Introduction

Medieval: Total War is the new game in the Total War saga! Yes, This means that the Total War team will continue the series of games built upon the original Shogun: Total War. Medieval will be a very different game though - much bigger and better! The following is a brief introduction to the game, you can find other information at the Medieval: Total War official site.

Medieval: Total War is a game of empire building and epic real time battles. Encompassing four centuries of warfare from the first Crusade in 1095 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Medieval: Total War takes everything that was compelling about the critically acclaimed Shogun: Total War and adds new levels of depth, accessibility, gameplay and strategy.

This is the age when the nations of Europe emerged from the endless struggle between competing feudal overlords; when Richard the Lionheart and Saladin fought for control of the Holy Land; when there was a Holy Roman Empire that was neither Holy, nor Roman nor even an Empire; when the English and French learned to really hate each other during the Hundred Years War; when Kings took and held their thrones by the power of the sword; when knights ruled the battlefield until English archers shot them down with their rightly-feared longbows; when a Pope could grant forgiveness of all sins for killing the Church’s enemies as brutally as possible; when knights and their ladies practiced courtly love; when children as young as four were married off in dynastic and territorial treaties; when there was more than one Pope, claiming to be the true leader of the Church; when plague - the terrible Black Death - killed around a third the whole population; when heretics and witches were burned by the thousand; when the Mongol hordes lurked to the East; when heroes like Joan of Arc and Robin Hood passed from reality to myth and back again; when everyone sensible knew the sun went round the earth; when Spain was ruled by Muslim lords; when life and death were a sword’s length apart; when great cathedrals were built all across Europe; when war itself was on the eve of a great change - the widespread use of gunpowder; and when the Renaissance burst into life.

The period is also rich in larger-than-life characters who carved their names across history - from military giants such as Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, Frederick Barbarrosa and Kublai Khan; to legendary warriors and rebels such as William Wallace, El Cid and Joan of Arc. The great deeds of these characters will be woven into the gameplay.

Medieval: Total War will give the player the chance to experience the Middle Ages in all their blood-soaked magnificence. Battles will rage across deserts, mountains, plains and forests. Massive armies will lay siege to mighty fortresses and pound them into the dust with catapults, mangonels, trebuchets and cannons. Players will command medieval armies of knights, men-at-arms, archers and siege weapons to make their royal family the masters of Europe.

Key Features

• Epic scale 3D battles featuring over 10000 troops. With hundreds of distinct battlefields from the lush farmlands of Western Europe to the arid deserts of Northern Africa.
• Spectacular Castle Sieges. Pound castles into the dust with a vast array of siege weaponry, including: Siege Cannons, Mangonels and Ballistae.
• 12 playable factions and over 100 different unit types each with distinct playing styles including: the English, German, Byzantine, French and Turkish Empires.
• Play as a famous Historical Hero - including Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc, Saladin and Frederick Barbarrosa, and engage in historical campaigns including, The Hundred Years War, The Crusades and The Mongol Invasions.
• RPG-style character development - Kings, Generals and Heirs develop vices, virtues and abilities that reflect their actions throughout the campaign.

This information was compiled on the 26th of December 2001 by Terazawa - source: official site