Empire: Total War

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Mar 3, 2009
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3194 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,895 out of 3194
  2. Mixed: 545 out of 3194
  3. Negative: 754 out of 3194
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. daveh
    Mar 6, 2009
    4
    Great game,Steam is a load of poo.For this reason,I would recommend not buying it for that reason,had crashes like John R.Plus other games on steam simply dont work,such as MLB Manager,called steam and got no help.I assume no help will be forth comming on Empire's crashing.I am so disappointed,I got the special forces version,and assumed I can build my HMS victory,and of course I Great game,Steam is a load of poo.For this reason,I would recommend not buying it for that reason,had crashes like John R.Plus other games on steam simply dont work,such as MLB Manager,called steam and got no help.I assume no help will be forth comming on Empire's crashing.I am so disappointed,I got the special forces version,and assumed I can build my HMS victory,and of course I cant because steam messed up the download.Interface is nice but it is harder to switch citys and harder to click and build stuff.I am going back to Medieval 2 and the kingdoms expansion for my nation building playing time.… Expand
  2. MartijnS
    Mar 6, 2009
    4
    Being a very big fan of the TW serie this one is a TOTAL dissapointment. The sea battles are 1 big chaos, the campaign map(s) and interface are totally redone and not for the better.(Have been playing for 4 hours) There are only 3! scenario battles, which is just cheap compared to RTW and M2TW. The only thing that makes me not give this game a 1 or a 2 is that the land battles are Being a very big fan of the TW serie this one is a TOTAL dissapointment. The sea battles are 1 big chaos, the campaign map(s) and interface are totally redone and not for the better.(Have been playing for 4 hours) There are only 3! scenario battles, which is just cheap compared to RTW and M2TW. The only thing that makes me not give this game a 1 or a 2 is that the land battles are so-so(Most of the tactic is GONE when you play PvP) and the hope that will make DLC with extra scenario's. Next time I'll wont be buying the Total War games WITHOUT trying it for myself at a friends. Creative Assembly, this time you failed.....epic.… Expand
  3. DanW.
    Apr 9, 2009
    4
    Lots of potential here. Much more so than any other Total War title. But... Call me crazy, but all Total War titles seem the same to me. Basically, you play an alternate-history pseudo-Hitler in whatever time period the game is set in. Even on the hardest difficulty, you are given all the resources you need to conquer everyone and everything in your path until your empire is so large and Lots of potential here. Much more so than any other Total War title. But... Call me crazy, but all Total War titles seem the same to me. Basically, you play an alternate-history pseudo-Hitler in whatever time period the game is set in. Even on the hardest difficulty, you are given all the resources you need to conquer everyone and everything in your path until your empire is so large and the turns take so long to finish that you quit playing out of boredom with the terrible AI (in campaigns and battles) and you never touch the game again. At least that's been my experience with Rome, M2, and now Empire. Don't get me wrong, I had some great moments in the game. When you first start playing it's amazing because the game looks and feels so vast. Empire and particular has a dozen factions to choose from, so it initially seems as if the game will have excellent replayability. After one campaign though, a few things become clear. The first is that the AI will not conduct an oversea invasion. Ever. It is incapable of it. Have fun playing Britain in a game that is based on NAVAL WARFARE for Gods sake. The second is that any invasion you conduct will be met with minimal force, and the AI doesn't really understand sieges enough to counter-attack. Two allied nations will never coordinate their forces. Again, the AI is incapable. The third is that the AI simply doesn't behave like a human player should in countless circumstances. They don't make obvious improvements to their land, they send agents running around the world with no goal in mind, their navies sit next to your trade ships without ever attacking, and that's just on the campaign map. On the battle map, the AI sits idly in buildings that you're about to tear to the ground, crushing the entire unit. They NEVER withdraw, so you can lure an entire city garrison out of its fort if you attack a single unit outside the city. They almost never fight offensive battles (I swear i defended all of 3 cities in 2 full campagins) and when they do they seem to sometimes forget they're attacking and just sit there. Some other things- The way diplomacy works is ridiculously inefficient, aside from the ridiculous deals the AI asks for. It took me ages to figure out that I had to give everyone "gifts" in order to get them to like me. Trade is well done- a hell of a lot better than the half-finished merchant concept from Medieval 2. So there. I've just spent an entire review complaining about the faults of E:TW without even touching on the countless technical issues that plague the initial release. I have faith that those will be fixed- it will not save the game unless the AI is improved DRASTICALLY. Here is an idea I want to put forward to the folks at CA and Sega: a game with 12 playable factions is not a single-player game. Face it. No one has the time to play a campaign as even 3 of the factions available, especially when the game starts crashing left and right once you conquer x amount of territory. This game looks and feels like a game that should be played online like some sort of uber-risk. I will note that the ranked multiplayer matches in the game are great fun, but TW has always been about more than just the battles. If the AI really cannot be improved (yeah right) then move the Total War series to the next level and give us a multiplayer campaign mode. tl;dr- HUGE potential, but terrible AI in a single-player game just doesn't work. Also crashes.… Expand
  4. DanS
    May 30, 2009
    4
    This game is very poor stability-wise. If you can handle the (overlong) loading times, and random decisions to crash, go for it. Hope you have a beefy computer because once again, the poor coding has resulted in a power hungry game.
  5. ChongL
    Jun 20, 2009
    4
    Game is unplayable at later stage. Your navy becomes useless since tring to use them will crash the game.
  6. BB
    Jul 26, 2009
    4
    I used to love, and still do play Rome: Total War, and when i heard of this game of musket fire i was thrilled, but now that i seen it in action I'm disappointed. There are many things that could have been done better, like: uniforms of soldiers are, especially of line infantry, are almost the same by all factions; not enough unique units; a lot of bugs (i especially hate that one I used to love, and still do play Rome: Total War, and when i heard of this game of musket fire i was thrilled, but now that i seen it in action I'm disappointed. There are many things that could have been done better, like: uniforms of soldiers are, especially of line infantry, are almost the same by all factions; not enough unique units; a lot of bugs (i especially hate that one when you fight an opponent who has reinforcements coming and they "stall" and do not come into the battlefield from the outset, being stuck on buildings and stuff like that); the cannon fire could have been improved; when you made the game so that you don't have to lay siege and you can attack instantly, i think you should have reduced the turns from 6 months to like 2, i think that would have been better considering that the pace of the game is faster; one of the largest disappointments is that the rivaling factions do not fight and expand, the only fighting seen by the NPC factions is between Russia and Sweden (where they exchange 1 or 2 regions) and between Austria and Ottoman Empire (that's how all the other factions should act like); i really miss the whole Russian empire (the Asian part) and other parts of the world like Japan (making that with samurais and eastern architecture would have been great), China, Australia, Africa, in simple terms the whole world; that combined with some bugs make this game average, in the price count of not 50 euros but rather 20. Now i can start talking about the good parts: sea battles are a step in the right direction; good graphics; doesn't chrash alot; the campain map is very diverse; i like some details (the trading ships, better NPC relations/diplomacy options). I thought that this game would be multiplayer capable (not just battles. but the campain map). I really wanted to give the game a great rating, but this really is a step down from medi II and rome TW.… Expand
  7. AlexCannon
    Jul 2, 2009
    4
    I gave this game 4 because of the following reasons 1.wtf this is so boring this isnt entertaning its stupid 2.Price Dont know why but i paid 69.99 for it and it sucks balls want that 70 dollars back thanks for taking my money for a horrible game
  8. samt
    Oct 15, 2009
    4
    I started with shogun total war, which i loved when it came out. Then i jumped on rome total war which i also liked and played alot. This one ETW was hyped up and was suppose to be this great new total war game. Well lets just say i think im done with the total war series after this one. I gave it a 4 cause of its graphics and new battle play with ships which i like, but other then that I started with shogun total war, which i loved when it came out. Then i jumped on rome total war which i also liked and played alot. This one ETW was hyped up and was suppose to be this great new total war game. Well lets just say i think im done with the total war series after this one. I gave it a 4 cause of its graphics and new battle play with ships which i like, but other then that it hasent changed. The multi play is exactly the same which really should be changed, and the AI sucked. It is in the end simply boring!… Expand
  9. LinB
    Mar 12, 2009
    4
    If I could get this game actually installed on my computer it might be as good as the other Total War Games I have . I have been trying to install this through steam for the last 24 hours trying several times per hour to install it ,am extreemly let down having paid my hard earned money to purchase this game $110 AU and being excited by its release has now been replaced with disappointment.
  10. KorbinN
    Mar 9, 2009
    4
    I have played alot of games and most of them i bought day of or a couple days after their launch, and i have to say THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST GAME LAUNCH I HAVE EVER SEEN. I have played many Total War games (including my personal favorite Rome: Total War) and was extatic to hear about ETW, but haven even played it now and had it for 48+ hours. The Tech Support forums are jam packed and it I have played alot of games and most of them i bought day of or a couple days after their launch, and i have to say THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST GAME LAUNCH I HAVE EVER SEEN. I have played many Total War games (including my personal favorite Rome: Total War) and was extatic to hear about ETW, but haven even played it now and had it for 48+ hours. The Tech Support forums are jam packed and it seems that hundreds are complaining about gliches, bugs, crashes, freezes, and more. there is a 7 page thread about the problem i am having and countess others. The developers claim to " Have a patch in the works that will be out by the end of the week", but they have not commented on a single beg for advice, help, anything that we could do to fix minor problems. Honestly i would have rather waited an extra week for the release than have the game sitting infront of me calling my name and rereading the manual over and over again. I think this whole thing is a combination of poor customer support and a lapse of judgement on the developers part for releasing it to early.… Expand
  11. AndrewHaeberlin
    Apr 1, 2009
    4
    This would have been a great game . . . if they'd finished developing it. Buggy, crash prone, and utterly unplayable. Don't buy it for at least a few months - the fact that they're apparently using fans of the series to do play testing rather than doing it themselves is frustrating, to say the least.
