Total War Special Coverage

Because the final total war game is coming out tomorrow I thought I would do a special on the total war series. It will, sadly, be the last total war game as it was a trilogy, but don't worry, there is a Total Warrior trilogy to come!

Shogun Total War
The first Total War game was Shogun Total War. It was released 14/6/00. It was published by Activision. It was revolutionary, getting numerous awards and enticing many players. The game was set in Japan in the 16th century where the country was at war. Although the total war games have changed allot over the series here lies the foundation. The campaign plays like risk, you do not have complete control over your army's, you can just move them province to province. The graphics were good at the time but now are measly compared to Rome Total War.

Medieval Total War
The second installment, Medieval Total War, is considered by many (but not me) to be the best Total War game. Combining the greater graphics with some of the classic and simplistic features such as limited army control of army's on the campaign map. It is also most people's favorite period of time. As advanced units are just starting but there is still lots of hand to hand combat. This game was released in 19/08/02 and also picked up a rake of awards. This game was also published by Activision and also had an expansion pack.

Rome Total War
The third and final installment was Rome Total War. Released 01/10/04 and also published by Activision. It gives you free control on the campaign map as well as revolutionizing the entire RTS market. Please see my review for full details.

Now you may be wondering why I keep mentioning who published the game. As you know, the Rome: Total War expansion pack is coming out tomorrow. Now you would expect it to be published by Activision. Oh no, it is published by *drum role* SEGA! I didn't even know Sega did publishing. They are also publishing the up coming Spartan: Total Warrior. Apparently, Sega out bid Activision for all of the up coming titles. It is isn't that surprising as Sega publishing probably have a nice new bank balance and saw where the money was. I don't care it is just interesting.

Barbarian Invasion
Although I have already done a preview for this game I have more information. I can confirm that the campaign map is bigger and will include Scotland. Also, if your commander has a night trait then you can choose whether you can attack at night in the campaign. Apart from it being dark, it means reinforcements can't join the battle unless their commander also has the night trait. This is great as before they could have 40 units and you 20. There is also, of course, a whole host of new traits and units and everything.

For all of you who are confused about my release date and what it says on shop.game.net, I have the same dilemma to. I will try to buy it tomorrow but I suspect that that is only in America :(. When it comes out I hereby proclaim it 'INTERNATIONAL TOTAL WAR DAY'. Every year you must only play total war games, or buy a copy of the game on that day. When this day becomes famous remember THK123.

I look forward to playing BI with much enthusiasm. I will not review for ages and will be eating tablets for food as will be playing it constantly and will not be able to click quit. My only hope is that you can run it off the expansion pack disk too so I can play multi player across the network. I doubt it though.