Creative Assembly’s first ever Total War sequel is getting a sequel of its own. Two decades after the arrival of Total War: Medieval 2, we’re going back to the Middle Ages for Total War: Medieval 3.
Sega and Creative Assembly revealed their next game during a 25th anniversary showcase (here it is again in case you missed it), and yeah, I’m pretty pumped.
While the first Rome was what solidified, for me, Total War’s dominance over other massive strategy games, Medieval 2 was where it really started to become an obsession. And, at the time, I couldn’t believe how incredible it looked—armies full of distinct warriors, clashing and scattering as cavalry cut through the battlefields of Europe.
Unfortunately, details on the next sequel are slim. It’s both a “tribute” to the classics and a “bold revolution for the series,” Creative Assembly says. Talk about having your cake and eating it too. All the other boasts are familiar: We can “rewrite history,” of course, “and immerse ourselves in the Middle Ages,” naturally, and yes we can expect “meticulous historical authenticity,” but also “unprecedented player agency”.
It’s been announced very early, as it’s only in pre-production, and Creative Assembly is definitely bigging it up more overtly than it usually does. “This is more than a sequel,” it says, “it’s the rebirth of historical Total War”.
And historical Total War really needs it. Three Kingdoms was amazing, but Creative Assembly’s support was extremely poor, and development ceased pretty quickly—at least considering all the potential it had. It’s also quite likely that the planned Three Kingdoms sequel was one of the unannounced projects that was axed around the time of the studio’s layoffs.
Total War: Pharoah, meanwhile, was a middling new entry developed by Creative Assembly Sofia, and was only rescued by the free Dynasty expansion, which took some pages from the Warhammer playbook. Still, it was effectively a Total War Saga game in all but name.
Speaking of Warhammer, Creative Assembly isn’t done with its money-maker. Total War: Warhammer 3’s next DLC is Lords of the End Times, adding four new legendary lords to the Immortal Empires campaign, including celebrity necromancer Nagash. Oh yeah, now we’re cooking.
The arrival of the DLC next summer will also coincide with a free End Times update, promising a “campaign experience transformed”. Expect new apocalyptic and cataclysmic events and scenarios, dramatically changing the map forever, as well as another new legendary lord.
You’d think that would be the end of announcements. But nope, Creative Assembly has another ace up its sleeve, but lamentably we’ll have to wait until December 11 and The Game Awards to find out what it is. Yep, Big Geoff is getting the exclusive here. The bastard.
“This title will be Total War’s next major release and represents one of the most ambitious projects in the franchise’s history, marking the beginning of an exciting new era,” Creative Assembly teases. I bet you’ve got some good ideas about what it might be though.
