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. erfunfazli
    Jul 21, 2023
    5
    Worst Total War game I ever played.
    Empire Total War is not good compared to other Total War games bad battles, weak AI and... make it bad game.
  2. ZID346
    Apr 2, 2023
    7
    It's weird to fight with only ranged units and horses, but it worked. Interesting and campaign, A bit more complicated than in other installments of the series (advantage). Good title.
  3. RadiationGamer
    Feb 26, 2023
    6
    I generally liked Total war games. And this was one of them. Game mechanics offer you a realistic combat experience. I especially liked that it deals with the new age and colonialism, and this is the most beautiful feature that distinguishes it from other total war games . But the lack of variety for the game and the lack of development makes it extremely boring during the overall gameplayI generally liked Total war games. And this was one of them. Game mechanics offer you a realistic combat experience. I especially liked that it deals with the new age and colonialism, and this is the most beautiful feature that distinguishes it from other total war games . But the lack of variety for the game and the lack of development makes it extremely boring during the overall gameplay that the AI ​​behaves like an idiot even at the highest "difficulty". Although I am not very liked the naval warfare system of the game, I can see it as normal since naval warfare is tried for the first time. I was hopeful about many things from Empire Dan, but it fell far short of my expectations. The sound of the music could have been a little louder because the music in general is underpowered by the sound effects. The team or man who made the music should have noticed this. Of course, that's not a huge minus. Apart from these, one of the minuses of the game is that you cannot play with small states and Indian tribes. Playing only with big states can get boring after a while. Other than that, it's a average game. This is the highest rating I can give this game. 6… Expand
  4. LegateTheAnime
    Jan 31, 2023
    7
    This game's ambition is still inspiring, but it failed to meet that ambition. The trading is the best in the series and the battles become huge, but that's all it has going for it. It's bugs are so numerous I could not even begin to describe all the ones I encountered in 20 hours.
    I still really like this game, but it could be much better.
  5. VictorHugo1482
    Aug 30, 2022
    7
    In New York (ayy, ah-ha) (uh, yeah)
    Concrete jungle (yeah) where dreams are made of
    There's nothin' you can't do (yeah) (okay)
  6. Yaav13
    May 9, 2022
    5
    My truthful honorable incorruptible conclusive rating of this considered game: 5.
  7. Bushido95
    Sep 27, 2021
    7
    После невероятной Medieval II продолжение Empire: Total War была не тем чего ждали фанаты.. слишком большой скачок в истории.
    Спустя годы попробовав снова откинув все предрассудки и попытавшись в объективность игра мне понравилось.    После невероятной Medieval II продолжение Empire: Total War была не тем чего ждали фанаты.. слишком большой скачок в истории.
    Спустя годы попробовав снова откинув все предрассудки и попытавшись в объективность игра мне понравилось.
  8. Gorbunov2004
    May 24, 2021
    5
    Игра вроде и интересная а вроде и нет все бои стали скучными да появились морские битвы. Система дипломатии улучшилась.
  9. Denis94
    Apr 27, 2021
    6
    Este título de la saga es el primero en abordar las grandes batallas tanto navales como terrestres del siglo XVIII y aunque sea uno de los que más cariño tengo tiene varios fallos importantes.

    Los gráficos no envejecieron muy bien el paso del tiempo hizo demasiada mella en este aspecto además popping es muy evidente, aunque hay batallas que desde ciertos ángulos parecen auténticos    Este título de la saga es el primero en abordar las grandes batallas tanto navales como terrestres del siglo XVIII y aunque sea uno de los que más cariño tengo tiene varios fallos importantes.

    Los gráficos no envejecieron muy bien el paso del tiempo hizo demasiada mella en este aspecto además popping es muy evidente, aunque hay batallas que desde ciertos ángulos parecen auténticos planos de película.

    El Gameplay es bastante fluido pero tiene varios problemas entre ellos las tropas a veces no obedecen las indicaciones y hacen lo que quieren, luego la IA no está a la altura... llegué a ver cómo cargaba la caballería de frente sin ton ni son contra mi infantería de línea.

