Medieval 2: Total War Kingdoms (trailer: http://www.totalwar.com/asset_library/Videos/Low_Resolution/Kingdoms_Trailer_Low.wmv)  is (for me) thé strategy game of 2007. It has the engine of Rome: Total War, the graphics of Medieval 2: Total War (kingdoms is his expansion) and takes it to interesting environments and cool battlefields. Plus you get 4 campaigns for the price of 1. I will give you a short preview of each campaign.

Brittania Campaign: http://www.totalwar.com/asset_library/Videos/Britania_Gameplay_Low.wmv

This campaign takes you to the epic, large scale battles for the British Isles. Who thinks this is a ordinary copy for the first Medieval game is so wrong. You can take over 5 different factions to glory. The English and Scottish look familiar to the original game, but the real fun starts when you take one of the 3 new factions into battle. You have the Norwegians, who wield powerful shock infantry; the Irish, who command a strong mix of units and the Welsh, who have the finest archers available.
It’s also nice to fight for the small fortresses that are scattered across the map. They’re extremely valuable because they guard key-strategic points (such as bridges and mountain passes) and garrison units for free, allowing the freedom to build bigger armies than ever before.
Each faction also has its own emerging hero:

Norway: Haäkon Haäkonsen arrives with a strong fleet of invaders.
England: King Edward returns from the Holy Lands with the force of the Templars.
Scotland: William Wallace emerges with hordes of Highland warriors.
Ireland: Brian O’Connor has a tremendous command ability.
Wales: King Llwellyn fortifies his power with each border settlement he takes.

Teutonic Campaign: http://www.totalwar.com/asset_library/Videos/Teutonic_Gameplay_Low.wmv

The Teutonic campaign is the most ‘boring’ one because it takes a long time to build a large enough treasury to finance war expansions. As this is historically correct, we can’t blame them for that. However it’s not nice to see that you have few units and that the enemy is building up huge armies.
On the other side, it’s cool to have support of Western nobles who seek papal favour by assisting you in your conquest of pagan Europe. Achieve victory alongside this temporary allies, and the Order will be richly rewarded.
This campaign also features the coolest units. Fully armoured knights running at poorly equipped pagans and catapults shooting barrels of oil at the enemy.

Crusades Campaign: http://www.totalwar.com/asset_library/Videos/Low_Resolution/Crusades_Gameplay_Low.wmv

This is one of the coolest campaigns. You can choose 2 Christian factions (Kingdom of Jerusalem and Principality of Antioch), 2 Muslim factions (Egypt and the Turks) or the Byzantine Empire, who wait to tip the balance in their favour and so regain their lost glory.
Will you take the side of Christendom, and conquer all in the name of Christ, or will you drive out the infidels in the name of Allah? Or perhaps you’ll choose to burn your enemy with the Greek fire thrower, the most powerful weapon of the Byzantines? The choice is yours!

Americas Campaign: http://www.totalwar.com/asset_library/Videos/Low_Resolution/Americas_Gameplay_Low.wmv

This is without doubt the coolest campaign of all. You can take either the Spanish ‘Conquistadores’ or the native factions, like the Aztecs or the Apachean Tribes. Which side you want to choose, it will be harder than in the other campaigns to lay ambushes or to evade enemy armies, because no one, not even the inhabitants, know the lands well enough.
I won’t spoil the fun by telling you everything about this campaign. It’s the coolest because everything is new. So find everything out by yourself!

Closing Comments: It’s a good game with nice graphics, no doubt. But there are still some points that could be better. For instance, you have to train units in different settlements, and then move them together across the map. That makes you lose time.

Players who seek to play a fast strategy game, skip this one, because it takes weeks to complete a campaign with 1 faction.

24-10-2007 om 14:22 geschreven door DJ