Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #314 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sega
• Released on: 2007-08-31
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms features 4 brand new campaigns, including an opportunity to more fully explore The New World that was unlocked toward the end of Medieval II. In the Americas campaign, players can retrace the steps of Hernán Cortés in 1519, as he seeks to explore and conquer The New World. Players can earn the support of Spain and explore the mystery and riches of the New World, or take control of the Aztec or Native American factions and call on the Gods and the bravery of vast armies to see off this new threat.

Three other campaigns offer more detailed magnifying glass campaigns within Great Britain, Northern Europe and the Holy Land, with many more regions than were originally shown in Medieval II. Featuring 13 new playable factions and over 150 new units, Kingdoms allows players to control thousands of men on a single battlefield and lead them into conflict with new hero characters such as Richard The Lionheart and Saladin, each armed with new, powerful battlefield abilities. In addition, players can use moated forts to garrison vast armies or seize control of key strategic points and explore new technology trees, governed by religion and prestige.

Players can experience a bloody clash between pagans and Christians in the Northern European Teutonic Wars, or take control of one of 5 factions in the Britannia campaign when England faces war on 4 fronts as once conquered lands rise up against them. Kingdoms also includes a new expanded Crusades campaign, where players renew their fight for control of the Holy Lands, with new factions, devastating new units (such as the terrifying Greek Flame Thrower), legendary heroes and powerful holy relics.

Kingdoms also includes six new multiplayer scenarios, and 20 new Custom Battle battle maps. Each of the campaigns is also fully compatible with the brand new Hotseat multiplayer mode, making this an essential addition to any Total War fans' collection.

Customer Reviews

Spoiled by bugs, but a patch is promised
This expansion to M2:TW, a game that I couldn't enjoy playing until two major patches had been released, is perhaps unsurprisingly spoiled by bugs of its own. Some of the campaigns are less affected than others but all have at least one advertised feature that doesn't work properly.

The bad news was that the developers and publishers had stated that there would be no further patches for M2:TW or Kingdoms. The good news is that they seem to have changed their minds, and a patch is expected some time in 2008. How many problems this will solve remains to be seen.

One final fly in the ointment: the game installs SecureROM copy protection on your machine. Some PC owners dislike having difficult-to-remove software installed on their machines.

Nearly brilliant
Having played all Total Wars since the days of Shogun this is a great addition to the franchise. The mini-campaigns are a very good idea and the new units and maps very well done.

Be aware, however, that despite two patches coming with the game really frustrating Medieval 2 bugs still exist. In campaigns, if you fight your own battles, watch for cavalry going at 90 or 180 degrees to the commanded direction. Or two of a group run but two walk when all four have been grouped together and told to run. Using pause key often to check troops is essential and spoils the flow. Also when near the end of a large battle it may well lock up on you.

If you like the others in the range you will love this so I definitely recommend it, just be prepared for some frustrating aspects to battle play which should never have been allowed to exist.

Worth the wait.
Ignoring for the moment the other reviews which were posted well before the product's release, this is undoubtedly a game of a depth, richness and quality we've come to associate with the Total War stable. 4 huge missions make this extremely good value and the game looks fantastic, and plays in a familiar challenging way.
Frustrations do however exist. The depth of strategy is perhaps not surprisingly, reduced for these missions; this is first and foremost a wargame after all. The Warfare itself is almost identical to the host game (although the AI armies strike me as being a bit more intelligent, and certainly stronger than in the original title - no bad thing), but the environments where battle take place don't seem to have the variety of the original, a fact most frustratingly in evidence in the Americas campaign where the ubiquitous forest makes getting an overview of your troops almost impossible - challenging the first couple of times, frustrating the next dozen!
To date I have completed the America's campaign (as Spain) and have struggled in the far more detailed Britannia game. Its frustrating being England to start with, controlling so many towns and cities with armies randomly hidden in forts and towns where you may only stumble across them 20 turns into the game. Excessive revolts early in the game make any coherent stategy difficult to adopt as you get the feeling you are contantly fire-fighting to quell the latest in a series of annoying rebellions, and with such a sprawling realm this mission feels a lot less exciting than the America's one.
To date therefore, an enjoyable and very challenging game with minor frustrations, and occassional bugs in the America's where the game can just hang when too many allied armies are involved in one battle. A worthy sequel to Medieval but with nothing like the private life and sleep destroying potential of the parent game.