Total War No More

If you clicked on this article, then you’re probably aware that Total War: Attila released a few weeks back to a pretty good media reception and with a pleasantly undramatic launch period. You could be deep into a campaign right now, in fact. For The Creative Assembly, Atilla was an apology of sorts. Yes, it’s obviously also a bit of a cash-grab, but at least it’s a cash-grab done right. After the disaster that was Rome II, it’s difficult to argue that there was anywhere to go but up, but it’s still thankful to see that the veteran series hasn’t completely lost its way in the modern videogame market. Yet, for all of this, I’ve yet to buy Attila, making it the first Total War I haven’t bought on release date since Medieval II. Based on that, I think it’s time for a little bit of self-reflection. Why aren’t I playing Attila right now?

As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of the series. The original Rome is my favourite game bar none, and I’ve adored every single iteration since then. Of course, that’s excluding Rome II, a game I found to be poorly balanced, weirdly repetitive and, perhaps most crucially, flat-out broken. I remember playing the game for a few days (not all at once, although that would have been possible with previous editions) and finding myself getting tired of the campaign I had on the go. At first, I blamed myself; there was no way this incredibly exciting game couldn’t be meeting my expectations - I must not be in the right mindset. Yet the more I forced myself to play, the more I realised something just wasn’t clicking. I was fighting repetitive battles against lacklustre AI in a game that took eons just to get through one turn.

Notice that dude missing the mark? Something of a metaphor right there.

I won’t moan about Rome II anymore, I’m sure you’ve either heard or experienced it all before. Point is: the launch product disappointed me immensely, and that’s all without even mentioning the rather devious amount of DLC. What’s interesting to me, is that for the first time in my videogaming experience, I found myself holding off on a game purely because the previous entry in a series was so bad. I had a good feeling that Attila would be of a much better overall quality, yet part of me wanted to punish Creative Assembly for its previous folly, and another part didn’t want to take the risk. What if the launch was just as rocky? What if the game had still lost its edge? Even if it is good, does the developer and publisher really deserve my money after all the nonsense they put me through a year and a half ago?

I suppose that, in the end, my answer to that question was, and still is, no. I think I’m actually scared to play the thing. I want to love it so much, but there’s a sizeable part of my brain that seems to think it’s ok to stand over a burning fire and slowly toss my love for Total War into its hot clutches. There are a few reasons for this, the first being my newfound lack of faith in the series, but I’m also concerned that it’s partially because of my changing videogame and general hobby interests. For one thing, since Shogun 2 released I’ve fallen head over heels for Paradox grand strategy games. They’re akin to Total War in a lot of ways, and while I miss the huge battles, titles like Crusader Kings II offer a much more enjoyable strategic experience on a large map. The campaign map stuff in Rome II and the rest just can’t compare.

Europa Universalis IV is just another grand strategy game that's taken me by the heart.

The other interesting change in my life since Shogun 2 is my hopeless addiction to boardgaming. It’s a whole separate issue that I’ve written about recently, but I’ve come to realise that the hobby has helped to take the shine off of games like Total War. Afterall, some of my favorite boardgames implement a very similar style - that being area control with resource management and diplomacy. The difference with tabletop games is that I’m surrounded by (usually) wonderful people! People that talk, make jokes, plot and intrigue visibly. The AI in Rome II and the like once again just can’t compare. When it was either Risk or Total War, the latter was obviously more appealing (sorry Risk, I still love you). But by the time games like A Game of Thrones, Dune and Ikusa started rocking up in my life, Creative Assembly suddenly had some very tough competition. It seems odd to compare the two mediums in this way, but I’m pretty sure it’s had an effect on my love for all things Total War.

The final ingredient in this stew of sadness is the rather horrific direction Sega is taking Total War. The series, since Empire at least, has always been a bit of a DLC whore, but Rome II pushed this microtransaction madness to a whole new level. Awkwardly regular unit packs accompanied very small DLC packs, and although the larger expansions were generally of a good quality, the fact that they were being released while the base game still essentially sucked was always a stinger. DLC in a game like Total War is generally fine by me; the games are huge enough to start with that it never really feels as though parts have been cut off just so they can be sold later (I’m looking at you, Evolve). Yet there’s a point where buying Attila feels more as though I’m getting the ‘base’ game rather than a full title. It doesn’t help that it feels more like a substantial expansion to Rome II than a fully fledged game.

Ikusa, a fantastic area control boardgame that's highly reminiscent of Shogun 2.

So, with all of this, I find myself in a unique situation, but a situation that I’m sure isn’t unique at all in comparison to the rest of the gaming community (or fans of Total War at least). Attila is on my buy list, no doubt about that; I want to buy it, but I’m more than a little tentative. I want it to be fantastic, I want it to dispel all my doubts and most of all I want it to prove that Rome II was nothing but a bad memory, a stain on the name of Total War. Yet maybe now isn’t the time; Total War: Warhammer is on the horizon, and it’s sure to be the biggest evolution for the series since the original Rome. That seems like the right game to bring me back home. That sounds like an experience worth paying lots of money for. Attila, right now, seems like a gamble. Not only a gamble from a financial aspect, but a gamble also on my love for one of the best game series ever made.