Medieval 2: Total War Kingdoms
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ESRB:
Alcohol Reference,Blood,Language - Mild,Sexual Themes,Tobacco Reference,Violence
Publisher: Sega Genre(s): Strategy Home Page: http://www.totalwar.com
Americas
Americas - Spain vs. the restless natives.
The Americas campaign concentrates on Spain taking on the natives of the Americas. Spain, Aztecs, Mayans and Apachean Tribes are initially playable, and Chicimeca, Tlaxcalans and Tarascans can be unlocked. France and England also make an appearance as non-playable factions in the conflict, arriving to the area during the scenario. Technologically Spain is clearly superior to the native tribes, but the numbers are just as clearly against them. Funding is also tight, and the only real way to keep your head above the water is to complete missions, gain prestige and put the mission reward money and the awarded Conquistadors into good use. While the weaker rebel tribes are easy to roll over, the major factions are to be taken seriously - it doesn't matter if you have plate armor and muskets if you are facing a faction with armies numbering more than ten times your own forces.
Sadly, the Total War combat system isn't really designed for battles that are numerically lopsided as there is a cap on number of units you can field. Yes, if you let your guard down you can get overrun by numerous huge low-tech armies attacking you on multiple fronts, but once you get your defenses to a reasonable level, your "main army" can easily match what the enemy can field in numbers, and you have clear technological advantage. It's still not an easy campaign as it's not uncommon to end up fighting against everyone in the new world. Playing as natives gives you the other side of the coin - if you can unite the native factions together, you can push the invaders back to the ocean. The Americas campaign offers some unique features, such as the Apache ability to declare Warpath (similar to Jihad), and the ability to learn the use technology from the invading forces - for example, learning to use firearms by first fighting against musketeers. Regardless, even with the unit types opened during the campaign, the natives have a very limited tech tree, and the game pretty much expects you to fight by zerging with multiple massive armies consisting mostly of cheap cannon fodder.
Britannia
Britannia Campaign - England vs. the rest of the isles.
The British Isles are a nice, relatively small area for a campaign with Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English armies mixing it up with some Norwegian Viking plunderers thrown in for a good measure. Each side has very different starting positions - the English have the largest land area and the latest military tech, but face internal problems with revolting barons that can split up as their own faction (The Baron's Alliance). They also don't exactly get along that well with anyone - a bit like Spain in the Americas campaign, just without the huge numerical disparities. The Welsh, are, well, Welsh [oi, watch it boyo - taff Ed] with a teeny piece of land and more ambitions than resources, and the Irish just want to kick English out of their island. Scottish clans mostly end up bashing the English, while trying to fend off the invading Norwegian fleets. Although things are initially stacked so that England is the primary target for most of the other factions, there is plenty of room for creative diplomacy as well.
Overall, the Britannia campaign feels more polished and fun when compared to the zerg-fests of the Americas. Historical characters also make an appearance from time to time, but they do not have the "Hero" character abilities of the Crusades campaign. Britannia being a set of islands means that naval units play an important part. It also features more siege battles as the landscape is dotted with permanent forts - some with actual moats (another feature added in the Kingdoms expansion).
Related Stuff Games: Medieval 2: Total War
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