Medieval: Total War

Medieval: Total War from 2002 by The Creative Assembly developed the concept outlined two years earlier by Shogun: Total War, and brought battles of thousands of units into the setting of medieval Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The game combines a turn-based strategic map, on which the player manages provinces, builds structures, collects taxes, and plans diplomacy or religious policy, with real-time battles where infantry, cavalry, and siege engine formations clash on open terrain. It is precisely this hybrid of turn-based empire management and tactical combat that became the hallmark of the entire series, and Medieval refined it significantly.

The player chooses one of the European factions and tries to expand their territory, keep their subjects satisfied, and at the same time face raids from neighbors, crusades, or internal revolts. Battles are clear thanks to legible formations and the ability to micromanage individual units, yet they still manage to convey the feeling of a truly great medieval campaign - especially when the battlefield shifts to a castle siege with towers, battering rams, and catapults. The atmosphere is enhanced by the emphasis on historical detail, the diversity of units by region, and the religious dimension of the game, where Christian and Muslim factions each have their own specifics.

Medieval: Total War cemented the series' position as one of the most influential strategy concepts of its era and paved the way for later entries that remain among the best-selling PC strategy games to this day. Although the graphics and controls bear the marks of their time, the core gameplay - a battle of well-thought-out strategy on the map combined with tense battles in the field - still works without any loss of quality even years later, and the game runs without trouble on an ordinary period PC with Windows 9x.

Why play it: A great choice for fans of historical strategy games who want to experience battles of thousands of units in real time while also immersing themselves in the turn-based management of a medieval empire, without having to reach for the simplifications of later entries in the series.