There are different families and royals. Also every faction includes agents like imams, Priests, merchants and assassins each having their own abilities. Also this game is turn based and every turn in this game comprises of two years. There are total 22 factions in the game in which 17 are playable. Altogether this game is very detailed in every aspect. Either it is historically, graphically or behaviorally.

And you will actually find this game interesting enough to give it a try. We wanted to have multi-turn campaign sieges, where it would take several turns to complete the battle one layer of defences at a time. In-between the battles, each side would be able to restock and regroup.

We got the multiple defence layers into the battle engine, but the multi-turn sieges didn't make it. Adding castles reinforces this and you really want to have a powerful castle near the battlefront to keep your armies supplied with good troops.

Toose: "By having two types of settlements we gave the player a lot more choice about how they gear any given region. Castles produce a better spread of units, but cities make far more money. You need a combination of both to have the most effective empire.

But Total War games are by their very nature, huge undertakings. With a code-base the size of Medieval II there are always going to be bugs that we don't discover until the code is out in the wild. Toose: "Bugs tend to cause both the biggest headaches in development, but also help to provide the most laughs. We had one where men climbed ladders with so much gusto that they managed to insert themselves into the chap further up the ladder. Glastonbury: "The funniest graphical glitch I saw was caused by a change to the collision system for soldiers that resulted in them getting massive repelling forces from the ground.

Men would randomly be thrown into the air, screaming and flailing. They were like popcorn in a frying pan. You get so close to the product that it becomes like a child and it's disappointing when a feature has to get cut for whatever reason. Multi-turn sieges was one feature we couldn't include, and we also had plans to make further improvements to diplomacy and a completely re-imagined auto-resolve system. Toose: "There were a few features that we weren't able to put in like moats and being able to control reinforcement armies so you can assemble large forces effectively.

These are features we're including in the Kingdoms expansion. We just had self-belief and enthusiasm to do good work. So it came down to us being masters of our own future and the pressure that comes with that. That's simply because creating good Al is really hard and the more complicated your game, the more complicated your Al has to be. Medieval II is really complicated and thus, we could always keep improving the Al.

That's a ludicrous amount of stats to tune, and so more time would translate to better results. It's something we've examined again with Kingdoms. History isn't balanced, and so certain factions are harder to play than others. We balance the game so that when you play in battle mode, each faction has strengths and weaknesses in its unit line-up.

Beyond that, we let player skill and geographic opportunity dictate balance. If you've played any of the Total War games before - most notably the latest instalment of the series, Rome - you'll understand my spontaneous impersonation of an incontinent Michael Flatley. Maybe you're even doing one yourself right now. After all, these pages are dripping with visuals so luscious they'd prompt even a year-old arthritic drunk to rise from his seat and dance around his colostomy bag from sheer delight But as you're about to find out in this, the world's first-ever look at the latest instalment of the all-conquering Total War series, Medieval 2 isn't just a visual feast - it's also packed with meaty goodness in the ganieplay stakes, too.

Having appeased Sefton with flowers, chocolates and enough cash to put down a deposit on a new house in his native Yorkshire 0. And so, with medieval torturing tools at the ready - just in case he wouldn't talk - I met up with said Smith for an afternoon of interrogation and song. Actually, was pretty much just interrogation, though I did have a rendition of Killing Me Softly ready, just in case the thumbscrew didn't work. We're raising the bar right across the board from the campaign map to the historical and multiplayer battles.

The overall structure and gameplay will be similar to Rome's, but it'll also incorporate some elements from the original Medieval such as the Pope and the Crusades.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you've probably already taken a sneaky peek at the rest of the pages of this preview, drooled lustfully on the pages and maybe even contacted your bank manager to discuss the possibility of a loan to cover the cost of a new graphics card. Well, for starters, you needn't panic if your machine's still packing a 'more mature' 3D card, because just like its predecessors, Medieval 2's titanic battles will be massively scalable to cater to the power of your PC.

And even though it's still too early to talk spec specifics, Smith seemed confident that Medieval 2 is set to be every bit as friendly to OAP cards and processors as Rome was. But what about If you've already taken out a third mortgage for a PC that'll enable you to play Medieval 2 in all its glory? What's in store for you? Well, for starters, Medieval 2 is doubling, yes, doubling Rome's polygon count "The amount of detail in some of the textures is amazing, right down to the names of programmers inscribed on gravestones in the churchyard," enthused Smith.

The methods for building and rendering cities and units is completely new, and the combat animation system lias been heavily revised. Oh, but wait my slavering friends, we haven't even got to the good bit yet Far from it Y'see, up till now, Total War has been the largest most realistic, adrenal-soaked cauldron of warfare ever to grace a videogame, where gargantuan armies batter each other into fleshy piles until one side stands victorious, knee-deep in every blood type under the sun.

But there's always been one problem with this - all of the soldiers looked the same. All that however, is about to change. On top of this, there are also multiple variants for shields and weapons, so each soldier has character and each unit of men looks and behaves like a realistic group of soldiers.

I continued the relentless interrogation and soon uncovered perhaps the single most exciting info nugget of the afternoon, just as I was finishing erecting an iron maiden. It's almost too good to be true. Gone are the mindless, hacking soldiers of Rome, replaced instead by warriors who attack each other with the brutality of a Millwall fen after closing time.

