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Just try and guess Total War: Rome 2's first revealed faction
We'll give you thirty seconds to formulate an educated guess as to what faction Creative Assembly has revealed as the first confirmed group of soldier dudes in Total War: Rome 2. Okay, ready? Go!What, Belgium? No, it's Rome. Rome, you dummy. The eponymous nation was revealed by the game's official wiki, which will continue revealing factions at an undisclosed rate until the game launches next year."As a playable faction," the wiki reads, "Rome benefits economically from its excellence in metalwork, enjoys enhanced military development, and can exploit the masses in order to maintain public order." That's great and everything, but any true military strategist knows that the strength of a nation's soldiers depends entirely on the complexity and inventiveness of its plumbing technology.
Sega at Total War with David 'Reptilian Agenda' Icke over song rights
David Icke, a former sports presenter and political personality in the UK, launched a scathing attack on Sega and Creative Assembly for denying him rights to a song used in Medieval 2: Total War. Icke planned to use the song "We Are All One" by Angela and Jeff van Dyck in an upcoming anti-war talk at Wembley, London. Sega, who owns the rights to the song, blocked him from doing so. Icke claims on his website this is because Sega didn't want its music to be "associated with a controversial figure."Icke does have a few controversial ideas. For one, Icke happens to believe that Earth is secretly being ruled by reptilians who've ingratiated themselves into governments across the world, including America's. He also claimed to be the "son of the Godhead," and once warned viewers on British national television they were all going to suffer at the hands of earthquakes and tidal waves.
Sega brings Total War Battles back to the Mac
I really liked Sega's Total War Battles when it first arrived on iOS. Classic RTS developers Creative Assembly did a lot of good thinking about how to bring that complicated genre over to the iPad's touchscreen, and they did an excellent job, keeping things simple and accessible without compromising on depth or complexity. They've done so well that Sega is now bringing the game back to the desktop. Total War Battles Shogun is now available on Steam, for both the PC and the Mac. There's no new content, as far as I can tell, but the game has been made completely compatible with Steam, including leaderboard and achievements for that platform. If you missed this one when it first arrived on iOS, and wouldn't mind having something fun to play on your Mac, definitely give it a look.
Total War: Rome 2 marches to PC in 2013
Yes, the rumors are true: Creative Assembly's next game is Total War: Rome 2, a sequel to the studio's 2004 strategy game. The PC exclusive is set to launch sometime in 2013.Creative Assembly studio communications manager Al Bickham walked me through a very brief demo for Total War: Rome 2, the siege of Carthage. The goal for Total War: Rome 2 is to let players rewrite history in the single-player campaign mode, which lets them conquer the globe as they see fit. But Bickam promised me "more detail to each man" in skirmishes for the sequel, and a more cinematic and epic experience.Total War: Rome 2 will also transition seamlessly between battles at sea and on land. During my 10 minute overview of the game, I witnessed giant boats carrying Roman soldiers onto the beach, where they hastily assembled siege towers and scaled the massive walls of Carthage. A free camera provided a top-down overview with a map, provided you don't opt into seeing the action at ground level. What I saw was still very early in development, consisting of pre-alpha gameplay with no UI elements and large chunks of Carthage appearing incomplete.Bickham wasn't too chatty about what's planned for Total War: Rome 2, citing its relative infancy in development, but he did say the game hopes to highlight "the value of one man" on the battlefield.%Gallery-159576%
Rumor: Total War: Rome 2 announcement incoming
Rome: Total War (pictured) may be getting a sequel, according to the latest issue of Australia's PC PowerPlay. The page highlighting next month's issue of the magazine, as captured by NeoGAF, shows a screenshot of numerous Roman soldiers battling it out, all overlaid by the large Roman numeral 2.Another forum goer notes that Total War developer Creative Assembly will be at this year's Rezzed exposition in Brighton on July 6 and 7. The next PC PowerPlay, meanwhile, goes on sale July 18.The studio is supposed to be discussing "the future of Total War," so it seems likely that a sequel is in the cards. A lot has changed since Rome: Total War was first released back in 2004. Notably, the naming convention has been flipped, meaning a sequel will probably be called Total War: Rome 2.
