Medieval Total War is one of those games that can be played countless times with slightly different permutations each time, meaning that its hard to become bored of it or discard upon completion.

Its scope is huge, giving you the option of choosing from one of the factions present in middle ages europe - from England to the Papacy, the Egyptians to the Moors. Each faction has different starting attributes and technologies which when combined determine the difficulty and chances of succesful European domination.

My faction of choice is usually Egypt as you casn raise large armies quickly and smash lumps out of the neighbouring Turks to increase your landspace. Also preferred is Denmark, as the Scandinavian countries to the north allow for easy rapid expansion.

The aim of the game is to either achieve victory by dominating 60% of the continent or through accumulating enough glorious achievements which are mini quests throughout the game.

Personally, I prefer the warmongers' route - land grabbing aliiance breaking imperiallist that I am! When you do enter battle, another facet of the game is the choice of either controlling the battle yourself, directing and positioning troops on the battlefield (uses memory like mad) or setting the battle to an automatic outcome. If you control every single battle, the game has the potential to last for months. For a quicker game, just choose option two on the invasion mini menu and let the computer decide who won.

For anyone who likes strategic turn based epics similar to Civilisation, I highly recommend this game.