Good Game?

[CrusaderJohn]

I know you guys are probably all gunna give me good reviews of how much you love this game, and stuff like that. But I'm hoping to get the game, and I'm not sure. I can't find anywhere that sells the game for less than $40. And this is alot for me. I have way more than enough money, but I have spent so much money on games in the last 5 years, that I look back and noticed that I could have saved 100s of dollars by not spending money on games that only kept me interested for a few months.

So my question is, is the game really worth the money? And if so, is it worth $40, or should I wate until Best Buy has it on a special or something? So, whats you guys opinions on the game?

[el_slapper]

Depends on what you're expecting of a game. That one is rather tough, & needs much investment. He offers average graphics. And tactics are tricky if you're not used to them.

But once you've got the thing, it's excellent. The gameplay is very addictive, as various opponents will require innovative tactics from you...

[Baron von Beer]

This game is horrible. Completely and utterly terrible If you buy it, you should have your head examined.

I have noticed many bad things since buying it. A dramatic decrease in social activities. A dramatic decrease in sleep. A dramatic increase in empty beer cans in the waste can by the PC... It is just hard to leave the PC. It sucks you in, and takes over your brain.... it's 2am, and you gotta be up at 6, but too bad, you can't. If you do, you will feel the magnetic force of the game eminating from your PC, and the torment will not stop untill the slight glow of your monitor is beaming on your face in the darkened room. Only then will the beast be at rest, and your mind at ease. It's power is incomprehensible. It WANTS to be played, and it expects only what it wants. It will haunt you until it gets what it wants. Once you implant it into your hardrive, you will unleash it's power, and then your fate is sealed..... you have been warned.....

[CrusaderJohn]

LOL Good one, however, that doesn't really seem to help me much. I have heard several games described this way, and I bought them, thinking it would be a good game, sometimes right, not always. Anyway, I'm still open to positive comments.

Anyone?

[Marco]

Well if you have a budget on games then you might want to wait for the expansion pack - Viking Invasion. However Im not sure if you need the original MTW to play it.

If all goes well it should be out in May/June

[CrusaderJohn]

Well, with expansion packs they generally need the game to play. Anyway, its not like I'm really on a budget. I have tons of lose cash. The thing is, I don't want to get sucked into buying a game that will keep me occupied for a month.

[Striker]

@Marco- I'm almost positive you'll need the original M:TW to play Viking Invasion, if for no other reason than that it's altering the original game as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, someone who knows more than I do.

[Marco]

For me personally SP lasted about a week, 1 uncompleted campaign. Got bored and couldnt be bothered

MP has kept me occupied for half a year now.

[ToranagaSama]

In order to answer your question, you need to tell us what you like in games; or what you find questionable about this game.

Do you like SP, MP or both? Do you like Strategy games, RTS, TBS?

Is this game good? Depends on what you like.

[CrusaderJohn]

Basically, I like war games, but I also sort of like strategy. I like to be able to manage my troops, but micromanagement is just to time consuming for me, I want something that is moderately fast paced. I liked both the stronghold games, but I have the civilization games. So far, from what I have said, do you guys think I would like this game. And do you need more from me?

[ichi]

John:

Now that you have provided us with an idea of what you like/are looking for, I think I can help.

I have Civ, MTW (and STW) is similar; not as much micromanagement, so not as complex. I think more fun.

I like Strategy, this game has that in spades. You build up your Empire and increase your capability. You must decide between guns and butter (Castles or troops).

But the battles . . .

oh, the battles.

In single player you get a wide variety of circumstances, makes it very interesting. The multiplayer, which works well, allows you to fight online against a very talented bunch of opponents.

Very frustrating to get real good. . . takes a while to master.

But don't worry, you'll be spending that time, and then some.

So, bottom line.

Is this, in my opinion, the best game out there? YES

Will you stay with it more than a month? You won't know until you go buy it and try.

That my friend, is what life is all about.

Hope to see you in GameSpy kicking @ss soon.

ichi

[desdichado]

CrusaderJohn,

I think you would probably like the game but even if you don't can't you just sell the game at a second hand store?

Not sure about the rules on this in the US but if I buy a game that is very sucky I'll sell it for $20-30 (australian) less than what I paid. Games out here cost approx $100 aussie so its better than just leaving it on my shelf.

Or borrow it from a friend if they'll let you pull it out of their hard drive.