  12. RLT
    Apr 12, 2009
    4
    Money is a bit too tight. Units a bit AI dumb. Ships difficult to control. Too few countries to play. The nation building process is kinda... bland? Too difficult to get nations to trade with you, let alone be allies. There could have / should have been alot more to this game.
  13. MacM
    Apr 12, 2009
    4
    I bought this game on release day. To date (12th Apr 09) I think I have accrued something like 3-4 hours of play. Potentially, the game is astounding and complex, but in reality it is so bugged that it is unplayable at most times. I cannot give an in depth review of the game as every time I play it, it crashes randomly in all types of different areas of the game. The developers keep I bought this game on release day. To date (12th Apr 09) I think I have accrued something like 3-4 hours of play. Potentially, the game is astounding and complex, but in reality it is so bugged that it is unplayable at most times. I cannot give an in depth review of the game as every time I play it, it crashes randomly in all types of different areas of the game. The developers keep informing us in the official forums that they are working on fixes and they also claim that recent patches via steam have fixed some of the crash issues. I disagree, it still crashes when it feels like it. I have a decent gaming rig, and for the past 12 months or so I have bought lots of games. ETW is just another game in the string of failures that is plaguing PC gaming of late. This being that we are suffering from releases that are either just not ready, or are console ports that are badly optimized. Occasionally, there are games that suprise me and require little or no searching of website and forums in the hope of finding user created fixes, but ETW is not one of them. The steam forums, and elsewhere are full of people who still cannot play this game without it failing, and for me, CA and Sega need to address the issue with this game.… Expand
  14. RussellLamb
    Apr 2, 2009
    4
    Excellent series but the latest is chock full of bugs. This game and Fable 2 just goes to show what rushing an unfinished game to the retail shelf looks like. All the game critics who gave this game higher than 70 should be beat down like the financial anlysts that said the economy was going to be just fine in 2008.
  15. PoorFool
    May 12, 2009
    4
    Game looks like it might be cool but i cant get past steam yet to play it... its crashed on me twice and when it finally started working it said i have to download a crapload of patches before it will 'allow' me to play(guess the game was so crappy they dont want you to see how it was when they released it, lol). Yeah, thats a good way to keep me interested Creative Assembly. Game looks like it might be cool but i cant get past steam yet to play it... its crashed on me twice and when it finally started working it said i have to download a crapload of patches before it will 'allow' me to play(guess the game was so crappy they dont want you to see how it was when they released it, lol). Yeah, thats a good way to keep me interested Creative Assembly. not to mention i wont be able to play this at my friends house who doesnt have i-net.… Expand
  16. BartR
    May 31, 2009
    4
    Running on a total water-cooled i7 at 3.8 stable gigs , 2 15000 rpm SCSI's Raid 0 stripe , 2 XFX 9800GTX+ Sli , 1200 watt PSU and 6 gigs Ram and still crashes . Great game but no way it should have all these crashes . My best solution has been frequent quick saves and return but don't repeat last move before crash . Would give the game a ten otherwise .
  17. MikeF
    May 3, 2009
    4
    First off, what I liked about the game. I like how the Campaign has been changed from previous games. Where in METW2 you could only create 3 units per city and only one city per region the way recruitment and city building has been improved tremendously. Politics and Diplomacy are no longer a headache now either, rather than sending an Emissary across a continent only to have him First off, what I liked about the game. I like how the Campaign has been changed from previous games. Where in METW2 you could only create 3 units per city and only one city per region the way recruitment and city building has been improved tremendously. Politics and Diplomacy are no longer a headache now either, rather than sending an Emissary across a continent only to have him assassinated or unsuccesful the one click to the faction diplomacy screen is welcomed. The Campaign map is huge and the game does look very nice indeed. But and this is a big but, everything I've praised seems to result in problems. Mainly crashes to desktop. At first I could only get an hour of playing in, then after a few patches I had no problems. But then when I made it to the year 1780, I crashed every single time I pressed End Turn. People may say "That's because your system can't handle this game". To which I say WRONG. Between the CTD's I get a solid 60FPS. I have had no overheating problems and keep my computer up to date entirely. This game needs alot more polish, the latest patch addresses alot of crash issues but really because this has taking so long to fix, I have lost all interest in this game and Creative Assembly. It has really been a big dissapointment. At first I kept thinking that it's early stages for the game to be released, they'll realise that there are problems and they will release a patch as soon as they can. But now, really is this what companies are going to do in the future? Release bug ridden games to the public? Once more, games that can't be returned after installing because of having to register them? If you buy this game, just know that it has been a very rocky road and still is. I've been a TW fan since METW and this game just isn't up to standards with their previous titles. All in all, the gameplay is good, graphics are brilliant and it's just such a shame that it's just full of game breaking bugs.… Expand
  18. nikkolih
    Jul 16, 2009
    4
    I have played alot of pc games and i would have to say that this game is the most crash prone waste of money i have ever brought its a complete farce.after 3 so called fix it patches lol the game still does not work.crashes due to memory leaks are regular computer ai is appalling god fobid there's a different face on your soldiers its just awful and a real shame cos the total warI have played alot of pc games and i would have to say that this game is the most crash prone waste of money i have ever brought its a complete farce.after 3 so called fix it patches lol the game still does not work.crashes due to memory leaks are regular computer ai is appalling god fobid there's a different face on your soldiers its just awful and a real shame cos the total war series is great apart from this one.im god smacked they released a game in this condition did they even test it at all?how can review sites give this game a unfinished game a 9 with all the bugs and crashes.in the near future i will be avoiding all games with creative assemble and sega attached to it.sega stick to sonic the hedgehog i ask you follow people here if blizzard made this game would it have been a bugged crash pone nightmare???i don't think so.… Expand
  19. OysteinA
    Jul 10, 2009
    4
    Looked fantastic in the first 30 minutes, then problem after problem started rearing its ugly head. This unfortunately makes it next to unplayable, as well as utterly predictable (AI is at best poor, at worst completely absent). Factions are also straight up carbon copies of each other, so very very little work went into that. What could have been a fantastic game is (this far) the most Looked fantastic in the first 30 minutes, then problem after problem started rearing its ugly head. This unfortunately makes it next to unplayable, as well as utterly predictable (AI is at best poor, at worst completely absent). Factions are also straight up carbon copies of each other, so very very little work went into that. What could have been a fantastic game is (this far) the most unplayable game of the year in my opinion.… Expand
  20. Kampfkeks2212
    Jul 4, 2009
    4
    I was so disappointed when i play the game the first time! The other games of Total War were very fantastic, the gameplay was the best and you don't have to have the best PC of the world for playing them! And now Empire... Crash down after some minutes and you have to have the best Pc for choosing the highest graphic... Then there were the siege... horrible.. there isn't a city I was so disappointed when i play the game the first time! The other games of Total War were very fantastic, the gameplay was the best and you don't have to have the best PC of the world for playing them! And now Empire... Crash down after some minutes and you have to have the best Pc for choosing the highest graphic... Then there were the siege... horrible.. there isn't a city only a fort with undestroyable walls and your cannons shots have a stupid white stripe behind the cannonballs.. The maps aren't well designed and the campaign is very easy.. If I try to use my navy my pc crash down. At last every unit is the same.. there aren't very special units! I'm here very disappointed.… Expand
  21. KarlH
    Aug 16, 2009
    4
    Game is not working like promised from the publishers. Multiplaying community lags very because of limited chatting abilities like public places beyond steams friends and groups. Game is still buggy and not all stable after many month of release. multicore support was even given with a patch... a fact that shows how we are treated: beta testers... anyway this game would have 10 if there Game is not working like promised from the publishers. Multiplaying community lags very because of limited chatting abilities like public places beyond steams friends and groups. Game is still buggy and not all stable after many month of release. multicore support was even given with a patch... a fact that shows how we are treated: beta testers... anyway this game would have 10 if there would be following: chat lobby for making clans satisfied fixing all bugs and introduce steams anti cheat functionalities more flexible games and more maps! theres no 3v3 maps at all like in rome or mtw2 sieges can be only fought 1v1 what a shame! more different and more balanced factions a ranking system that is not just there but fair and working and dont suffer people for game crashes! i dont give a s... on meta score they are all proven untrue. i wont buy a total war game until the community have prooved it being fine.… Expand
  22. MarkF.
    Sep 7, 2009
    4
    Great concept and graphics but poor delivery. You cant play the game for more than 15 minutes without it crashing. Most features are bugged beyond playability and its just plain irritating to play. I have been a Total war fan since shogun and I must say I' m disappointed with the latest game in the series. I resent paying $69.99 for a game I can barely play even though my system is Great concept and graphics but poor delivery. You cant play the game for more than 15 minutes without it crashing. Most features are bugged beyond playability and its just plain irritating to play. I have been a Total war fan since shogun and I must say I' m disappointed with the latest game in the series. I resent paying $69.99 for a game I can barely play even though my system is well above the requirements.… Expand
  23. yoyo
    Oct 13, 2009
    4
    It is a great game... When it is actually working and not finding new ways to crash with it's infestation of bugs.
