So, we just kinda wandered off at some point.” At no point did my captains report back, “Well sir, we would’ve met them in battle on the shores of the Mediterranean, but it looked like they weren’t quite sure how to get off their boats. The same goes for the tactical aspect as well. From Shogun 2’s, “Did the Oda just completely abandon their capital city?” to Rome 2’s, “I think I just saw General Octavius eating a jar of paste”, Attila ’s strategists seemed much more capable of properly reacting to their surroundings. There are a number of solid, well thought out tweaks and minor additions, but no one’s revolutionizing the genre over here.įor what it’s worth, the AI seems to have improved since the last couple outings. All in all, the game almost feels like Creative Assembly’s attempt at an apology, as if they’re saying, “Guys, we know we goofed, but check out the way it could’ve been!” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course, but praising the developers for new ideas in Attila would be somewhat akin to praising EA for successfully releasing another iteration of Madden. The “ Crusader Kings-lite” dynasty tree, along with all its accompanying internal slapfights, has also been tweaked to match the era.

The ability to create unique armies complete with badass names (Lightning Riders is a personal favorite) makes a welcome return and is possibly one of my favorite additions of the past couple Total War iterations.

Aside from the new type of nation, Attila is by and large an expansion on the mechanics introduced in Rome 2, albeit much more honed and tightly developed.

How to play attila total war