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We have built Rome, overwhelmed the Gauls (even if some crazies raved about having “magic potions) and then razed everything that was standing to the ground as a barbarian. It is time to start a new historical chapter, the sequel to Classic Age : The Medieval times. Rub yourself in with some anti-plague lotion, because we are going to build keeps, convert disbelievers (read: cut of their heads) and wage war. Total War!
The Middle Ages? Total War? Haven’t we played this before? Indeed, about 3 years ago, the Creative Assembly catapulted Medieval : Total War onto the market, but they have learned a lot since the release of Rome: Total War. They now want to use this experience to create a sequel that will pale its predecessor. Before we delve deeper into MTW2, we first have to mention that the team of developers isn’t the same as the one for Rome. Medieval 2 is being developed by the Australian branch of Creative Assembly and not by the English team.
Medieval 2 will contain have one campaign that stretches from 1080 till 1530. It starts with the time of the knights and the crusades, going to the Mongol invasion and the gunpowder age and ends with the Renaissance and the discovery of America. In order to introduce the new player to the game mechanics, there will be a prologue campaign. There will be 21 playable and non-playable factions. You will recognise old friends, but you will also see new factions like Venice, Portugal and Scotland. Since every faction has his unique properties, different factions will offer different challenges in the campaign.
For example, Scotland has a strong neighbour, the English. They will need to bide their time quietly before they expand their lands. Their troops consist of spearmen from the Lowlands and fickle savages from the Highlands. Once the Scots have bred sufficient warriors, they can trample over the English (not a nice view, with the skirts and all). The British Island will then be the perfect harbour from which to conquer the mainland. The English on the other hand have a weak economy at first, but they have excellent prospects. Their army is reliable and this is necessary, for they have to be on their guard for an alliance between the French and the Scots. The French have an excellent economy thanks to their rich farmlands, but they have to compensate for their weak foot soldiers by recruiting knights. Venice has an excellent starting position for they only have a “symbolic” starting army. Their economy is strong though and they can bribe, assassinate and attract mercenaries in order to expand.
Because of the introduction of the new factions, there are more units to choose from (over 250!). Especially cool are the Gothic Knights whose horses, as well as themselves, are completely covered in steel armour. Since most projectiles don’t hurt them, these fighters are very difficult to take down. The Turkish have a mortar that is modelled after that one that was used during the siege of Constantinople. The barrel is more than a meter long en the projectile that fits in it (stone, bullet, clowns) can weigh a couple of hundred kilos. In the ranks of the English, one can find the famous Longbow men, blokes who have bows with a length of over 2 meters. In order to protect them against cavalry, you can put spikes in the ground, which impale the knights who have bad horse-brakes. The Spaniards and Italians love gunpowder and the bullets that their musketeers fire, can pierce even the strongest armour with ease. It goes without saying that these new units will bring new tactics to the field.
In order to represent the chaos of battle, Medieval 2 uses the praised Rome engine, though there have been lots of changes underneath the hood. A predictable change is the higher number of polygons and the more detailed textures, which even allow you to read the names of the programmers on the tombstones. A new feature is that armies no longer consist of clones. There is a more varied collection of heads, bodies and limbs available to the soldiers. There are also more types of shields, weapons, armour and even horses. The engine can thus render armies that are more “individual”.
A second change is that settlements are represented differently. The developers want to do the huge cities and keeps justice and they strive for as much realism as possible. In Medieval 2, the castles and cities aren’t placed at “pre-fab” positions, but are nicely integrated into the landscape, even if that landscape is dominated by steep hills or cliffs. This not only creates more realism, but also brings more strategy with it. If you want to take the settlements, you now have to pass defensive barriers created by both man and nature. Most of the time, you will need the artillery to smash through the outer wall, while you use the siege towers to scale the inner wall. If your men managed to prise open the citygate, then you can let your units storm the keep with storm ladders. Of course, a couple of well-aimed cannonballs should do the trick as well. The localized damage (what you hit is what you destroy) also adds to the realism.
If you zoom in during the fighting, you will notice that the animations have progressed greatly. The makers have recorded thousands of motion-capture sessions in order to create synchronised fights. Soldiers will block attacks, parry and combine movements in order to cleave their way through their opponents in a graceful way. Units with a hole in their stomach will go down with a “bang” and others will go looking for new meat to chop up. The fights no longer consist of set animations that are repeated until the opponent hits the dirt. The soldiers in the rearguard, who have no sparring partner, are forced to either to sling insults at the enemy, or quiver next to the mounts of friendly dead. This creates a realistic battleground, which increases the immersion dramatically.
It is also nice to know that Medieval 2 will also feature the night battles from Barbarian Invasion. Imagine smoking cannons and wrecked castles on fire and you have a spectacle which you could only imagine in your dreams (or recreate by using Lego, we still have the melted goo on the attic). The night battles also provide new tactical options. The capability to fight at night is a trait of the general, just like in BI. A commander who doesn’t have this trait, will have it hard at night to earn a victory. Artillery also performs worse when the sun has gone down over the hills.
As every TW game, Medieval 2 also has a turn-based side to the game. It has the same 3D map as in Rome, on which you can block mountain passes and blockade areas of strategic importance with your forces. A difference with Rome is that you can choose whether you can develop your settlement in a castle OR a city. A castle improves your military and a city boosts your economy. A stronger economy allows you to bribe your enemies. If money doesn’t work, you will need to attract mercenaries in order to defend your lands. A castle requires much less management than a city, but cities grow more important as the game progresses.
