A bit of info for you regarding reviews: Two German magazines came out today for subscribers (to whom I don't belong in either case). Both of them reviewed Medieval 2. GameStar Germany gave it 91%, which might (but not necessarily) put it at the very top of their list for strategy games. Rome got 89% btw.
I haven't read the review and noone's given me the gist of it, so I don't know what the stated pros and cons are.
The other magazine, PC Games, gave it 88% (Rome got 84% there). The stated Pros and cons are:
+ A perfect mix of turn-based strategy and real-time tactics
+ The so far best-looking epic battles of all time
+ Great immersion, length and replayability.
-Rare AI bugs in the battles (more below)
-Little variation during long campaigns.
About the AI: According to this thread (which is where I got all this info from) the AI in Medieval 2 is significantly better than in Rome and uses a range of tricks, but can sometimes cop-out completely during the real-time battles. One example: The AI (playing Milan) besieged the player's city. After taking the walls, the men just hung around indefinately and the player reloaded after ten minutes of absolutely nothing happening.
If you want to read more (and understand German), you can always look at this link
http://www.gamestar.de/community/gs...ad.php?t=236214
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