Napoleon: Total War free this weekend on Steam, SOL: Exodus only $5 today
Steam has a pair of deals worth checking out right now for Napoleon: Total War and SOL: Exodus. First up, Napoleon: Total War is free to play from now until Sunday at 1PM Pacific time. If you like what you play, the game is currently half-off for $10, which is a lot of strategy for something so little -- much like Napoleon.Also half-off today only is SOL: Exodus. The indie flight sim may not by the grandest space adventure ever digitized, but for $5 there's plenty of value in playing a genre we haven't seen much of in the last ten years.%Gallery-145245%
Daily iPad App: Total War Battles brings big-time RTS to iOS
I first saw Total War Battles (now out on the iPad and iPhone) at GDC earlier this year, and walked away excited about its potential. The Creative Assembly has been making phenomenal Total War games for the PC for years, with deep, intelligent war strategy across several time periods. Now Creative Assembly faces the challenge of bringing an involved, deep strategy game meant for a mouse and keyboard to iOS. Their answer is Total War Battles. It's been streamlined a lot, but all of the elements of real-time strategy combat are still there. You build bases, hire units, and lead them forward onto a (very compressed, hex-based) battlefield. What Creative Assembly actually came up with is somewhat similar to the popular Legendary Wars, but I think it's a bit cleaner and nicer than that one. That's not surprising, given how experienced Creative Assembly already was at making great games. Aside from the hex battle maps, there's a ten-hour long, story-based campaign to play through, and as Creative Assembly told me at GDC, the basic storyline is fairly easy, meant for more casual players. More difficult maps are available to those who want a challenge. Total War Battles also offers local multiplayer. You can face off against an opponent 1v1 on the same iPad screen. It's not quite as deep as the core game, but it is kind of a wacky take on strategy that's worth a try. Total War Battles is US$6.99, and despite its quality, I'm pretty sure that Creative Assembly won't get nearly the audience they're hoping to at that price. Still, it's a great game -- if you like real-time strategy games, it's a must-play, and if you play PC games at all, TWB is worth a look just to see the choices Creative Assembly made in translating its work to the iOS screen. And if all else fails, just wait -- the next time Sega runs a big sale, this will likely be a little cheaper.
Current gen consoles 'can't cope' with traditional Total War
Creative Assembly's Mike Simpson says the popular Total War series of strategy games wouldn't work on the current console generation, just in terms of hardware requirements. "They don't have enough memory, by a large factor," Simpson tells Eurogamer. The audience for console games tends to be a little more action-oriented and a little less strategy focused, and the experiences are very different as well, he asserts. But there's hope yet, "for all sorts of reasons."The user interface is another issue, according to Simpson, but it's fixable through solid game design. While he doesn't mention the Total War version coming to iOS, that's definitely a clear indicator that the game can work on platforms other than PC. And Simpson says that despite the differences, Creative Assembly has some "very clever ideas" on adapting its popular strategy games for the next wave of consoles and the pick-up-and-play style that go along with them.
Sho'gunna like this Total War: Shogun 2 DLC trailer and screens
Honestly, we didn't think much on what we'd say about the "Rise of the Samurai" DLC for Total War: Shogun 2 past the headline. It's good though, right? "Sho'gunna"? Like "Sure going to," get it? ... Listen, just watch your trailer, OK? It's late, and you've got soccer practice in the morning.
Next Total War in development at The Creative Assembly
Total War developer The Creative Assembly is hard at work on the next installment of the strategy franchise. Eurogamer confirmed with Studio Director Tim Heaton that work began on the next installment while the studio was finishing Total War: Shogun 2. "Absolutely, we're on the next," said Heaton. Sega recently announced that Total War: Shogun 2 sold 600,000 copies. Creative Assembly's Mike Simpson said the series has a "long tail" and that the original Shogun sold "more copies in the second three years of its existence than it did in its first three years." Of course, that wasn't at full price. There's no word yet which period of history (or future) the next game will be set in.
Multiplayer war in Total War: Shogun 2 encapsulates nearly everything
Sega has released a multiplayer trailer for Total War: Shogun 2. The war does appear large, though we're not so sure it's total. There are clearly some empty spots on the battlefield, and they're not even filled with corpses! Then again, we suppose "Substantial War" doesn't have the same ring to it.
Total Demo: Shogun 2 on Steam Feb. 22, pre-order bonuses announced
By all that is bushido, a demo for the name-reversing Total War: Shogun 2 will be available on Steam beginning February 22, 2011, Sega has announced. Additionally, the publisher has teased some pre-order bonuses available from your local GameStop or BestBuy. Honorable GameStop samurai will receive (online or in-store) the historic Battle of Kawagoe, while those who partake in the Best Buy bounty will unlock 1,000 Koku, the in-game currency used to purchase new buildings, train new units and upgrade towns. Shogun 2 is still scheduled to wage total war on PC this March 15. %Gallery-95803%
PSA: Shogun 2: Total War is now Total War: Shogun 2
Throwing away ten years of tradition, the Total War franchise name is finally taking its place at the front of the title. Eurogamer reports that Shogun 2: Total War, announced this past summer, will henceforth be known as Total War: Shogun 2. A Sega representative explains (yes, really), "Both Creative Assembly and Sega have intended to invert the Total War naming convention for some time ... We wanted to identify all of these as one series using a more obvious naming convention for players." No word yet if Sega plans to retroactively fix the rest of the series' now backwards titles.
Shogun 2: Total War confirmed, will have hero units and siege battles
So much for secrecy -- the cat is out of the bag early, as Sega has revealed that, yes, Shogun 2: Total War is the next game in the historical war simulation series from The Creative Assembly. The game is a direct sequel to the first game in the Total War series (released 10 years ago, if you can believe that) and will have players fighting as competing warlords in 16th century Japan, working to reunite the country under one unified ruler. The game promises the "ultimate refinement of the original formula," combining a new AI and technical polish with the gameplay that made the first title so popular. IGN has an early preview, and says that hero units will make an appearance in the series for the first time, fighting alongside about 40 units that will all be upgradeable. Siege and naval battles will mix up the gameplay and Creative Assembly hints at more features, including a set of agents that "that uses a rock-paper-scissors mechanic," and some new ideas for multiplayer, including eight-player battles and personal avatars. Sounds strategically interesting. We're scheduled to see the game in action at E3, so we'll let you know more then.
