May 11, 2006 - SEGA's pre-E3 event gave us a great first look at Creative Assembly's next game in their amazing Total War series. Their trip back to the middle-ages wasn't exactly surprising considering the game was practically built around that type of combat. Today's demonstration went over a bunch of the stuff we've already seen and reported about, but also held some new info that we hadn't seen, most notably the Aztec civilization and the new world.
It's hard not to get excited about these types of games if you're into historical battles or combat even in the slightest. The Total War games are amazing recreations of those conflicts and Medieval 2 has taken some great steps in creating a more immersive experience. We got another chance to see some of the great new animations and detailed units today when Spain invaded the Aztec Empire and thrashed them.
The New World only opens up after a certain amount of time in the campaign game. Once that happens, players can expect civilizations to scurry over to rape the land for gold and other resources. Christian countries in particular are going to be very aggressive about the subjugation of the heathen lands and the "conversion" of these people to the right way of thinking. As mentioned in previous previews, religion is a huge part of the political landscape in the campaign section of Medieval 2. The Pope in particular plays a huge rolls in what happens around the world. The fact that he's going to actively encourage his followers to bring god to the people in the Americas isn't surprising.
The Aztecs aren't quite as technologically advanced as the rest of the civilizations that find their way across the pond to wreak havoc on the new continents. They don't have gunpowder. Heck, their melee weapons are even behind the times, but they do have heart as was demonstrated in a siege of an Aztec city. No matter how badly the Spanish were kicking their asses colorfully garbed warriors just wouldn't give up. While the balance hasn't been totally set for armies to rout yet, the Aztecs will be given some serious morale that will allow them to fight on when any prissy white men would fold under the pressure.
The Aztec armies are a colorful lot. It's hard to comment on the authenticity of the garb these guys are wearing when you know very little about the culture, but Creative Assembly tells us that they did a lot of research to get the look right. Some warriors wear what looks like red pajamas, others wear costumes of animals, and still more dress in bright colors and wear signs of other animals and spirits around on their backs. All of this was done in the hopes of frightening their enemies apparently and I suppose if I came up against them I'd probably be pretty freaked out.
During the fight we noticed a few different things about the battle. First off, musketmen fire and then retreat to the back of the line in order to keep the lines firing one after another. It's not surprising, but it's not something we'd seen in this game to date. Another was that all of the soldiers in the fight actually get more bloodied as the battle progressed. Yet another little detail to add to the immersion.
After checking out the battle and watching it roll to a close, the guys moved focus to the turn-based meta-game and some of the special units like heretics, priests, and merchants. Every so often, heretics will pop up around the world and cause unrest. In order to get rid of them without battle, priests can be sent in to convert the heretics back to the true faith. The only catch is that there's a chance that your priest will actually end up being turned into a heretic instead.
Having good priests are pretty important as well as they can actually raise in power and eventually be elected as Pope. This depends on the faction strength of your nation as well, but this actually comes into strategy. Should one of your priests raise up in the College of Cardinals to become the most powerful, you can actually order the existing Pope assassinated in order to gain control of one of the most powerful forces in the game.
The other special unit shown, the merchant is used for economic profit though it's not a necessity to win. Scattered around the world map are resources that can increase trade and generate extra cash. The catch is that a merchant must remain on the resource in order to gather that trade in. The moment that it moves, the bonus disappears. Should a rival merchant be sitting on a resource that you have your eyes on, it's possible to move your merchant in to take the resource away. This isn't technically considered a hostile act either so this little bit of economic warfare can be waged as often as you like. Merchants will also gain experience like all of the other units in the game and will stand a larger chance of surviving one of these encounters if they've been around the block a few times.
Medieval 2: Total War continues to impress not only for its engine but for the gameplay tweaks that have been included in this newest addition to the family. Look for more info as soon as we can get it. We've already started badgering them about giving up a preview copy so hopefully they'll cave under the weight of all of our whining soon.
IGN report - Aztecs! (No pics)
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Originally Posted by therussian
