Empire: Total War

Over the past nine years the Total War series has provided us with two distinct gameplay modes, a sprawling turn-based campaign map and visually spectacular 3D battlefields on which thousands of troops clash in tactical and visceral battles. Empire has taken this formula to the next level by adding a third stunning element into the mix: 3D real time naval combat. But more on that in just a moment.

Empire: Total War is set in the highly turbulent period of 1700 – 1800, when the art of war had been revolutionised by the advancement of gunpowder weapons. Social reform was rife, with pitchfork-wielding peasants storming the opulent mansions of their oppressive upper class bosses, while across the ocean, European superpowers battled for control of what would eventually become the USA. Empire embraces all of these themes and theatres, providing the series’ most expansive campaign map to date, one which spans from the centre of North and South America, through Europe and North Africa, all the way to the eastern tip of India.

For newcomers, there’s a tailor-made campaign called The Road to Independence, which charts the US’s struggle for sovereignty. Split into four chapters, this story-driven campaign slowly introduces you to the basics, from building your first army to marshalling troops on the battlefield. Driven by cutscenes that chart the rise of the nation, The Road to Independence kicks off in 1607 as the British attempt to gain a foothold in the new world while fending off the hostile natives, and concludes circa 1700 when it funnels into the main campaign. It’s the perfect introduction to anyone wary of Empire’s almost terrifying scope, while the addition of cutscenes adds an extra incentive for hardened Total War enthusiasts to play through this beautifully crafted episodic challenge.

Empire’s main campaign has evolved hugely since Rome and Medieval II and is now split (America/Europe and African/India). While many elements will be instantly familiar to Total War fans, Empire possesses enough subtle tweaks and new features to ensure you need to learn new skills to prosper. After choosing the length of (50 or 100 years, with each year comprising two turns) and winning conditions (capturing a set number of provinces or attaining the highest prestige rating), then picking from the eleven playable factions scattered throughout the three theatres, it’s time to start conquering.

The first thing that’ll strike you is just how different and more engaging Empire’s campaign map has become, with regions now comprised of a number of settlements. Along with your regional capital, each map segment is dotted with upgradable agricultural and industrial sites such as farms, mines and factories, which generate extra income. This opens up a whole new tactical dimension. Rather than wading into each region and heading straight for its capital, you and your adversaries can now sabotage each other’s economy by attacking one another’s outlying settlements. It’s a tactic particularly favoured by smaller nations unable to strike at larger, better protected cities and stymieing their attacks is essential if you want to keep your economy ticking over at full capacity.

The campaign map’s level of detail is impressive. Zoom in and you’ll find trading carts being pulled across meandering roads that link your cities. Regions expand and spawn new towns that must be nourished and kept happy. Thankfully, keeping track of citizens’ happiness levels has been made easier than ever thanks to an excellent one-glance menu that clearly displays what’s raising your people’s spirits and what’s causing them to grumble. Empire divides your population into lower and upper classes, and challenges you with appeasing both equally. Fail to keep one class happy and you’ll find yourself fending off an angry revolt.   Another positive change is the streamlining of special unit micromanagement on the campaign map, and there are now just three special units at your disposal. Gentlemen can be ensconced in a rival faction’s university to steal vital pieces of research, or sent to duel an enemy commander. Far less noble is the Rake, a unit that can spy on enemy territory, sabotage buildings and assassinate key enemy figureheads. Finishing off the trio are religious units that can convert foreign cities, though their impact is minimal as religion plays a far less prominent role than in Medieval II.

This reduction in special units allows you to conduct all your diplomatic machinations from a single menu. From here you can set up trade agreements, make alliances, swap research and shower other nations with gifts in a bid to ingratiate yourself. The result is not only more satisfying but infinitely more intuitive.

Another new feature is research. To build more advanced industrial and agricultural buildings, bring about social reform or master new battlefield tactics, you must first construct schools and universities in which to conduct research. This is divided into three categories: military, industrial and philosophical. The more schools and universities you possess, the more research you can conduct. This addition is one of many masterstrokes by The Creative Assembly, as it adds an extra strategic layer to the campaign, forcing you to think far more carefully about what to build and research next, and it’s not long before it becomes apparent that Empire’s campaign map is no longer just a glorified rendition of Risk, but rather an entire and massively accomplished game in its own right.

Build up your economy, use your special units wisely and shower your allies with gifts and you’ll turn yourself into an industrial leviathan that uses subterfuge and bribery to prosper, and hides behind the military might of its allies. Concentrate on military research and you’ll gain access to improved technology and battle tactics that give you an edge on the battlefield, while your navy can be strategically placed along enemy trade routes to strangle their supply line.

