We'll skip the good and go directly to the bad:
That's fine by me.This is not the revolutionary leap forward we saw in Rome: Total War. The new sequel takes the basic package of Rome and revisits the basic campaign setting of the original Medieval: Total War. In terms of the overall gameplay, there aren't that many surprises here for fans of the series. There are a few new touches here and there that are worth investigating, as well as some substantial improvements in the graphics department.
andThe only real problem we found with the graphics was the tendency for models to skew when standing on a incline. It's subtle but definitely disconcerting to see a cavalry model stretch ten degrees in order to get all four feet on a hill. The frame rate's still not the greatest but a 256MB card should still be able to render most of the details you'll want to see without crippling your performance.
Unfortunately, almost nothing has been done to improve the interface, either on the battle or campaign screens. Formation controls are still stuck where they were back in the original Shogun: Total War. Being able to lock formations of multiple unit types, change facings without changing size, and resizing from the center of a formation rather than the corner are still small aggravations that continue to plague the series. There's an option for a more minimal interface this time around but it's even more distracting than the basic interface. On the campaign map, there's still no easy way to locate all of your units and see which ones still need orders.
Likewise, the incredibly slow pace of the AI turns still drives us crazy. Sure, there's an option to avoid seeing enemy moves altogether, but that's not exactly a solution to our problem. We still like to see what the AI is doing; we'd just like to see his units hustle a bit when they're making their way across the map.
No surprise there.There are a few other problems with this sequel. First, the addition of the Aztecs seems like a bit of a gimmick. This New World power just doesn't fit the rest of the game's overall concept. It would make a hell of an expansion if beefed up by the addition of other South American powers but the concept doesn't really work here.
That's poorly thought out. You'd think they would've caught this, but surely they'll come up with a patch.The Papacy is a wonderful element that helps to provide a framework for the game but there are some problems with the way it works. For one thing, the Pope hates it when Christians fight against each other. While that's fine in theory, it's completely ridiculous that you take a reputation hit when another Christian power sneaks in and takes a city you've been sieging. At the start of your turn, the Pope sees you camped outside another Christian city's walls and your favor drops.
Trying to stay in the Pope's good graces isn't any guarantee that he'll reward you either. It's nice not to be on the wrong end of a holy crusade, of course, but the real plum of good papal relations is having one of your priests assigned as a cardinal. The political power is great but it doesn't seem like being in the Pope's favor has anything to do with gaining those cardinal seats. We've had games where the Pope has awarded multiple seats to the nations he likes the least.
Guh?
Och, jeez:
The same crap as in Rome? COME ON.Medieval II also allows players to turn off the battle timer. We like to linger a bit on the field when our tactical plan requires extra time but it can be a real game killer when you're besieged by defenders who have no way to get inside your walls and are too stupid to retreat. If you take out the enemy's battering rams, siege towers and ladders, their forces will simply sit outside your gates waiting for you to reload the game or send your own forces out to fight with the enemy directly. Neither option is very satisfying. It would be nice if the AI could realize the futility of the situation and kick things back to the strategy map. At the very least, you ought to be able to enable the battle timer during the battle sequences.
Anyway, they gave it 8.8, and this is just me cherry-picking the bad because we all know how awesome it is otherwise.