Since buying the game back in Novemeber it has left my hard drive for a grand total of 2 days. If I could put as much time into my study as i do into mtw I could do multiple degrees no problem

[Kensai Achilles]

I found STW and hooked, though I only play online with MTW. And i'm addicted to online MTW now.

I'm not sure what your preference is but I found that my friends who have similar preference to mine love total war sequels more than most other games. The games that I like is something like Panzer General and its family (yeah its old), Heroes n Might Magic, Civilization, Warcraft, AoE, Starcraft, Disciples, Alpha Centaury, C&C and its family, PS/PS2 RPG games etc. In short most of my fave are turn based, RPG, Adventure, or Strategy/War games.

I personally like TW series because the units are discipline, unlike warcraft units (or other games alike) that can run on their own wandering here and there unnoticed when we get busy. Well perhaps it's also because I like the way the controls are designed better with TW series than the other war games.

So if u like the games above then u gonna love this one too.

[TheViking]

if your going online and play it can keep you busy for a long time, but be prepared for alot of crashes and disconnections, single player was only fun for about a month,

the game still need more patches, but we wont get any, the add-on will solve some of the bugs, but then you have to pay more money,

[Dimeola]

Check the price at www.msbcd.com and if its still $40 then do a search for the game, you can find it cheaper. If you like this time period you MUST buy this game. It`s easy to start but as deep as you want to go. I have bought other games since MTW came out, but this is the only one I still play.
Dimeolas

[Gregoshi]

Welcome CrusaderJohn. Thanks for coming here and asking about our (and soon to be your ) game.

Like many things, if you have 10 people, you will get 10 different opinions. Same holds true with MTW. Just scan the Main Hall forum and look at some of the threads. You will find many differing points of view:

Rebellions: some say they are too strong, others too weak.
Rebellions: some find them annoying and oft without reason, others like the challenge they present and know how to prevent them from happening
AI: some say it is really stupid, others think it is an improvement over Shogun and can be challenging
Strategic Agents (spies, bishops, etc): some say they aren't worth the hassle, other like using them to accomplish their goals
The Pope: some say the Pope is annoying, others say the Pope is annoying

Anyway, you get the idea.

The thing that gets me about the game is how human the AI is sometimes in battle. There are times when your elite units flee the battlefield as if they'd never seen a battle before and other times when the units you expect the least from perform extrodinary deeds. There are many stories people have written about battles they have fought or campaigns they have played. My all time favourite is Bloody Khazar. There is a point in this marvelous battle where 4 units die to the man (rather than fleeing) and delay the Mongol horde long enough for the player to get his battered army back into fighting order. I was teary-eyed reading the account of those gallant pixels that sacrificed themselves to make the Turkish victory over the Mongols possible. Each man and each unit has its own AI - they are not mindless robots who will continue fighting until they are dead or there are no more targets.

Ah, well, more food for thought. Good luck with your decision. May it be the right one for you.

[Gaius Julius]

CJ
Download the demo, and try it.
Read as many reviews of the game as you can.
In the end, your opinion is the one that counts, because it's your money.
My guess is that you'll get hooked on this game, just like everyone else.

[pdoan8]

Quote[/b] (Gaius Julius @ Mar. 13 2003,22:39)]CJ
Download the demo, and try it.
Read as many reviews of the game as you can.
In the end, your opinion is the one that counts, because it's your money.
My guess is that you'll get hooked on this game, just like everyone else.

It's a good start.

The MTW demo is only present a small fraction of the full game. Unlike demo for many other games, MTW demo is not a shortened version or a full version with less options. IIRC, the demo was the Tutorial part plus a few historical battles.

Another thing you might want to try is playing STW first. You can find STW (v1.0) for as low as $10 or the STW:WE for $15. If you really like STW (shallow trategy), you will like MTW (improved but still a bit simplified trategy).

The tactical battle is the part that makes the TW stand above the rest of the RTS games. However, IMHO, MTW battle is a little less intense than STW battle.

[TheViking]

Forgot to say that even if the game doesnt work satisfying enuff in my opinion, its the second best game i ever played after STW/MI.

[wordsmith]

If your into single player stradegy games, buy civ3
If your into Multiplayer battle field commanding ranks of spearmen and ordering cavelry to flank your enemy who foolishly left the archers in the rear of his line unguarded then buy MTW.

MTW is a must have for a serious MP game lover but dont expect much from single player.

