Thinking about getting this game.

[Sp4]

Hey,

I have been planning to buy a new computer for a while now and I will do so and put it together tomorrow.
Thus far I have only looked at a lot of videos about the game and really like the way it looks. Shiny ftw.

What I am wondering is this: How does the game's AI compare to previous TW titles? It really did get boring to see the more or less brainless AI do totally stupid things in most of the previous games...

How active is the MP?

Thanks in advance.

[econ21]

I'd say the game's AI is the best of the series.

The battle AI seems fairly solid. I am not sure it is better than STW or MTW, but it is not obviously worse. On the field, it puts up a decent fight. You can try some wheezes - like baiting units out of the line, but it requires a little finesse due to the fast movement speeds (your baiters can get caught) and anyway, it worked at Hastings, so it's forgivable. The AI seems less suicidal with its generals than most earlier titles and less piecemeal in pressing an attack. On castle assaults, the AI is pretty poor and castle assaults are very common. As the attacker, you can shoot it to death and also fixate units on one wall while storming another. The AI does not do these things to you but sieges when you are the defender are somewhat more satisfactory.

The campaign AI seems much improved - perhaps even over STW and MTW (where it cheated in somewhat predictable ways). On harder difficulties, it is quite common to lose campaigns in the first years, which really never happened in earlier titles.

I can't comment on the MP - try asking your question in the MP forums - but gather there is more discontent with the MP than the SP, where the reception here has been almost universally favorable.

The only downside I would raise is the shelf-life of the game. For me, it was one long campaign and that was it - I kind of lost interest. I am not sure why - I think the setting lacks the variety, scale and grandeur of titles like MTW, RTW and even ETW. Samurai lovers may feel otherwise.

[Zim]

I second Econ21. Much better Ai on the campaign and battle maps than all of the previous games in the series I've played (started with MTW1). Higher difficulties are challenging in a way that previous ones weren't (i.e., raising it means more than facing tons of extra halfstacks of braindead armies). The game's also very atmospheric and the fetures all work in it very well without feeling too cluttered.

If you're specifically looking for more challenge, I'd suggest forgoing reading guides or lots of threads on mechanics on your first go through. The AI is not as bad or exploitable as previous titles but knowing, for isntance, just the exact techs you need so the realm divide won't hurt economically takes some of the sting out of the game.

Replayability is tricky. After one full campaign and a couple of failed ones, I'm contemplating starting another. Otherwise I've mostly played an mp campaign and am working on an rpg here for it. I'm sure I played RTW and probably MTW (much of the latter on the much smaller Viking Invasion map) more hours after owning the games the same amount of time, largely due to them both seeming so new to me. TWS2 has rekindled my interest in the series and I expect to play it a lot before moving on, but I think I've become less inclined to play these games 12 hours a go over the years.

[Sp4]

I never played MTW or STW. I started at RTW and played M2TW a lot. Didn't get ETW yet as the whole gunpowder stuff put me off, but it is looking interesting as well. May give it a try too as it hardly costs anything nowadays.

Are there interactive sea battles in S2TW?

Thankies =D

[frogbeastegg]

I agree with the others: the AI is far and away the best in the series.


Are there interactive sea battles in S2TW?
Yes, there are.

[Sp4]

You said the units move faster... I was able to see that in the videos I have seen. The units didn't seem as 'heavy' or 'powerful' as they did in M2TW. That was something that put me off almost instantly...

How large can the units be?

Is it still like 2-5k battles with ~150 soldiers per unit?

[Arjos]

There are also 200 and 240 per units, and yes you can have pretty big battles...
As mentioned the campaign is by far the best in the serie, as AI goes, MP it's ok, but is getting quite boring, at least for me...

[frogbeastegg]

If you wish to slow unit movement down, there is a mod which does that without altering any other part of the game. I have started playing with reduced movement speeds and find it more enjoyable.

[Sp4]

There really seems to be a mod for everything with TW games =P

Thanks a lot for all the information.

[Sp4]

I may have to get that mod that slows stuff down because now, it is too fast to look at nicely animated battles =(

[Hamata]

Another mod you should check out is the all clans playable mod courtisy of mitch from twc