Total War: Attila is a strategy video game created by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It was released on February 17, 2015, for OS X, Windows, and Linux. This game is the ninth in the Total War series that can be played on its own.
The game begins in the year 395 AD, during a time known as Late Antiquity. This was the period when Europe transitioned from the Classical Rome era to the Middle Ages. The main focus of the game is the Migration Period, which occurred between 300 AD and 800 AD. At the start of the game, players do not control Attila. He becomes available to play later when he takes leadership of the Huns.
Gameplay
The campaign map for Total War: Attila covers areas from Bactria to Lusitania and from Caledonia to Garamantia in the Sahara. Provinces are made up of three regions, and each region within a province can be taken over separately. The number of cities and regions is different from Total War: Rome II, but the size of the map is similar. The map of Total War: Attila extends further into modern-day Russia instead of including the eastern provinces of the Hindu Kush found in Total War: Rome II, focusing more on the nomadic Huns. The largest settlement in a province is called the province capital. These capitals have more building spaces than other settlements and are walled at the start of the game. Unlike Total War: Rome II, small settlements can later be upgraded to have walls.
At the beginning of the Dark Ages, the Roman Empire becomes unstable because volcanic activity causes changes that signal a major disaster for Europe. After Emperor Theodosius I died in 395 AD, the empire was split between his two sons, Honorius in the West and Arcadius in the East. Since the time of Emperor Diocletian, it has been common to divide the empire because one emperor could not manage it alone. After the split, both sides faced many threats, including internal problems that weakened the young emperors’ control, a result of earlier challenges during the Third-Century Crisis. When the game begins, players controlling the Western Roman Empire will face attacks from groups moving into their territory. The arrival of the Huns in the East and the damage they caused forced the West to seek new homes. Since Emperor Valentinian I’s death and the empire’s division, weaknesses in the West have grown, bringing the empire closer to collapse. With money nearly gone from years of poor management and corruption, the West cannot build strong armies to fight invaders. Although players start with large territories, the game becomes about survival as Rome’s forces struggle to protect a weakening empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, however, has grown stronger since the split. With its new capital in Constantinople, which connects Europe and Asia through trade, and economic changes, the East has become a powerful economy in the game. Yet, the Eastern Romans face early challenges from the Visigoths, led by Alaric I, who attack Constantinople directly, and remain cautious of threats from the Sassanid Empire in the East. The Romans must find new ways to survive as old systems and technologies no longer work, and the Church’s growing influence becomes more important. If players choose to control either the Western or Eastern Roman Empire, they must work to save and unite the empire under one ruler.
Total War: Attila includes a time of great change as people in Europe move across the map. A new feature allows players to choose a faction’s state religion, which provides special benefits depending on the religion selected. A faction’s main religion gives advantages, such as provincial laws, temple buildings, churches, and character traits. These factors affect how strong the player’s religion is in a province. If a province has many different religions, it can lower public order and cause revolts. Factions may also face penalties or gains when dealing with other factions based on their religious beliefs. If a player wants to change their faction’s religion, at least 35% of the population must already follow that religion. Players can use a religion filter on the campaign map to see which religion is most common in a region. For players who choose Christianity as their state religion, five important cities—Rome, Constantinople, Aelia Capitolina, Antioch, and Alexandria—can have their churches upgraded to "Holy See" status, which gives major benefits. The game includes 13 religions available on the map, though the effects of some minor religions are not fully explained.
The game also lets players destroy settlements they have conquered using their armies. This feature, called "Scorched Earth policy," damages the land around a settlement, reducing the enemy’s food and money supply. Attila also allows factions that did not start as hordes to abandon their settlements by burning them or leaving some cities, which gives a small amount of wealth to the treasury. However, players should think carefully about which settlements they destroy, as rebuilding them later would cost a large amount of gold, separate from other building costs.
Based on historical records, a short period of colder weather, known as a mini Ice Age, caused people in Northern Europe to move south to more fertile areas as winters became longer and harsher. A new feature in Attila is the fertility of a region, which affects how well a faction can grow food when settling or building structures. The campaign map is divided into different fertility levels shown by colors and labels: Rich, Good, Average, Poor, Meagre, and Infertile. The higher the fertility level, the more food can be grown with the right buildings. However, the amount of food harvested depends on many factors, such as building costs, destroyed areas in controlled provinces, provincial laws, character traits, and enemy raids within a faction’s borders.
The game includes 56 factions, 40 of which are not playable. Each faction has its own army units and goals. At launch, 10 factions are playable, with more added through downloadable content (DLC) packs.
Downloadable content and Mods
The first DLC faction pack, "Viking Forefathers," was released on February 17, 2015. It added three new playable factions: the Danes, the Jutes, and the Geats. The second DLC, "Longbeards," was released on March 4, 2015. It added three more factions: the Langobards, the Alamans, and the Burgundians. This pack also introduced a new story called "Lay Of Ybor." Completing this story unlocks a character named Ybor, who becomes a general with traits based on the story.
