The New Total War Game Is A 'Survival-Strategy' Game
Total War: Attila is the next in the franchise, set during the fall of Rome with an emphasis on the super aggressive Attila the Hun.
As always this new Total War will release on PC, and is expected for release in 2015.
"We've brought a darker side of the war to the series," said lead designer on Total War: Attila, Janos Gaspar. "If you load into that battle after [a prolonged siege of attrition] you'll see walls are already damaged, there are some fires already started, buildings already destroyed and - later on - defenders start to lose people through starvation."
Elements like this will affect the way battle sequences play out, too, with things like fire spreading during the course of a battle, damaging morale and adding various other negative effects.
This leads to a biggest sense of "consequence" to warfare, an element that hasn't been introduced into the series properly before.
Interestingly, climate change will play a part in the gameplay, too: "The world is getting colder," said Dominique Starr, senior campaign designer on Total War: Attila.
"So during the course of the campaign you're getting people migrating away from harsher climate, moving toward Rome, chipping away at the walls."
You'll even be able to raze your own settlements, causing huge morale decreases for the defenders but preventing attackers from capturing and exploiting the infrastructure there.
"That impending doom is something we've really tried to hammer home here - the shit's hit the fan, and there's nothing you can really do about it."
Senior battle designer Simon Mann described Total War: Attila as a "survival-strategy game", especially for certain factions.
"For example: Rome, you've just got to hold on and try and survive, whereas people like the Saxons are also pushed, they've also got to try and survive.
"With western Rome in the beginning you have to, essentially, consider what you can lose. If you try and keep everything, you will lose everything."
And things will only get tougher when Attila starts riding westward.