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In ‘Medieval II,’ domination is in the details

In “Medieval II: Total War,” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Sega. This is the company that brought us the hit game “Sonic the Hedgehog,” only to follow up with that stinker of a game console, Sega Dreamcast.

“Medieval II” spans nearly 400 years of war, with players selecting one nation — initially limited to England, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire or Venice — to lead them to world domination.

The “Total War” series has refined tactical action in the turn-based strategy genre and has always set the bar high for gamers. The most recent entry in the series before “Medieval II” was “Rome: Total War.”

In “Medieval II,” there is heavy emphasis on battle, but religion has become a wrinkle that even the most powerful rulers will have to incorporate in their conquest plans. Contending with the pope and his wishes or even participating in occasional crusades will help empires avoid being overrun or subject to an inquisition.

Beyond the religion angle, there have been a few more options added into the mix.

Merchants and guilds have been introduced, making nations trade and jockey for precious resources such as gold and silver while different guild halls grant bonuses to cities where those halls are constructed.

The other notable change is in city functionality. In the “Rome” edition, there was one type of multifunctional city. But in “Medieval II,” there are several types to consider. For example, while cities will serve your kingdom well financially, castles offer better defenses and are hubs for military operations.

With these features, strategy is one of the strengths of “Medieval II,” but the best part is the battlefield detail. Broken bodies, castle sieges, cannon fire and flaming arrows are all so detailed, you would think that William Wallace was fighting right beside you against the English.

Sounds great, huh? Not so fast. While the core of the game is solid and the graphics are amazing, you need an equally amazing PC to play it.

While my PC was fast enough to run the game, I almost had to call Bill Gates for a memory upgrade — it requires 11 gigabytes of uncompressed disk space.

The overall game experience is solid if you like to micromanage your gaming options during play. The graphics are impressive enough, but even with a faster machine, I got hung up a lot trying to set up the specs to ensure a smooth-running game.

By the end, “Medieval II” felt a little too much like “Civilization IV” meets “Stronghold.” However, if you like a ton of options and heavy-ended graphics in your world-domination games, this is the one you have been waiting for.

Medieval II: Total War. 2.5 stars. PC. $49.99. Rated “T” for Teen. www.totalwar.com

John Nichols, a veteran “World of Warcraft” player, is a freelance writer in Georgia.