TOTAL WAR ATTILA RESOURCES SERIES

It's trying something different, even as it's improving on things that were the same. And yet, in this way, the game also distances itself from Rome 2-despite the familiarity of its units and aesthetic. Through its titular antagonist's role, the campaign sounds more closely defined than past games. In all, Total War: Attila is a strange proposition.

Nevertheless, the desolate mark it leaves is the perfect visual accompaniment to any approaching apocalyptic horde. There's no settlement.' Raised settlements can be rebuilt, but it's time consuming and costly. 'If you do it willingly you get some money, but that settlement is disabled. 'You can raise a settlement and destroy it,' says Gaspar. If you're up against an insurmountable force, you'll be able to take a scorched earth approach. Or you can do it to someone else.'ДЄttila's other trick is to let you deny the enemy their gains. 'If you're not careful about disease,' says Gaspar, 'then your entire empire can can come to a halt. Your agents can help build squalor, and your troops can carry disease. Poor conditions can lead to diseases, each with its own severity and infection rate. Previously, squalor was part of a province's general happiness. As the world moves towards the dark ages and the larger settlements fill with people, urban squalor becomes a more pressing concern. If a multi-year siege isn't to your liking, there are more insidious ways to weaken your foes. Hopefully this new feature won't prove the new game's undoing.

TOTAL WAR ATTILA RESOURCES SERIES

Total War is a series that has consistently struggled with its AI. But as players grow familiar with the system, I can see exploits emerging. In the few battles I attempted, the computer successfully countered my attempts to hem it in.

This, I think, will be the test of Attila's AI. Pushing through the barricade will take time, but moving around lets the defender funnel their opponent into a more disadvantageous position. For attackers, it becomes a tower defence style gauntlet. Troops can then be moved to occupy these spaces. Before a battle, you can set up a limited number of barricades across pre-marked positions. That was thanks in part to the new barricades. It was a valiant defeat-my ultimately doomed troops taking out far more of the opposition than they had any right to. My walls were crumbling, my buildings were fragile and my men were outnumbered. Creative Assembly's hands-on demo featured a single battle against overwhelming attackers. This was the state of the settlement I was given to defend. You get into a level of escalation where there are breaches.' At that point it will be easier, or you can wait even more. 'There are corpses everywhere, and some buildings are destroyed. Wait six or seven turns, and decay will set in. Attack instantly and the settlement will be pristine and difficult to conquer. Now sieges last for years.' The length of the siege affects a city's defensive potential. 'Previously sieges were quite contained,' says Gaspar, 'and relatively short in terms of the campaign. To counter this, siege tactics have been more fully developed.

Total war attila resources