On the campaign map you can see “agents” running around, including assassins, priests and princesses. Most of them are under your control and you can use them in non-military interactions with other factions. A princess can be used to negotiate or to marry (once), so that you can cement an alliance with another faction. Merchants can be used to open new trade routes or you can order them to “attack” an enemy faction, thus disrupting its economy. A priest spreads the faith, but can become a heretic. In that case, the AI takes over control of your servant and uses him to undermine religion in your territory. You better not let him continue unabated, because there is, like in Rome, an external force : the Pope. He will not come enter your doorstep personally to smash a bible on your head, but he can excommunicate you and you will gain a lot of enemies. If the Pope likes you, he will warn your enemies to cease hostilities with your faction.
Also, the campaign map is much larger than in Rome since you can also discover America. In the beginning, this isn’t possible, but once you have the technology to cross the ocean, nothing will stop you. In America, you will find unique and lucrative resources like tobacco, chocolate and, of course, gold. It goes without saying that they will do wonders for your treasury and if you convert some heathens, you will become a good friend of the Pontiff. Of course, conquering America isn’t going to be a breeze: the Aztecs aren’t too happy about your presence and it will take more than a sneeze to conquer them beneath your boot. Their lack of military technology will be compensated by their numbers and fanatic zeal. A harbour in the New Land however can bring you closer to your end goal: Total Domination!
The Interview:
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Because one can never know enough regarding a new Total War title, our armoured knight mounted his horse and galloped to Australia. Once he arrived, he put a knife (more like a almost completely rusted and eaten-away sword) to the throats of project leader Bob Smith and associate producer Prasant Moorthy.
PCGP: Can you tell us a bit more about the team?
Prasant Moorthy: Medieval 2 is being developed by a section of CA in Brisbane, Australia. At the moment, the studio has 37 members and the most of them have worked on previous titles of the Total War franchise (including Spartan Total Warrior). Medieval 2 will be our first solo project.
PCGP: What is the role of religion? Will it affect the gameplay like it did in Civilization 4?
Bob Smith: Religion was very important in the medieval period. If we ignored it, we would break the realism of the game. Religion will be more important in Medieval 2 than in any other TW title. An important aspect is that player needs to be on the good side of the Pope. The Pope will formulate, just as the senate in RTW, requests. These are, for example, to organise a crusade against the Muslims, Orthodox factions or pagans. The faction who manages to succeeds in his mission first, will gain lots of prestige and wealth. If you grant this request, and others, the Pope will think of you as his friend. Another way of keeping him friendly is to build cathedrals and convert your population to the Catholic belief. The Pope will then warn your enemies to cease hostilities against you and he will accept suggestions of your faction to declare a suggestion against a faction of your choice.
If you disregard the requests of the Pope, he will become irritated and sent inquisitors to your lands to kill the infidels. He can also excommunicate you, which makes you lose lots of prestige with the religious populace. If the Pope dies, for any reason whatsoever, a college of cardinals will elect a new Pope. If one of your priests is a cardinal, he can participate in the discussion regarding who is to become the new Pope. And if he is very successful, he might become Pope himself, thus ending any difficult relationships you might have with the Pope.
PCGP: Will settlements work in the same way as in Rome?
PM: There are six levels of development, from humble villages tot vast cities and from wooden forts to stone castles. Settlements can now be either a city or a castle, and each has their own unique tech-tree. Castles are ruled from a feudal system, have an excellent difference, and allow you early in the game to recruit strong units. However, because of limitations in space and management, they will never contribute the same amount to your economy as your cities do. Cities are excellent for trade and technology and as the game progresses, they will grant you the best units. On the lowest level of development, you can change your cities in a castle and vice versa. However, buildings that aren’t compatible with the new type of settlement will be lost.
PCGP: Can you give some examples of buildings that can be build in your cities?
PM: There are a lot of new buildings who will grant access to new units and possibilities by upgrades. Churches and Mosques will spread the faith in your settlements and will give access to priests. Cannon foundries will give you gunpowder-based artillery and a smith will improve your units with better armour and weapons.
PCGP: Which other “RPG-parameters” can we expect from the Generals?
PM: There is a whole new set of medieval traits and also a couple of new primary attributes. A big addition is the concept of Chivalry and Dread. The actions of the general will make hem progress in one of the two attributes, which will give a more distinct personality to your general. Chivalrous types will have the loyalty of their troops, while Dread lords will strike fear into the enemy.
PCGP: CA was bought some time ago by Sega. Does this mean you will spend more time on console titles in the future?
BS: We haven’t changed our focus after the Sega deal. Although we have launched the Spartan Total Warrior franchise, this has not interrupted our work on the Total War franchise and it has most certainly not had any influence whatsoever on our ambition for the franchise. Work on Spartan was well underway before we signed the deal with Sega. This deal allows us to fulfil our ambitions on both the console as the pc market.
PCGP: When can we start conquering?
BS: For now we cannot give a fixed date. Let us say that with some luck it might be possible to play this game this year. Maybe!
There are some extra captions, but I wasn't able to write them down before my little brother snatched the magazine from my hands. :shame: