In 2002, Medieval: Total War was published by SEGA and The Creative Assembly. Tactical strategy genre received this way a reference title. Medieval 2: Total War is the fourth title from the series and the action is set between the years 1080 and 1530. As the precedent games, Medieval 2 focuses on medieval warfare, religion, and politics in Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia expanding the area that was available on the first installment.

Announced in January 2006 and released in November 2006, the game was awaited by the fans and the gamers alike. A demo was made available on October with several battles available: Battle of Hastings, the Battle of Pavia, the Battle of Agincourt and the Battle of Otumba. After the release of the demo, the success of the game was assured.

The gameplay

As I said, the game focuses on warfare, religion, and politics, and the player must take into consideration all these aspects to complete the game. The players will control their faction (chosen at the beginning) and will have to complete several goals. Depending on what faction you chose, you will play a short version of the game (control 15-20 settlements and destroy a rival) or a longer version (control at least 45 settlements and one or two significant cities, such as Jerusalem, Rome or Constantinople).

Each faction will have its advantages and their drawbacks and the player will be able to choose one to their style of play.

The settlements

Medieval 2 brings new things regarding the settlements. We have now two types of settlements: cities and castles, each with their advantages and disadvantages. For example, castles give you the possibility to recruit better defensive and offensive troops but with a penalty on income while the cities generate more money but allow you to recruit only basic units, mostly militia. The cities are also the center of technology, allowing you to research powerful units like artillery and siege equipment. You can convert the castles into cities and vice-versa but you will lose all the buildings constructed, so pay attention to what kind of settlement you want to construct.

You will be able to construct different kinds of building in your settlement ranging from training troops, upgrading armor, increasing the economy, increasing the settlement's defenses or strengthening religion. Except this, each city will be able to construct only a guild hall from several types. These guild halls provide certain bonuses such as increased movement for troops, better weapons, or better agents; some even grant access to new units, making each city unique. Later in the game, you will be able to upgrade the guild hall into Master Guild Hall which translates into bigger bonuses.

You will have to pay attention to the citizens happiness, the population growth and the public order because if their needs won't be fulfilled they may revolt and the settlement will join the rebels.