Medieval II: Total War
2006
Audio: Czech, English, Russian, French, Hungarian, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish
- real time strategy (rts)
- simulator
- strategy
- turn-based strategy (tbs)
- tactical
- historical
- warfare
- single player
- multiplayer
The story
Take command of your armies and expand your reign. Conquer, destroy, rebuild and improve the cities of the greatest medieval nations of the Western and Middle Eastern world. Employ diplomacy to manipulate your allies and enemies and direct epic and visceral real time battles with up to 10,000 meticulously detailed troops shedding blood on lush 3D landscapes complete with dynamic weather effects in order to re-write history and rule the world. Spanning four and a half centuries of Western history’s most bloody and turbulent era, Medieval 2 encompasses the golden age of chivalry, the Crusades, the creation and propagation of gunpowder, the rise of the professional army and the discovery and conquest of the Americas. The indirect sequel to 2002’s Medieval: Total War, Medieval 2 is set between years 1080 and 1530 and focuses on medieval warfare, religion and politics in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
What it’s like
Dusky strategy-map palettes of parchment browns, banner reds and gold heraldry, with the 3D battlefields rendered in lush greens and washed-out grey skies that shift through rain and dusk as weather rolls across the field. Turn-based campaign maps feel like illuminated manuscripts brought to life, while the real-time battles swell into dense, rattling clouds of thousands of tiny soldiers, horse charges and arrow volleys. The score is a restrained orchestral and choral mix that rises with the fighting and falls quiet between turns, and the interface hums with the patient click of diplomacy menus and city-building panels. Its vibe is methodical, sprawling and quietly grave, suited to long evenings with a cup of tea, a slow weekend campaign, or a late night when you want to plan the next move without rushing. The pace is deliberate: long stretches of managing farms, trade, and envoys punctuated by sudden, bloody clashes. Its tone is cool and historically detached rather than emotional, following rulers and factions whose ambitions shift with every alliance and betrayal. Violence is frequent and graphic in battle, with blood and fallen soldiers piling up, though it is abstracted through the zoomed-out view, and it includes slavery, religious persecution and wartime atrocities as campaign backdrop. For players who enjoy micromanagement, historical texture and grand strategic planning.
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