  24. HelgIvanov
    Oct 6, 2009
    4
    ...posle patcha 1,5 mne stalo yasno chto eta komanda shabashnikov i halturthikov.Ves etot proekt sploshnoy bag.
    Nitchego putnova eta komanda zdelat ne mojet, vmesto gramotnyh programistov nabrali horoshih piarthikov, poetomu sleduthi ih proekt NTW pokupat ne budu tak kak bolee them za 2 goda ne smogli zdelat ETW, a za 6 mesiacev oni sobirautsia zdelat Napolejna.
    RTW the BEST!
  25. SBellows
    Mar 12, 2009
    4
    In my opinion the game in it's current state is barely acceptable for human consumption. The overboard copyright system is the first travesty (steam) followed up with random crashes, rediculious hardware demads and feeble pathfinding. With alot of patching it might be worth something by the time it becomes abandonware.
  26. DonnieDarko
    Mar 14, 2009
    4
    Well, I'm a big fan of the Total War series, I just see so much potential in this series. Sadly, that potential was to a great extent lost in this game. First of all it feels unfinished and unpolished. Seems like it was rushed out the door with a lot of bugs and performance issues. It doesn't even look all that great but it sure hogs a lot of performance. Other than that Well, I'm a big fan of the Total War series, I just see so much potential in this series. Sadly, that potential was to a great extent lost in this game. First of all it feels unfinished and unpolished. Seems like it was rushed out the door with a lot of bugs and performance issues. It doesn't even look all that great but it sure hogs a lot of performance. Other than that it's a rather bland experience. Sea battles look great but handle terribly bad, there's simply too much micro-management. The AI is horrible and acts just like what it is, an AI. When are developers going to start realizing that they're supposed to simulate human behaviour. They can start by limiting the AI-s ability to control all units at once. There's not a lot of diversity in the units and they act pretty much the same. So to sum things up I'd say... a dissapointment... and.... gets boring quickly.… Expand
  27. JohnnyD.
    Mar 22, 2009
    4
    How this game got a metacritic of 91 is unbelievable. It's really not that good, not even compared to previous Total War games. All the issues, lag, crashes, memory leaks aside, it still has major gameplay flaws. And what is up with clone soldiers etc. Sure if you have a gfx card with a lot of memory you get different face textures, but that's an idiotic thing to optimize. It How this game got a metacritic of 91 is unbelievable. It's really not that good, not even compared to previous Total War games. All the issues, lag, crashes, memory leaks aside, it still has major gameplay flaws. And what is up with clone soldiers etc. Sure if you have a gfx card with a lot of memory you get different face textures, but that's an idiotic thing to optimize. It should be the very last thing that's optimized away when a gfx card can't fit the game into memory. Hell I can take lower foliage textures or whatever, but don't touch the unit faces. Morons... And what's the deal with BORING and IDIOTIC computer AI. It's first and foremost a singleplayer game and I'd say that's a pretty f***ing important feature to work on. And then there's the sounds....simply horrible...and buggy... All the older games had better battle sounds than this. How no reviewer can see and point out these glaring flaws are beyond me. Stay away people, buy any other Total War game, but not this.… Expand
  28. AdamL.
    Mar 23, 2009
    4
    This game is super buggy and has incredibly long load times, even on a pretty much state of the art computer. The AI is a complete joke, wait until it gets patched a few times before you buy it.
  29. CarlB
    Mar 25, 2009
    4
    I have been a big fan of the total war series but this one is not good, bugs galore, memory issues crashing and slow response times to mention a few . I feel that this game could have been so much more, the forts don
  30. PaulT
    Mar 27, 2009
    4
    Constant crashes, weak opponents, bad AI, units don't respond, no continuity or real strategy, in reading other comments I have to agree, does not live up to the promises. I am not impressed with Steam but I do get updates right away which hopefully improves performance soon.
  31. JetL
    Mar 29, 2009
    4
    On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this a 4 because of several issues. First, Sega's going Steam. Definitely not a good thing with their DRM which is known to malfunction your PC entirely. Second, Empire TW is using the old formula of previous titles; AI has changed little, from dumb to dumber, absolutely no brain to win even at the hardest levels and even worse then before. Third, at On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this a 4 because of several issues. First, Sega's going Steam. Definitely not a good thing with their DRM which is known to malfunction your PC entirely. Second, Empire TW is using the old formula of previous titles; AI has changed little, from dumb to dumber, absolutely no brain to win even at the hardest levels and even worse then before. Third, at release and even with presto patch, CTD's, freezes, game acting up mid battles, unexplained slowdowns, pc death status. Fourth, feels like QA left town to fix bawdy houses instead. Game is NOT finished, poorly done, and fails my expectation as a gamer. Final thought, take your best friend out with 50 bucks, you'll enjoy much more than "this".… Expand
  32. SteveF
    Mar 4, 2009
    4
    I would have given this game a higher score, but the fact that it is tied to Steam ruins the game for me too.
    I bought the retail DVD version and it still needs Steam running in the background to work.
    It really bugs me having stuff consuming resources running in the backround, especially when it is probably monitoring your every click. Steam sucks..
  33. H.Schmoll
    Mar 8, 2009
    4
    Steam is awful. The game crashes all the time. I love the total war series, but I can barely get it to work under this horrible engine. When it does work the load times are too long. All the finesse that existed in the former series are now gone. Plus you get to witness the Steam advertisements every time you start...
  34. DanB
    Apr 13, 2009
    4
    I was really looking forward to this game. I've played all of the total war titles from Rome upwards. I saw the trailer for this on the total war site and was really excited. But this game is **** compared to M2 and Rome They should have waited a year to release it. This steam **** meant i spend hours working out how to even install the game. Which had bad graphics anyway. Do they I was really looking forward to this game. I've played all of the total war titles from Rome upwards. I saw the trailer for this on the total war site and was really excited. But this game is **** compared to M2 and Rome They should have waited a year to release it. This steam **** meant i spend hours working out how to even install the game. Which had bad graphics anyway. Do they expect us to have supercomputers??? People need to buy stuff like food!!!!!!! And the reviewers were no help.… Expand
  35. lordx
    Apr 17, 2009
    4
    Close but no cigar. To many bugs and crashes. And no unlockable factions. I always play very hard and i love to start with only 1 area. Not with this game. Let me conquer america as iroquois vs the europeans or let me make an alliance with russia and the ottoman as bavaria and let me be the new austria.
  36. DerrickS
    Apr 21, 2009
    4
    It looks great on paper. It looks absolutely amazing on paper. Unfortunately this is a PC game, not one played on paper. There is an absolute deluge of bugs which range from rending the game unplayable to making it just not fun. Examples include save files becoming corrupted, the AI not having the ability to attack over the ocean, units gladly firing into their own lines, cannons going It looks great on paper. It looks absolutely amazing on paper. Unfortunately this is a PC game, not one played on paper. There is an absolute deluge of bugs which range from rending the game unplayable to making it just not fun. Examples include save files becoming corrupted, the AI not having the ability to attack over the ocean, units gladly firing into their own lines, cannons going off whether you tell them to or not, numerous sound bugs, the list goes on. To top it off most of the countries play just about the same, with the same units (different names) and not-unlockable minor nations. They also took out things like family trees. Aside from the terrible AI battles are pretty fun. The graphics are good and the underlying mechanics are good. I like how cities develop more in this one than in MW. Overall I'd wait a while before buying this. It's at least one major patch away from being any real fun at all, and likely an expansion away from realizing it's potential.… Expand
  37. ChrisC
    Apr 27, 2009
    4
    For the glut of people voting 10 on the game down at the bottom of this list, and then complaining about people 'ruining the games user rating' with low scores, shame on you. You obviously either a) haven't played the game for any length of time to see what all the bug fuss is about or b) happen to have the one working game platform I'll guess the game was initially For the glut of people voting 10 on the game down at the bottom of this list, and then complaining about people 'ruining the games user rating' with low scores, shame on you. You obviously either a) haven't played the game for any length of time to see what all the bug fuss is about or b) happen to have the one working game platform I'll guess the game was initially designed around or c) you're employed by SEGA or STEAM and they are urging you to put these two sentence, 10-score ratings in here to try to pull a fast one on the public. And here, I thought SONY was the only gaming company content to shove unfinished games onto the market and then laugh at all the unknowing, paying public BETA testers, but apparently not. CTD issues abound, and saving the game before an anticipated CTD won't save you, either, as the game won't show that save on the load game screen afterwards. I wouldn't even begrudge them the use of the STEAM thing to try to keep their product their own, I suppose, but to release a game that so obviously needs at least 6 more months if not a year of solid playtesting is almost unforgiveable, particularly when you take a title that has been known for quality in the past and drag its good name into the dirt like this. I give this game a 4 instead of a 0 b/c, as other people have pointed out, it has the POTENTIAL to be up there with the greatest of TW games. However, it is nowhere near that point in its present state. If you have been a serious TW fan (like so many here who have already posted), my advice is to wait a good 6 months for the smoke and the bs to clear - then check the forums to see if this is finally a worthwhile purchase.… Expand
  38. marlandj
    May 27, 2009
    4
    The game plays excellently...if you can play it. I was able to start one campaign game. Then it automatically updated and I haven't been able to play a campaign game since. It seems there are a lot of us with this problem. Also, the whole "Steam" concept of having to be connected to the internet is just plain stupid. I am with Rick G on this, if there is another TW game and it uses The game plays excellently...if you can play it. I was able to start one campaign game. Then it automatically updated and I haven't been able to play a campaign game since. It seems there are a lot of us with this problem. Also, the whole "Steam" concept of having to be connected to the internet is just plain stupid. I am with Rick G on this, if there is another TW game and it uses Steam, I DEFINITELY will not buy it!… Expand
  39. nakedsun
    Jul 10, 2009
    4
    I've been playing total war games since shogun and this is the first time iv been disappointed. this game countless problems glitches and obvious short comings. I feel ripped off this game was not worth £35. all the professional reviews skate over the problems with this game, seriously did anybody ACTUALLY PLAY THIS CRAP BEFORE THEY RELEASED IT!?!?!?