If he gets too close, he could actually throw the assailant back with a shield barge, then run him violently through with a spear. Touches like these make the huge battles so much more realistic and immersing, whether you're zoomed in on the front line or looking on from a distance" And if that's not enough to get you excited.

Smith also revealed that you can look forward to combatants gradually acquiring layers of blood on their armour that's spattered from their vanquished foes. As well as the skirmishes themselves, terrain has always played an integral part in ensuring Total War's gritty realism. But just when you thought this already monumentally lifelike battle simulator couldn't possibly get any better, another sublime addition comes along to prove you wrong.

Through the use of impassable obstacles, Medieval 2 looks like it could raise the realism bar by yet another notch. Up till now, Total War battlegrounds have only ever been seriously constricted by the boundaries of the map. Whether schlepping over flatlands or rolling tree-covered hills, your armies could move almost anywhere with little or no constriction. But this luxury of being able to retreat without too much thought for your surroundings will now be a thing of the past "In general, there'll be more terrain on the battlefield, with impassable cliffs and banks, walls and hedges and more buildings," beamed Smith.

Mud , could also be a problem for heavily-armoured troops, cavalry and infantry, so well be reflecting this in the game, too. The Creative Assembly's outfit in Australia is also ensuring that the excellent innovations from Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion are being translated into Medieval2, including horses and lightly-armoured troops having the ability to swim across rivers in order to attack enemy lines.

Also making a welcome return from Rome's debut expansion pack are the nighttime battles, which Smith promised would be even more spectacular this time around thanks to fearsome cannons that'll be able to cripple cities and ravage them with flames. Artillery is also less effective under a blanket of darkness. If there's one disappointing piece of news about Medieval 2, it's that it'll still be bereft of real-time naval battles. However, from what Smith told me, this isn't so much an omission as a determination to ensure that when Total War does eventually incorporate sea-based battles into its already towering arsenal of war modes, it'll be every bit as captivating, thrilling and entertaining as its on-land counterparts.

Creating them to a standard that befits the Total War series is an even bigger one," he explained. Naval combat will be handled similarly to the system employed in Rome, but it'll be polished and tweaked. Writing articles about Total War games often feels like a two-part process. That's because these titles are actually two games of equal quality - 3D real-time battles and the campaign map - wrapped up in one sublime package, and Medieval 2 is no exception.

So without further ado, let's move on and see what Smith had to reveal - with a little medieval-style coaxing - about the second section. To compensate, there's a new recruitment system and castles will require less management than cities. As the game develops, cities will become more important but re-developing castles will be costly, so the transition will need to be carefully managed.

Of course, the medieval period wasn't only notorious for its bitter land disputes, humongous fortresses, subterfuge, betrayal, brutality and inhumanity, but also for its religiously-motivated wars, most notably the Crusades. And while this feature did play a part in Medieval, it seems that it'll play a far more prominent role here, with the Pope himself calling a crusade that w all catholic factions can choose to join.

The faction that captures the target first gains considerable prestige and wealth, and you'll also need to keep on the Pope's good side.

However, whet the old codger dies - for whatever reason -you can don your religious robes and vote in the election of a new one - and getting one of your own cardinals elected will help in securing good relations. One of the pitfalls of making a sequel to a game as comprehensive as Medieval is the prospect of making the two games campaign maps too similar, but CA Australia is clearly doing an admirable job of avoiding a prevailing sense of deja vu in this follow-up.

Medievalfc hugely expansive campaign map, which encompassed Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, will now be even more impressive thanks to the addition of South America to Medieval 2. Initially, these far-western lands will be hidden from you and the squares of the Atlantic Ocean will be impassable.

However, later in the game, you'll be able to develop the technology to cross the ocean, discover America and battle with the Aztecs. You have to watch your back though - what the Aztecs lack in military technology they more than make up for in bravery and sheer numbers. Each faction controls a number of settlements, and must conquer others in order to continue growing.

Unlike previous Total War titles, there are two kinds of settlements, each with different advantages and disadvantages: cities and castles. Castles have better defensive capabilities and have access to a larger selection of soldiers, but generate less income, cannot train as many priests as cities, and have no access to higher civilian technologies. Cities generate much larger income and are technological centers of a faction, but are more difficult to defend and only have access to militia troops.

MIST Game. A small quantity of militia troops, stationed in the city where they have been trained, can be kept for free, without upkeep cost, otherwise required to be paid every turn for every army unit. Players may convert a settlement to a different type, although larger cities may not be converted into castles.

Castles also need less population to be upgraded. Religion plays a large role in conquests and overall gameplay. Paganism is negligible in the Old World but is the religion of the Aztecs and is the only religion present in America by default.

In Medieval 2 Total War the war takes place in Europe and America , where the colonizers are fighting for the best territories. Even if the medieval period is the setting of the game, since part of the action takes place in America, there is a new faction that enters the struggle, the Aztecs.

The main points of Total War remain intact: religion, diplomacy, and war. Taking these three things into account, we will have to solve any conflict that may take place between the 17 playable factions and the four that appear, but cannot be played.