While Empire wasn’t without its flaws, its sheer scope and ambition cemented its place as one of the finest strategy games of all time. If you spent any time with Empire, Napoleon will feel instantly familiar. While numerous tweaks and additions are plentiful, this is ostensibly much the same game again. On offer are four ever-expanding campaigns that chart the rise of the ruthless and tactically brilliant Napoleon Bonaparte.

Ships can now be repaired mid-battle, at a cost.

After the opening tutorial campaign, challenge levels rise significantly as you embark on three increasingly taxing and expansive campaigns. The first of these charts Napoleon’s conquest of Italy between 1796–1797, followed by his conquest of Egypt. The Egyptian campaign’s sandy, scorching battlefields prove a perfect juxtaposition to its predecessor’s fertile fields, forcing you to adapt your tactics to suit the terrain and weather conditions. The third main campaign is by far the largest and longest. Spanning a seven year period between 1805–1812, you’re tasked with conquering Europe even more convincingly than the great man himself.

As was the case with Empire, Napoleon possesses three distinct gameplay modes. The turn-based campaign map is just as visually accomplished as Empire’s, though there’s a niggling suspicion that Napoleon could represent a step backwards for Empire diehards due to the smaller scope of its campaigns.

While upgrades, diplomacy and governing remain virtually untouched, unit regeneration is now handled automatically. More significantly, a new Attrition model imbues troop movement and positioning with an extra seam of depth and strategy. If an army becomes stuck in an area of attrition - such as a mountainous region in the depths of winter or a desert - they incur casualties each turn. This forces you to keep a much closer watch on seasons and troop placement.

Great pompous hats were thought to be a boon to the art of warfare. Apparently.

Making a welcome return is the ability to loot conquered towns as well as occupy them, enabling you to call upon instant cash injections at the expense of tax income and public order. However, perhaps the campaigns’ most impressive feature is the historical accuracy and sheer diversity of its military units, with scores of different troop types on show.

3D battles have received a very minor makeover. Generals (who you can now be handpicked from a pool) play a more integral role and have a clearer and wider influence on the troops around them, such as rallying and inspiring certain units depending on their proximity. On close inspection you can discover several visual tweaks, such as greater unit detail and diversity, though you’ll generally find you’re too busy marshalling your troops to really notice any significant difference. Terrain deformation has also been improved, though a revisit of cannonball physics may be advisable in the inevitable post-release patch, most notably when the flying metal balls come into contact with trees. Perhaps the single-player game’s most exciting innovation is the ability for other human players to drop into your battles and control the opposing army, as this adds an extra element of unpredictability to encounters.

While battlefield AI has always been a bugbear of the Total War series, Empire did show a significant improvement over Medieval II’s erratic enemy movements, and further tweaks have been made here. Admittedly, there’s still work to be done, but at least things are moving in the right direction.

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