  40. Serj
    Jul 15, 2009
    4
    I had great hopes for this game, bought it on the 1st day and i didn't like it. My problem is that its simply not fun to look at the units whily they reload theyr weapons and shoot, i never used gun based units in MTW2 because its not fun. I mean of course the game looks good but its a bit buggy, and many players will like it but at the end of the day all that matters its the fun and I had great hopes for this game, bought it on the 1st day and i didn't like it. My problem is that its simply not fun to look at the units whily they reload theyr weapons and shoot, i never used gun based units in MTW2 because its not fun. I mean of course the game looks good but its a bit buggy, and many players will like it but at the end of the day all that matters its the fun and this is more boring then anything.… Expand
  41. MattE
    Sep 19, 2009
    4
    Game was fun for about a week until its several glaring defects caused me to stop playing. I have been one of the lucky few who actually never has the game CTD; however this does not make up for an inept AI and total lack of support from CA who has since moved on to work on Napolean Total War . Patches have been sporadic at best and I am still waiting on the multiplayer campaign which is Game was fun for about a week until its several glaring defects caused me to stop playing. I have been one of the lucky few who actually never has the game CTD; however this does not make up for an inept AI and total lack of support from CA who has since moved on to work on Napolean Total War . Patches have been sporadic at best and I am still waiting on the multiplayer campaign which is why CA delayed the release and over 6 months after te release there has been no feedback. Don't buy from CA again or at least until 3 months after a release and read the reviews then.… Expand
  42. mcd
    Sep 24, 2009
    4
    I am not buying a Creative Assembly game again. Game is horribly broken, diplomacy AI is weird at best, loading times are too long, changing turns take a minute at least, this is just plain disappointing. I've had it since release date and it's not gotten much better, even with the patches. And now they're trying to release NEW GAMES IN THE SAME VEIN after several months?I am not buying a Creative Assembly game again. Game is horribly broken, diplomacy AI is weird at best, loading times are too long, changing turns take a minute at least, this is just plain disappointing. I've had it since release date and it's not gotten much better, even with the patches. And now they're trying to release NEW GAMES IN THE SAME VEIN after several months? It's insulting.… Expand
  43. TotalWarFan
    Feb 27, 2010
    4
    Though I love Total War games and believe that they are among the greatest games of any genre ever made, I can't say that I was impressed. The battle graphics are horrible, especially when you zoom out, and the diplomacy is also terrible. The custom battle maps are also very bad, with the fact that there are barely any buildings, and the AI players are absolutely horrible! The Though I love Total War games and believe that they are among the greatest games of any genre ever made, I can't say that I was impressed. The battle graphics are horrible, especially when you zoom out, and the diplomacy is also terrible. The custom battle maps are also very bad, with the fact that there are barely any buildings, and the AI players are absolutely horrible! The campaign is fun, but Africa, South America, and at least parts of Central and Eastern Asia should be included. The unit detail is fairly good, but the men all look exactly the same; even the militias, Native Americans, and minutemen! Empire: Total War is okay but Medieval II: Total War is, without a doubt, the best video game ever made, and no one should ever make the mistake of comparing Empire to Medieval II or even Rome: Total War. I would give it a higher score because of the campaign, and even with all the problems it is a good game, but I must give Empire: Total War a 4 because it is a terrible game in comparison to the rest of The Creative Assembly's games. I only hope that Napoleon: Total War is better.… Expand
  44. JoeB
    Dec 3, 2009
    4
    This was an incredibly disappointing game. I'm a huge total war fan - loved Rome, Medieval 2, and was eagerly looking forward to this. The game is OKAY, but not great. WAY too many bugs, even after patches. The game runs choppy on a decked out computer. Naval battles are kinda neat, but tiresome after a while. All in all, it's okay, but to be honest I'd rather play Rome or This was an incredibly disappointing game. I'm a huge total war fan - loved Rome, Medieval 2, and was eagerly looking forward to this. The game is OKAY, but not great. WAY too many bugs, even after patches. The game runs choppy on a decked out computer. Naval battles are kinda neat, but tiresome after a while. All in all, it's okay, but to be honest I'd rather play Rome or M2. What I don't understand is why they continue to push the expansion pack for this game before fixing all the problems with it???? How does that make sense? No expansion for me, please.… Expand
  45. SanderUnknown
    Mar 19, 2009
    4
    a 7.7 is way to much for this game. i give it a max of 4. the Ai is very stupid/retarded. if u sit in a building they just wait until they die. like suicide. more lags are the visuals. they are not that much in portent but i cant figure it out why the gun crew is cleaning the outside of the canon while they should push the gun powder into the canon. and not to forget the "very hard" mode a 7.7 is way to much for this game. i give it a max of 4. the Ai is very stupid/retarded. if u sit in a building they just wait until they die. like suicide. more lags are the visuals. they are not that much in portent but i cant figure it out why the gun crew is cleaning the outside of the canon while they should push the gun powder into the canon. and not to forget the "very hard" mode in "Grand campaign" what is the difference with "easy"? more bad things is if u loose your capitol (like London) you are as good as dead because you will lose almost everything. and specially in the first rounds. they really should fix this.… Expand
  46. SimonW
    Mar 23, 2009
    4
    I loved this game from the start untill to the -- Crash? I tried to find the fix to this problem for a long time, this game is an unblemished diamond waiting for its release. SEGA please, dont hurry with your games, this is total damnation for all the players. They are apparently released an alpha version of the game and try to find out the bugs by torturing the players. AI, Crashes, and I loved this game from the start untill to the -- Crash? I tried to find the fix to this problem for a long time, this game is an unblemished diamond waiting for its release. SEGA please, dont hurry with your games, this is total damnation for all the players. They are apparently released an alpha version of the game and try to find out the bugs by torturing the players. AI, Crashes, and some diplomatical problems.. duh?… Expand
  47. FredD.
    Mar 27, 2009
    4
    Extremely pretty game, but was not ready for release. many users are plagued by crashs, some still cannot even play the game. also notable problems currently, very poor ai- wont even attack via navel assault for example. so to say, you need not garrison any islands you control as they are 100 percent safe!
  48. JimJ.
    Mar 27, 2009
    4
    Releasing it as such a buggy product was a grave error. Gameplay suffers hugely from CTDs. Even after 2 patches, it's not worth buying yet. Huge mistake on the part of the devs. I do not support game devs that pull this kind of garbage.