A third faction pack was released on March 25, 2015. It included three Celtic factions: the Picts, the Ebdanians, and the Caledonians.
On April 29, 2015, The Creative Assembly released Assembly Kits on Steam. This pack includes tools that let players modify or create game elements such as maps, database entries, textures, and other features.
On June 25, 2015, The Creative Assembly released its first campaign pack, titled "The Last Roman." The campaign focuses on the wars of Justinian I, who sends a Roman Expeditionary force led by General Belisarius to reclaim the Western Roman Empire from barbarian kingdoms. The campaign allows players to control the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Franks, or the Vandals. It also includes the historical Battle of Dara. A free DLC released the same day made the Suebians playable in the Grand Campaign.
A fourth faction pack, titled "Empires of Sand," was released on September 15, 2015. It added three new playable factions: the Tanukhids, the Himyar, and the Aksum. This pack also introduced three new religions: Eastern Christianity, Judaism, and Semitic Paganism. A free DLC released the same day added the Lakhmids as a playable faction.
A second campaign pack, titled "Age of Charlemagne," was released on December 10, 2015. It is set in the early Medieval Age and includes new units and a campaign that spans from modern-day Portugal to Western Romania and from Scotland to Sicily. The campaign begins in 768 A.D., showing Charlemagne's rise to power as King of the Franks and his later role as the first Holy Roman Emperor since Imperial Rome. A free DLC released the same day made the White Huns playable in the Grand Campaign.
On February 25, 2016, a fifth faction pack was released, titled "Slavic Nations." This pack includes the Anteans, the Sclavenians, and the Venedians. A free DLC released with it added the Garamantians as a playable faction. These factions are described as the "world's best hope to defeat the Huns." Each faction has unique traits, such as immunity to snow-related damage and the ability to rebuild destroyed settlements without cost.
In addition to official expansion packs and DLCs, third-party modifications, or "mods," are available on sites like the Steam Workshop. Some mods change the game significantly, adding historical details, fantasy scenarios, or new game features. Others allow players to alter the game's map. Examples of popular mods include:
- The Dawnless Days (previously "Rise of Mordor: Total War"), based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels, released in March 2018.
- Medieval Kingdoms 1212 AD, a popular mod for Total War: Attila that brings the game into the Middle Ages, adding many new factions. It is considered an unofficial sequel to Medieval 2: Total War.
- Fall of the Eagles, which changes the game extensively by adding new unit designs and improving game mechanics.
- The Seven Kingdoms, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels.
Reception
Total War: Attila received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Dan Griliopoulos from PC Gamer gave the game 83/100, praising the game’s accurate portrayal of history, enjoyable multiplayer, great music, animations, and sound effects, better ways to manage armies and characters, and themes that reflect the era correctly. He also appreciated the new family system, which added more complexity to the game. He noted that the developer fixed long-term issues from the series. However, he criticized the game’s very hard difficulty, problems with the artificial intelligence, laggy chat in multiplayer, frame rate issues, and bugs. He concluded that "Total War: Attila is a different style of game compared to Rome II, with some improvements. The Total War series still needs work to reach perfection, and the bugs near release are concerning. However, Attila shows that the developers listened to feedback."
TJ Hafer from IGN gave the game 8.1/10, praising its dynamic campaign, improved artificial intelligence, better interface, siege battles, new army types, and faster pacing in real-time battles, which he said "adds more depth to choosing army compositions." He also noted that the game helped players understand the perspective of ancient people known for raiding and pillaging. However, he criticized the game’s hard-to-understand political and diplomatic systems, sometimes confusing artificial intelligence, and disappointing Celtic factions, which were not playable and lacked their own designs in the initial release. He stated that "Total War: Attila is a cleaner, better-designed experience. It is an improved version of Rome 2 rather than a simple expansion. In fact, Attila is its own game and makes a strong step forward compared to Rome 2’s earlier confusing design."
Atlas Burke from GamesRadar praised the game’s graphics, audio design, and new features, saying the additions were direct responses to criticism of Rome 2. He also praised the satisfying gameplay, excellent tactical battles, improved artificial intelligence and user interface, the ability to turn settlements into armies, and the focus on political strategies. However, he criticized the slow build process, technical problems, overly simple interface, and unbalanced units. He summarized that "Total War: Attila is a very good strategy game on its own, without needing to compare it to its predecessor."
Greg Tito from Destructoid gave the game 6.5/10, praising the game’s setting and improvements to real-time battles. However, he was less positive about the campaign mode. He criticized changes to the political system and issues with trade and diplomacy. He said there was "a lot to like" in Total War: Attila and that it "doesn’t need to change its formula every time." However, he thought "setting a well-made sequel in the falling legacy of a once-powerful empire may not have been a good choice."