Please somebody get this game away from me before I die lack of sleep... Seriously, because of the long weekend I've played it about 18 hours in the last 24. Normally, I dislike strategy games, but this one feels so alive and personal that I just couldn't stop.
The music is gorgeous, the painstaking attention to detail in the battles is beyond belief, and I just can't get enough of conquering things.
If you watch an individual troop in a battle, you'll see that they're not just randomly swinging weapons and having enemies just randomly fall down. I actually can see mounted cavalry turning, stabbing, and the enemy falling--everything looks exactly like it should look. Going into the field for battle feels just like you're inside the opening scene of Gladiator.
With the patch, it hasn't crashed on me once...9800 Pro, XP 2800+, Nforce2 board.
Well enough of this chatter. I actually have to work hard tomorrow, so night night...Zzz