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| Medieval: Total War | |
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| Developer(s) | Creative Assembly |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date | August 19, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy, real-time tactics |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | 350 MHz Processor, 128MB RAM, 8MB graphics card, 1.7GB disk space |
Medieval: Total War (MTW), is a computer strategy game where the player builds a dynastic empire in medieval Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Gameplay is both strategic and tactical, with grand strategy played out in turn-based fashion on a province-by-province level, somewhat like the 1980 board game Empires of the Middle Ages, while military units of varying types and capabilities fight against each other in real time on a tactical map.
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[edit] Introduction
MTW was the second game in the Total War series from The Creative Assembly, which includes Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War and Medieval II: Total War. MTW was followed by an expansion pack called Viking Invasion (VI). VI featured a new campaign map of the British Isles along with Scandinavia, and start the game in an earlier period of history (the main game runs from 1087 to 1453, while the British Isles campaign of the expansion runs from 793 to 1066). Players can either try to unite the people of the British Isles, or simply conduct raids on coastal settlements by taking on the role of the Viking invaders. The existing Europe-Near East campaign is also expanded with new units, and three formerly unplayable factions are made available to the player. Another feature of VI is the addition of more playable factions, one of which is the Aragonese.
An indirect sequel, Medieval 2: Total War was announced on January 20, 2006 and released in mid-November 2006.
[edit] Gameplay Features
The gameplay of Medieval: Total War may be divided into two parts - the turn-based strategic map and the real-time tactical battles. The player first chooses which campaign to play, which changes the period of history played in as well as the available factions and units. Then the player selects a faction to lead within the campaign.
[edit] Strategic Gameplay
On the strategic map, the player controls the actions of his faction and views the actions of the computer-controlled factions. Each faction controls one or more provinces, which are territories on the map that generate florins (money) for the owner. Provinces are also used to train military units, agents, and naval vessels, whose availability is primarily determined by the buildings constructed in the province as part of Medieval: Total War's tech tree. Actions are set during the player's turn but only executed at the end of it. This means that the player may move two armies into two different enemy provinces during their turn, but the armies are not considered moved and any combat is not resolved until the player ends their turn.
Buildings provide various bonuses to the owner of the province they are in. They may be constructed and destructed by the player in any owned province. Some buildings increase the revenue of the province, such as improved farms. Other buildings allow new units to be trained in the province, such as the Town Watch. Castle buildings provide a refuge for defeated troops in addition to allowing some units to be trained. Buildings cost florins to construct, and refund half of their value upon destruction.
[edit] Generals and Faction Members
Every faction has a royal family, composed of the current monarch, his sons, and (for Christian factions) the monarch's daughters. The monarch and his sons lead a royal bodyguard unit, usually a small contingent of elite cavalry. Princesses are agents that may be used as diplomats or married to a general or foreign royal family member. Generals are the leaders of an army, and include royal family members. Every general are rated in given categories on a scale of 0 to 9: Command ability, Loyalty (or Influence for a faction leader), Piety, Dread and Acumen. Every general also has a set of Vices and Virtues, which affect their abilities - for instance, a general with the trait of "loyal" will receive an additional point of Loyalty.
A general's traits and vices and virtues may change over the course of the game depending on actions they are involved in. A regularly victorious general will develop points in Command, while a general who runs away in battle may develop a trait that hurts his army's morale in battle.
[edit] Diplomacy
Diplomacy is accomplished by sending Diplomats (and Princesses for some factions) to the leaders of other factions. If the Diplomat or Princess successfully accomplishes their mission, the player will be allied with the targeted faction. An allied faction is asked to assist its allies if they are attacked by another party. Additionally, Princesses may marry into the allied faction's royal family.
Special diplomatic considerations must be made by Catholic factions for the Pope, who leads the Papal faction. With the support of the Pope, the player may launch crusades against non-Catholic provinces. However, if the player is out of the Pope's favor, the player may be excommunicated and have crusades called upon them. Attacking the Pope's provinces results in automatic excommunication. Muslim, Orthodox Christian, and Pagan factions may only be targeted for crusades, but may not launch crusades. Muslim factions can launched Jihads to retake provinces that were once Muslim but are now owned by a non-Muslim faction.
[edit] Armies, Agents, and Navies
An army is any group of one or more trained military units. An agent is a trained individual with a specific purpose (such as a diplomat or bishop. A navy is any group of one or more trained ships. All are represented as pieces on the strategic map, occupying the province the army, agent, or navy is currently in. Each may be moved from their current province to an adjacent province in a turn. An army can move among friendly provinces freely, but may only move into another faction's province as an act of war which may end in a battle if the enemy has an army or armies of its own in the attacked province. Agents can move freely between provinces regardless of ownership. Navies move among sea provinces, which are not owned by any faction.
[edit] Battles
If an army from two or more different factions are in the same province at the end of a faction's turn, a battle commences. The player has the option of personally leading his army in battle against the others, or having the battle automatically resolved by the computer, or retreating to the province's castle or an adjacent friendly province. If the player chooses to fight the battle personally, they will be taken to the tactical battle field.
