Alright, it does what it promises and that's a Total War Total Bonus to being Totally Cool.
Why did I realize this? Maybe reviewing Dragon Age II blew some cobwebs off of my brain, or maybe I just really go caught up in so much crap in the last year, that I wasn't as diligent about reviews as I should have been. It's also super late in the game to be writing a review.
HOWEVER... here it is.
Actually, I quite like it - as the "relative to my taste" score above will indicate. I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail, I just feel the need to give my endorsement, whatever that's worth, hahahahahahahaha!
I write this as a guy who is actually pretty terrible at these games. In fact, I pretty much suck at every Total War released to date. I log online to play some PvP battles and get tromped without question. I really can't win. If you see me online, expect to win. I promise.
Despite this, I really like the Total War series and the idea behind turn-based systems accented by real-time battles. I enjoy growing an army I see fit and conquering a map. I like arrows and siege equipment because it keeps my little digital soldier safer. When my strategies work out, I'm a happy guy. When I lose a province that I just captured, I'm usually a bit pissed and start from a previous save rather than let it go. I indulge in all of the political intrigue, assassinations, religious conversions, marriages, and infighting. In the past, I've used cheat codes because I am impatient. It's a good time. But I'm not here to tell you what the game does mechanically, because you've know about that for nearly a year now, I'm here to tell you that I'm happy to announce that this game lived up to all it said it would.