Medieval: Total War Viking Invasion Expansion Pack

Rating:
Summary: Delays, delays, delays...
Review: I'm sure that this upgrade will be one of high magnitude, however the production and development for this product is not. The first upgrade was posted to be out a month ago and they decided that we would want the full expansion pack at one time. Personally I would have enjoyed being entertained by the first upgrade while I waited for the larger expansion. Now they have delayed the release yet again. I'm sorry but this is not how you run a successful company. When you set a release date you had better make it even if this means overtime for the crew. To delay causes desertion in the buying population and not as many people will buy now than before. Also I do concur that they need to keep the original game separate from the expansion. Thanks.

Rating:
Summary: best game ever
Review: Amazing game with realistic variables that make it compelx but learnable lots of fun amazing graphics best game of its kind and in some ways the only game of its kind

Rating:
Summary: Info You Could Use
Review: This is not a review, but a response to the first entry: Dude, don't worry, you can buy the expansion exclusively if you already own Shogun. It will be available from Electronic Arts the same day the full release is set to come out. And it will be priced significantly lower than the full release.

Rating:
Summary: this sucks
Review: I agree with that guy. THe expansion packs should be sold seperatly so those of use who already own and love the original.

Rating:
Summary: Annoyed
Review: Obviously I haven't played the expansion yet. I just want to let EA know that I'm more than a bit upset that they're bundling the original game with the expansion and charging us Shogun fans full price. I love the original, but I'm offended by them trying to make me buy it twice.

Rating:
Summary: Hours of entertainment
Review: Medieval: Total War is a great game that makes many demands on the player. Unlike the glut of shoot-em-up, kill-em-all, skate-until-you-drop games out there (many of which are FUN), this is a highly strategic game that requires total concentration. However, the battle sequences are gorgeous! (See? I like kill-em-all stuff too!) Some of the random events do get infuriating, but hey, that's the way things go. Nobody said ruling the medieval world would be easy.

Rating:
Summary: Battle Axes, Brew & Plunder!
Review: You sit hunched near the prow of the Longboat, listening to the oarsmen gasp as they heave against their burden and shove the boat bearing steely death through the North Sea. There is a close, deadly chill, but the sea is cloaked with a thick and heavy fog that roils up off the whitecaps like steam, as if the furnaces of Hell churned beneath the waves. The Huskarls were blessed by the Jarl's priest hours ago; they clutch their battle-axes and snarl through their teeth, their faces streaked with a cow's blood, the berserker rage upon them.

Soon the dragon's prow will gouge into the Saxon shore; soon your berserker-band will leap across the side and crush skulls, spill blood, scatter the feeble enemy, rape and pillage and burn and plunder. You will drink the enemy's blood in a cup forged of his feeble skull and sing of Valhalla. You will not sully the honor of your ancestors. You will stare up to heaven and cry out in victory under the eternal one-eyed glare of Odin the All-Father.

********

The Omens warn of Death and Destruction. Just a fortnight ago, you watched as the heavens were filled with fire. The earth itself has turned against your people; the fields lie fallow, the crops barren, the yields puny. The people starve. Dogs run feral in the woods, even in the streets.

Your Saxon grandfather's grandfather hacked his way into this unforgiving wilderness, pushed the barbarian Celts back into the western hills, forged a life and a kingdom. You wear that uneasy crown even now, but God---how that cold iron crown digs down into your skull. The Christian priest speaks of the armor of the Lord, but how much more would you give for stronger steel and more men against the coming of this new scourge: orange-haired giants stealing throught the fog in their dragon ships, wielding steely scythes of death, slaying your men and defiling your women. They wear horned helms like the Demons the priests preach against. They are barbarians, savages, bloodthirsty monsters. They are the scourge of an uncaring God: they are the Vikings.

*******

A year ago I picked up "Medieval: Total War" (the original, without the Viking Invasion expansion). Several beer barrels of coffee and three sleepless nights later, I decided Medieval was the single most addictive videogame I had ever played. I picked up the full Battle Collection last week, armed only with the modest expectation of a minor tweak to the basic game that would enable me to send hordes of screeching, beer-guzzling horn-helmed warriors roaring across Anglo-Saxon England.

Boy was I wrong.

Here's what you need to do: if you just got Medieval Total War: Battle Chest, you absolutely must load up Viking Invasion. It's not just an expansion: it's a massive overhaul to the MTW game engine that boosts immeasurably the original's playability, and (sigh) addictiveness. The flaws that hampered the original---and occasionally brought the game to a screeching halt or aborted it altogether---have been fixed.

