Total War Medieval 3 director says recreating its predecessors "would not make a good game"

Creative Assembly blew everyone’s minds at the end of last year, when it announced a slew of games that fans had long dreamt of. Total War: Warhammer 40k has been on fans’ lips for years now, and Total War Medieval 3 is a sequel to one of the best-loved strategy games in the series. When you add those to the Alien Isolation sequel, fans of multiple genres are sitting up and taking notice. Even better, Creative Assembly’s game director, Pawel Wojs, has gone on record to say that the studio is not resting on its laurels when it comes to the new releases.

Speaking to Slitherine Games, Wojs says that the Creative Assembly team played through its previous games before settling on what to make next. And, with those experiences fresh in their minds, they realized that they needed to modernize the classic titles if they want to have any chance of success with Total War Medieval 3.

“Without nostalgia and rose-tinted spectacles, Medieval 2 would not stand up to modern Total War,” Wojs says. “Recreating it as it was would not make a good game.” That’s a bold statement considering how beloved the game is, but it’s 20 years old now. Nostalgia affects us all.

That’s not to say the game isn’t taking ample inspiration from its predecessor, though. “We’re very familiar with what made Medieval 2 good,” Wojs adds. “It’s taking the elements that we feel were really strong or worked really well […] and seeing how that can fit within the new vision for Medieval 3.”

Wojs also reveals exactly why Creative Assembly has lifted the lid on its games so early in their development. Many studios are already learning lessons from The Elder Scrolls 6, for which hype has already died down after being teased eight years ago (excuse me while I crumble into dust). CA’s early reveals of Medieval 3 and Warhammer 40k weren’t just to celebrate its 25th anniversary, however.

“We want to lift the veil and show, guts and all, how a Total War game is made,” Wojs says. “It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.” While this isn’t anything like early access, Wojs says that Creative Access has a “genuine desire to engage with [the] community” on its most-anticipated title.

Wojs says that Creative Assembly is going to watch and address feedback of Medieval 3 during production, including monitoring forums and community discussions. Creative Assembly will provide its own perspective on the issues, keeping a dialogue with the fans as they await the game’s release, as well as working to “incorporate the feedback” into the final game.

It’s an interesting mode of development, as fans presumably won’t be able to get hands-on with the game like they would with an early access title, but will instead be responding to curated gameplay footage or suchlike. Still, this will allow Creative Assembly to gather feedback on very specific elements of the game as development continues.

Freed from the technological restraints of the 2000s, Creative Assembly is taking a new approach to developing the next Medieval game. With a brand new engine, more flexibility, and a plethora of successful strategy games to cherry pick mechanics from, Total War Medieval 3 could be the pinnacle of Creative Assembly’s achievements to date.