[edit] Tactical Gameplay
On the battlefield, the player manages the units of his army against one or more enemy armies. Every unit has a number of stats associated with it, such as attack and defense, and morale which determines the unit's willingness to fight. By default, battles have a time limit which is determined by the size of the battle in terms of the number of men and units involved. The attacker wins if he eliminates the enemy or causes all the enemy units to rout by breaking their morale. The defender wins by eliminating the enemy, routing the enemy, or by surviving until the timer runs out. A unit's morale suffers if it is tired, losing men, if it's general is killed or runs away, or even if it is facing an intimidating foe. Tactical maneuvers such as flanking both kill more enemy soldiers and further reduce the enemy's morale, if the attack is executed correctly. Depending on the quality of the units involved, if the enemy's general is slain, the entire enemy army may route, ending in victory for player.
[edit] Factions
MTW divides the strategic map among a large number of factions. There are three types of factions: major playable factions (any one of which the player chooses to control), major unplayable factions, and minor factions. Major factions can control several provinces, have hereditary rulers, and generally act in an organized manner. They have a faction flag and distinctive color. Minor factions control a single province, usually raise only low-quality troops, and rarely act with any kind of coordination. They represent minor states or kingdoms (such as Scotland, Navarre, or Portugal), the side in a civil war not holding the throne, and rebels and bandits. The initial extent of each major faction's territory depends on the starting period of the game—Early (1087), High (1205) or Late (1321), reflecting the historical state of these factions over time. A fan-made mod called MTW: Super Mod adds 27 factions, along with making all previously unplayable factions available, and makes it so some provinces and factions are playable only during certain periods. The mod also includes new provinces (such as Iceland).
[edit] Multiplayer
Players may play real time tactical battles (but not the campaign) against each other over LAN or the internet. LAN play requires a connection to other players over a LAN with valid MTW CD keys. Internet play also requires an internet connection and that the player registers with Gamespy to access the multiplayer lobby, where games may be hosted and joined. The host of the game chooses the campaign era and period. After several players have joined the game, each chooses the faction they will play as and the units they will use. [1]
The multiplayer aspect of Medieval: Total War is still active. With the release of Medieval 2: Total War, the future is uncertain. The community is divided between non-expansion Medieval: Total War (MTW) and Viking Invasion Expansion Pack (VI). VI players cannot join MTW games and vice versa. The two do share the main lobby however. The game survives mainly on the network of clans in place. However since then, many players have stayed in MTW. Some players never bothered to buy the expansion pack when it was released and others prefer MTW because of the differences between it and VI (see below).
[edit] Modifications
There are a number of mods available for Medieval: Total War. Modifications change the content of the game, sometimes making minor changes, sometimes completely changing the setting, factions, and units of the game. For example, the NTW mods, or the Napoleonic Total War, is available for the Viking Invasion expansion pack and allows players to fight in conditions similar to those of 19th Century battles. It can be found at [1]. Others include Hellenic Total War, which allows players to fight battles in ancient Greece, which can be found at [2], and Pike and Musket Total War, which can be found at [3], which allows players to fight in the Renaissance period. PMTW has many unique features for MTW, such as the ability to build colony buildings that give access to special titles and special colonial troops.
Another prolific mod is Medieval Total War XL ([4]) which adds many new and previously unplayable factions (e.g. the Burgundians) and many more new units, for example the Norman Knight. There are also several stat changes and minor bug fixes.
The newest mod is Age of Warlords ([5]), which for the first time adds the North Atlantic and North America to the game in a Medieval setting, and offers many new playable factions, including the Eskimo and Algonquin Tribes, as well as hundreds of new units, the Cathar heresy, and many other significant new features.
[edit] Expansion
On May 6, 2003, the Viking Invasion (VI) expansion pack was released for Medieval: Total War. It added a new campaign set in the Dark Ages British Isles and Scandinavia from 793 AD to 1066, the year of the Norman Invasion. This new campaign features a new map, 8 new factions, and new units and characters. In addition to the new campaign, the expansion adds content to the original campaigns. Specifically, the Sicilians, Hungarians, and Aragonese become playable factions in the Early, High, and Late campaigns, and some new units are added. VI was generally well-received, with an 84% rating with 16 reviews.[2]
Complete list of factions added in Viking Invasion
[edit] Differences between MTW and VI
The major difference between MTW and VI is a bug (termed "swipe" by players) that was fixed in the expansion pack.[citation needed] This bug allows players to give their cavalry unlimited charging bonus if utilized.[citation needed]
[edit] Music
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This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (October 2007). |
The original music soundtrack for the game was composed by Jeff van Dyck, who also wrote the music for the other games in the Total War franchise.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Medieval Total War Beginner's Guide for Multiplayer. Retrieved on 2008-4-17.
- ^ "Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion", "Metacritic". Retrieved on 2008-4-15.
[edit] External links
- Medieval: Total War Fan Community
- Medieval: Total War at the Open Directory Project
- Strategic Command Center: Medieval: Total War Strategies, Mods and Forums
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[edit] April 2008
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