14 DAY TRIAL // Creative Assembly is not a stranger to console development. Unfortunately, its video games, like Spartan: Total Warrior and Viking: Battle for Asgard, were less than stellar and certainly, their quality was well below that of the beloved Total War series, which, for now, is only available on the PC. But could a Total War game make it to the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 or the Nintendo Wii?
Kevin McDowell, lead artist on the series, told Eurogamer that developing a Total War game for consoles is “something we've talked about a lot over the years, but nothing has really happened with it”; Jamie Ferguson, who is a senior designer, added that “we've definitely thought about it”. The problem is that the game is very complex, incorporating both a real time strategy component, in which you deal with battles, and a turn based component that deals with a grand strategy map where you develop cities and create armies. The dual aspect of the game would take a big development effort on the part of Creative Assembly.
It seems that turn based strategies can work on consoles, as seen in Civilization Revolution, from Firaxis and Sid Meier, and there are currently a few efforts aimed at creating a real time strategy game that works as well on gaming consoles as it does on the PC. Creative Assembly is even developing one of the titles, Stormrise, unveiled to players at various trade shows.
In February 2009, Empire: Total War will be launched; it is the new game in the Total War series which aims to showcase history as it went on between 1700 and 1812. The game will offer real time naval battles, something new to the franchise, while also expanding the strategic options that are available to the player.
As to a future console Total War game, Fergusson confirmed that “If we did it, it would have to be stonkingly amazing”.