Poll: Best Total War Game?

[Kukakkau]

Played them all and have to say Rome hands down. For one it didn't have the pope system which stopped you fighting other christians for goddam ages. And unlike medieval II I thought the stronger units actually showed they were superior, since medieval II if you had really strong heavy infantry against a unit of weak light infantry the casualties on both sides seemed a bit random. Also as someone mentioned there is excellent variation of units at the start in Rome and good variation of unit purposes. Also no castle/village system - that thing drove me up the wall since you could make an awesome castle but by the time you have it's too far from the front line to be effective anymore.

 

[WrongSprite]

My favorite personally is Rome:Total War, and if you have played it you would know why.

Not really, please explain?

Medieval 1 is my favourite, with Medieval 2 coming close second.

 

[wooty]

Empire for me, as its my favourite period of warfare

 

[Tairan]

Rome for me its more of the theme then gameplay.

 

[ElephantGuts]

It's hard for me to decide between Rome and Medieval 2 because they are essentially the same game. Medieval 2 was exactly what it should have been: the same basic game as Rome, transported to the Medieval era, with updated graphics and some new added features.

I voted for Medieval 2 because though it was a great game, Rome does show its age in its graphics and some gameplay features that seem plain compared to Medieval. Medieval 2 just seems to be more...spirited; you can really feel the spirit of the Medieval culture. I also liked the papal ranking and crusade/jihad mechanics, as well as gunpowder and the chance to discover and conquer the Americas.

 

[Baby Tea]

I started with Shogun, and loved it.
Medieval was a great successor, and loved it even more.
Rome was a graphical improvement big time, plus the gameplay was just way more stream-lined.
But Medieval 2 really took it home.

The graphics of Rome (Better, actually, since now guys looked different instead of an army of clones), the setting of Medieval, and the awesome mini movies of Shogun.

I never played Empire, though I'm told that the patching fixed most of the launch problems. Once I get a gaming rig, I'll have to give it a whirl.
I love the Total War series.

 

[Zac_Dai]

Shogun and the first Medieval had the best 'atmosphere' out of all the total wars.

Rome was the best Gameplay wise.

M:TW2 I found lacking but the mods for it made it awesome.

Empire, well, after the patches its pretty good but still could have been a much better game.

 

[John the Gamer]

Rome was still simple in a fun way, with both sieges and lots of land battles, but also in 3d. Medieval 2 is fun, but the AI just doesn't know how to play. I miss the large amount of epic land battles. Empire was just too buggy when it came out, and shogun (1) was fun, but the restricted contol over the camera and the 2.5d graphics made it hard to play.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

I can't decide. I really can't.

I personally love the Total War series, and am probably the last person who should give an opinion on which the "best" one is. Unless you want to see my brain work itself into an explosive fit.

 

[Imbechile]

I didn't play Shogun, and only a little of Medieval 1. Rome was the first one to really grab me. I played that for hours. It's my favorite strategy game. Medieval 2 was just meh and after that i didn't play any new ones. I am currently enyoing the Third age, a Lord of the rings mod for Medieval 2, it's really awesome.

 

[Jelly ^.^]

Medieval 1 just consumed too much of my childhood for me not to vote for it.

I mean, come on. It was sooo easy to break! You could both marry the Pope off AND burn him at the stake for being a Heretic! The Pope himself!

 

[eatenbyagrue]

I'd say my favorite is Rome, but I also have a soft spot for the two Medievals, especially when playing as the Eastern Roman Empire and actually achieving the Renovatio Imperii Romanorum, centered on Κωνσταντινούπολη, having adopted the great philosopher's tongue thanks to Αὐτοκράτωρ Ἡράκλειος.

In Ingles, por favor

 

[teh_gunslinger]

I'd say my favorite is Rome, but I also have a soft spot for the two Medievals, especially when playing as the Eastern Roman Empire and actually achieving the Renovatio Imperii Romanorum, centered on Κωνσταντινούπολη, having adopted the great philosopher's tongue thanks to Αὐτοκράτωρ Ἡράκλειος.

In Ingles, por favor

Renovatio Imperii Romanorum = restoration of the Roman Empire, I think.

Κωνσταντινούπολη = Konstatinopolis
Αὐτοκράτωρ Ἡράκλειος = Autokrator Herakleios, who I assume was a ruler.


Edited for silly mistakes.

 

[Srdjan]

First two are brilliant, simple and fucking fun, Medieval is beautiful, almost perfect, but too easy, Empire is complex, layered and not done very well, it's kinda bad, Napoleon is better, but somehow not fun at all.

Rome is best, and it has best expansion packs.

 

[Jandau]

I can't comment on Shogun, since I that's the only one I didn't play.

Medieval 2 gets the first prize, for improving upon everything Rome built and providing a varied and balanced experience, with diverse factions, politics and warfare. One of the best games ever made.

Rome comes in close second, with nearly the same arguments as M2, but being somewhat more primitive and lacking M2's features. It is still easily the most inovative game of the series (at least when it comes to inovations that WORK), having brought the open world map (instead of the Risk-style board).

Medieval takes third place for being a solid game overall.

Empire takes a distant fourth for a huge number of failed inovations, concepts that just didn't work, terrible ground combat, boring naval combat, etc. It did do some things well and some of the newer ideas in it were good, they were just dragged down by the mass of crap that was also in there.

 

[Ramin 123]

Medieval II Total War.

Exterminating a town full of peasants never gets old.

The Holy Roman Empires ridiculous JERMAN accents. "Vat gave me away...ze accent?!?!?"

 

[Dragonborne88]

This is tough. I played Medieval 2 first, and some of the mods are amazing. Stainless Steel and The Third Age ones in particular. I always sucked at it though, but I that's because I tried to make all my citys and castles do everything rather then city/economy, Castle/Military, so I'd go bankrupt all the time. Best memories were from The Third Age where my elves fought off an invading Orc army by positioning like 5000 archers on one side of a bridge, some sword guys to hold the middle, and mow them down as they come. The bridge was gross afterward.

But, overall, I think I've spent more time with Empire. Got a mod for it as well that makes all factions unique, and adds more. I think it's called like...Imperial Splendor? And I enjoy the age and the strategies involved.

Rome I didn't like all that much. I went from Medieval 2 to Rome, and it felt the same, but with lesser technology.