This was a cornerstone of my childhood video game library and an essential catalyst to my introduction to medieval history. Playing it again I rediscovered how much of a buggy unfixed mess that it is. Battles painfully hammer themselves out with ballista shooting backwards, catapult crew hopped up on fear-inducing drugs, archers forgetting their training, footmen climbing one-way ladders, bizarre fire mechanics, nightmarish unit formation controls/behaviors, and ultimately the only way to win hasn't changed. Certain units are effectively useless simply due to severe bugs. Drop their walls with a pair of trebuchets, draw them out of their castle, and drown them in a doomstack of heavy cavalry. Rinse repeat congrats you made Caesar look like a nerd, the Church is second sword, and everyone now writes you a check on tax season. The soundtrack absolutely SLAMS though, excellent tracks. Character art and design is wonderful. Just wish they threw a few patches at this thing after release instead of letting it drive on three wheels for twenty years.
