Total War Empire reviews

My impression after playing the demo:

absolutely stunning!
Again Total war proves itself an absolute must for any serious strategy gamer. I cannot wait till my pre-order comes on Friday!!

Noticeable additions include the amazing but very chaotic Naval Combat which I must say we have been yearning for since Rome.
Since the Era has changed the way you approach battle has changed too, instead of charging headlong into the fray, you must maximise your firepower from each unit.
Of course once your muskets start whittling down at the enemy, then you can charge and finish them off.

Artillery has become alot more accurate, alot more necessary and oh yes alot more effective.

Units have beautiful new captains/ flag bearers and drummers as well as a wonderful variety among soldiers

The only slightly off point I have noted is that it IS a system hog regardless of requirements. I am hoping that the load times for the demo were just because it was the demo and it was thru steam. But hey you cant expect this level of quality without having a bit more demanded from your rig.

Dont deny yourself the infinite excitement and enjoyment to be had from Total War ANY longer… pre-order now!!

An important peice of information for multiplayer in New Zealand is to find occupied servers you need to change Steams download server via going to File tab, settings tab and downloads. Select a countries server, such as UK & Ireland or Australia. Help forum for issues is at http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com.

Its a good game.

Where do I begin, this game is one of the best if not THE best strategy game I have ever played. It is like Risk the boardgame on steriods. If you have a good computer you are in for a graphics treat, but even if you do not the gameplay is really what it is all about and once you start you'll not be stopping till you realise it's 3am and you've got school/work in the morning. There are a few minor glitches which will be ironed out over time with updates (there have already been one or two updates since release) but nothing too serious at this time. I've only found my main problem so far has been getting units to go over fences and one semi-floating house. But hey, pobody's nerfect. The new naval battles are visually pleasing and loads of fun once you get a good sized armada built up. I've had the game for a little under a week and i've only just managed to get into the final act 3 of the introductory campaign based around the United States of America's road to independence. I must also stress that the game is very tactical as far as games go and positioning and planning goes a long way towards winning. I myself managed to hold a fort with approximately 500 men against an invading army of almost 1,300 though plenty of luck must be attributed to that as well. There are plenty of other elements of the game to keep you going and all add to the experience including managing resources and taxes with the later being important as if you tax too much especially nobles they might decide to rise up against you though you can usually raise taxes for a few turns to fund raising a big army without any hassles. I've also still not managed to get to grips with getting through allies teritories as more often than not they will want to turn me down if I want to march an army through their teritory on my way to a destination even if I offer them good trade deals or the like.
I have both Dawn Of War 2 and this game and while they are both a bit different especially with DOW2 being more small unit based now and almost RPG like, it hasn't even gotten a look in since I bought Empire: Total War. I'm not taking anything away from DOW2 either as it is a great game. But there is something about marching into battle with 1,500 plus infantry, cavalry and cannons in view that brings out the inner Napoleon in us all.
I'd give this game 10 stars out of 5. Epic.

I have been a total war player since the release of medieval total war and this one is the best of all. Took me a while to get used to it as I have to change strategies with troops focusing on gun powder and with the introduction of naval battles. It is more exciting being able to see what you construct on the map and having more diplomatic options. Having to research your technology is also another fun new feature of the game. I definitely recommend this game to total war players and to players who have never tried the game. PC gamer gave it a solid 94% so I see the reason why not. Word of warning as you might need a decent machine to run this game smoothly. My graphics card is a NVDIA 9600 GT but the performance is not perfect. Possibly because I am a little fussy, putting everything on the highest setting.

Empire: Total War would most likely be a tremendously good game if it was playable without CTD's at the end of every turn after a certain point. The game is littered with bugs and the worst thing is that Creative Assembly doesn't appear to be fixing the game with any conviction either.

The Campaign AI is terrible too – many forums that I have looked at have noted that the AI never puts troops on transports to invade, and as such, the age of sails and exploration is flawed.

Land AI i'm afraid isn't much better. Cannons blow your ranks to bits even though you have 5 seconds earlier told them to halt their barrage. The AI is much too passive and will rather turtle and get blown to bits by artillery instead of mounting an assault.

That said if these problems of the AI and crashes to desktop were solved I would recommend this game wholeheartedly. But as is; it is unplayable.

