Kashia Xiong CIS 487 Game Design FA 08 Assignment 1: Game Review

Basic Info Publisher: Sega Developer: Creative Assembly Genre: Historic Real-Time Strategy Release Date: November 13, 2006 ESRB: TEEN Price: $19.99

Basic Information: Game Requirements Minimum RequirementsRecommended Requirements System 1.5GHz Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 or equivalent Pentium 4 2.4GHz or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 or equivalent Ram512 MB1024 MB Video Memory128 MB Hard Drive Space9000 MB Other Monitor must be able to display 1024 x 768 resolution or above. 128MB Hardware accelerated video card with Shader 2 support and the latest drivers. Must be 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible. The Nvidia GeForce 7300 or greater, or the ATI Radeon X1600 or greater is recommended.

Game Summary: Quick Overview Medieval II: Total War is mainly a single player Real-Time Strategy game which takes place during the Medieval times from the time of the long bow till the development of gunpowder. Game Battles take place on many different realistic battle fields with different weather condition and time of day which does effect how the different armies battle.

Game Summary: The Player The player’s role is to manage the faction’s different cities, to create allies or make enemies, and to capture and maintain hold of a number of regions and certain regions. The player, in single player mode, can choose between 1 of 5 different factions (in multi-player he/she can choose between the other 21 different factions). Depending on the different faction chosen will affect what the player must do to gain victory within a certain number of turns.

Game Summary: User Interface (1 or 2) Turn-based interface where the player manages their settlements, handle foreign relations, and create and move their armies.

Game Summary: User Interface (2 or 2) Real-Time Battle interface where the player controls his/her army to defeat the other army.

Game Summary: Game Play The Turn Based – The player must maintain each settlement to not allow settlers in the settlement to revolt against him/her – Defend settlements from opposing factions. – The player may also complete missions from different factions. However there are some missions if not completed, comes with a consequence. The Real Time Battle – The player controls his/her army to defeat the other army whether it is a bridge battle, village battle, or even raiding a castle.

Game Summary: Installation and Scoring Installation – Standard installation with DVD-ROM. – Updates and patches can be downloaded with the internet. The Scoring system – The player either loses a battle and retreats with his/her remaining force (if any) or defeats the opposing army. No real scoring system here. – Gold is accumulated from the taxes of each settlement which taxes can he raised or lowered, however that does affect the chances of causing a riot or losing the settlement to a rebellion if not taken care of. – Gold is also accumulated from merchants and sacking settlements.

Game Summary: Sound and Art Sound – Various sound affects from the different units from battling swordsmen to firing cannons. – Background music in battles. – Music and sound included in the in game movies. Art – Each different unit has a fine level of 3D detail. – Maps has trees, wind, rain, snowfall, night, sun, hills, and fire effects. – Dead units remain dead on the field and destroyed castle walls remain destroyed – Preloaded in game 3D rendered movies for different events.

Game Summary: Features and Bugs Features – The combination of the Turn-based interface and the Real- Time battle interface. – The ability to bring reinforcements from near by armies. – The ability to fortify villages into castles for more defense or leave a settlement a village for more resources. Bugs – I have only run into one bug, and this has only happened once during a quick battle. I rushed a large army up a winding up hill, however two squads got stuck and I was unable to move them.

Game Review: The Good (Fun) The best aspect of the game for me is the realistic battles that takes place. Within the game the player controls his/her army to raid a castle, defend a castle, or simple annihilate the opposing army. Even a small defending army can defend a castle from a larger army depending on the strategy used. The use of battering rams and ladders to scale the castle walls. Even the use of cannons or catapults in the later times against armies or castle walls are rather realistic. Flanking an army from two sides can be very devastating if done correctly.

Game Review: The Not So Good (Fun) The worst area for me is the turn based system. There is a lot of micromanaging going on within the turn based area. – Managing each settlement – Managing the different merchants around the area – Moving princes and marring them off and creating allies. – Creating and moving armies across the map to attack or defend. Sometimes one turn can take 1 hour if not more in the later stages.

Game Review: Comparison with Starcraft Medieval War II: Total War More realistic feel and graphically more realistic. Takes much more time. For in game battles, you have to use what you have. More strategy and more micromanaging of resources. More difficult to learn. Starcraft Fast pace action Buildable units for in game battles Less micromanaging. Easier learning curve. Less variety of units. Game play is much more enjoyable for multiplayer action.

Game Review: Audience and Design mistakes Audience The appropriate audience for this game would be teens because of violence. However the game seems to be more popular with older teens and adults. Design Mistakes There is not many design mistakes that I have run across however it may be because I have not played this game long enough to realize them yet.

Summary: Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths The two different interfaces combining the turn-based strategic game and the real-time battles. The ability to bring reinforcements into a battle if there is a near by allied force. Realistic feel to the battles. The ability to choose what you want to do. You can attack allies and be enemies with the whole world, or even go against the catholic church. Weaknesses The are no sea battles, instead the boats with a strong military force wins. The multiplayer section of the game only consist of the real-time battles. Only a certain number of sets of units can be on the map at once time. Auto-Management of different settlements does not work as nicely as it should.

Summary: Is it worth it? For a person who likes the turn based real time strategy games like Civilization, this game is a great improvement with the Real-time battles included. And for those who just play it for the Real- time battles, for $20 it is a good game. However if you plan on playing the grand campaign, prepare to spend many hours playing.

Summary: Improvements Improving the Auto-Management for Cities. Including a Real-time battle system with the sea battles would be a great improvement. More factions to control.