Considering comming back to TW, Medieval 2 any good?

**The_Emperor** · 12-19-2006, 19:42

Well as the title says I have been away from the total war community for a while now along with other things on the go in my life...

Imagine my surprise when i was out Christmas shopping and I saw a copy of medieval 2 sitting on the shelf, I had no idea it was even in development.

Is it worth buying? I enjoyed Rome but it didn't capture my imagination for as long as the original Medieval did (or shogun for that matter).

I guess I am after knowing if its worth me parting with my cash.

**Kekvit Irae** · 12-19-2006, 19:54

If you enjoyed RTW, you will enjoy M2TW. M2TW is essentially just RTW with new additions such as merchants, crusades/jihads, Aztecs and the New World, and gunpowder.

I will warn you, however. The game is graphically beautiful, and that's the problem. If your video card is not up to date, set the Shader level in Advanced Options to 1 instead of two. The game wont look all that great (par with RTW), but it wont be giving you 4 fps either.

**King Azzole** · 12-19-2006, 20:01

Welcome back. In my experience M2TW is the best ever in many respects (I have played since STW). Graphics wise it rocks, sound wise it rocks. Game play it's ok. The game has some bugs much like RTW did. For me they are not nearly game breaking, and I use cheats to get around some (like princesses starting with 0 charm). The most annoying "bug" of them all however is the crappy battle AI. The AI simply does not flank, outmanuever or try and outsmart you at all on the battlefield. Nothing like STW or even MTW1. It simply gathers its men, and hurls them at you in a massive wave of steel.

But the most awsome part about M2TW is its extremely moddable file system. I expect to see very complex and fun mods in the future. So really it's up to you to get it now or wait out for some good mods. I think in its Vanilla form it is a blast to play.

**RussianWinter** · 12-19-2006, 20:06

If you thought the gameplay in RTW was a step down from MTW/STW, you are going to have the same qualms with MTW2.

I'll leave it at that!

**Shahed** · 12-19-2006, 20:16

It's great, better take a couple of weeks off when you buy it. Be sure to buy a nice graphics card, and stock up on food. It's going to be a chore leaving the desk.

It is however, plagued, with a lot of bugs. We've had a quick update already which I would call a partial success. There are still a lot of outstanding items. Have a look in the bug sticky.

It's not perfect yet, but it's really awesome. Specially I remember we did an Almohad PBM, if you like playing the Eastern factions they got a HUGE uplift this time. It's really great, they should be selling this in the Middle East, loads of people would buy it I think, just because the Easterns have such a nice roster, and whole ambience. It's rare.

Do a quick search for "Moors" and another search for "Quirks". Sorry I don't have a link handy but I've posted some screenshots in those threads.

The graphics will blow you away, and the ambience is incredible. Fog from STW is back with a vengence for example. Weather conditions, much better and larger maps.

All this IMHO ofc.

**The_Emperor** · 12-19-2006, 22:36

hey Sinan,

Haven't seen you in quite a while. I do have another graphics card that I upgraded my system with a while back but I had to revert back to my old card because the new one was bugged with a couple of games I did play.

At any rate I did buy the Barbarian expansion for RTW and the campaign for me was not as enjoyable as the main RTW one. The Medieval Total War campaigns were fantastic in the first and the period is for sure my personal fave, I remember playing and replaying every campaign many times, especially eastern factions and of course England.

I think it might be worth a go at the very least, probably buy it during the sales after christmas.

**Bijo** · 12-19-2006, 22:38

This game, like RTW I think, is trying to stay alive in terms of financial business, it seems. There are some old-time TW players who would totally hate the new TW. It's aiming at a broader audience, and therefore it has its "things" that one might love or hate.

There's been a good amount of graphical update, and also some gameplay mechanics, but if you ask me it's just a mix between the old MTW and a beefed up RTW. Also, I've seen complaints that the engine is inefficient. I am no specialist, but I think it's true.... my gut feeling and observation tell me.

Like shadows: they can totally bottleneck your performance even if the flawed Auto-Detect tells you it can be run. Especially in sieges. If you decide to get the game, unless you have a good fast system, I seriously recommend to turn off shadows.

The new turn system, which is standardized to 2 years a turn, is something some people might not like. Not only that: it's also displayed in turns, not in years. But you can edit this, and I've found, like some others I know of, that 1 year a turn is very enjoyable. Not only is it not long-winding or tedious as 6 months a turn, it's also not as fast as 2 years a turn, so it's nicely in the middle, balanced.
Of course, maybe you like it anyway at 2, or 0.50.

Originally Posted by Sinan

It's great, better take a couple of weeks off when you buy it. Be sure to buy a nice graphics card, and stock up on food. It's going to be a chore leaving the desk.

Oh, how I have noticed

Addicting!

**econ21** · 12-19-2006, 23:36

Hi, The Emperor, I think you will like M2TW. It's got the RTW style map, which I find so much more immersive than the old Risk style ones. Plus the graphics are jaw dropping - especially the terrain. But it also reminds me of MTW in lots of ways. You feel pressured by your neighbours in the way you did in MTW and STW, but lamentably did not in RTW. And the battles are really bloody affairs, like the MTW and STW, not the insta-routs of RTW. So, I think it combines the best of both worlds.

Lots of bugs, as people have said, but from past experience, CA will squish the biggest ones (the two handed weapons not working vs cav is the worst offender, at the moment, IMO). My post-patch English game is noticably harder than my pre-patch one was, so its getting there.

**Satyr** · 12-20-2006, 00:01

It's a beautiful game. I just doesn't play much better than Rome. If you enjoyed Rome you will enjoy M2TW because it is better than Rome. It's just that compared to MTW it isn't as good a game. It sure looks better but that is the only way it is better at this point in time. And the patch doesn't seem to have helped much either. Most of the real pita bugs are still there and some old bad traits seem to have re-emerged again like suiciding generals.