  49. TomT
    Mar 31, 2009
    4
    Short: Looks good, Game has high potentials - but Realisation is worse in coding. Compared to Medival2:Tw - AI: Errors and low level Intelligence. Code Errors with Crash to desktop. Design: AI cant land from sea, cant transport troops, makes mass Armies with 1 unit in it, cant do pathfinding ... and so on.. better giving this experimental gamecode some month to develop and it will become Short: Looks good, Game has high potentials - but Realisation is worse in coding. Compared to Medival2:Tw - AI: Errors and low level Intelligence. Code Errors with Crash to desktop. Design: AI cant land from sea, cant transport troops, makes mass Armies with 1 unit in it, cant do pathfinding ... and so on.. better giving this experimental gamecode some month to develop and it will become so good as expected. … Expand
  50. MauroB
    Apr 27, 2009
    4
    Unfortunately there are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed. AI is not as good as expected. The software is demanding too many hardware resources, even if I have 3 Gb Ram, ATI 4870 and a good dual core processor, the Game is not running smoothly. It is really a pity, due to the Game is really good, maybe we have to wait for a couple of patches, anyhow my advice is to wait for a few months Unfortunately there are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed. AI is not as good as expected. The software is demanding too many hardware resources, even if I have 3 Gb Ram, ATI 4870 and a good dual core processor, the Game is not running smoothly. It is really a pity, due to the Game is really good, maybe we have to wait for a couple of patches, anyhow my advice is to wait for a few months before buying Empire Total War (when it will cost 15 euro), and in general I raccomend to avoid Steam-like games (due to I would like to avoid to connect to Steam every time I want to play .. I don't have an internet flat contract).… Expand
  51. MortenB
    Apr 29, 2009
    4
    I haven't had any chrashes after updatin Display driver. The look and feel of the game is really good. The tactical part, both land and sea look just great, and here the AI plays OK, not really smart, but OK. But on the strategic level the AI is a disaster! It makes the most stupid decissions, and when you add the fact that i NEVER moves troops by sea, not even to defend, and it I haven't had any chrashes after updatin Display driver. The look and feel of the game is really good. The tactical part, both land and sea look just great, and here the AI plays OK, not really smart, but OK. But on the strategic level the AI is a disaster! It makes the most stupid decissions, and when you add the fact that i NEVER moves troops by sea, not even to defend, and it NEVER makes peace with enemies, it really ruins the challenge. It feels like they have used the AI from 15 years old 2. rate game. I have played 2 campains and I'm really too bored to start a new. What a shame.… Expand
  52. AndrewS
    May 12, 2009
    4
    Of all the Total War games released, Empire: Total War ranks the worst. More than simply being unfinished (we've discovered incomplete features, inactive, but left in the game code) ETW is plagued with bugs, CTDs, and general poor optimization that results in long turn times on the strategic map. A.I. is nonsensical and poorly implemented. Graphics look worse than the previous Total Of all the Total War games released, Empire: Total War ranks the worst. More than simply being unfinished (we've discovered incomplete features, inactive, but left in the game code) ETW is plagued with bugs, CTDs, and general poor optimization that results in long turn times on the strategic map. A.I. is nonsensical and poorly implemented. Graphics look worse than the previous Total War titles yet demand far more out of your video card. No blood in tactical battles. A poor game through and through. Everyone involved in the development of this game should be ashamed of themselves for releasing such a blatantly terrible game. The professional reviewers giving this game ridiculously high scores have lost their integrity and should resign from their positions. Clearly they did not actually play this game for more than a few minutes and have cost people quite a bit of money. For Shame.… Expand
  53. ArunJ
    Jun 21, 2009
    4
    This incarnation of Total War has well and truly lost its soul. Previous titles captured the importance of characters in the making of history and allowed you to cultivate their personalities from very young age until death. Empire has abstracted the player from any sense of political intrigue and focuses purely on the battle - but lest we forget, the other half of the game is turn-based. This incarnation of Total War has well and truly lost its soul. Previous titles captured the importance of characters in the making of history and allowed you to cultivate their personalities from very young age until death. Empire has abstracted the player from any sense of political intrigue and focuses purely on the battle - but lest we forget, the other half of the game is turn-based. This means it is not as well rounded a game as the other titles. I praise the team for including ships this time but too many little touches that made the other games so enjoyable are missing from this game. The general's speech before the battle, the incidental music is less impactful, the zooming into the battle from the campaign map, governors, creating spies and diplomats (for god's sake I wait interminably for gentlemen to spawn when I have full blown modern universities and then they are greats like Daniel Defoe and Adam Smith and are given 3-star ratings). In sum, the ability of the player to have a hand in developing different aspects of the game is missing. Re-equipping soldiers with the latest armour/sword upgrades meant you had to care a little more about your soldiers before they went into battle. Having very experienced soldiers meant they were more effective in battle and you could take them from battle to battle with pride knowing they were your soldiers and could win despite being outnumbered. The idea that you can regenerate soldiers without affecting the population or the experience level of the soldiers just contributes to the sense that soldiers are 'cannon fodder'. An accurate reflection of the times? Perhaps - but it takes away from the romance of the idea of war, and I say this as a staunch pacifist! Creative Assembly - you have truly taken away the soul of the game by abstracting the player from the development of characters and political intrigue. You have also abstracted the fan from truly enjoying the game by releasing it on Steam which lends itself to shoddy/sloppy work as you can always release bitty patches at will to hold the game together and bribe fans with new units when you get an earfull. It was ambitious but I hope you will reflect and realise that you must bring the game back to the fans so that the fans can interact with the game, can empathise with the nations/characters they play as and most importantly so the fans can get just satisfaction from having spent so much money to play your games.… Expand
  54. leejackson
    Jun 25, 2009
    4
    Havering played all the other total war games and owning them i was disappointed by this title, compared to the other titles the game was over simplified for i guess people who don't like learning curve, the ai is terrible at empire management and in battles and will refuse almost all your diplomacy requests
  55. Aurelio
    Jul 23, 2009
    4
    The game isn't a significant improvement over its predecessors, but what really brings the score down is the unacceptable number of bugs present even after the third patch. Some of these glitches actually crash the game at the worst possible moment (for example at the end of a long victorious battle). This would be unexcusable in any game, but the more so in the fifth instalment of a The game isn't a significant improvement over its predecessors, but what really brings the score down is the unacceptable number of bugs present even after the third patch. Some of these glitches actually crash the game at the worst possible moment (for example at the end of a long victorious battle). This would be unexcusable in any game, but the more so in the fifth instalment of a long-running high-quality series. In fact Creative Assembly managed to kil the hen with the Golden Eggs because of a hasty release that should never have happened. Even when the game manages to run (or to be precise crawl, even on a high-spec Quad-Core PC like the one I use) the gameplay fails to impress as there is little new aside the naval battles. AI is worse than ever and this is another major disappointment. How did the critics in the mags dare awarding this game such high marks? Have they ever played it? I used to love this series. The key word is USED TO. 4/10 and only out of nostalgy for the good times.… Expand
  56. SteveC
    Aug 11, 2009
    4
    I would be happy to give this game an 8 or 9 if it wasn't so buggy. I have never had issues like I do with this game. I will say I have been using Steam for quite a while and have been satisfied with it. The problems with this bug filled piece of software belong to Creative Arts and SEGA. Fix this darn game and make it a good edition to a great family of games.
  57. Mango_Fandango
    Dec 19, 2010
    4
    After playing 300 odd hours I can honestly say that this is by far the weakest title in the Total War series.

    Pros: - multiplayer campaign (it's a beta and unsupported) - the period - the naval battles (not perfect but manageable) - diplomacy is reminiscent of Europa Universalis III - CIv IV influences are present making the campaign less cluttered Cons: - multiplayer campaign (it's a    After playing 300 odd hours I can honestly say that this is by far the weakest title in the Total War series.

    Pros:
    - multiplayer campaign (it's a beta and unsupported)
    - the period
    - the naval battles (not perfect but manageable)
    - diplomacy is reminiscent of Europa Universalis III
    - CIv IV influences are present making the campaign less cluttered

    Cons:
    - multiplayer campaign (it's a beta and unsupported)
    - bugfest
    - random crashes
    - random freezes
    - totally unstable
    - steam achievements are either broken or they don't follow the description
    - piss easy AI even on Very Hard/VH. - DLC heavily favour western factions whilst Russia, Poland and Sweden are practically abandoned
    - Maratha are ridiculously overpowered. they have line-infantry on par with western European powers and they possess the best artillery (on par with Ottomans but also possess the puckle gun)    … Expand
  58. wellington
    Jan 21, 2011
    4
    Positive features: definitely a good concept, excellent graphics. I would say the graphics are (almost) good enough for movie producers to use for computer-generated battle animations. I have in fact seen amateur productions on YouTube in which people use Empire Total War to re-create or reenact historical battles.

    The game actually seems to combine some of the better ideas from the    Positive features: definitely a good concept, excellent graphics. I would say the graphics are (almost) good enough for movie producers to use for computer-generated battle animations. I have in fact seen amateur productions on YouTube in which people use Empire Total War to re-create or reenact historical battles.

    The game actually seems to combine some of the better ideas from the Europa Universalis historical simulation game (diplomacy, missionaries, advisors/ministers) and the Cossacks series from Strategy First. The sea combats involve realistic considerations such as wind direction.

    Negative features:
    (1) Neither I nor any other user is interested in connecting to the Steam network (a security issue because I have to lower my hardware firewall security to "low" to do this) every time we want to play the game, logging on, or waiting for Steam to update. I understand that an offline mode is available but it does not work reliably. This by itself means I am unlikely to buy any other game in this series, or any other game that involves Steam.

    (2) The "path blocked" alert that comes up whenever two armies or characters tries to use the same route is a game ruiner. There is no reason why the software should not be able to auto-manage non-hostile units that are on the same road or sea route. E.g. two Rakes or Gentlemen should simply be able to pass or sidestep each other instead of requiring the player to act to resolve the traffic jam. This annoyance comes up all the time but, even worse, it is sometimes impossible to play a game to completion because (apparently) a large number computer-managed armies get into traffic jams and the game simply freezes up as if it is in an endless loop. The only way to get out of it is in fact to shut it down in Task Manager ==> not quite ready for prime time.

    (3) In battles that involve rain, the rain is often so realistic that you cannot see your units or those of the enemy. This makes it very difficult to manage the battles. It should be adequate to indicate that rain is present and will make misfires and so on more likely. This by itself is however a minor issue.    … Expand
  59. schmo
    Sep 5, 2011
    4
    I have not yet played this game because it has been downloading for 4 hours. Only 16 hours remaining. Really excited to play the new game TOMORROW!!!!
  60. Kearon
    Dec 18, 2012
    4
    While the game offers a level of complexity that I normally find entertaining, I find the world screen the most interesting. Battles turn into the two sides lining up and shooting at each other which while perhaps historically accurate leads to boring repetitive battles with strategy breaking down to putting guys with the longest range in back and shortest in front. This was my firstWhile the game offers a level of complexity that I normally find entertaining, I find the world screen the most interesting. Battles turn into the two sides lining up and shooting at each other which while perhaps historically accurate leads to boring repetitive battles with strategy breaking down to putting guys with the longest range in back and shortest in front. This was my first introduction to the Total War series but this particular game felt like a waste of $, I had high expectations and was very disappointed.… Expand
  61. Vanco
    Jun 4, 2019
    4
    Can't understand why this game is so hyped. Provinces in Europe are way too big, which makes conquering the whole continent too easy. And since the AI almost always refuses peace deals you usually have no choice but to fully conquer them, making your country too powerful too fast.
