Empire: Total War Review: Epic RTS and Turn Based Strategy

The 18th century was a time of unprecedented glory for the great powers of Europe as they looked to expand their power and wealth through the construction of huge overseas empires. We may look back now with shame and embarrassment at the widespread pillaging and destruction of native cultures in the East and West but at the time it was done with a patronising spirit of imposed improvement. Oh and it also made us rich.

Empire: Total War takes us back to a period of history which saw the development of gunpowder and great fleets upon the high seas catapult Spain, France and most of all Britain into a position of incredible strength. The United States emerged as a country with little hint of the power they would come to wield and many civilizations disappeared forever consigned to the dusty tomes of historians. The game challenges you to shepherd the newly independent America or take the crown of one of the old powers and reign supreme. If you are feeling particularly brave you could attempt to guide one of the less successful factions down an alternate path to glory rather than ruin.

Empire: Total War is a real time strategy game and it combines excellent strategic battles on land and at sea with an involved campaign map. The Creative Assembly have crafted yet another superb entry in their Total War series. The land combat system has been significantly overhauled, naval battles have been added and the campaign map features a raft of new building options. They have also added new depth to the religion and governmental systems, the ability to exploit resources and you can now choose your path for technological research.

I’ve had many conversations over the years with strategy fans and we have agreed that if you could combine the complexity of Civilization with the real time combat game-play of Total War you would have the perfect strategy game. The downside would be the inevitable loss of large portions of your life. Empire: Total War doesn’t quite achieve that level of depth but it is easily the closest yet.

The series began with Shogun: Total War which featured a simple board game aesthetic and the real draw was the huge real time battles on varied terrain. The Creative Assembly perfected the game-play and added some depth to the campaign map with the excellent Rome: Total War which was a near perfect real-time strategy game. Now with Empire they have pushed the turn-based campaign map into new territory to provide deeper levels of immersion and complexity.

The main changes in the campaign map are the cities and their satellite towns and resources. Things grow over time and you can exert some influence on how the settlements under your care develop. There are three campaign theatres and a number of smaller areas which allow you to set up trade routes and pirate your enemies. The aims are different depending on who you choose to control and there are short and long campaigns available. There is also a more story driven mode entitled the Road to Independence which leads you through British colonization to the birth of the United States. You can select areas of research in terms of weaponry, industry and government. Diplomacy is relatively unchanged but your government can be tweaked and you may find new pressures exerted by the population.