Empire - Total War

A lack of effort leads to a game that could have been the best total war yet but isn't.

The Total War series has to be one of the main reasons to be a PC gamer these days. Combined, both Rome and Medieval 2 have eaten up hundreds of hours of my time, and when Empire was announced, I already knew it was going to be a great game. They weren't going to change a great formula that much, right? But they did change it. And it shattered my expectations. 

Like the other Total War games, the game is split up into Campaign, including the ‘Road to Independence' and Battle modes, with some online multiplayer to boot. The campaign, which most players will pour most of their time into, feels like Civilization on the overview map, but when the little men and boats representing armies and fleets clash, the game becomes a real time RTS in which you command your forces in an attempt to destroy and rout your opponent. New to Empire is the ‘Road to Independence' – which is the closest thing the game has to a story mode. It follows the United States from its colonial roots to its eventual breakaway from the British Empire. Firstly, the campaign. This time around, the campaign takes players from the years 1700-1799; however, depending on the objectives you set yourself, this can be shorter. You have a pick from 12 different factions, who have a unique set of starting positions and objectives. The campaign remains turn based, with you making all your moves, hitting the ‘end turn' button, 6 months pass while the other 50-odd(!) factions make their moves. While the overall structure of the game remains the same, there are some remarkable changes. Firstly, the campaign takes place over 3 different theatres: Europe, America, and India.

Depending on which faction you are playing as will affect how much time you will spend dealing in each one. Say, the British Empire is encouraged to spend a lot of time building up colonies in America and India compared to Russia, for example, is more concerned with local borders within Europe. This increased scope has you constantly planning your next move, making the game very addictive and compelling. This is helped by the fact that the campaign AI seems to have recovered from the terminal case of stupid that plagued it during the last two games. While I'll always miss treaties that only said “Accept or we will attack”.

 With this new expand to territory comes some more gameplay elements. Economics plays a much larger role here, with a tab detailing world prices for different goods, which will help you choose what to invest in. There are 4 ‘trade' theatres too, the coasts of Brazil, east and west Africa, and the East Indies, where you can send trade fleets to set up more trade routes. Technology has a bigger emphasis too, with Empire being the first Total War game to include a tech tree, and spending time researching into military, industrial or philosophical ventures can really give an edge over your opponents. Politically the game has changed too, with factions either being Absolute or Constitutional Monarchies, or Republics, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. These changes all link together with the new changes to settlements. Instead of a town or city representing the region as a whole, there is a big town representing the region capital, with other small towns popping up as population increases. Choosing what to build in these new gives players complete customisation over what they want to specialise in, making each campaign unique and fun – considering the recruitment of agents is no longer within the players control, this adds a level of strategy. All of these features are linked together with a wonderfully easy to use interface, making the game easy to play once you know the ropes.

The Road to Independence basically serves as a tutorial, similar in fashion to the tutorials of the last two games, but is a lot longer and there is a lot more story. It basically plays out like a regular campaign game, but gives you a much smaller map and specific objectives to fulfil. It's fun to play and a very good way to get stuck into the game.  Battles, one of the most impressive staples of the Total War franchise have had a makeover too. The technology at the time means more firearms and artillery, with some cavalry thrown in for good measure. You'll have to rethink the common tactics that you used for Rome and Medieval 2, but the fact remains there is nothing more satisfying than a long winded battle plan leaving your enemy in pieces. Morale plays a big a role as ever, with the main aim of your fighting being to rout the enemy, not destroy them. Considering your generals are no longer tanks as they were in previous games means you have to look after them if you want your men to stay on the field.

 Naval combat is one of the new features of the game, and for me it is one of the weakest. Unlike land battles where you can make use of complex strategies, my sea battles seemed to be “shoot the other boat until it dies”, and just going in circles to fire my cannons on the other side of the boat. And this was with a fleet of 3 ships, with 10 ships I was just clicking seemingly aimlessly and just watching the boats go. Fun as hell to watch, though. Graphically, the game is stunning. Playing on low settings (the only settings where my computer doesn't threaten to explode on me and run at 5 frames a second), the game is still leaps and bounds better than Medieval 2 on high settings. Water in naval battles has to be some of the best I have ever seen in a video game, and watching the little men duke it out is a lot of fun to watch with their wonderful animations. Long gone are the days of watching your medieval soldiers swing their sword only to have it hit enemy shields a million times, now its all about bayonet stabbing and dodges. My only complaint with the presentation is the sound design. Gone are the days of your general's pre-battle speeches, as your faction will speak in their native language now, not accented English. Music remains a very strong point, as it always has during the Total War series.

Overall, Empire is a definite move in the right direction for the series. The gameplay is as addictive as ever, the battles are the best to play in the series thus far, the AI still has kinks but is vastly improved, and the campaign still has a strong case of “just one more turn” – even when you realise you're still playing at 4am. While the game isn't perfect, it is completely deserving of a 10 score simply considering the amount of time you'll spend in this game, and how much fun you'll have playing it. A must have for strategy fans, and for any who consider themselves PC gamers.

NAME: EMPIRE - TOTAL WAR

SYSTEM: PC