Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms Q&A - New Campaigns, New Heroes, New Wars
Aztecs, Mayans, the Crusades, Teutonic Knights, Richard the Lionhearted, and more are some of the new content in the huge, upcoming expansion to Medieval II.
Medieval II: Total War is already a big game, covering hundreds of years of European history and letting you play from the perspective of more than a dozen major powers of the time, such as England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and beyond. And if that weren't big enough, the game's real-time battles, which easily feature thousands of units rendered in incredible detail, are amazing enough to steal the show. Well, Sega and Creative Assembly recently announced plans to make Medieval II a lot bigger with the addition of Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms, a supersized expansion that will add four new campaigns, a host of new factions, over 150 new units, and more. We turned to Creative Assembly game designer Penny Sweetser for more on the expansion, which is scheduled to ship later this year.
GameSpot: Kingdoms is big for an expansion pack. Earlier Total War expansions featured around a quarter of the amount of content that's in Kingdoms. What's the thinking behind such a huge expansion?
Penny Sweetser: Well, Medieval II is a huge game, so it needs a huge expansion! Medieval II covers such a long period of time and breadth of geography and cultures, it left few areas uncovered; so with Kingdoms we've focused, enriched, and deepened that experience.
Kingdoms gave us a fantastic chance to delve deeply into the rich cultures and exciting warfare of small sections of the world in key times in history. Each of the campaigns has its own character and atmosphere, and is rich in detail and steeped in the history of the period, from the Spanish conquest of the New World, to the Teutonic Knights' crusade against the Northern pagans, to the ongoing struggle for supremacy and survival in the British Isles, to the centuries of bloodshed in the name of God in the Holy Lands. We wanted to bring the great kingdoms of the medieval period to life in four strikingly different corners of the world.
Yes, Kingdoms is huge, but it's not just a lot more content--it has a huge amount of variety. Playing each campaign provides vastly different experiences, from defending your jungle homelands from fierce and godlike invaders to taking up the cross in the Holy Lands to fight for your beliefs and a place in the kingdom of heaven. Even playing the different factions in each campaign provides new challenges and experiences, like struggling to prove your leadership to the rulers in Spain to fund your conquests and exploration, or capturing technology from invaders and using it against them. Players will want to experience every bit of Kingdoms, and they can, because the campaigns are a more manageable size. They can even play through it with their friends via the hotseat mode.
GS: Could you get into some of the general improvements and enhancements made to the core game? For instance, what's the deal with the new hero characters? Are these basically improved general units?
PS: There were many great men who became known as heroes during the Crusades: Richard the Lionhearted, Saladin, Nur ed-Din, and the like. We have represented the power and influence these men had by giving them unique special abilities. Each faction in the Crusades has a hero with a special ability that they can use during battle. Hero abilities include Richard's "Heart of the Lion," Saladin's "Righteousness of Faith," and Manuel of the Byzantine Empire's "Byzantine Politics." Each power has a different effect and can be used strategically to turn the tide of battle. For example, Byzantine Politics causes some of the enemy's units to succumb to infighting, resulting in a refusal to move for a period of time. Each hero also has a unique battle model that actually looks like his real-life counterpart, right down to Saladin's beard!
Another new feature is permanent stone forts, which are used differently in each campaign. In Britannia, stone forts are strategically placed at the start of the game and provide key defensive and offensive positions between settlements. In the Crusades campaign, players can place their own permanent stone forts at strategic locations.
One of the most exciting new features is controlling multiple reinforcements. This feature allows the player to have bigger battles than ever before and be the commander of the whole battle! The player can issue commands to reinforcement armies and still control the units in his own army, letting him thus stage massive strategic operations. For example, the player can attack a huge castle from four sides at once with a full army on each side!
GS: What are the new mission types and how do they fit into the game? Was there a feeling that you needed to have more variety than "attack" or "defend"?
PS: With the focus, depth, and atmosphere of each campaign we were able to put a lot more character into missions and make them specific to each campaign. As examples, playing as New Spain you'll receive directives from the Spanish consulate, whom you will have to please to receive support to continue your conquest. The consulate can also reward the viceroy of New Spain with gifts of buildings and units. In the Teutonic campaign, foreign kings and knights arrive to join in the "sport" of the Northern Crusades and kill their share of the pagans. They request the help of the Teutonic Order, who receive rewards in proportion to their efforts. However, if you're playing as pagan Lithuanian, your mission is to destroy these bloodthirsty hunters!
GS: Let's get a bit into each of the four campaigns. First up is Britannia, which seems like an advanced version of the Viking Invasion expansion for the first Medieval. What can you tell us about the campaign? Will it feature a larger map of the British Isles, much like Viking Invasion did?
PS: Britannia includes an expanded map of the British Isles. With the game set in 1258, England's reach is expansive and oppressive, but it is surrounded by enemies. The time is ripe for Scotland, Wales, and Ireland to rise up against the English, as unrest in their respective kingdoms grows and rebellion rears its ugly head. Opportunistic Norway has also seen its chance to strike into the heart of England and seize territory on the British Isles. Champions emerge, rebel factions lie in wait, stone forts are scattered across the map, and enemies lurk at every border. From the first turn, the struggle for power and domination is roaring, and everyone is trying to rule Britannia by conquest and cunning!
- GameSpot Score8.0great
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