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.Ĭombating this - without combat - is fascinating. 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. 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. His demands and expectations are more stringent than the taskmasters of the previous game, and disobedience carries twofold threats. The strategy map's a hive of spies, diplomats, priests and merchants, all subverting the enemy in subtle ways. In other words, don't mess with the Pope. 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. A well-placed castle may turn the tide of war, but can result in an empty purse and thus disaster. 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. 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. The strategy map is where it's at, though, and the home of the bulk of the improvements. 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. 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. The real-time battles look incredible, a beefed-up Rome engine offering far more detailed landscapes as well as newly varied-looking soldiers. So, without question, we're still looking at the most detailed and absorbing strategy game to stalk the Earth. If there isn't more of a shake-up come the next game though, there'll be justification in looking a bit stern. 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. 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. As fabulous a game as Medieval 2 is, the majority of its (absolutely worthwhile) improvements and changes are on the subtle side. ![]() Well, seeing as my days are numbered now anyway, maybe I'll just come right out and say it. I've gone and done it, haven't I? I'm dead. 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. 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.
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