The Total War series

One of my all time favourite games series is the immortal :TOTAL WAR. 

Total War is a PC computer strategy  game.  Its games combine turn-based strategy and resource management, with real-time tactical battles. I fondly remember the first time I found  Shogun: Total War ,in the year 2000, it was at the same time that i bought my first gaming PC and i was hooked playing that game, spending months in my bedroom conquering Japan.  Since then there has been no less than 7 more reincarnations of the popular and award-winning series not to mention many expansion packs and spin off’s.

The next in the series was  Medieval: Total War. . It was one of the best-selling games in the Total War series,  so it was at this point that Total War became a more universal game and not just a niche for hardcore strategists.

The 3rd in line was Rome: Total War  released in 2005.  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 that had a much more board game feel.

In 2006 the second medieval was launched Medieval II: Total War  This game included much more detailed characters and features and had many expansion packs. This was a firm favourite for me and i still play today. And also note worthy (to me at least) , William Wallace pops up to lead an army…Awesome, as well as other well known figures of history.

Next came Empire: Total War in 2007.  It being set in the 18th century and included features such as the Industrial revolution, America’s struggle for independence and the colonization of India. This was also the first Total war that introduced naval battles that played in real-time which would continue into further versions to become a staple part of the Total War diet,  and for me was like a game in its self.

Fast forward three years to 2010 and we were given Napoleon: Total War . Like Empire it featured heavy on naval battles and controlling the sea trade routes was fundamental to having enough dosh in your chests to take over  europe and beyond. The basis of the game was set around the  French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century  and early 19th century. This was one of my all time favourite total wars, sending my British marines into france to kill old Napoli was a buzz for me.

The very next year came the next instalment : Total War: Shogun 2  The reincarnation of where it all began. With very slick graphics and the individuality of each man in the battle lines it heralded the next-gen. of Total War. The battles could now hold up to 56 thousand men, a large increase from Napoleon. Another new addition was the Avatar mode where you would play against other players in battles to gain exp. to increase and improve  there customizable units in their barracks. In the next year more expansions were released that turned the samurai into a gun-toting 19 century ninja warrior and the game is still very popular to date.

The Final Total War (at time of writing) was Total War: Rome II .  On 2 July 2012, The Creative Assembly announced Rome II,  features such as  allowing the player to see the battle from almost every angle, including being in amongst the rank and file,  makes you feel like you are taking part in the battle as an active combatant commander whilst still having the ability  to pull back your view and actually command your men to where they need to be. The One thing that that was not to my taste, was the “actual roman style” wall drawings that were used for the unit cards, but hey , this is my preference.

 

In summary, the complete Total War series from the first unit  of  identical Warrior monks  to actually feeling like your running with a squad of  individual Britannia slingers is one of the most iconic games that stretch 14 years to date and will probably go on to inspire another generation of little commanders who would be kings, or indeed will be,   if even just for a few hours on their computers, in their bedrooms.

 

Above is a list Of all the Total War products you can get including a couple of multiple game packs in the bottom right. These are all Gold editions,  that I would recommend as you will get all the game content (expansions ect. that would otherwise cost you more to buy), and of course you get the pleasure , like me to own all of the box sets.

I would like to make people aware about the first 2 games in the list are quite old and thus may have problems running on modern computers due to graphics card issues, but if you have never experienced Total War, I would “totally” recommend trying them first. They are completely playable if you  limit your system, the game will run when the user limits their system RAM to 2 GB in msconfig.