Empire total war campaigns series#

ItвЂ™s an exemplary setting for a Total War game-a time of conquest, crusades, and corruption, with enough stability to make each faction relatable and emboldening opportunities for expansion and invasion. Medieval 2 owes an unquestionable debt to the games that came before it, but it has something magical that sets it apart from its predecessors. Read out Total War: Attila review (opens in new tab). A brutal, unforgiving and wonderfully complex strategy Total War game. And like Warhammer, everything you do is under the shadow of a gathering storm: itвЂ™s not if Attila and his Hunnic army will arrive, but when. It also does a great job of folding in more complicated elements, such as weather and guerilla warfare-perfect for anyone more used to the simple clarity of earlier Total Wars. ItвЂ™s not just about fighting: Attila is game of politics, feasting, famine, desolation, and migration, set during one of the most fragile and fascinating periods of history-Europe still feels like a unformed concept, ready to be shaped or smashed as you see fit.

Attila is the first successful attempt to weave these stories into the game itself. The most characterful moments from classic Total War games usually happen organically-the brave mercenary army on the edge of your empire, the feckless offspring of crusading generals. But whichever ones you prefer, they all offer that same mix of conflict and conquest, failure and domination. I'm always drawn back to Fall of the Samurai, Attila, and Rome 2, for example, and that's different for everyone.

Empire total war campaigns series#

Total War is also uniquely nostalgic for a lot of people, and so it's always fun to periodically revisit games throughout the series depending on what you feel like. You can dip into whichever you want and always find crossover. One of the central appeals of Total War is that despite the differences, there's a cohesion that runs throughout them all. As Romans, my favorite thing is trying to save the sister faction: it's a lot of fun as WRE, sending an expeditionary force to stop the Sassanid invasion of the East as ERE, it is sort of the ultimate challenge, as WRE falls so fast, like a fat man in a sprinting zombies movie.With Total War: Warhammer 3 introducing survival battles (opens in new tab), the announcement of a new Three Kingdoms game (opens in new tab), and Total War Saga: Troy trying mythology on for size (opens in new tab), more than ever before, the series is developing in many directions at once. Minor factions can follow the historical Vandals and upsticks to some quiet place, far away from the Hun invasion, like North Africa. Geographic scope: Attila has a lot of freedom over what you do. Attila has leader personalities that are almost Civ like in how important they are - some leader traits (defensive, reliable, passive, admires strong empires etc.) will allow you to form solid diplomatic bonds but they can be shattered in a few turns if the good leader dies and is replaced by an asshole son (opportunistic, unreliable, aggressive, hates large empires etc.) Later on, you can build pretty solid alliances or vassal relations. The early game trick is divide and rule: try to coax factions at peace to join your war (primarily to delay them turning on you). As well as a financial wizard trying to turn eek some economic growth out of a very tight fiscal situation.Дiplomacy: despite the fact pretty much everyone hates you as Romans, diplomacy is a really powerful tool and works well imo. You are like a doctor doing triage, trying to stop them exploding in revolt. Normally, I would not like that - I prefer to start small, then grow organically - but in Attila, it is a lot of fun because those 64 settlements are going to hell in a hurry. Strategic outmaneuvering of armies: As WRE or ERE, the campaign map decisions about where to send your armies are really interesting: you start of so over-stretched, it's very easy to end up like the real life Silicho and be doing well, but suddenly let a devastating barbarian incursion into your heartlands.Д«uildings and empire management: As Romans, you manage a large empire - I think WRE starts with 64 settlements.

It's the only TW game where I could happily play it just autoresolving the battles (and I love TW battles).