More Total War! (Empire: Total War (PC))

Member Name: Britty

Product:	Empire: Total War (PC)
Date:	01/06/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great game play and involving theatre era with history mixed in

Disadvantages: System Requirements high, 16gb of Hardrive required and must be connected to itnernet.

As a huge fan of the Total War series i was waiting at the doors for the realease fo the newest addition to the range.
For thiose not familar with The Total War Franchise - the games are a mix of turn based (takes place on strategic map or theatre) and real time action (Takes place on the battlefield).
My first impression was excellent lots of familar things from the previous total war series and some new stuff as well.
The graphics are great mixed with decent music makes a great enviroment to play in.

Be prepared for some long hours spent at the PC as with all godd games it sucks you in and hours pass by without notice. The turns can be demanding haveing to watch several enemies at once and also looking for a weakness in them.
On the battle field the units are well built and the moral system used seems to work great. Only complaint with the battles cannons and artillery take far too long to load in comparison to other untis. This is really where this game make sits impression (Several of my friends have this game and ONLY play the battles). Challenging and sometimes nerve wrecking battles are a given with this game. Trying to out fox your opponent with only one fifth of his forces is tremendous fun.
The strategic turn based map isnt the best and often untis near towns or other untis canbe hard to select. There also seems to be a pretty nice bug regarding priates eg. you sedn 1 ship they have 2, you send 50 they have 100 haha thats pirates for ya!

Be warned the Spcefications for this game are quite high. If you meet the required then it will work but be prepared for the occasional stop start and jumping in battles.
One the best things about this game is the amount of historic detail it gives for untis. every unti will have a detailed description including where they were used historically any famous people who were invloved with them such as Roger's Rangers. A bit corny but learningwhile gaming can be fun. Actually the descriptions contain extremely helpful information on how they will perform on the field.

Pretty good game!

Summary: Very good game, fun and challenging.