Please don't just take my word for it – look at the official forum and many other forums. They are saying exactly the same – a potentially good game marred by bugs. If CA had taken another 6 months to polish it, then it would deserve the reviews that IGN gave it. It seems unforgivable that everyone is raving about this game when really it is a fundamentally flawed, buggy, unfinished, beta release of a game.

I certainly won't be rushing out to buy a Creative Assembly game again.

I've always been a strategy game fan, this game has certainly given me a surprise. I wasn't too enthusiastic when I bought this game because it was on steam (I don't like steam because it is too intrusive).

When I played the land wars it was awsome, the troops can feel confident or afraid, they can take cover and you would have to time the attack (eg: when to get the horses to charge).
The sea battle is the most realistic a game can get. Your ships movement depends on the currents, the wind and your sail. The sea battle is all about timing, 1 second off and most of your cannons miss.
I reckon the campaign could have been longer but, oh well it's still a excellent game.
Online play is fun but you should master the game first and come up with some good strategy.

This game is a must get even if you don't like strategy games you should try this one out.
9.9/10

Totally disappointed couldn't play the game wouldn't install my computer has enough memory etc so that's not the problem so overhaul a o rating

Not the best game in the Total War series. Graphics are an improvement, but overall I preferred the earlier installments.

Ok, so 4 weeks after release and various patches later, my pre-order of Empire is stable enough to run – I know every PC is different, but the huge amount of related CTD's posted online make you wonder what the beta testers were doing (if there were any).
But yes, up and running finally. I've now played through one and a half campaigns, and it's left me a little… empty. The rows of musket men unloading into each other is fun for the first few battles, but soon grows dull, and the sieges are nowhere near as visceral as those in MTW2. The AI is predictable, and seems to have way too many pathfinding issues, and also, how hard would it be to program your cannons NOT to turn round and fire point blank at a column of your own men standing beside them.
Due to the era, most of the European faction armies are identical, and the advent of uniforms means the visual experience is somewhat diminished – there being very little variation in individual troops. It all adds up to a rather bland atmosphere.
However, the thermal and smoke effects are very well done, and the sea battles almost redeem it for me. They look great and play well (apart from the micro-management of reloading cannons) and hitting a ships powder store and watching it detonate is one of the great experiences of the game.
Greater diplomatic options, research trees and focus on government structure give the campaign map a distinct Civilization feel, and giving each province numerous specialised towns opens up choices for quick raids into enemy territory – also leading to more open battles and less sieges – a welcome change.
Overall though, I've returned to MTW2, and haven't touched Empire in the last 3 weeks. However, I do look forward to any expansion – hopefully one with a focus on the Napoleonic Wars to bring a bit more colour and unit variety to the game.

Empire: Total War. The title really says it all. Total War.
From the birth of the series with Shogun, the focus has been on creating a game which encompasses all aspects of warfare. Real Time battlefield strategy. Nationwide army recruitment and deployment. National and regional management and construction. Diplomacy and espionage. Conquering land, and now Sea.
Where the previous Total War games made minor changes and improvements in each iteration, Empire radically changes several aspects, resulting in a game which will seem very foreign to seasoned veterans on first inspection.
The Gunpowder age results in the decline of the archer, and bayonets signal the retirement of the spearman. Line infantry now fill both roles, and light cavalry are no longer the devastating weapon they once were. Some pathfinding issues occour when trying to move groups of units, 3 or less seems to work most of the time. Naval Battles are fantastic to watch, however ship AI is problematic, better to use a line formation and direct your fleet to sail “past” the enemy to make the best use of their broadsides.
Trade and building are vital to success in Empire. Each province has “slots” available, in terms of a farm, port, or plantation. It is up to you to choose what you want to build there. Will Bristol become a naval factory, or will you build a trade hub instead? Will Oxford house your top university, or a master blacksmith?
Empire brings more micromanagement and detail then ever before, but still allows the easy automation of these functions for those who are only interested in military matters.
The three seperate campaign maps, Europe, America and India, can take a little getting used to, but once players have reached the end of the new “road to independance” campaign, all the new changes will seem natural and second nature.
Overall, a great evolution of the series. Borrows somewhat from Civilization in the grand campaign on first galance, but still retains the Total War focus that is core to the franchise

i cant wait for this game to come out, the total war company sas it will be in feb of 2009, i hope they tell us the system requirements soon