, banners flapping in the wind, and our taunts hurled toward each other across the empty fields. It reminded me of a battle in the movie "Braveheart," in which William Wallace discovers he has been betrayed by the leader of the Scottish nobles, "Robert the Bruce." Being able to smash the enemy and watch them flee over those hills in similar fashion was so much more satisfying.
Like Rome: Total War, Medieval II has a governing body — "Council of Nobles" (in Rome, it was the Roman Senate) — that offers quests. These quests ask you to capture cities, sometimes make peace with your neighbors, kill rivals, embark on grand crusades and so forth. The rewards often are in the form of coin or units or sometimes reputation with another faction. From time to time, you also receive quests from the Pope himself, usually to invade the Holy Land or to make peace with your neighbors (the Pope desires peace among his subjects and utter control of Jerusalem in the name of Christianity).
Like the Total War games before it, Medieval II's bread and butter are the tactical battles. It is here that each aspiring general proves his or her mettle, rising or falling on the backs of numerous squads of soldiers, peasants, knights and engines of war. Like its predecessors, the maps are truly awe-inspiring in their scale, complete with rivers, mountains, massive fortresses and cities, and even dense, mist-filled forests.
The tactical battles can be both fun and, unfortunately, repetitively boring. I found that after a time, I tended to automate the smaller engagements, as they posed little enjoyment, and focus solely on the larger and more key battles. Taking a fortress, defeating one or two large armies, defending my city from invasion — these are battles I play over and over.
And it is the tactics themselves that must be refined and honed with practice. Classical strategies work well in Medieval II, luring the enemy into an ambush or trap, flanking them with cavalry, feinting with cavalry or light skirmishers to isolate enemy units, or even a frontal assault with heavy cavalry that can demoralize the enemy and send them fleeing from the battlefield. All of these and more can be used with the right troops and the proper planning, and it was from a well-planned and executed battle strategy that I drew the most enjoyment and satisfaction.
One of the other amazing aspects of the Total War series has always been the graphics of individual units. And Medieval II has taken this a step further and given individual appearances and animations to troops within units. No longer are your soldiers clones of one another; now they vary greatly in appearance, and during combat, they fight, move and die as differently as they look.
The biggest part of Medieval II, and the key of the single-player game, is the campaign mode. In campaign mode, you begin as a small kingdom bent on dominating Europe and bringing Christianity to the Holy Land by any means necessary, which in the Middle Ages means at the point of your sword.
Leading this crusade against the infidels is the Pope himself and the entire Roman Catholic order. It is through the appointment of Cardinals that you have some measure of control over the Pope, though not nearly as much as you might desire. Even a pope from your very own kingdom will turn on you as quickly as the next should you pursue your own ends that are contrary to the pursuit of the Church and the Crusades.
Campaign mode is designed for those people who are content for a long game ... and I do mean long. There is a "short" version, but even it can take many hours of gameplay. Conquering Europe is by no means easy, even for a military genius like Napoleon or Julius Caesar. And while you do have the ability to alter the difficulty of the campaign and of the tactical battles, it still takes quite a bit of time to conquer your enemies while satisfying the Pope's demands.
Like other Total War games before it, Medieval II comes with a multiplayer feature. However, this feature is unchanged from those before it. You can fight tactical battles against others, even cooperatively, but probably the most requested feature from fans, multiplayer campaign mode, is still not available.
As with the other Total War games, Medieval II is highly moddable, and the modding community is very active for all of the games of this series. Numerous mods — ranging from historical or fantastical battles, to small data tweaks, new or altered units, to fully fledged campaigns or total conversions — are available from many sites on the Internet. Some of the more popular are the Realism mods and the Lord of the Rings mods. But there are many options that continue to extend the lifespan of this game (and its predecessors).
Medieval II: Total War is a classic game of conquest, strategy and the pursuit of glory for King, Country and Church. It has superb graphics, excellent replayability and moddability and offers enough gameplay options that you can have a short or a long game of your choosing. The only real drawback is that the multiplayer feature still lacks the features what most fans of the series have been desiring for years: true cooperative or head-to-head campaign mode.
So, m'lord, strap on your armor, draw your sword, mount your steed and prepare to lead your armies to glory! Your kingdom and subjects await your command!
