Review: Medieval II Total War game

War: what is it good for? Absolutely nothing – except for inspiring computer games, apparently. Medieval II is the fourth game in the combat-heavy Total War series and possibly the best yet.

There are two basic types of strategic gameplay on offer. You can leap straight into a battle – either one from history or a custom battle where you choose the location, the factions involved and even the weather.

A Grand Campaign, on the other hand, sees you taking a much wider view. Campaigns still involve lots of warfare, but between battles you’ll also need to carefully supervise your empire as it spreads, building and managing castles and cities to generate cash and resources.

One of the most impressive aspects of Medieval II is its sense of scale. Not only does the game span hundreds of years (1080 – 1530), but it also covers a wide range of environments, from Europe and Africa to South America.

Within this vast battlefield, however, you’ll find a staggering level of detail. You may only start off with five factions at your disposal, but this broadens to 21 once you complete a campaign.

Each faction has its own units – 250 in total – all with individual strengths and weaknesses. They aren’t all soldiers, either. Special units like spies, assassins, priests and even eligible princesses can be deployed in a variety of covert and diplomatic moves.

A Norman-based tutorial attempts to ease players gently into the swing of things and the interface has been streamlined to try and make things as straightforward as possible, but there’s no disguising the fact that this is a complex and demanding game. It’s extremely satisfying to master, however, and between all the campaigns, battles and online multiplayer, there’s so much to do you’ll be playing the original long after the inevitable expansion pack hits the shelves.