STACK #124 Feb 2016

GAMES

FEATURE

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Scourge of God One of the most feared military leaders in history becomes the focus for The Creative Assembly in the latest TotalWar entry. STACK speaks with creative lead, Janos Gaspar.

upon which the nomadic hordes could operate freely without ever having to settle down. But we also deal with the story of Attila’s life and times in a very holistic fashion. His family are present in the game; you’ll see them in the Family Tree. And much of the game’s narrative is viewed through the lens of early Christianity, so we use the biblical language of the apocalypse to present the changes that he wrought. Attila was the scourge of God, he embodied the concept of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding forth as, one by one, the Seven Seals broke. You’ll find references to these concepts woven throughout the game, not simply in the language we apply to descriptions and so forth, but in the key event cutscenes that trigger as the player hits certain campaign milestones, and also in the very systems of the game itself. As an example, The Huns’ cultural trait is ‘scourge of God’, which brings a significant morale debuff to any Christian factions facing the Huns on the battlefield. This single feature is shorthand for just how much period detail we’ve crammed into Attila , and how much rich, historical flavour the game offers on both a narrative and a systems-driven level.

Fall of the Samurai had a completely different feel and style to Shogun – how much does Attila differ from Rome II ? Janos Gaspar: The short

Hunnic tactics were based on hit, fire and run tactics – considering the limitations of the battlefield in the game, will they be able to perform the same manoeuvres? Very much. The Huns have access to an incredibly broad range of cavalry unit types, many of which have the Scare trait, which debuffs enemy unit morale. Their mounted units include light cavalry, which are fast, agile, and adept at hunting down ranged units. Lancers are perfect at high-impact charges, which can wreck an already pinned unit if you hit them in the flank or rear. Their shock cavalry are lighter and therefore faster than standard shock cav, emphasising the Hunnic focus on mobility, infantry units. Hunnic horse archers are also excellent, as most get the Rapid Advance ability, increasing their speed by 50 per cent for a short period, and one of their key skills is Parthian Shot. These archers were trained to twist in their saddles and loose arrows at targets behind them. Add all this up and you have what is frankly one of the most potent hit-and-run forces in Total War history. What did you learn about the period, or maybe from the life and history of Attila, that you knew you had to include in the game? I can’t stress how important the concept of barbarian migration was to the period, and in developing mechanics for migrating, regionless factions, we built the foundation though the momentum of their impact can cause irreparable damage to enemy

• Total War: Attila is out Feb 17

answer is… significantly! Attila takes Total War to a darker place than it has ever been before, and this is reflected in both the visual style and in the gameplay. Of note are the new systems built around destruction: fire propagation during battles allowing an army to put enemy cities (and trees!) to the torch as they fight, which in turn shakes enemy morale. This is also the Migration Period, during which swathes of great barbarian tribes uprooted themselves, running from both the Hunnic threat and the worsening climate in the north. This prompted us to develop all-new horde mechanics, which sees certain factions eschewing region and settlement ownership in favour of mobile, army-based campaign gameplay. Each horde is, in effect, both an army and a mobile settlement in one. Attila also features entirely new sets of units, each with a look and playstyle appropriate to the time, some 400 years after the events of Rome II – a very long period during which advances in military technology and tactics changed up warfare considerably. Building trees has also changed, and all of this is presented to the player through an enhanced UI, with comprehensive information readily available to the player and presented through stunning period-appropriate art.

FEBRUARY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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