Total War (series)
| Total War franchise | |
|---|---|
 The official logo of the series |
|
| Developers | The Creative Assembly |
| Publishers | Activision Sega Electronic Arts |
| Platforms | Windows-based PCs |
| First release | Shogun: Total War June 13, 2000 |
| Latest release | Total War: Shogun 2 March 15, 2011 |
| Official website | www.totalwar.com |
Total War is a computer strategy game series developed by the Creative Assembly. Its games combine turn-based strategy and resource management, with real-time tactical control of battles. The first game of the series, Shogun: Total War was released in 2000. The most recent game release was in March 15 2011, Total War: Shogun 2.
Contents |
[edit] Games
| Title | Release date(s) | Operating system | Expansions | Complete set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shogun: Total War | 2000, 2001 | Windows | Mongol Invasion | Warlord Edition, Gold Edition, Total War: Eras |
| Medieval: Total War | 2002, 2003 | Windows | Viking Invasion | Gold Edition, Total War: Eras |
| Rome: Total War | 2004, 2005, 2006, | Windows, Mac (Gold Edition) | Barbarian Invasion, Alexander | Gold Edition, Anthology, Total War Collection, Total War: Eras |
| Medieval II: Total War | 2006, 2007 | Windows | Kingdoms | Gold Edition, Total War Collection |
| Empire: Total War | 2009 | Windows | The Warpath Campaign,Various 'Elite Units packs' (Online) | Gold Edition, Empire And Napoleon Total War - Game Of The Year Edition, Total War Collection |
| Napoleon: Total War | 2010 | Windows | The Peninsular Campaign, Imperial Guard Pack (Online) | Empire And Napoleon Total War - Game Of The Year Edition, Total War Collection |
| Total War: Shogun 2 | 2011 | Windows | Ikko Ikki Clan Pack, Sengoku Jidai Unit Pack, Rise of the Samurai Campaign | - |
[edit] Shogun: Total War
Shogun: Total War is set in feudal Japan. It is different from the more familiar Western settings of later Total War games. In the single player game, the role-playing done by the clans and players of Shogun was unrivaled by any other games in the series,[citation needed] and included interactive videos that represented possible decisions by the player, such as converting to Christianity. The original Shogun was not quite a mainstream product, but attracted a dedicated fan base. The expansion pack, called Mongol Invasion, was released with the original in the Warlord Edition.
[edit] Medieval: Total War
Medieval: Total War is set in medieval Europe. The expansion pack is called Viking Invasion, and the combined edition is called the Battle Collection. In the multiplayer community, Viking Invasion was considered the most balanced and complete version of Total War throughout the whole series.[citation needed] Shogun was faster and arguably more taxing on the individual playing skill, while Medieval added new elements to online battles. It was one of the best-selling games in the Total War series.[citation needed]
[edit] Rome: Total War
Rome: Total War is set in the Roman Republic. This was the first game to encompass what would become one of the most fundamental additions to the Total War series, the inclusion of free map movement as opposed to earlier versions where all movement was province based. The first expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion, was released on 27 September 2005. Rome: Total War Gold Edition, which combined the fully patched versions of the original game and its first expansion into one DVD (instead of the original game's three CD-ROMs) was released on 14 February 2006, though a CD-ROM version (a total of four CDs) was also produced for those without DVD drives. A second expansion pack, Rome: Total War: Alexander, was announced on 10 May 2006. It was released on 19 June 2006 as a download and afterward as retail. A compilation of the original game and the two expansions, Rome: Total War Anthology was released on 16 March 2007. A Mac version of Rome: Total War Gold Edition was released 12 February 2010. It is a Mac-native port of the Windows version, developed by Feral Interactive.
[edit] Medieval II: Total War
Medieval II: Total War, a sequel to Medieval: Total War, was released on 10 November 2006 in Europe and on 14 November in North America. This game includes much more detailed characters and features the Age of Discovery (and colonisation of the Americas) and the Mongol and Timurid invasions. An expansion pack, Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms was announced on 30 March 2007.[1] It was released on 28 August 2007. The Gold Edition of the game, containing the original game and the expansion pack, was released on 1 February 2008.The 'Kingdoms' Expansion pack contained 4 campaigns: the Britannia Campaign, set in the British Isles in 1258, during the reign of Henry III of England; the Crusades Campaign, set in the Middle East in 1174; the Teutonic Campaign, set in the Baltic region of Eastern Europe in 1250; and the Americas Campaign, set in the New World in 1521, during the decline of the Aztec and Maya civilizations.