  62. TomL.
    Mar 23, 2009
    3
    At this time the game is generally unplayable because of a memory leak that causes the game to crash randomly. Many people have experianced this so far. Check the community forums for more details. If the game didn't crash it would be around the 9/10 mark.
  63. AndrewB
    Mar 30, 2009
    3
    As per everyone else here, the game looks great, but its six months too early (Campaign AI & Bugs), DONT buy this game yet, wait for a sale in around six months and you will hopefully love every minute of it.
  64. PB
    Apr 1, 2009
    3
    CTD every time a seige of a regional capital ends with change of ruling nation or faction. EVERY time. I win the battle, manual or auto, victory screen pops up then game will CTD black screen then white screen then to ' MS windows report an error' dialogue box. Port take overs seem fine, as do other towns and facilities. AI changes regional ruling power fine. Didn't happen CTD every time a seige of a regional capital ends with change of ruling nation or faction. EVERY time. I win the battle, manual or auto, victory screen pops up then game will CTD black screen then white screen then to ' MS windows report an error' dialogue box. Port take overs seem fine, as do other towns and facilities. AI changes regional ruling power fine. Didn't happen before the large recent patches 25th/26th, last patch dated 30th MARCH hasn't fixed the problem. However, a new twist is that the campaign map moves at warp speed now, the ships zip from one location to another and the year end AI ground forces moves are also super fast. looks very odd. Note that this is with all sound turned off as recommended a while back. Other battles are fine, sound on or not, defeated seige attempts are fine too. Since taking over regions is THE major game mechanic towards victory and growth the game isnt playable now. All was fine out out of the box in this regional take-over area anyway, although I still have cannon stuck in Cartegena that any attempt to move will crash the system as above, patches did fix that for other units since. Sometimes merging fleets in or near docks causes a crash, I just quick save before doing anything with merge or embark in a dock location and I get by. NEVER had any real issues with TW games before, nothing like this anyway!… Expand
  65. MortisN.
    Oct 7, 2009
    3
    Empire is like a Ferrari without an engine, beautiful, sleek, a marvel of design in every other regard... yet it's still not going anywhere. I have the feeling most of the critics were attempting to future proof their reviews for the eventuality when Creative Assembly would fix the glaring bugs. In which case E:TW would be an amazing game, but unfortunately CA decided to pull a Empire is like a Ferrari without an engine, beautiful, sleek, a marvel of design in every other regard... yet it's still not going anywhere. I have the feeling most of the critics were attempting to future proof their reviews for the eventuality when Creative Assembly would fix the glaring bugs. In which case E:TW would be an amazing game, but unfortunately CA decided to pull a Valve, why fix bugs when you people will pay you $50 for this game, and another $50 for a sequil of the exact same engine, with all the bug fixes! Creative Assembly lost my respect with this title.… Expand
  66. AurelioM.
    Apr 9, 2009
    3
    I have been a fan of the Total War series since the first title and I believe each new game did manage to improve on the previous one ... until now. I am deeply disappointed by "Empire" and I find unacceptable that the game isn't currently playable as it crashes after every single battle without possiblility to save. Load times are also dreadful. This smells of hastily released code. I have been a fan of the Total War series since the first title and I believe each new game did manage to improve on the previous one ... until now. I am deeply disappointed by "Empire" and I find unacceptable that the game isn't currently playable as it crashes after every single battle without possiblility to save. Load times are also dreadful. This smells of hastily released code. Shame on you Creative Assembly for such a mess after all the good work done so far! I also wonder how the game was awarded raving reviews in the press when it simply doesn't work (and it's not an isolated problem, the forums seem to be teeming with grieving players).… Expand
  67. BryanK
    May 5, 2009
    3
    Since my one month old rig (with latest drivers etc) can't run this game without frequent random crashes I will have to give this game a very low score. The game is good when it works (7+) but when you can't play it due to massive instability issues, then there is no point in even having purchased it. I still have a little hope that CA will eventually make the game stable, but I Since my one month old rig (with latest drivers etc) can't run this game without frequent random crashes I will have to give this game a very low score. The game is good when it works (7+) but when you can't play it due to massive instability issues, then there is no point in even having purchased it. I still have a little hope that CA will eventually make the game stable, but I think it will be several months before that happens.… Expand
  68. JonC
    May 7, 2009
    3
    I waited for nearly 2 months before buying my once per year game. Paying £35 for the deluxe edition. The huge number of updates ruined the first game, the last one has left the game despite re-installations and technical support, literally unplayable after 10 turns, the beautifully presented and deeply playable game (when it works) just crashes and dies. When it worked, it was I waited for nearly 2 months before buying my once per year game. Paying £35 for the deluxe edition. The huge number of updates ruined the first game, the last one has left the game despite re-installations and technical support, literally unplayable after 10 turns, the beautifully presented and deeply playable game (when it works) just crashes and dies. When it worked, it was fabulous, the battles are fantastic, truly like nothing I have ever seen, but the campaign strategy game is simply awful. The look and feel is great but the AI is mad and inconsistent, utterly random and the economics seem to change unpredictably, you never know what's going on. Just as it all starts to get really involving the troops enter a city (not all cities, just regional capitals, the key to ownership) and bang, down it goes, goodbye game. I really do think Creative Assembly and Sega were insane to ruin this brand with a totally commercially unviable product that is leaving thousands seething. They simply cannot work hard or fast enough to put it right, if it ever can be.… Expand
  69. DylanJ
    Dec 8, 2009
    3
    Poorly scripted, poorly thought out, poor to play. Its a wretched game.
  70. Bob
    Oct 9, 2009
    3
    Would have been a wonderful game if it wasn't for the bugs. Even the new patch 1.4 doesn't resolve the glaring bugs and massive unresolved instabilities that still are very much present in the game. The game would be worthwhile if the only issue was AI. After all, all the Total War games have AI issues and Empire is no different in this respect. The AI seriously counters my Would have been a wonderful game if it wasn't for the bugs. Even the new patch 1.4 doesn't resolve the glaring bugs and massive unresolved instabilities that still are very much present in the game. The game would be worthwhile if the only issue was AI. After all, all the Total War games have AI issues and Empire is no different in this respect. The AI seriously counters my moves on the battlefield like a massive retard- allowing itself to get flanked and then letting it's melee units sit there for target practice. But the main issue is that it CTDs constantly. I can play about 5-10 moves before the computer simply freezes and program becomes unresponsive. Granted, this is on a monster rig with a GTX 275.… Expand
  71. ArthurW
    Mar 11, 2009
    3
    A Fantastic White elephant, CA have done it again all right. A beautiful addictive game with serious, Major AI flaws. No AI seaborne invasions? In an empire game? Pathfinding Issues, Factions building entire Milita Armies. I don't know why I'm surprised exact same issues were had with every other of their releases. Once again it will be left to the mods to fix. and for ruining A Fantastic White elephant, CA have done it again all right. A beautiful addictive game with serious, Major AI flaws. No AI seaborne invasions? In an empire game? Pathfinding Issues, Factions building entire Milita Armies. I don't know why I'm surprised exact same issues were had with every other of their releases. Once again it will be left to the mods to fix. and for ruining the game with a Steam update I give 3/10 I'm off to play Catan again - forget this techology rubbish for a while.… Expand
  72. SidM
    Mar 12, 2009
    3
    I have been a Total War fan since shogun and enjoyed every release of the series until this one, which is a shame as I was very ,very keen to play this era. I hate Steam. It is irritating to have to play through it. I hate it with a passion and it has ruined any positives the game held for me. Get rid of it. Then there's the game itself, which looks great but plays very clumsily, sea I have been a Total War fan since shogun and enjoyed every release of the series until this one, which is a shame as I was very ,very keen to play this era. I hate Steam. It is irritating to have to play through it. I hate it with a passion and it has ruined any positives the game held for me. Get rid of it. Then there's the game itself, which looks great but plays very clumsily, sea battles being a nice addition but with a tendency to get messy very quickly, with lots of micro management. Not to mention the bugs with certain ship types.... Land battles just lack excitement, particularly sieges. There's just no tension whatsoever. Then there's poor AI path finding, annoying formation movement, and a severe lack of diversity of land divisions. Also, is it just me or is shooting accuracy generally useless. And what happened to volley fire? Why don't those Cherokee's turn tail and flee when they get hit in the face with a wall of lead? It just gets boring after a while. You just don't get a sense of guns being decisive in battle. Oh but wait, then it just gets plain irritating - constant crashes, slow downs and infinitely long times waiting for turns to cylce through! Diplomatic relations are almost not worth pursuing, although at least allies don't tend to turn on you at the drop of a hat. Historical Accuracy is poor, but thats not that big a deal because we'll get some modders to create an empire total realism later on right? oh no wait !we can't anymore because of ... Steam. I really, really, hate steam. It just ruins the game for me. On the plus side, the research/tech tree idea is very positive, national politics are a little more developed which is a nice touch, and yes the feeling of ripping through an enemy ship with a broadside of a 1st rate is exhilarating... but its not enough to make me stay up all night playing as I used to with Rome or MTW. Really guys, there are so few great games out there and you managed to completely ruin what promised to be the best.… Expand
  73. NeilHart
    Mar 10, 2009
    3
    Great game, but if you cant play a campaign to conclusion due to the many bugs in the game, you have to wonder if perhaps a little more testing was in order before release. Will try and go back to it if and when they patch the errors, until then, unplayable
  74. dirk0815
    Mar 28, 2009
    3
    Sorry for my poor English first (I come from Germany): After installation (almost 30 minutes), I've waited again about 40 minutes (because of the steam updates and fixes) until to start the game first. After 1-2 minutes it crashed. It is stressful to play it and my computer is not the oldest one. So I think this game is released to the market although the producer knows the gaps and Sorry for my poor English first (I come from Germany): After installation (almost 30 minutes), I've waited again about 40 minutes (because of the steam updates and fixes) until to start the game first. After 1-2 minutes it crashed. It is stressful to play it and my computer is not the oldest one. So I think this game is released to the market although the producer knows the gaps and errors. On the other hand I don't know what datasets of me and my computer are sent throught the internet with this steam account. I'll never accept in future this kind of software installation again. Sorry, but I can't comprehend this business model.… Expand