    La campaña puede que sea el mejor aspecto de este juego está muy cuidada.

    Históricamente no es correcto, los errores de uniformes y bandera Españoles son algo que choca mucho a la vista, da la sensación que solo está cuidado en ese aspecto las tropas de Inglaterra y es una lastima.

    En definitiva no es mal juego pero le condenan demasiado los errores tanto de jugabilidad como visuales que son bastante evidentes, una pena para un juego que pudo ser la joya de la corona de los TW.    … Expand
  10. elefsar
    Apr 22, 2021
    6
    Boring, bad mechanics and ui. Did i mention it is boring? Animations are bad too.
  11. erdogfu96
    Feb 9, 2020
    7
    For me it was one of the worst in total war series. Campaign idea of all of the world were good but not well designed. Also diplomacy were unstable and unrealistic. Game was not well paced, it was too slow.
    Graphics:7/10
    Sounds: 7/10
    Gameplay: 8/10
    Fun: 7/10
  12. CountCristo
    Jul 19, 2019
    7
    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  13. hiltong55
    Jul 19, 2018
    7
    With over 100 logged hours I think I am in a position to judge this game. Also, I should note that I am including the Warpath DLC in my opinion. I will also say that I do have a bit of bias in my review since I have a deep love for this time in history and style of combat. But I also know that this is far from a perfect game.

    I first started with the Road To Independence campaign. It    With over 100 logged hours I think I am in a position to judge this game. Also, I should note that I am including the Warpath DLC in my opinion. I will also say that I do have a bit of bias in my review since I have a deep love for this time in history and style of combat. But I also know that this is far from a perfect game.

    I first started with the Road To Independence campaign. It definitely helps you learn how to control and maneuver a little bit but overall I would say the story is okay at best and really does not take that long to finish. Also, it is the only way you really get to play as America so it kind of does fulfill that itch but I still don't know why you can't play with them in the main campaign mode.

    The main campaign mode has a decent amount of countries to chose from along with varying victory conditions based on the size and location of your country. The map is very large covering all of Europe, North Africa, The Middle East, India, North America and the upper half of South America. There are also trading ports in places like Madagascar but that is all you can do there set up a trade route. The way you move around the map has largely gone unchanged from prior TW games and that is just fine with me. Diplomacy saw a change from the family tree system to a more timely government system that allows you to promote Generals instead of raising them which makes sense. You can fire people in places of government but I never found myself looking too much into this aspect of the game as it is self-propelling and does not have much impact on your progress. The technology bracket accelerated my building collages and universities is a much-welcomed improvement to the series as you unlock new abilities through study as well as being able to trade and steal technological discoveries as well. Diplomacy as with many games of the turn based genre could be better but is functional. Still feels like the whole if they like you they will work with you and if they don't they won't style of a system we usually get but at least you can often still trade with unfriendly nations if you make it worth their while. Alliances also do make some sort of sense and do have so impact on your decisions especially on harder levels. I am pleased to say that the AI is no pushover if you crank up the level but are still very much beatable if you have experience with the game.

    Let us talk about combat. Ground combat is very satisfying. Units are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but are competent overall. Creative Assembly did a great job in getting the style of combat of that time down to where it feels like you are commanding troops of that time in a sensical manner. Newly added naval combat is total crap in my opinion and really needed to be worked on more before they added it to the game. I would have been happy with simulation just like in Rome TW and that is what I found myself doing anyway after several frustrating naval encounters where I had the clear upper hand. I thought maybe it was just me but apparently many others share my frustration.

    Lastly, I would like to mention the Warpath DLC where you can play as Native American factions. Basically what was done was the devs took the victory conditions from the European countries in the main game, slapped them on the native factions and called it a day. I played through the short campaign with one of the native factions and I lost not because I was playing on a hard difficulty or I was getting my ass kicked in combat, but because I could not get to my enemy fast enough with a reasonable amount of forces to take over a city. They did not take into account that the native cities are very spaced out and they do not have roads for a fairly long time due to the small size of your beginning cities. So travel is a lot slower without connecting roads and trough rough terrain which is what you are working through with most native factions. Plus the combat with natives is not nearly as fun given the design of the game. Combat was mostly designed around musket troops which the natives naturally have very few of. You really need the numbers advantage to have any chance of winning which is a chore with slow travel.