[edit] Empire: Total War
Empire: Total War was announced on 22 August 2007 by Sega[2] and had been secretly in development since the release of Barbarian Invasion.[3][4] It is set in the 18th century and includes features such as the Industrial Revolution, America's struggle for independence and the colonisation of India. For the first time in a Total War game, players have the ability to play real-time 3D naval battles. Also a feature that had been developed in the game was the decentralisation of provinces, adding greater realism in that many features, from production to technological advancement, would now occur outside of the capital of the province. Empire: Total War was released on 3 March in North America and 4 March in Europe 2009.[5] The expansion pack, Empire: Total War: Warpath, was released in October 2009. Warpath is set in the Americas where you can control one of five different Native American nations. While the game was critically acclaimed due to its innovative game play, the game has been subject to most of the criticism of the Total War series by many critics and fans after its release due to bugs; Sega claims nearly all issues have been presently resolved. The issues have been publicly explained by Creative Assembly several months after the game's release. It was the first in the series to use Steam.[6]
[edit] Napoleon: Total War
Napoleon: Total War was released in North America on 23 February 2010, and in Europe on 26 February. The game focuses on the politics and major military campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. Napoleon was released with several editions: the Standard Edition (as well as a limited edition version of the Standard Edition), Imperial Edition, and the Emperor's Edition (available in Australia and New Zealand only). Players assume the role of Napoleon Bonaparte, or one of his major rivals, on a turn-based campaign map and engage in the subsequent battles in real-time. As with its predecessor, Empire: Total War, which included a special United States storyline, Napoleon features three separate campaigns which follow the general's early Italian and Egyptian campaigns as well as the European campaign and the Battle of Waterloo. In the 'Grand Campaign' the player can play as Great Britain, Austria, Prussia or Russia.
[edit] Total War: Shogun 2
On June 2, 2010, Creative Assembly released a full preview of Total War: Shogun 2, the newest installment of the Total War Series, set in the middle of the 16th century in Medieval Japan. The new battle engine supports up to 56,000 soldiers in a single battle, making them significantly larger than in Napoleon, the previous game in the series. Shogun 2 is also the first game of the series to feature the franchise's name appearing as the primary title in an effort to increase brand awareness.[7] The release date of Total War: Shogun 2 was March 15, 2011.[8]
[edit] Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai
Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is an upcoming stand-alone expansion slated for release in March 2012. The game will explore the conflict between the Imperial throne and the last Shogunate in 19th century Japan, 400 years after the events of the original game in a clash of traditional Samurai culture with the power of modern weaponry. You’ll be able to play one of six new playable clans, supporting either the Imperial throne or the last Shogunate also portrayed in a limited role will be America, Britain and France. A major new feature long requested by fans is the new land and sea unit interactions which includes the ability to call in offshore artillery support barrages, coastal gun emplacements that target enemy ships and the ability to call in campaign map bombardments – bombarding armies and cities in adjacent coastal areas of the campaign map. Other interesting new features will be railway networks, ironclad warships, improved siege battle mechanics (with upgradable tower defences, each with their own speciality), new agent types and a multiplayer overhaul.
[edit] Unnamed Total War
A new Total War has been mentioned to be in development since before Shogun 2 was released.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ "'Total War' Expanding". Totalgaming.net. 2007-04-02. http://tgnforums.stardock.com/?forumid=141&aid=148978. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
- ^ "Total War Sets Sail!". 22 August 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-02-20. http://web.archive.org/web/20080220085222/http://www.totalwar.com/index.html?page=/en/newsandpress/index.html&nav=/en/5/. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ Kollar, Philip (22 August 2007). "Empire: Total announcement secretly developed for a year". 1UP. p. 1. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3162223. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
- ^ Sheffield, Brandon (29 July 2008). "Interview: Creative Assembly's Sutherns Talks Total War Franchise". GamaSutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19328. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ "Empire: Total War Official Site - Release Date". Sega. 12 December 2008. http://www.sega.co.uk/empire/gameinfo/news.php?n=2775. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ SteamFriends.com, Empire: Total War to use Steam as DRM.
- ^ "Hands on: Shogun 2’s siege battles". PC Gamer. 2010-12-03. http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/12/03/hands-on-shogun-2%E2%80%99s-siege-battles-2/. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
- ^ "Press release, from 11 November, 2010". Totalwar.com. http://www.totalwar.com/shogun2/news/4664. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
[edit] External links
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