Which is better for a campaign, Medieval II or Empires?

[Friends with Benedicts]

Yeah, it's a really subjective question but I want to hear your opinions. I've come from TW:Warhammer series, played Attila and Napoleon in the past.

I want a custom campaign and I want the most massive battles one can held. I'm looking for formation tactics and the most enjoyable sieges possible. Sieges in TW:Warhammer are ♥♥♥♥, I want something more like Bretonnia.

[GreyHuntr]

Well, sieges are certainly better in Med2 than in Empire.

[Gunther von Rittersburg]

Med2, hands down. I'd say 99.99% of any and all battles in med2 is a siege. Gets boring after awhile but if sieges are your cuppa tea, then Med2 is your game.

[Red Spot]

Formation tactics and sieges do not correspond. It is one or the other. Also when you 'need' custom it can go anywhere and nobody can give you a good answer without specifying a specific mod.
If you are talking base-game. M2 is gut. Detailed but not as much as newer titles and therefore generally moar fun than attila/napoleon, imo. Next to that M2 now comes with the DLCs in one package and those campaigns are all great fun for very different reasons.

[Thor II]

Since you played Napoleon, Napoleon is an evolution of the Empire only with a virtually linear story (especially if you play with France), a much smaller map and better battles since theoretically several problems of the Empire have been fixed.

In Empire you have territories in the Caribbean, North America, part of Central America, northern South America and India. You also have those exchange points along the coast of Brazil, Africa and Southeast Asia. And you can play with an Indian faction. You also have a campaign that takes place a few decades later and you can play with Americans, and another campaign where you can play with native people from North America

Although they say that some of the Empire's problems have been fixed at Napoleon, I find the Empire infinitely superior to Napoelon. If you liked Napoleon, it's practically your obligation to like empire even more. But......

Empire, Napoleon, Attila, and even Warhammer are infinitely inferior to Medieval 2. I mean, of course the graphics are much worse, especially on the campaign map, but everything else is much better.

The last game in which the cavalry really fought, and it wasn't a fragile thing that gave a charge and died. Cities can be Cities or Castles and can have several different buildings and you don't have to choose only 3 to 6 buildings between the 8 or 9 available, what you build and the order in which you build really matter. The Guild system is amazing.

Much more variety of unity than the Empire. In the Empire all units look the same, special regiments look the same, civilizations look the same with each other, here is not exactly a Warhammer in this regard, but compared to the Empire the variety is greater.

Siege battles are infinitely better than empire or warhammer battles. Siege maps feature huge, detailed cities where you can see each building and if you damage it, it will have real consequences on the campaign map. You can attack from anywhere, and the castles have up to 3 different walls. In the Empire it's that extremely bad thing you've ever seen at Napoelon.

Normal battle maps are also amazing, and every little move on the campaign map gives you a different map in battle.

Surely choose Medieval 2. Medieval 2 >>>> Warhammer 1 and 2>>>>>>> Empire>>>>>> Napoelon.

[Kippers]

I like Empire but Medieval 2 takes the cake. Events like the Black death and Mongol invasion really spice things up and make even late game fun.

[Friends with Benedicts]

And so spoketh the people

[stanisko]

Of course the very best would be to get Napoleon TW optimized battle engine and large world map w. plenty of playable nations like in EMPIRE TW. However I guess nowadays publishers as well as developer salies do go for maximizing profit for any price only, so pity such superb game won't happen any soon. I wis i had the money to buy from them the license and get some good dedicated passionate coders to get such game created altogether w. comunity suggestions. Siiigh..

[Spud]

Med 2 is the pinnacle of the series, the only area where it falls behind newer titles is graphics, but as said eloquently above, in every other way it far exceeds everything that came after, and some of the mods are incredible and add even more variety.