Total War Battles: Kingdom

A sequel to the strategy game Total War Battles: Shogun, which originally came out in 2012 on iOS mobile devices, launching a new sub-series in the popular Total War franchise. It is designed not only for PC users, but also (or actually mainly) for mobile players. Although the two games were brought to us by Creative Assembly, the fathers of the franchise, the production was outsourced to a separate team, working independently from the main studio.

The game takes you into the medieval period, the 10th century CE. You become the ruler of your own country, whose responsibilities include taking care of the lands and citizens and waging wars against enemies in order to conquer new territories and ultimately to claim the crown of the entire realm. The strategic layer was expanded as compared to Total War Battles: Shogun. Set aside traditional resource gathering, building, and recruitment of armies - diplomacy and tactical thinking play a more significant part. There are also such aspects as espionage, deceptions, and betrayals, which you can use both against your friends and foes.

Total War Battles: Kingdom does not merely copy the ideas of its predecessor. On the contrary – it is a very different game at its core. First and foremost, in contrast to the single player focused Total War Battles: Shogun, this new game revolves around online gameplay, resembling browser strategies in that aspect. Therefore, there are no battles to be fought against AI-controlled opponents, only against rivalling players. All players are a part of a shared, common world; they explore it together, conquer new lands and turn them into rich, productive terrains.

In terms of graphics, Kingdom looks much better than its predecessor, and its most characteristic element is the way it presents battles. They are now closer to epic clashes known from the main game series. The developers put much emphasis on cross-platform functionality. This means users of different platforms can play together and that the same game can be resumed on any device.

Contrary to the full-priced Total War Battles: Shogun, Kingdom is a free-to-play game featuring microtransactions. What is worthy of a special mention about its system is that the optional payments are non-intrusive, since almost all gear and bonuses for your units can be acquired in game.

Last updated on 10 December 2014