[Knight_Yellow]

lets just say i bought this in september? and its now march still not done playing it and with VI coming soon ill be playing this till chriatmas.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

The Total war series is fantastic and the chances of ever getting bored with it are very slim. Also try some other interesting PC games such as Gangsters(for god's sake don't buy the second one) and Hooligans.

[LeeJackson]

Personally I view my game purchase in “movie units”.

A movie unit is the price and amount of entertainment I get form seeing one movie. For the sake of the unit I assume that the movie is good.

In my area the average movie price is 8 dollars and the average movie is around 2 hours.

So a game that cost 40 dollars should provide me with at least 10 hours of solid entertainment.

Oh course we would all like more, but if it meets that minim standard I don't feel I like I have completely wasted my money.

Now I have probably played MTW for around 100 hours. That works out to .40 cents an hour for entertainment. That’s cheaper than playing PAC man at pizza hutt. You'd have to spend $400.00 to get the same amount of entertainment time out of the movies.

So is MTW worth it?... hells yeah:D

[LeeJackson]

CrusaderJohn if you liked your first taste you'll love the rest. CA like drug dealers always get ya on the come back.

In many ways I see MTW as 2 games. The first, which you get to try in the demo, is a real time tactical battlefield simulator. The second is a big complex game of risk. Where you take turns building, training, bribing, assassinating, infiltrating, and of course conquering. And if you are worried about the game being to easy you can does scale up the difficulty quite a bit.

(Though the vets in here might say it can be too easy at time, I say after 100's of hours of play it better get easier or I am doing something wrong.)

[CrusaderJohn]

I just played the demo, and all things taken into account, I loved it. The only thing is, the demo was one of those demos that only give you the tip of the iceberg. All it showed was battle with troops that they gave you right off the bat. I know there has to be more to the game than this, and thats what scares me. If I've liked what I've play so far, and found it almost easy, do you guys think I'll like the rest?

[cugel]

Simply put, this is the best wargame out there for sheer fun. No, it's not the most historically accurate or as much sheer action as a first person shooter. But, I like wargames and have been playing them for many years. The strategy component is nice but there are other games out there that do this as well or better. The real-time 3d battles however, are simply unmatched by any other computer game ever. Rome TW promises to be even better. I bought Shogun & Mongol Edition, and as soon as MTW came out, I knew I would never be happy unless I bought it too. I've been playing this exclusively since October and I don't see any chance I'll get bored with it soon. There are numerous player designed mod campaigns available if you get tired of the official one. I can't even go on a date for $40, let alone 4 months worth. . . .

[Jeff]

LeeJackson has a very good point. Pound for Pound Total War is better than anything else at giving you your money's worth. I have the Warlord Edition of STW and hopefully I'll win the auction for MTW I bid on this morning. Oh yeah try Ebay for MTW. It seems to be going for an average of $20-25 including Shipping & Handling. That way your spending half as much for a game than you wanted and getting twice as much for the money you just spent.

[ToranagaSama]

Well see, give a little info, get a lot of responses.

My comment is that if you liked Civ, but found the micromanagement a bit too much, there is a *chance* you might find the micomanagement of MTW too much as well. It seems many in the forum feel that way.

The thing to realize is that the TW games are really TWO games sorta combined. All the micromanagement is involved with the Single Play strategic portion of MTW; and it is Turn-Based like Civ.

The Multiplay side and the Custom Battles do not involve *any* micromanagement. There are many who NEVER play SP, strictly prefering the real-time aspect of MP. So you may be that type of player. You can download the demo to get a flavor for the Battles which is what MP and Custom Battles are all about.

Unfortunately, the demo does not allow you to try the strategic portion which is where most of your time in SP is spent.

I agree with Pardon8, find a copy of Shogun Total War. You should get it for really cheap. The battles in Shogun are very much similar to Medieval, but the Strategy portion has MUCH less micromanagement. While there aren't as many people still going online to play Shogun you can still get games; and there are those who *prefer* Shogun to Medieval.

The best way to think of the Total War games, is that there are Civ with real battles; and you as the general must develop your battle skills, because the outcome of the battle is completely dependant upon your skills (much like in RTS games); and the outcome of battles *totally* influences what happens in the Strategy portion, as well as, the move you make in the Strategy portion effecting your ability to prevail in battles. Get it?

Bottom Line, sound to me that with MTW you'll become primarily a MPer.

Good Luck Have Fun