Medieval 2: Total War
The word ‘epic’ is often applied in the gaming world, but the Total War series deserves
it more than most, with armies of tens of thousands fighting on hundreds of battlefields. So, naturally, side was delighted to be chosen by Creative Assembly to carry out full dialogue
production on the latest instalment, Medieval 2: Total War – the first time the company had worked on the series.
The task, however, was to prove equally epic. English, French, Italian, German and Spanish versions were required, with the English version alone consisting of over 18,000 lines of dialogue spoken by 145 different characters from eight different warring factions. Rather than outsource the localised versions, the side team cast, directed and recorded all versions in all languages to ensure consistent quality throughout, taking a bespoke, mobile studio to each of the territories.
The strategy certainly seems to have paid off, with the project coming in on time and on budget, rave reviews from the press and Jeff van Dyke, Audio Lead of Creative Assembly, Australia, commenting:
‘The FIGS part
of things went smoother than any title I’ve worked on, and the quality surpassed my expectations. Our FIGS dialogue is just as high quality as the English.’
December 2006