  75. OliverV.
    Mar 4, 2009
    3
    I CAN'T BELIF' THAT SWEDEN IS A PLAYABLE COUNTRY .... Sweden was a Major power in Scandinavia... But Denmark had atleast the same power and ideas of making Colonies around the world... Sweden did not they just ... did Swedish things... they should have picked Denmark and not Sweden i am realy ... i cannot belif' it
  76. JenLovering
    Mar 5, 2009
    3
    You would think this is a multi-platform console release judging by all the dumbing down they did across the board. Also, loading times are way too long. If you're not obsessed with graphics, stick with Medieval: Total War (yes the first one). It's still the best and most fun of the TW games.
  77. mikec
    Mar 8, 2009
    3
    All the great attrbutes are there sat on the screen, but constant crashes and a stupidly large amount of bugs have made the game unplayable until CA start pumping out some patches. The game looks amazing and the bits that work are great but, with all the problems id question whether CA were so rushed by sega to get the game out its not actually being finished. In short a major All the great attrbutes are there sat on the screen, but constant crashes and a stupidly large amount of bugs have made the game unplayable until CA start pumping out some patches. The game looks amazing and the bits that work are great but, with all the problems id question whether CA were so rushed by sega to get the game out its not actually being finished. In short a major disappointment and falls well short of the expectations after the classic and truely brilliant Rome TW.… Expand
  78. LarsE
    Apr 1, 2009
    3
    Complicated installation Steam-sh... Wonder why is it necessary to provide Steam with user id - password an email just to install a purchased game. Could not start after closing. Graphics ok 10000 units is fine. Waiting time between losing or winning battles are killingly long... Camera is difficult to control and mini map are useless. Have been playing better turn-real time games before. Complicated installation Steam-sh... Wonder why is it necessary to provide Steam with user id - password an email just to install a purchased game. Could not start after closing. Graphics ok 10000 units is fine. Waiting time between losing or winning battles are killingly long... Camera is difficult to control and mini map are useless. Have been playing better turn-real time games before. Sorry nothing new under the sun.… Expand
  79. AMC
    Apr 29, 2009
    3
    2 months in this game is as unstable as it was at launch. It has the potential to be the game of the year, if not the decade. Essentially it is a bug ridden mess that should ahve been tested for another 6 months. Looks like SEGA stuffed up the TW series by shoving this down our throats. Also...WHY DOES IT NEED STEAM? 90% of customers will buy this for the single player Grand Campaign.
  80. Revived
    May 14, 2009
    3
    I want to say that the developer is seriously lost its credibility is releasing crude product. I think that if it will continue to pursue a bold company can change the course of action is to think about the shareholders of the company.
  81. AnonymousMC
    Jun 23, 2009
    3
    The Naval battles are good, land battles less so. I enjoyed Rome Total War land battles more. The major problem that I have is that it crashes in campaign mode, otherwise I would give it 8 - good but could do better. Was enjoyig it, but now moving on because of the crashes.
  82. ChristopheF.
    Jul 6, 2009
    3
    Though the game has a tremendous scope, its strategical value is quite limited by its whole gameplay value. Game will be slow even with high end computers, but this would not be the main problem if it were not for : - Units pathfinding is buggy, and units are almost always messing up when it comes to being in formation. This creates unpleasant situations where it is impossible to set up Though the game has a tremendous scope, its strategical value is quite limited by its whole gameplay value. Game will be slow even with high end computers, but this would not be the main problem if it were not for : - Units pathfinding is buggy, and units are almost always messing up when it comes to being in formation. This creates unpleasant situations where it is impossible to set up your units as they would be in real battles. - Naval battles are, quite unfortunately, not as interesting to play, as they need constant micromanagement for little gameplay effect. - Strategic map is almost impossible to use. Rome Total War 3D map was fine because it was new, but you see what I mean when speaking about Medieval Total War 2 using same technology. Medeival Total War 1 used a 2D map, and it was great, accessible, fast and strategic. - Hard to see game pieces on strategic map - And of course, so many bugs and slow-things (I am talking with a last generation ultra-expensive card and 4GB RAM) you would ask whether reviewing online magazines get paid by the game company itself, to give ultimate scores to something this buggy.… Expand
  83. PeterS
    Aug 5, 2009
    3
    A good idee and great graphics, but it is not playable do to ever occuring crashes in various places. Wait at least a year to purchase this game.
  84. MikeR.
    Oct 19, 2009
    3
    Don't believe the Hype! ETW is the worst Total War game. It was released in an unfinished state, loaded with bugs and glitches. As of October 2009, most of these issues have not been resolved. Also, CA has announced that patch 1.5 will be the last major patch for this game, despite the fact that many bugs are unfixed and the AI is horrible. CA has stopped supporting this game, a Don't believe the Hype! ETW is the worst Total War game. It was released in an unfinished state, loaded with bugs and glitches. As of October 2009, most of these issues have not been resolved. Also, CA has announced that patch 1.5 will be the last major patch for this game, despite the fact that many bugs are unfixed and the AI is horrible. CA has stopped supporting this game, a clear admission that ETW is a failed product. If you buy ETW you are paying your money to CA for the dubious "privilege" of acting as a beta tester for garbage quality software. This game is an unplayable mess, and should never have been released. Don't reward CA for producing junk. Do not buy this game, or it's related expantion packs or DLC, including Napoleon Total War. Do not get ripped off as I was. Consider yourself warned!… Expand
  85. brad
    Dec 1, 2009
    3
    ca you should be fighting lawsuits right now! you sold a game that was not finished?! further more the bugs have not been fixed at all and if you happen to pick up the wrong unit at the wrong time the game crashes! although i like many of the new features of this gamelike the naval battles and new countries around the world it would help if i could play them. smooth move you retards every ca you should be fighting lawsuits right now! you sold a game that was not finished?! further more the bugs have not been fixed at all and if you happen to pick up the wrong unit at the wrong time the game crashes! although i like many of the new features of this gamelike the naval battles and new countries around the world it would help if i could play them. smooth move you retards every one of you should be taken out behind your ofice building and shot! you obviously did not learn work ethics when you went to college.… Expand
  86. ArthurNeddyS
    Dec 22, 2009
    3
    If I was just rating the gameplay and concept (of a fully working game), then this would have scored much higher. As it is though, with a high-spec system, this game is very hard to enjoy due to the constant crashes. Even after finally setting it up at much lower than required settings and getting it working, the developers brought out another patch to introduce some new units and ... If I was just rating the gameplay and concept (of a fully working game), then this would have scored much higher. As it is though, with a high-spec system, this game is very hard to enjoy due to the constant crashes. Even after finally setting it up at much lower than required settings and getting it working, the developers brought out another patch to introduce some new units and ... that required a whole lot more adjustments and fixes before I could play the game again. That said, it's still not smooth sailing here. Even with a powerful PC, this game cannot be played smoothly. Anyone attesting otherwise is simply not being honest. It's a real pity to come across Empire after enjoying other games in the Total War series. It's also a pity that after the poor level of committment to making this game playable by Sega and Co, I will not be trusting them with any future purchases. Adios, Total War. It was fun while it lasted.… Expand
  87. stavrosa
    Dec 3, 2009
    3
    very difficult game for someone who want to learn the game!!i buy it but i play only for one hour!!sorry...
  88. MatthewG.
    Oct 6, 2009
    3
    A flash in the pan. Looks nice. But the competition provided by the AI makes me feel like I'm playing my 6 month old nephew in Chess.
  89. RandallSimpson
    Mar 17, 2009
    3
    Laggy, buggy, crash-prone ... don't take my word for it: Look at the developer's own tech support forum. Minimum system specs are a joke.
    Sadly, the little bits that do run on my (well over minimum spec) system look great. Wait until it's patched at least twice before you buy. Not a retail-ready product at release.