All-Stars Racing, Napoleon: Total War dated in Europe
Sega has dated two its upcoming games for Europe, including the fanservice-filled racing game Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. The mascot racer will arrive there on February 26, three days after the North American release date. In addition, as tweeted by the game's official account, Napoleon: Total War will be out in on February 23 -- a date that is accurate for both Europe and NA. No word on Napoleon & Historical All-Stars Racing, however. Yakuza 3 remains at an unspecified "March" date for both Europe and North America. Similarly nonspecific are Alpha Protocol, Resonance of Fate, and Infinite Space, which Videogamer reports are all still "spring," with Valkyria Chronicles 2 following in the summer.
First video of Stormrise, Sega's 2009 RTS
When a trailer for a video game trailer begins with the phrase "The following trailer has been rendered using the game engine," an implicit statement has been made. That statement reads thusly: "The graphics in this game are so good, you won't believe it isn't pre-rendered." That is not the case with Stormrise, an upcoming real time strategy game from Creative Assembly (Viking) and Sega (lots of games). It doesn't look bad by any stretch, but we found the disclaimer a little unnecessary. Anywho, what we get to see is a bunch of soldiers facing off with Predator-like monsters, enemy soldiers, and what look like miniature Brumaks (sort of). The video concludes by saying "A change is coming" for console RTS games in 2009. Seems like everyone is trying to reshape the console RTS genre these days.Given Creative Assembly's experience with the Total War RTS series, we're eager to see what's in store. And to see some real gameplay, of course.
Joystiq E3 eyes-on: Stormrise
Real Time Strategies have never been a good fit for consoles, thanks to their over-reliance on a mouse and keyboard. The Creative Assembly are hoping to change that with Stormrise by creating a fully intuitive, pad-based control system. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to try the controls out for ourselves, but from what we saw it has some potential. Selecting units is as simple as flicking the right analogue stick. Holding it in any direction will bring up a radar screen, showing your troops throughout the level relative to your currently selected unit. Rotating the right stick will let you highlight your units and, letting go of the stick, select them. Quickly "whipping" the right stick in any given direction will select the nearest unit in that direction, allowing you to switch between units swiftly. Once selected, the game's viewpoint switches to above and behind the unit, allowing you to see what they see. They can then be moved to any visible ground using a 3D cursor. This seemed to work well, but there are also other methods of controlling units that seemed to work even better, depending on your play style.
Stormrise devs call PC market a 'strong niche'
You may think that strategy games are the domain of the keyboard and mouse, but don't tell that to the guys at Creative Assembly. During E3, company reps walked us through several minutes of their upcoming console-focused RTS, Stormrise, but not before while lamenting the reason for the studio's move beyond the PC -- a market project director Ken Turner calls a "good, strong niche."Awwe, thanks man, that's so sweet of you to...hey wait a sec! Why you! "We're hoping that there will be other people out there who'll appreciate what we can do," explained Turner, who calls the now three-and-a-half year old effort a "breaking away" project for the company. He further noted that Creative Assembly "targeted the console directly," and "distilled it down to an interface where 90% of what you do is with two thumbsticks and one button." After watching Stormrise being played his words certainly ring true, though admittedly it's hard to hear his point beneath the claxon of so many PC gamers' disdain.
Sega announces console-specific RTS in Stormrise
Okay class, it's time to take out your notebooks and no. 2 pencils. Today we're going to be learning a new word -- verticality. The word traces its origins back to the Total War chaps at Sega-owned The Creative Assembly, who coined the term to describe the studio's latest project, Stormrise, a new real-time strategy game "built from the ground up" specifically for the Xbox 360 and PS3.Who here can tell the class what verticality means? Billy, put your hand down. No one? Verticality, according to Sega, is a means of allowing players to control multiple layers of units, from the sky to beneath Stormrise's "bleak and barren" earth. Currently gathering resources for a 2009 release, the game represents The Creative Assembly's first attempt at creating a RTS for consoles, so if they fall on their face we must do our best to keep any criticisms constructive. Class dismissed.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Viking: Battle for Asgard achievements pillage and plunder our gamerscores
Those of you fellow achievement fiends will be happy to know that the full achievement list for the upcoming action slasher, Viking: Battle for Asgard, has made its way online.All the standard unlocks are available to pad your gamerscore, like finishing the game on any of the three difficulty settings (they'd better stack, else there be hell to pay!) and defeating up to 500 specific enemy classes. One of the cooler achievements has to be, "Hero Of Midgard: Lead your army to victory at the final battle for all Midgard," which we're stoked about since we didn't realize Viking crossed over with Final Fantasy VII!Oh, no wait that's Midgar. Never mind.
