While I never would have guessed this was the direction they'd go, I am not surprised by it. It feels very natural, and I can't help but think it is the right direction to go with Total War right now.

The big question is, how far can they go in this direction? I'm not so much worried about this game- playing around with gunpowder units in Medieval has whetted my appetite enough- as what's next.

So what is next? Another rehash... Rome II, Shogun II? Personally I find the Shogun era utterly uninteresting. Someone with a very poor understanding of historical warfare said he has to suspend his disbelief when ordering a well formed group of cavalry around the battlefield, but in Shogun this is absolutely the case. As for Rome, I certainly wouldn't object to a redo, but it wouldn't be high on my priority list either.

My great hope for the Total War series is that eventually it will take the giant leap from historical combat to incorporate, even at an optional level, fantasy warfare. This would be best done as a license... Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings. While I love historically accurate warfare, there's an element of diversity of forces you can't get when everyone's human.