Now there are four ages to choose from: the original three and the Viking Age (from 793 A.D. through the Norman Conquest in 1066). Apart from the Viking-era powers circa 793 A.D., you can now play an additional three factions: Hungary, the Kingdom of Sicily, and Aragon. The expansion includes a horde of new units to further your ambitions and smash those who oppose your imperial will: Slavic footmen, Hungarian Jobbagy, Russian Druhzina cavalry, Arab infantry, ferocious Heavy Steppe Infantry, the brutal Organ Gun, and of course the Viking units: miserable Viking thralls, doughty Viking landsmen, Saxon Fyrdmen, and fierce Viking huskarls.

Best of all, the design flaws that made the original Medieval: Total War nearly unplayable as the game progressed past 1300 have been fixed or eliminated:

1) Rebellions: In the old game, I would curse as constant rebellions turned my imperial map into a bloodbath of red, leaving islands of rebel armies knotted across my kingdom. Invading? You could count on a massive "rebel" or loyalist army left in your wake---piles of chivalric knights and feudal footmen boasting technology not available to the most advanced power on the gameboard!

Rebellions will still break out, and if you leave a region undermanned or overtaxed for years there's always a chance some long-vanquished pretender to a throne will resurface to unite the disaffected---but overnight rebel super-armies are long gone.

2) Ragnarok Abort Bug! Happily done away with. The original MTW used to be nasty to abort in mid-game, or when you went to save, or when you looked at the computer crosswise. Since loading up the Viking expansion I haven't had the game abort once.

New Stuff: Using archers against an enemy building? Light `em up with flaming arrows! Digging in against an enemy siege? Laugh it up as the gatecrashers scream in agony as you dump boiling oil on them.

The sleek new Battle Summary screen is also nice: now you get a full-screen display with a 360-degree view of the countryside, pictures of both unit leaders, details on both sides (if you've got spies or watchtowers), and an option to tailor your units before you get them on the battlefield.

A quick word about the Viking era itself: ever wanted to dispense with all the careful maneuvering, throw the battle-axes and ale kegs into the dragon-prowed longboats and just sail off to raid and plunder the British isles, and generally kill people and break things? Play the Vikings.

Enough talk! Open up the doors to the Temple of Odin! Raise your tankards to Loki in the drinking hall! Let the raids commence!

JSG


Rating:
Summary: Great game, except.......
Review: Total War: Medieval is very enjoyable, but it has an unendurable glitch -- the program occasionally aborts and returns to the operating system, without saving the game. This happens usually during battles.

My computer exceeds all system requirements, and this is simply unacceptable. It ruins an otherwise fine game.

After the 4th or 5th "abort", I broke the CD to spare myself further frustration. No more Activision for me. It is unbelievable (in 2004) that a company can market a product with this kind of glitch.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Game
Review: Having jumped to Medieval: Total War from Shogun: Total War, I was very pleased to see how they were able to greatly improve an already excellent game. I'm a history nut, and I love historical accuracy and historical themes in games, and if you do too you won't be disappointed in this game. The only thing I wish was different was diplomacy, but I understand why it is so limited, this is a war game.

I don't know what the people complaining about crashes are talking about, I've been playing the game for around a year now and I've NEVER had any problems with crashing or anything else.

I could go on, but I don't feel like writing a long review. Let the user rating speak for itself if you're into this type of game.

Rating:
Summary: Nice game.
Review: Not a bad game at all. I never got this when it first came out as I into C&C and many other RTS games But I have been going back and trying to catch up on a few games I missed.

This game reminds alot of Lord Of The Realms 2. You do basically the same things except for a few differences.

This is a turned based game (like Lords 2 and Civilization games)with real time battles. You could either have the Computer resolve the battle or fight it yourself. The thing I didn't like about the battles was it seemed half the time, the other general would run away (a few times mine did and these 3 amd 4 ranked generals with many victories). Some of the generals are your sons. As the game continues, you play through the 4 seasons. Eventually, a son will be born. When he reaches age 16, he is ready to lead one of your armies. Depending on how many years this goes, your leader (Daimyo as they call it) can die. If you have no heirs, your game is over. Otherwise one of your heirs takes over.

There are many buildings you can build and upgrade that affects what kind of units you can create, how good their weapons and armor is, and how much honor and moral they have. Some buildings will only show up once one of your generals is of very high rank.

the resources of the game are Koku (money) from alliances, mines, Koku's pillaged from victory in war, and farming. You have to keep your people happy to stop revolts also.

You also have special units such as emmisaries that spy and offer alliances and Ninja's who are used to spy and assasinate other generals and emmisaries (the cutscenes for this are pretty cool).

Graphically, this game is pretty good for a 4 year old game, the sounds are good, and the music is pretty good. Replay value isn't very good, but there is alot more to this game than what I just told you here.

No that this is over, it is off to start Medieval: Total War. Good luck and enjoy a pretty fun game while it lasts.