Looking for the latest Total War Game? Then go pick up a copy of Medieval Total War II and grab the newly released expansion Kingdoms while you are at it.

MTW II is an upgrade of RTW as far as graphics go. Its set during Medieval Period, with factions and units to match, along with the invention of Gunpowder and early gunpowder units. Religion plays a factor, Crusades and Jihads are possible, and the Pope will excommunicate you if you continuously attack Catholic nations. Getting your priests to become Cardinals gives you more sway with the Pope - getting a Cardinal elected as Pope is priceless! Beware the Mongol Invasion! They'll destroy every army not protected by a City! If you're lucky enough, you'll be around for when the Americas are discovered, though the Aztecs might prove a worthy foe.

Kingdoms, the expansion, is improved upon graphics and AI, 13 new factions, and 110 new units. There is no grand campaign though i imagine some one will make a mod to fix that. Instead, there are 4 Campaigns covering different regions. The first is the Americas Campaign, where you can play as the Aztecs, Mayans, Apaches, or a few other tribes and New Spain. Map covers South and North America and has some cool features. Britannia is another Campaign, pitting the Irish, Welsh, Scots, English, and Norwegians against each other.

The Teutonic Campaign focuses on Eastern Europe and the Teutonic Orders crusade against the Pagan Lithuanians. The Polish, Novgrod, the Danes, HRE and Norwegians also play a large role in this one.

The last Campaign is the Crusades, focusing in the Mid East. Allows you to play as one of several Crusading countries, or their Muslim counterparts, also with a bunch of cool gameplay features.

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