  90. Arnold
    Mar 24, 2009
    3
    Empire Total DISAPOINTMENT....the King IS dead, long live the King! A very buggy and poorly finished release. Very, VERY buggy, slow and .....STEAM....CA must have expected the backlash and were obviously willing to risk it....shame on you guys and the poor excuses you give to justify STEAM.....give me DRM any day, YES STEAM is that bad. It's going to take something pretty special to Empire Total DISAPOINTMENT....the King IS dead, long live the King! A very buggy and poorly finished release. Very, VERY buggy, slow and .....STEAM....CA must have expected the backlash and were obviously willing to risk it....shame on you guys and the poor excuses you give to justify STEAM.....give me DRM any day, YES STEAM is that bad. It's going to take something pretty special to get me back into the TW series.....and I won't be buying a TW game until it's been out and seriously reviewed for some time (ignoring those reviewers who are obviously kidding themselves, 8's, 9's and 10's.....you know who you are....or you simply do not know what makes a good game (and ETW aint it!). Oh, did I mention how buggy it is...it makes Windows Vista look GOOD!!!… Expand
  91. AaronJ
    Mar 29, 2009
    3
    I have bought every previous TW game since Shogun came out. One of the reasons why I'm such a loyal TW fan is because I knew my money was buying a game ready to play and that the guys at TW didn't realease games early and unready like the other chumps. I bought my computer for 2k last year and belive me when I say it's well past min requirements. Still this is the laggiest I have bought every previous TW game since Shogun came out. One of the reasons why I'm such a loyal TW fan is because I knew my money was buying a game ready to play and that the guys at TW didn't realease games early and unready like the other chumps. I bought my computer for 2k last year and belive me when I say it's well past min requirements. Still this is the laggiest game ever.. Unplayable!!! And I haven't even run into the crashing bugs that everyone is talking about. Why would someone want to buy anything thats not ready? It's like buying a car with no wheels yet. I'm not old but I do remember days when you bought a game it was playable and finished when you spent your $70!!!!! I'm taking this back to EB games today and getting back my money one way or the other... Then I'll buy the game when these bastards decide to finish it. Unbelievable.… Expand
  92. ChimpeeW
    Mar 6, 2009
    3
    Am I the only one who thinks this game feels completely unfinished. The AI is horrible, the path finding sucks. When I have units group and tell them to walk 100 yds straight ahead, why do they all decide to crisscross each other. Why does my cavalry chase the enemy cavalry then stop once they are within 10 feet of them? Why is it nearly impossible to form a straight line on anything but Am I the only one who thinks this game feels completely unfinished. The AI is horrible, the path finding sucks. When I have units group and tell them to walk 100 yds straight ahead, why do they all decide to crisscross each other. Why does my cavalry chase the enemy cavalry then stop once they are within 10 feet of them? Why is it nearly impossible to form a straight line on anything but an empty mile wide field? Why does my army constantly lift sieges on their own? If I'm besieging someone and they try to break the siege but fail, why does my army break off the siege? Also in the American campaign when I'm assaulting a fort, why is my advisor telling me how best to defend my fort? And yes the whole steam thing sucks. Guess what, people will still pirate this game, you're only hurting honest consumer. I guess if my internet goes down and I want to play I'm SOL. I haven't played around with the naval combat yet to know if it works or not, maybe that's where they put all their effort. We'll see. Where's the patch? I'm bleeding here.… Expand
  93. ManuelH
    Apr 11, 2009
    3
    In spite of the serious AI related flaws (which ho-pefully will be addressed in future official patches and/or mods) ETW could have had been a strong candidate for becoming a landmark in the genre had a later-dated version been released allowing for more time to fix all the technical problems, bugs and glitches that plague the game. The visuals are great ; the tactical land & sea battles In spite of the serious AI related flaws (which ho-pefully will be addressed in future official patches and/or mods) ETW could have had been a strong candidate for becoming a landmark in the genre had a later-dated version been released allowing for more time to fix all the technical problems, bugs and glitches that plague the game. The visuals are great ; the tactical land & sea battles are jaw-dropping and punche a high re-playability value ; the move to the 18th century warfare enhances both the strategic and tactical portions of the game with the failful introduction of the epoch weaponry and tactics. I give youl that. But then again, what good would that dov those problems render it almost unplayable. (Completely unplayable in my case: after 2 weeks of intermittent - though frecuent - crashes the game just dedided to "Totally" crashed even b4 getting to the main menu screen. I reported this today and I'm hoping to hear from CA some time soon) Being a long-standing fan of the TW series and the high expectations I had about this particular game it is sad for me to say that all in all Empire Total War feels more like a rushed-out Beta than a well polished and finished product. (Also the hight retail price effectively adds to my sadness!) Perhaps it is hight time for SEGA/CA to be reminded of this simple formula: A Happy Gamer Is A Dumb Buyer, regardless of any marketing and sale strategy. So I think I'm going to unhook my bayonet and unsaddle my horse and wait for the game to live up to its name because right now I can't say I owe "Empire Total War" but "Empire Total CRASH"! ---- A Very Unhappy Gamer… Expand
  94. BryanS
    Apr 10, 2009
    3
    Great game... except the crash to desktop bugs. And the lock up just before you finish the grand campaign bugs... And the units getting stuck on the edge of towns and/or islands bugs... And the 10 to 30 seconds of lag each time you select a naval unit bug.. Oh, and the AI is incapable of actually loading ground units onto ships, so you cannot lose if you are an island nation bug Great game... except the crash to desktop bugs. And the lock up just before you finish the grand campaign bugs... And the units getting stuck on the edge of towns and/or islands bugs... And the 10 to 30 seconds of lag each time you select a naval unit bug.. Oh, and the AI is incapable of actually loading ground units onto ships, so you cannot lose if you are an island nation bug (excepting you cannot actually finish to win, perhaps this is the developer's idea of game balance?)... Plus you get the joy of installing Steam, and the darn "achievements" are even bugged!!! Otherwise, lots of fun. As far as I can tell, this game was shipped unfinished and the game review sites that give this dog high ratings are most likely getting kick backs from the developer!… Expand
  95. JohnT.
    Apr 12, 2009
    3
    The developer Creative Assembly should try to actually test their software before releasing it. This game has a great concept, but the limited and buggy implementation really ruins it once you play for more than an hour. The computer AI on the campaign is really horrible (no naval invasions? are you serious?), and for a game campaign conquests I am shocked this did not come up earlier in The developer Creative Assembly should try to actually test their software before releasing it. This game has a great concept, but the limited and buggy implementation really ruins it once you play for more than an hour. The computer AI on the campaign is really horrible (no naval invasions? are you serious?), and for a game campaign conquests I am shocked this did not come up earlier in their development process.… Expand
  96. AnonymousMC
    Apr 18, 2009
    3
    AI is awful. Units tend to get stuck and not move. Units have to actually rotate formation to fire another direction. Did I say AI is awful. The game is slow and turn based (not mentioned in the description). I spent 50 and 5 hours downloading this pile of code. Thanks for all the faulty payed off reviews to whom ever is responsible. No way it deserves these scores. To all you that seeAI is awful. Units tend to get stuck and not move. Units have to actually rotate formation to fire another direction. Did I say AI is awful. The game is slow and turn based (not mentioned in the description). I spent 50 and 5 hours downloading this pile of code. Thanks for all the faulty payed off reviews to whom ever is responsible. No way it deserves these scores. To all you that see after you purchase it and click the metascore like I did. Sorry. In a time like this we really don't need the, what we assume is a, honest industry to start acting corporate and providing bias reviews.… Expand
  97. KimSandberg
    Apr 25, 2009
    3
    This would be a great game, but eventhough it is on its 3rd or 4th patch it still is unplayable. It crashes to desktop all the time, nomatter if i play it on vista, or my 2 other XP installations.

    This is definately the last time i buy a game from this company
  98. EamonA
    Apr 27, 2009
    3
    Very disappointing game to actually play. Crashes all the time for me as I get into the middle stages of the campaign game and I have the most expensive notebook Gateway makes. The AI is silly. Why would very weak countries attack very strong countries? If the AI never puts troops on ships, does that not mean that playing England is rather safe? But, in the end, the crashes just drove me Very disappointing game to actually play. Crashes all the time for me as I get into the middle stages of the campaign game and I have the most expensive notebook Gateway makes. The AI is silly. Why would very weak countries attack very strong countries? If the AI never puts troops on ships, does that not mean that playing England is rather safe? But, in the end, the crashes just drove me out of every game.… Expand
  99. Hale
    Apr 8, 2009
    3
    This game is way too buggy to be good. Constant crashing, bugs all over the place on the campaign map and in the battles. Patches have just made it worse. I still play Rome:Total War and bought this game with high expectations and am profoundly disappointed. Do I need to put Sega on my publishers to avoid list?
  100. OlivierJacquemard
    Jun 12, 2009
    3
    Too slow to load campagne, battle, etc., even with 4 GBytes of RAM and bicore 2.4 GHz.
    Not realist, if you are turk, russian, spanish, etc. Too easy if you are british, austrian, prussian, suedish, etc. Is SEGA doesn't like south or east european people ?
    Why is it not possible to play all the faction ?
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PC Game of 2009
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2009
6
#6 Most Shared PC Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 62 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 62
  3. Negative: 0 out of 62
  1. PC Gamer UK
    94
    Astonishing...Immense... A strategy masterwork. [Mar 2009, p.54]
    Read full review
  2. Eurogamer
    90
    In some ways, it's the closest we've come to the enormous social novel from the period after that which Empire chronicles: it's a Tolstoy-esque War and Peace of a game. Its problems may be the inevitable problems of trying something with such sheer scope. As such, if you want the breathtaking vision of the game, you have to accept the flaws in the details - for now, at least.
    Read full review
  3. InsideGamer.nl
    93
    This is the best Total War game thanks to all the little tweaks. Sometimes little differences make a good game great. The battles ask of you that you think more about your actions and managing your empire never was easier. The sea battles are fun to watch, but are a little hard to control. Nevertheless, Empire: Total War is a game that can make you forget about the time.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »