There is simply no denying that Creative Assembly's Total War series as become one of the most loved PC franchises to date. Ever since we first got our strategic fingers on Shogun: Total War almost nine years ago, the franchises fanbase as grown and grown. So it's no great surprise that there was eager anticipation for what the developers had next up their time travelling sleeves. Thankfully it didn't take long for the truth to be revealed and we were soon given the newest Total War installment, Empires. Empire: Total War is set between the 18th and 19th Century, which most importantly means we get to mess with all sorts of special fun toys with the historical invention of gun powder. Of course we shouldn't forget the rise of the Empires themselves and the birth of the United States of America, so it's no real surprise that Creative Assembly decided to set their lattest installment in such a fascinating time of history.
The Total War series as always been about historical correctness, despite some obvious incorrect pieces of info along the way (usually picked up by members of the community) and to have a love for this franchise you also need to have a love for history itself. So when taking a good look at Empire: Total War, it's clear that Creative Assembly have tried to please the fanbase already in place while also trying to make the experience a little more newbie friendly to those unfamilar with past games. That's not such a bad thing, but it's also important that they don't remove anything that will displease it's current dedicated fanbase. So what as changed in Empires: Total War?
Well technically speaking quite a bit, the game features a brand new graphics engine and of course most importantly the Sea. For now we can finally live out our dreams of commanding classic warships on the high seas of the World, just saying that gets me excited. The naval combat as been getting a lot of press ever since Sega first announced Empire: Total War, but for many it's all about the land battles and some neat improvment have been made here. With the introduction of gun powder, new weapons and units are avaliable to any eager general. Muskets now mean that a new tactic as to be used in the heat of battle, no longer can you always go rushing into an enemy band of troops and improvments to cannon technology means that they can be as deadly as ever. Basically this all means that Total War veterans will need to rethink their tactics from now on.
Great Britain are just one of a good few interesting empires available.
Creative Assembly's attempt to introduce newer Total War players to it's deep gameplay, comes partly in the shape of a story driven campaign mode called 'The Road to Independence' which sees players take on a number of different roles as they learn the many ways of Empires: Total War. Already this mode as received some great praise from other gaming media outlets and could potentially be the chance many Real Time Strategy fans have been waiting for in their attempt to understand the franchise as a whole. It's also a mode that could be very tempting to more experienced Total War players to play and help them understand some of the newer changes found in the game.
For many the naval battles will of course be a high point, but much of Total War's depth actually lies in it's full campaign mode which makes a return and is bigger then ever before. Now spanning Europe, Americas and India. The new campaign mode will be as usual, where you'll spend way to much of your spare time. It's not just a bigger map that is on offer in Empire: Total War either, for Creative Assembly have clearly listened to it's fanbase and made a number of welcomed changes to the whole streamlined User Interface and options avaliable to help gamers build their ultimate empire. A new technology tree as been introduced and there as been a huge change in the way you control and operate sections of empire owned land with captical cities playing a much bigger part then past games.
Other changes are found within the games real time battles, for example formations and unit movement have seen improvments while you can now take cover or occupy buildings for better defences. This all means that new tactics will be used when player goes against player in it's often brilliant multiplayer mode, which thankfully is no longer with Gamespy and will now be using Valve Software's Steam system with achievements thrown in for good luck. It all sounds solid and will hopefully provide a much more pleasant online experience for Total War fans. Of course all these improvments won't mean much if you can't play the game in the first place, well if you have a solid PC then you should be fine for the demo ran well and it doesn't seem to be affecting as many PC's as past Total War games. But we shall have to wait and see when I finally get my hands on a retail version this week.
While Starcraft might get all the praise and love of a nation, for many the Total War series as been the best RTS franchise about and Empires: Total War looks like it will continue that trend. The changes are all welcomed and make perfect sense, while the naval combat is simply epic. Of course there will be some rough edges in such a large title as this, but most past Total Wars players will know that if your willing to accept the games inperfections then you'll get ones of the best RTS experiences on any gaming platform.
