Is Medieval 2 Total War good as they say?

[UK2004]

Been recommended this as I likeold fashioned war games with strategy, is it worth te outlay still £30 everywhere I look.

[Dooms]

Havent played it myself but thats more becuase I cant spare the time to get addicted to another game

Everyone I know who has gotten hold of the game LOVES it...

Cheapest I can find it online is £24.99 from Play.com - gameplay.co.uk - Amazon.co.uk

[autopilot]

Try the Demo. Its a real completely love it or completely hate it kind of series. It demand quite a lot of dedication to get the most from it.

[Elessar_VPR]

If you've played Rome TW then you have a good idea of what to expect. But it's better than Rome (though in part that may be due to the fact I prefer that period of history), videos are back for assassinations and such like (dropped since Shogun), sieges are better, as you can be assaulting proper multi-walled castles, battles are actually tactical affairs (unit experience, morale, equipment, flanking, ground elevation, weather, terrain type, the generals skill and traits etc.. are all factors to consider.).

The campaigns are quite unique as they are turn based a bit like the Civ games, but the battles are in real time (if you want to control them personally, you can let the AI calculate the outcome but where's the fun in that!). You can also fight custom battles if you don't fancy the campaigns.

The demo would be a good place to get a feel for the battle sections, but it doesn't really show off the campaign side of the game, which is also fantastic (though the diplomacy can be a but frustrating at time as alliances tend to be broken by the AI, so you are always at open war with at least one other faction.).

I've loved every incarnation of the series from the first one (Shogun) and all have been great games (though the Barbarian Invasion expansion for Rome is rather naff), so would highly recommend giving them a go (SendIt have it for £22.89)

[Starburn]

I bought it for £34.99 from a GAME store as I couldn't be bothered waiting for it to be posted to me on release day (I hadn't pre-ordered it)..
Love every minute of that game, well worth the spend.. sooo many hours of gameplay

[snedger]

it is pretty superb.
Have played all the Total War titles and this one stands out from the others.
You can probably ignore a lot of the grizzles on the total war forums - there are an awful lot of impatient, rude, nasty, talentless game players there who blame the game rather than their own gaming ability.

[afraser2k]

I really enjoy it. There's an .ini file that you can edit to unlock some of the other nations in the game so I went Scotland and so far managed to conquer most of Britain without too much trouble (though the Pope can be annoying at times).

It took me a bit of time to get into the economy side of the game but once I had worked it out the rest was easy to learn. The variety of units available is also very nice especially when sieging a castle.

[Veles]

I really enjoy it. There's an .ini file that you can edit to unlock some of the other nations in the game so I went Scotland and so far managed to conquer most of Britain without too much trouble (though the Pope can be annoying at times).

Yeah, the proper way to unlock them is to wipe them out during the main campaign, but thats another way to do it

[Starburn]

hehe I unlocked all the countries the old fashioned way by winning the main campaign . Pope is annoying at the start, but I just ignored the crusades etc. .. ended up winning him over by building a load of huge cathederials later on

[UK2004]

Definetly will get it I'm now convinced!

[afraser2k]

Yeah, the proper way to unlock them is to wipe them out during the main campaign, but thats another way to do it

I thought Scotland wasn't playable under normal circumstances.

Did quite well with the England I started by conquering Britain and most of France though in that game I was at war with France, Germany, Denmark and Spain by the time I re-started and I wasn't even excommunicated.

[Veles]

No it's definitely unlockable, was the first faction I unlocked the normal way after I wiped em out with England. I might start a new campaign after my exams are over and reset the unlocks and try to get 'em the proper way

[afraser2k]

Cool, gives me an excuse to start again then after I re-installed Windows at the weekend without needing to edit anything.

[trashcanmonkey]

YES, loved all the total wars. This is the best yet!

[dancingmatt]

It's really good, try the demo to see how well your PC will handle the graphical demands of the battles. I know some people never play the battles, they like it just for the campaign side of things. Depends on what you're into, I like zooming into the thick of the battles. Doesn't help me win them though!

And it's about £18-20 new on eBay.

DM