Medieval: Total War (2002)

Experience the middle Ages in all their blood-soaked magnificence. From the lush grasslands of Western Europe to the arid deserts of Northern Africa, from the first Crusade to the fall of Constantinople, implement diplomacy, utilize trade, espionage and assassinations, spread your religion and wage total war in order to expand your influence and secure your reign as you build a dynastic empire to stretch across four centuries. Total War is the follow on from 2000’s Shogun- Total War. As with Shogun the game is split into two sections – the turn-based campaign map wherein the player is required to make strategic decisions, recruit and move armies, besiege settlements, fight naval battles and employ agents such as emissaries, spies and assassins to aid with diplomacy, offer alliances or bribes, or execute rather more clandestine actions. Religion is important in the game and whether a faction is Muslim, Orthodox or Christian will affect allegiances and public loyalty – as a catholic nation the player must carry out the wishes of the Papal States, embarking on a holy war if need be or else run the risk of excommunication. If public order and loyalty should fall too low in a particular region a rebellion or a civil war may occur – in these situations the player may decide to side with the rebels or the current rulers to quell the rebellion or overthrow a tyrannous regime-