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	Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion
	Developer: Creative Assembly Publisher: Activision Genre: Turn-Based Strategy Players: 1-8 Similar To: Medieval: Total War Rating: Teen Published: 08 :20 : 03 Reviewed By: Nick Stewart Overall: 7.5 = Good

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Intro
Arguably one of the most rich and entertaining games of the last few years, last year's Medieval: Total War easily made a spot for itself in a crowded genre, marking itself as a thoroughly excellent and truly classic look at strategic conquest and kingship in times long past. Its unique blend of careful diplomacy and military know-how made for a complex and intelligent title that demanded as much from players as it rewarded them. And much like Shogun: Total War before it, the core gameplay is extended through an interesting expansion that features bloodthirsty warriors hellbent on violent conquest. While Shogun had the Mongol Hordes, Medieval has its own infamous pillaging-and-looting superstars, all thanks to Viking Invasion.

Gameplay: 7.5/10
Although things had to seem rather dismal for your average European Middle Age peasant, Viking Invasion does its absolute best to remind everyone just how much worse off things were in years past by setting the clock back a few hundred years to the ever-ominous Dark Ages. Rather than revisiting the familiar terrain covered in the main game, this expansion establishes a campaign of its own in a time much more primitively warlike, covering the terrifying barbarism that ran rampant on the vulnerable coasts of the British Isles between the years 793 and 1066. Whereas the original game only featured these Isles in a somewhat smaller way, Viking Invasion blows them up to a full-sized tactical map and focuses on the people who called the area home. For this reason, the Viking Invasion campaign allows you to choose from eight new factions, from the Picts to the Irish, and yes, even the vaunted Scots. Of course, the title of this particular outing should give you a pretty good clue as to the source of these troubles this time around, and it's as the titular Viking faction that you're likely to have the greatest amount of fun.

That isn't to say that you won't find something to like in the other factions; each one offers its own unique set of challenges and advantages, and there's certainly a great deal of replayability to be found here as a result. For instance, you'll find it a considerably different experience playing as the Saxons, whose lands are wealthy and somewhat secluded, than you would if you chose to take up the Scots, whose open borders and expansive shores tend to be dangerously attractive to the bloodthirsty Vikings. What's more, the British Isles were still largely underdeveloped within the Dark Ages, something you'll soon come to realize when you're faced with years and years of clear-cutting vast forests in order to be able to pursue technology tree advancements - which, incidentally, have been modified to suit the Dark Ages. Among other things, this means no riflemen, or a few other late-era units; no, if you're left to battle against the Viking horde in a rough, sparse environment that will remind you exactly why this was known as the Dark Ages.

Of course, you can bypass the angst of worrying about having your seaside villages razed to the ground by Vikings simply by choosing to lead them instead. As one might imagine, this is actually where the greatest aspect of the expansion pack truly lies, as the Viking faction is every bit as powerful, bloodthirsty and fearsome as their real-world counterparts. Their units are nothing short of dominant on the battlefield, which, combined with their steadfast loyalty, makes them quite the force to be reckoned with. What's more, the Viking navy is the stuff of legends, and you'll be able to take advantage of that with impunity throughout the course of the game. Unlike the sluggish and extremely clunky naval system used by other factions, the Viking ships are capable of moving multiple territories per turn, and don't require ports to launch their fleets. Additionally, the Pope does not yet hold much sway by this point, so there is no religious penalty for attacking others; in fact, the only real use that any faction has with religion in this expansion is that the Vikings require a certain dedication to the Pagan gods in order to maintain certain naval bonuses. All in all, the Viking horde is a fast-moving, highly mobile war machine. The only that keeps the Vikings in check is their extremely high need for gold, as well as their relatively inefficient construction and technological costs. This means that, in order to remain more or less financially afloat, the Vikings are forced to perform a continuous series of violent and messy raids, pillaging and plundering what they can from the area and then moving on. This "smash-and-grab", highly aggressive approach is quite a lot of fun, and although it offers a distinctly different style of play from the main campaign's focus on measured diplomacy and careful alliances, the simplistic, bloody approach really works well.