    For some reason, I wanted to give this game an 8/10 and that is only because as I said I am biased towards this time period. The game has flaws for sure but has kept me playing on and off for years. However my final verdict is a 7/10 GOOD. This is mostly due to the lackluster DLC and naval combat.    … Expand
  14. VagueShape
    Feb 25, 2016
    7
    Giving it a 7, A decent installment of the Total War franchise that offers some fresh mechanics like gunpowder, the ability to traverse continents, strategic battles that aren't focused solely on the capital city(forts and such) and good naval battles.

    While the game isn't perfect, the new features offer a fresh experience that should be fun for awhile for most people.
  15. Levin
    Aug 9, 2015
    7
    Total war has been around for quite some time, and I have bought and played all of them since the initial Shogun. The expanded campaign map is welcome and the trading ports, Naval warfare likewise. Lots of pluses that is, but there are drawbacks as well. To me, those drawbacks are "blocker bugs". Blocker bugs would be something that would prevent the game from being released. PreviousTotal war has been around for quite some time, and I have bought and played all of them since the initial Shogun. The expanded campaign map is welcome and the trading ports, Naval warfare likewise. Lots of pluses that is, but there are drawbacks as well. To me, those drawbacks are "blocker bugs". Blocker bugs would be something that would prevent the game from being released. Previous Total war games has had a few, but I am amazed that a franchise that's been around for so long still has issues like this. After half an hour of navigating three ships against nine enemy ships, having one left and aaaaalmost winning the battle and the game freezes... The graphics are also quite bad. Room for improvement. Yay!… Expand
  16. TheGamer31
    Aug 2, 2015
    7
    This is easily the worst entrance into the series (other than Rome II). The concept for this game was so good and it had so much potential but it all got wasted for some reason. It could have been that they were rushed for release or that they were using a new engine, but whatever the reason, it still doesnt excuse this game for its quality. That being said it is still a good game. ThereThis is easily the worst entrance into the series (other than Rome II). The concept for this game was so good and it had so much potential but it all got wasted for some reason. It could have been that they were rushed for release or that they were using a new engine, but whatever the reason, it still doesnt excuse this game for its quality. That being said it is still a good game. There are a lot of very memorable things about this game like some of the battle. I remember in my first playthrough I played as the United Provinces, it was late game and I was invading Russia. I was on their final settlement, which was Moscow and they had built a star fort for the city. It was a massive battle, my army was made of 3 max chevroned elite unit stacks and their army was made up of 7 garbage militia army that were untrained. I lost all but 4 units but I won and with it I wiped out Russia!… Expand
  17. amontillado
    Mar 27, 2015
    6
    If you are a fan of the Total War series, this is an adequate entry, but it isn't a strong one. The interface can be confusing, at first, and many of the simplified battle mechanics are more complex - so you need to take some time to learn it. This feature, in particular, is frustrating when you're very first campaign mission begins with a battle and there is little intuition from theIf you are a fan of the Total War series, this is an adequate entry, but it isn't a strong one. The interface can be confusing, at first, and many of the simplified battle mechanics are more complex - so you need to take some time to learn it. This feature, in particular, is frustrating when you're very first campaign mission begins with a battle and there is little intuition from the interface; especially frustrating if you're a veteran of the series and feel like an idiot for not understanding.

    Yet, much of the commentary about the frustration of the battle mechanics, campaign, etc. boils down to a problem of the developer's goals and gamer audience needs'. From the gamer's POV, we want a streamlined, intuitive system so we can jump right into the game and explore it. We want the immersion of the experience without being jolted out of it by bugs or gameplay failures. From the developer's standpoint, the feeling is that they wanted to bring home the realism of battle in that time, shooting for historical accuracy as much as possible. What got sacrificed in a spirit of authenticity was streamlined gameplay.

