This is the second game in the 'Total War' series after the popular 'Shogun Total War', and for a strategy simulation it’s got incredible scope. The game allows you to lead a faction from Medieval Europe or from the Mediterranean with the typical civilisation sim obstacles that we’ve come to expect. When armies meet, the game gives you the option to control the battle yourself and assume the role of general; this is the most original element of the game with the Battle system amounting to a computerised version of old-fashioned war gaming. You have control over your military units and you can move them in formation to wreak terrible strategy upon your unsuspecting enemy. Because of the realism of this system you can out-flank, charge, seize elevated positions or conceal your lines and wait in ambush. Combine this with the Historical Battles and Historical Campaigns and in 'Medieval Total War' you have a step by step instruction manual in warfare and tactics.

On the Campaign map, where your armies can be conflated into icons and moved around your empire, there is greater influence on creating infrastructure, forging alliances and defending territory. In the way that armies move around the map the game plays very much like the board games 'Diplomacy' and 'Risk', but PC aficionados won’t miss the associations it has with predecessors 'Defenders Of The Crown', 'Age Of Empires' and the impossibly addictive 'Civilization' series. Where this game diverges from these others is in the level of historical detail maintained, meaning that, say, Franciscanism or any other -ism from the Middle Ages will have a considerable effect on the status quo. So much so that depending on whether you fight as the Italians, the Turks, the French or any of the other fledgling states will determine just how much history will advantage or disadvantage your quest for world domination. Nice touches like Inquisitors, Crusades and Alliances by Marriage means that closet diplomats will have a lot to contend with in this gargantuan enterprise. My favourite inclusion is the possibility of you being excommunicated by the Pope - and if you think that he’ll hesitate to condemn you to hell if you’re constantly attacking the allies of the Papal States, you'd better think again.

Although it may have been nicer to see the Battle system advanced and become the central focus of Medieval Total War this game doesn’t suffer from trying to achieve too much. The music and animation are absolutely spot-on, and the online gaming option is sensational. The best thing about doing battle with a human opponent is that they will always do what you least expect, so stock up on Internet hours and get ready to wage war. Just remember to keep a line of spearmen in front of your archers and you can never go into a skirmish with too many mounted troops.

Anthony Paxton

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