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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. Game Summary: Quick Overview.
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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
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.