As if this new and entertaining campaign wasn't enough, Creative Assembly has also seen fit to make a handful of additions to the main game. For starters, there are the three new playable factions, which include the Aragonese, Hungarians and Sicilians, each of which comes complete with new units and goals. In fact, new units have been added to many of several pre-existing factions - such as the Druzhina Cavalry for the Russians, and the Swabian Swordsmen for the Germans - and even rebel forces may occasionally find new soldiers in their ranks. There's even a new Organ Gun, a type of anti-personnel cannon that, although bulky, stationary and accident-prone, is nevertheless an interesting touch. Assassins and Spies also get a bit of a boost thanks to the brand new Taverns and Brothels, which help to alleviate some of these units' inherent uselessness by enabling them to start out with a greater amount of valor, something that was previously far too difficult to boost. Finally, Medieval purists will be glad to see that you may now bombard your enemy's stronghold with flaming catapult missiles, while besieged castles can happily pour boiling oil upon those who dare to come close enough.

There's no arguing that Viking Invasion is an all-around excellent expansion, but there are two distinct items that it introduces that the game could very well have done without. The first item, a pre-battle reinforcement organizing screen, is actually a very good idea, and should help out tremendously - if it were working properly, that is. Unfortunately, it's sadly not quite as functional as it should be; rather than appearing in the designated order, your men will take the field in order of class, with cavalry coming first, followed by men on foot, and so on. So while you're offered some small degree of control, it would be great if this feature were working as it is supposed to. The second item here is more than just a nuisance; it's downright ridiculous. You see, after you've installed the Viking Invasion expansion, Death decides that kings have it far too easy, and proceeds to go about killing them all off at the age of 56. All of them. Each and every one. You no longer have to wonder when your monarch will pass away, since you know for a fact that he's not going to live to see his 57th birthday. Although some consider this bug to be nothing more than a challenging twist, it arguably ruins the entire element of unpredictability that the game thrives upon. You know when your king is going to die, and so you know how much time you have to develop your heirs; it tends to make things far easier than they should be, not to mention that it's a hell of a spoiler. What's worse is that this Finger of Death bug also applies to your enemy's kings, and while you know of it and can plan around it, the AI cannot. This means that you should be prepared to see your enemies' lands constantly erupting into civil war, leaving them to be easily beaten. Creative Assembly is reportedly working on a patch to correct this glaring issue, but that still leaves purists to wrestle with this considerable spoiler.

Graphics: 8/10
There may not be much, but what little Viking Invasion possesses in terms of new graphics is done well. The new campaign's game map looks every bit as excellent and Risk-like as the original, what with the expanded British Isles making for a terrific-looking backdrop. The new units all look reasonably good, although the game engine is beginning to wear somewhat, especially in light of the many jaw-dropping screenshots of the upcoming Rome: Total War. Still, for what it's worth, the new graphical additions are nothing to sneeze at.

Sound: 7/10
As most of the battlefield vocals seem to be recycled from the main game, Viking Invasion's sole contribution to the audio department is a new soundtrack. As was the case with the original, this new range of tunes is top-notch, and goes a long way towards setting the atmosphere for the bloody carnage to come. Apart from that, however, there isn't much else to consider.

Control: 3/10
The new pre-battle reinforcement setup screen is a genuinely good idea, and even in its current state, it holds a lot of promise; sadly, that's all it really offers at the moment. Being largely unable to control what order your men enter the field is a tad inconvenient, especially when it's one of the main selling points of the expansion. Sure, you can try and guess your way around it, but not only is this problematic, it's something you simply shouldn't have to do in order to use an advertised aspect of the expansion. Hopefully the upcoming patch will rectify this problem as well.

Overall: 7.5/10
To be fair, Viking Invasion represents a solid effort by Creative Assembly to draw fans even deeper into their wonderfully realized and addictively violent world. It does virtually everything right, from turning back the clock a hundred or so years prior to the main campaign, to focusing the action upon the British Isles rather than the whole of Europe. What's more, the Vikings make for the perfect centerpiece; it's great fun to use their unique talents to rampage and pillage, and surprisingly enough, it's nearly as much fun to try and defend against them. Even such additions to the main game such as boiling oil are a joy to use, which make the expansion's two shortcomings all the more a shame. If the reinforcement system were working as planned, and had the installation of this program not caused all kings to be killed off at the exact same age, thus causing all sorts of balance issues, then this could easily stand as a game worth recommending to anyone who even remotely enjoyed Medieval: Total War. As it stands, most die-hard fans and purists will want to hold off until the patch is eventually released before picking this one up; however, anyone willing to tolerate its few yet prominent faults should enjoy the bloody simplicity found within Viking Invasion.

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