Recent reviews by Perdiccas

If I were stranded on a desert island, but inexplicably provided with a gaming PC and allowed only a single game, this would certainly be it. A lot of titles have come and gone over my life, but there is something magical about this game that maintains a hold over me, even now.

Fans familiar with the franchise will recognise the game's format. At its heart, it's a turn based strategy game, composed of two arenas.

In the first, you pore over the campaign map to manage your provinces, generals and armies on the macroscopic level. You control your economy by tweaking taxes, maintaining a trade network and constructing improvements to your provinces. You recruit troops and agents to fight for supremacy through martial power or subterfuge. You plot, scheme and strategise to guide your faction to victory.

In the second, where your armies meet those of your enemies, you fight on the battle map. Here, you enjoy microscopic control of your units, making careful use of a variety of troop types to defeat enemy armies.

The gameplay is deep, thoughtful, enjoyable and memorable. Indeed, whilst newer TW games look shinier, their gameplay does not reach the same depths. The sheer scope of ways to play is unmatched. Moreover, the simpler campaign map is much easier for the AI to handle, resulting in genuinely rewarding and complex campaigns.

The game also triumphs in its smaller touches like the texture of notification parchments, the gentle soundtrack, the emerging personalities of generals, the wealth of historical information.

But my favourite feature, the one that dwarfs all others, is the replayability. Every campaign is different. Sometimes you'll see the AI perform spectacularly with one faction, only to see it destroyed swiftly in the next campaign that you play. Plus, there are multiple periods in which to play, and so many strategies.

For the belligerent, one can focus on martial power and grind enemies into the dust. For the shrewd, one can exercise soft power by hoarding riches, then bribing enemies and relying on mercenaries. For the underhanded, one can employ a variety of agents, be they assassins, spies or diplomats. Or you can mix all three!

Furthermore, every campaign is itself a wonderful journey. Every nuance contributes to the immersion. A faction rejects my alliance? I'll remember that when they leave their rich provinces poorly defended. Former master general becomes a violent drunkard with waning loyalty? I can assassinate him, frame him for treason, put him on trial for heresy or cart him off to govern a province far away. King is weak and ineffectual, rapidly losing influence over his generals? Let's do everything to stir up disloyalty and simply support the rebellion in the ensuing civil war, quietly removing a useless leader and a minority of misguided loyalists.

In this way, each campaign tells a story, much like the history of any nation. Winning a campaign is not just about the victory itself, but about telling a story fecund with the brutality, avarice and intrigue of the Medieval world.

So, whenever I jump into a new campaign, I am reminded of these previous games; every faction is held accountable, in my own mind, for its betrayals and underhanded moves in previous campaigns; every province has a memory that makes me smile.

And every campaign is a new challenge, a new story.

Sure, the game has its flaws. The battle map looks horribly dated and the later games improved heavily upon this, particularly with the siege features. But the game holds up beautifully well across the board and contains far more depth on the macroscopic level than supposed sequels.

Why is it doing badly on Steam? Well, lots of people are having crashes. There are fixes out there, but maybe it's not working for everyone. It's a shame really, but I wrote this review to tell people that the game is enchanting and that they should not be perturbed by reports of a few crashes. Patches have come; fixes are known. Indeed, I love this game so much, I wrote an extensive crash fixing guide for the community.

To sum up, fans of the franchise who came late, or strategy veterans looking for a new challenge, I implore you to try this game! It is a wonderful experience and a triumph of video gaming.