Simply bludgeoning your way across the map is no longer an option, as you must intelligently balance might with economic and social stability, while also maintaining diplomatic relations with rival factions. Empire’s campaign map is a sublimely balanced experience, with the AI markedly improved over Medieval II as it probes deeper into your territory and seeks out your weak points, though there are a few instances of erratic enemy movements that do raise a critical eyebrow. But such minor shortfalls don’t even begin to prevent this from being the most accomplished campaign map ever to feature in a Total War game.

Next up are the 3D real-time land battles. Due to an emphasis on ranged combat and thanks to some highly impressive AI advances, these skirmishes are a totally different proposition to what we’ve become accustomed to in previous games of the series. The painfully predictable enemy movements that blighted Medieval II have been replaced by enemy AI so dynamic and intelligent, you’ll almost believe you’re playing against another human.

While Empire’s battlefield visuals may not have progressed quite as much as we’d hoped (this is certainly no Medieval to Rome leap), some decent improvements have been made. Zoom in close and you’ll see men thrusting and parrying, pushing, shoving and finishing off their opponents, while the terrain degenerates when it rains, bogging down your cannons and creating fiendish new tactical conundrums. Lines of men exchange musket volleys while distant cannons hurl devastating projectiles through their ranks and throngs of cavalry wheel around the flanks in an attempt to avoid the crippling salvos.

Units can be garrisoned in buildings, dig trenches or construct spike emplacements to slow down cavalry. There are so many nuances that even the most experienced Total War nut will be forced to learn a completely new set of battlefield skills and tactics, as many of the strategies that proved so successful in Rome and Medieval II are ineffectual here. The resultant battles are cauldrons of carnage in which barrages of lead pummel flesh while cannon shot and rockets (yes rockets) arc through the air before obliterating lines of men. These are gargantuan slaughter-fests that no other RTS even begins to stack up to. The only real criticisms we can level at them is that unit diversity could have been better and controls a little tighter.

Siege warfare has also improved, again thanks to the impressive AI innovations. Whereas the enemy would stand around idly in Medieval II, it now surges towards your walls while pounding your fortifications from afar with artillery. Lines of infantry scale fortress walls with grappling hooks while riflemen cap them off from above. And with strongholds now lined with cannons, nearby men automatically man guns and hurl projectiles at the invaders. For perhaps the first time in the series’ history, siege warfare finally lives up to its monumental potential.

So finally we come to the part we’ve all been waiting for, the all-new 3D naval battles. These sea-based slugfests are a visual spectacular involving up to 20 ships per side, and task you with manoeuvring your armada into firing position while factoring in wind speed and weather conditions. With guns situated down each side of every vessel (which range from puny sloops to towering galleons), you must line up an enemy then let rip, either manually or by enabling ships to fire at will.

Three sail settings provide you with an excellent level of control over ship speed, while three types of cannon shot ensure you can vary your tactics. Grapeshot is best suited to attacking a ship’s crew and perfect if you plan to board an enemy vessel by first reeling it in with grappling hooks then sending your troops onboard for some hand-to-hand combat. Chain shot is ideal for taking down a foe’s masts, turning them into a stationary target, while cannonballs are best for sinking boats.

Naval combat is by far the hardest part of Empire to master, but in many ways is also the most rewarding. Watching as cannonballs shred the sides of warships, splintering wood and sending men flying is a breathtaking spectacle. Fires can break out on vessels, forcing you to send the crew to deal with the blaze lest it reaches the ammunition storage and causes the ship to explode before sinking slowly to the seabed. Smaller battles are relatively easy to control, but larger sea skirmish prove a massive challenge, one intensified by the (irritating) necessity to manually reload cannons after firing by clicking on a reload icon. However, with practice comes a slow mastery and with repeated plays a brilliantly tactical and visually breathtaking combat experience emerges, though if you’re packing anything less than a high-end Dual Core processor and a quality 3D card, larger naval battles are likely to chug like a rusty steam train on higher graphical settings.

With space running low, it feels as though we’ve hardly scratched the surface of what Empire has to offer. In fact, trying to write this review is akin to condensing War and Peace into an informational pamphlet: you simply can’t get all the details in. Ultimately, all you really need to know is that Empire: Total War is a masterpiece, the greatest, most accomplished and ambitious strategy epic in the history of gaming and one of the most exceptional games of all time. It may not be utterly perfect, with a smattering of glitches and shortfalls spattered throughout, but these minor irritants are like mere mosquitoes on a majestic bull elephant’s back, a beast of exquisite beauty and power that crushes its opponents underfoot with effortless ease.