Modern Total War Not Impossible, Says Creative Assembly

[Logan Westbrook]

Modern Total War Not Impossible, Says Creative Assembly

Modern conflicts are on the list of settings Creative Assembly would like to investigate, says lead artist.

The Total War series has spanned the length of breadth of history, from the legions of Rome to the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte, but as yet, any form of warfare more recent than the early 19th century has gone untouched. That may not always be the case, however, as Creative Assembly say that a modern warfare game isn't out of the question.

Lead designer Jamie Fergusson said that there were different groups at Creative Assembly who wanted to try different things. He said that some people at the company had found the setting of Medieval: Total War and its sequel to be pretty dull, while others didn't like the 18th century settings of Empire and Napoleon. Lead artist Kevin McDowell chipped in, saying that a modern setting was possible, and was on Creative Assembly's list, but that it would take longer to develop because it would require so many changes to the usual Total War gameplay in order to work.

McDowell is rather understating the issue. Considering the very different nature of modern conflicts compared to historical battles - there are no huge lines of infantry waiting to charge into each other, for example - a modern Total War would be so different from the rest of the series, it would almost be like a spinoff. That said, it would be interesting to see what Creative Assembly would make of it.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=279005?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-News-RSS]




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[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Well I'm happy with the current historical settings of Total War games...

But a modern one would be at least interesting to try out, though very different.

 

[WrongSprite]

I'm not sure the series works as well when all the combat is ranged...

The whole line up and shoot thing in empire wasn't exactly thrilling.

 

[Credge]

Good. There's nothing fun about modern warfare in a game. The guns, tactics, locations... all of it is absolutely boring unless you're playing a rainbow six style of game.

This whole "MODERN FOR EVERYTHING EVER" crap is so much worse than the "WW2 FOR EVERYTHING EVER!" crap. At the very least with WW2 we know what battles are worth telling. With this they're just making shit up because it's too soon to know what battles are worth telling.

50 years from now there won't be many, if any, games about modern times. There will be WW2 games still.

ETA: WW2 would still be terrible for Total War.

 

[Aurora219]

Will be interesting to see how a top-down setup will work like that. Squads aren't so cohesive these days. Won't be very Total-War-ey...

 

[The Admiral]

Screw a modern Total War. I want Middle-earth Total War.

 

[Ampersand]

Yeah it's possible, but it would still be extremely boring. In modern warfare (if you're doing it right that is) the goal is to resolve a conflict without firing a shot. That progress don't get me wrong but it's not going to make for an exciting real time strategy game.

Stick with swords and spears guys, seriously. Shogun 2 was a good move.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

That would be really quite odd. For some reason I'm more seeing WWI and II Total Way type games. It would be so bizarre to play them. Can you imagine coming up with the strategy that comprehensively won the Somme, or playing as the German army during D-Day?

And Total War's gameplay would need extensive changing.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It depends on how modern a war they're willing to do. If they were to make a game based off of North Korea triggering World War 3 that would be a game featuring the epitome of 'modern' war. If they were going to make a World War 2 based game, that would still be different from the other Total War games but, it would keep with the historical nature of the overall series. Either way, automatic weapons and, bomber planes make for far different warfare than hop-lights and, legionaries.

 

[ImprovizoR]

They never disappointed before. So, go ahead if you think that you can do it.

 

[Pandalisk]

Modern? sounds good, im holding out for a Rome sequel or WW2 Era, or hell, spanning a multitude of eras

Good. There's nothing fun about modern warfare in a game. The guns, tactics, locations... all of it is absolutely boring unless you're playing a rainbow six style of game.

This whole "MODERN FOR EVERYTHING EVER" crap is so much worse than the "WW2 FOR EVERYTHING EVER!" crap. At the very least with WW2 we know what battles are worth telling. With this they're just making shit up because it's too soon to know what battles are worth telling.

50 years from now there won't be many, if any, games about modern times. There will be WW2 games still.

ETA: WW2 would still be terrible for Total War.

When has the Total War series ever put any emphasis on famous historical battles outside of its "Historical Battles" list? the battles are not important, you fight your own, what matters is the weaponry,geography, diplomacy and how much freedom is allowed to shape your country the way you want it to be and the world around you.

The Real time gameplay and mechanics will be interesting to see, i do wonder how they'd inject the Total war feel into it. But it has massive potential in its political and diplomatic mechanics, if done right something more modern could be the best work they've ever done.

A blend of Men of War Mechanics and gameplay with Total War polish and Campaign map would be fantastic.

If they had to base it anywhere i'd like it somewhere from the 1950's and allowing you to take it from there as any nation you wish towards the modern day.

 

[Blind Sight]

Screw a modern Total War. I want Middle-earth Total War.

It exists as a mod for Medieval 2 actually, it's pretty well done.

I don't want a modern Total War, but I definitely want a World War 1 Total War.

Good. There's nothing fun about modern warfare in a game. The guns, tactics, locations... all of it is absolutely boring unless you're playing a rainbow six style of game.

This whole "MODERN FOR EVERYTHING EVER" crap is so much worse than the "WW2 FOR EVERYTHING EVER!" crap. At the very least with WW2 we know what battles are worth telling. With this they're just making shit up because it's too soon to know what battles are worth telling.

Not to mention that some people are even scared to use the word 'Taliban' in their game thanks to media backlash. If you can't make a modern conflict game and actually attempt to make it relevant to the real world, well you're just disrespecting your source material.

 

[Simalacrum]

I think it should theoretically work in a WWI setting, considering that's one of the last massed infantry wars, save possibly for WWII... but I really can't think of how they would pull it off, I just think it's possible.

After that? I honestly think not, the days of pitched battles are over nowadays.

 

[Mcface]

World War 1 please

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Good. There's nothing fun about modern warfare in a game. The guns, tactics, locations... all of it is absolutely boring unless you're playing a rainbow six style of game.

This whole "MODERN FOR EVERYTHING EVER" crap is so much worse than the "WW2 FOR EVERYTHING EVER!" crap. At the very least with WW2 we know what battles are worth telling. With this they're just making shit up because it's too soon to know what battles are worth telling.

50 years from now there won't be many, if any, games about modern times. There will be WW2 games still.

ETA: WW2 would still be terrible for Total War.

Games, as a whole, haven't been around for 50 years. It's impossible to tell what decades in the future will hold.

 

[Akisa]

Imagine

It depends on how modern a war they're willing to do. If they were to make a game based off of North Korea triggering World War 3 that would be a game featuring the epitome of 'modern' war. If they were going to make a World War 2 based game, that would still be different from the other Total War games but, it would keep with the historical nature of the overall series. Either way, automatic weapons and, bomber planes make for far different warfare than hop-lights and, legionaries.

That's not counting the naval battles... Imagine dealing with submarines and carriers, in addition to regular gun boats?

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

It might be good... but it wouldn't really be Total War for me. perhaps as a spinoff. But I would rather have one about ancient Greece, please.