Hello. I'm new and have two questions...

[Caius]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and have never played any of the Total War series.

However, since I got a new computer, I have just downloaded the demos for Rome Total War and for Medieval 2 Total War. I am a bit overwhelmed by both of them.

Now my first question if this. Which of the Total War Series is the best and/or which would you begin with?

My other question is this. I have played Age of Empires (AoE/RoR and Age of Kings) and I have played Civilization 1 and 3. Since I have a new computer I have just bought Age of Empires 3 and Civilization 4. How does the Total War Series compare to these?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

stwils

Only played RTW.

Imagine AoE1 is a bad imitation of RTW

[Dave1984]

Only played RTW.

Imagine AoE1 is a bad imitation of RTW

AoE1 came out first though, didn't it?

I'm not a fan of those RTS games where you have to build and recruit on the battlefield and the emphasis seems to be on how many you can recruit rather than tactics.

[Andres]

First of all: welcome stwils

Like others stated before, give MTW a try. It might not look very nice considering todays standards, but it's amazing in terms of gameplay and atmosphere.

It was my first TW game and allthough RTW and M2TW look much better, I never had this magic feeling I had with MTW.

RTW is a nice game too, but the atmosphere of M2TW is much better imho. There's also the matter of difficulty. RTW is just way too easy, especially the battles. On the other hand, some players might like the game that much because it is easy. Who doesn't like to play a game with 99 % certainty he's going to win, heh. If you're looking for nice graphics and a bit of a challenge, you should definitely choose M2TW over RTW.

But still, if you don't mind graphics, give MTW a try. And if you have an old PC gathering dust somewhere in the basement then go and try STW on it.

So basically, my advice is: get all four of them.

What did you expect, on a TW-fan site

[MSB]

Welcome to the Org stwils

Imagine AoE1 is a bad imitation of RTW

Rome was not in AoE, it appeared in it's expantion pack - The Rise of Rome.

It really does depend on what you like. R:TW and M2:TW are, on the battlemap, like a battle in AoE with more troops and formations and slightly better graphics. The strat map, turn based where you train troops and build buildings, is complety different and cannot really be compared to any aspect of AoE. MTW and STW are not as pretty, but have better strat map AI and more balanced units on the battlemap.

The best place to start would be, in my opinion, on R:TW. It has many mods you can improve it with and it is not too hard for the new player. Also AoE is, on the battlemap, most like this game.

[Kralizec]

Rome was not in AoE, it appeared in it's expantion pack - The Rise of Rome.

It really does depend on what you like. R:TW and M2:TW are, on the battlemap, like a battle in AoE with more troops and formations and slightly better graphics. The strat map, turn based where you train troops and build buildings, is complety different and cannot really be compared to any aspect of AoE. MTW and STW are not as pretty, but have better strat map AI and more balanced units on the battlemap.

The best place to start would be, in my opinion, on R:TW. It has amny mods you can improve it with and it is not too hard for the new player.

Historical nitpick: I just love how AoE had a Canaanite faction and a Phoenician faction. and that the X-pack added a Carthaginian faction, while all are actually the same culture

Still, AoE was a fun game, even though it doesn't score very well on historical accuracy.
RTW had potential but just has to many problems.

[caravel]

I've never played an AoE game, and the only Civ game I've ever played was Civ2. I've played alot of other RTS's such as C&C, Warcraft1/2/3, Stronghold, overall I found them limited and boring. C&C games were sort of mission based and had some objective, so they weren't too bad, though they've never held my interest. WC was clickfest cartoonish stupidity from start to finish, no strategy or tactics, just turn out units faster than the AI, and attack using the same formula. Certain units would get obolete quickly and it was pointless training them. The newer releases may be better, I'm not going to bother to find out. Civ2 was quite refreshing at first, but after clicking "ok" thousands of times and ordering 100's of buildings to be constructed while waging war against the "Persians" and their billions of subs in the 1930's it became a tedious chore that virtually enslaved you to the PC.

You're better off with a Total War game by a long shot. Real strategy, units that have different purposes that don't become obsolete so easily. Real strategy, tactics that are worthwhile, no cheesey fastclicking rubbish. If your spec can handle it and eye candy graphics are important to you, then I would advise you to go with M2TW and bypass RTW. If eye candy is still a factor then RTW with mods may be the answer. If like me and graphics are not all important, and your PC is not exactly the latest and greatest then MTW may be worthwhile.