Medieval 2: Total War Review

                As usual with my reviews, they are relevant to the time of the release of the game. Today, I’m reviewing one of my favorite games to play as a kid/teenager. This game, in my opinion, was the first (and potentially largest) leap for the total war series. Previously, total war games felt the same and every problem had very simple solutions. I remember in the original Medieval: Total War, you could basically just build cheap spearman and destroy anybody with the numbers game. In the original Rome: Total War if you had hoplites you could just put those in front of gates and you were 99% guaranteed a win (enemies would just continuously run into them and die, without adjusting). This game is FINALLY when the AI starts to get smart, different times of units start to actually matter more, and a central organization starts to actually make a difference.

                In the past, the central organization would hand out missions with rewards or “disappointed messages,” but nothing really quite as complex, rewarding, and harmful as the Papcy. This game introduced politics the likes of which were never seen in total war games before hand, with the College of Cardinals. It became INSANELY important to focus on either building lots of priests to rise up in the ranks or lots of assassins to kill your enemies priests so you don’t get excommunicated (or, as I do it just to be safe, I do both). This game brought a lot of fresh ideas that even still to this day are enjoyable (though they are FINALLY starting to feel a little dated). Heck, the game even still looks good today, something I can’t say the same for Empire: Total War. The story is what you make it like all total war games (though the more recent ones like Warhammer have improved this significantly), so the score will be similar to other total war games here, but overall this was one of the greatest games of its era and certainly the best strategy game.

Originality:  17 /20

Graphics:   10 /10

Art Style:  15  /15

Story:       12 /30

Music:     5  /5

Controls   5   /5

Is it fun?   15 /15

Total –

79 / 100

Non story– 91  / 100

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100

Warhammer: Total War = 98

Zelda Skyward Sword-98

Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle - 96

Shovel Knight – 95

Shadow of Mordor = 95

Zelda Breath of the Wild - 94

Hyrule Warriors – 93

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93

Zelda Minish Cap – 92

Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR

Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR

Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91

Metroid Fusion – 91

Paper Mario – 90

Overwatch – 90

Zelda Twilight Princess – 90

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90

Guildwars 2 – 89

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89

Shadow of War - 88

Pokemon X – 88

Kid Icarus Uprising – 88

Darksiders 2 - 88

Fire Emblem Awakening – 88

Super Mario Odyssey - 87

Portal 2 – 87

Portal – 87

Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86

Zelda Windwaker HD – 86

Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86  

Mass Effect - 84

Super Mario Maker = 84

Dishonored - 84

Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84

Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83

Rome 2: Total War - 83

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83

Mario and Luigi Paper Jam - 82

Batman Arkham Knight - 81

Batman: Arkham Origins – 81

Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga – 80

Trine – 80

Medieval 2: Total War - 79

Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78

Civilization 6 – 77

Mass Effect 3 – 77

Xenoblade Chronicles 3ds - 76

Mass Effect 2 – 76

Mr. Shifty - 74

Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74

Black Ops 2 - 74

Rome: Total War-74

Yoshie’s Wooly World – 73

Super Mario 3d land – 72

Diablo 3 – 72

Pokémon Ultra Sun - 72

Fire Emblem Warriors - 72

Just Cause - 71

Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70

Red Alert 3 – 70

Xenoblade Chronicles X - 70

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze - 68

Snake pass - 66

New Super Mario Bros. U – 66

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 57

Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR

Player Unknown Battlegrounds – 53

Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53

Mighty Gunvolt Burst - 47

Puzzles and Dragons Z: Mario Edition - 46

Kirby Squeak Squad – 43

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42

Yoshi’s New Island - 27

Project X Zone - 18

NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.

Non Story – A score that has nothing to do with story, for those of you with less narrative concerns.