You have magic that can melt entire units, heal them back to strength, or pull them into a whirling vortex of death. You still get the thrilling RTS battles and campaign gameplay that Total War is known for, but now you have dragons, giant rat monsters, and dinosaurs with lazers mounted on their back. While Total War: Warhammer was an excellent game, its sequel manages to surpass it in terms of creating an even more epic experience grounded in the lore of Warhammer Fantasy. And if it’s still too easy for you, an amazing selection of mods breathe extra life into an already comprehensive game: Stainless Steel and Broken Crescent are both still essential today. The AI can be soft at times, but it’s still a vicious challenge when the Mongols turn up. In Kingdoms, it also has a fantastic expansion that focusses on historical flashpoints and adds nuance and detail to the sweeping conquests of the main game. Play as England and the temptation to reach out and crush your neighbours is irresistible play as Egypt and you’ll realise how shitty it is when barbaric Christians call crusades against you for no reason. Your place in the world makes every game unique. It’s an exemplary setting for a Total War game-a time of conquest, crusades, and corruption, with enough stability to make each faction relatable and emboldening opportunities for expansion and invasion. Medieval 2 owes an unquestionable debt to the games that came before it, but it has something magical that sets it apart from its predecessors. A brutal, unforgiving and wonderfully complex strategy Total War game. And like Warhammer, everything you do is under the shadow of a gathering storm: it’s not if Attila and his Hunnic army will arrive, but when. It also does a great job of folding in more complicated elements, such as weather and guerilla warfare-perfect for anyone more used to the simple clarity of earlier Total Wars. It’s not just about fighting: Attila is game of politics, feasting, famine, desolation, and migration, set during one of the most fragile and fascinating periods of history-Europe still feels like a unformed concept, ready to be shaped or smashed as you see fit.

Attila is the first successful attempt to weave these stories into the game itself. The most characterful moments from classic Total War games usually happen organically-the brave mercenary army on the edge of your empire, the feckless offspring of crusading generals.

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