14 DAY TRIAL // If we only judge video game praise by the time spent playing, the video game that I liked best for the past year is Total War: Rome II, the strategy title from The Creative Assembly which has captured my attention for more than 250 hours, more than Dragon Age: Inquisition or Football Manager 2015.
Despite all the time investment, there are mechanics and ideas the series has long relied on that are missing and I hope that Total War: Attila, which will be offered on the PC in the middle of February next year, will incorporate them in meaningful ways.
The new title moves from the period which saw the Roman Empire increase its power and vanquish its rivals to the moment when it enters decline and becomes a target of the waves of migratory barbarians coming from the East.
The development team at The Creative Assembly says that Attila is designed to show how even the most powerful empire the world had known was unable to cope with outside pressure, internal corruption, the small changes in weather patterns, and the impact of rapid-spreading disease.
The studio wants gamers to experience a title that offers more options on the strategic map, including a way to abandon territory in order to survive, and delivers more visceral moments when tactical battles start.
Total War: Attila can make the series great again
Ever since Empire, some of the longtime fans of Total War have been saying that the series is in decline and that its best moments are in the past, when the first Rome or the second Medieval were launched.
The coming Attila can change that perception if all the promises made by The Creative Assembly actually become reality.
I am eager to play the game and see whether the studio has managed to integrate the family tree into the experience in a meaningful way and whether they can make generals exciting personalities once again.
The company is also promising that the Artificial Intelligence will offer more of a challenge and it will be able to actually use fire and fear on the battlefield in order to rout the armies players field.
Total War: Attila might be the biggest strategy launch of next year and it needs to deliver a quality experience in order to keep the genre relevant.
Launch is set to take place on the PC on February 15 in the United States and on February 17 in Europe.