    It does bring home how rain affected battles when you the general have to navigate through the fog of war, essentially. It brought home how spread these empires were and how much time, concentration, and energy went into establishing a global network in a time when information moved slower. And it does bring home the frustration of navigating troops and ships prior to the telegraph and much later, radio-based communication.

    So what we have is a game that from an historical standpoint, fairly accurate. From the gamer standpoint, very obnoxious. Puzzling, do we reject or accept it, but we cannot do either as it won on one perspective but lost another. If you play this, choose which way you want to approach it, for if you approach it as just a game then you will be disappointed. If you approach it as a simulation of an historical period, you will find some enjoyment, but it does test your resolve and patience. And that, is probably why it does not score as high as it could have.    … Expand
  18. aadms
    Mar 26, 2015
    7
    This is an updated grade for something that I would have given a zero if I was posting on metacritic back in 2010. I bought the game five years ago and was stunned when I got home and learned what the "online connection requirement" was needed really meant. I had to download it on my 12 kb per second connection! Two Days later....I get to finally play.....just to find out my graphicsThis is an updated grade for something that I would have given a zero if I was posting on metacritic back in 2010. I bought the game five years ago and was stunned when I got home and learned what the "online connection requirement" was needed really meant. I had to download it on my 12 kb per second connection! Two Days later....I get to finally play.....just to find out my graphics card was seriously out of date and that the spec requirements was a, at that time, $500 graphics card. YYYEEAAAARRRRRGH!!! I had whoafull looking characters moving on the screen, not even moving their feet, just floating along with bland backgrounds. I cried that day. And I played and enjoy TW: Medieval so much. That was a zero for this game.

    Now...about a half a year after buying a brand new computer with a top of the line processor and graphics card, I remembered this game and finally played it. It plays like all the other Total War games, so expect the same experience. I liked the ship movements and building fleets to control the seas. I did not like the slow tedious ship battles, so I just clicked the resolve immediately button every time. The A.I. is a little suspect. When I attack someone, even if they are out numbered 10 to 1, they will just march forward to attack me which allowed me in every battle to employ the same strategy. I did not like the "gentlemen" who are suppose to help you town make improvements faster, because, it didn't seem like they did that at all. They could be use for research, but only one research can be down at a time as I found this out thinking I had three smart gentlemen researching only to find out I was just researching the last one I clicked on. Useless. I played Sweden and hurried as fast as I could to the New World to establish colonies, only to discover that in 1718 all the land was colonized. Great. The campaign doesn't even start until 1701. Heck! Sweden did colonize New York in the 1600s but no, I have to play when the British were firmly established there. They should have started the campaign in the early 1600s. Other than that, its Total War: A Game Five Years Ahead of Its Graphic Card and stupid DRM through Steam.    … Expand
  19. reviewobsession
    Jan 28, 2015
    6
    Welcome to the second era of CA and the first game of this era which was developed with their strange engine; Warscape! In this era, you'll encounter many strange bugs, frustrating crushes, unfinished mechanics and weak technical support. Additionally you'll play the last hardcore and innovative Total War game in the series. Empire Total War is a broken game with beautiful features. It'sWelcome to the second era of CA and the first game of this era which was developed with their strange engine; Warscape! In this era, you'll encounter many strange bugs, frustrating crushes, unfinished mechanics and weak technical support. Additionally you'll play the last hardcore and innovative Total War game in the series. Empire Total War is a broken game with beautiful features. It's story is similiar to Rome 2 Total War.(another warscape game) It was released unfinished and broken. After one year, they fixed some serious bugs and let the mod community complete it. At the end of the day customers had a game with game-breaking bugs and poor AI even efforts of great mod community. Getting back to the game, early modern warfare concept works well and using gunpowder units is entertaining. But my advice is stay away from naval and siege battle features. These parts of the game are still buggy and frustrating after many updates. Campaing map is huge and there are many empires to pick. Unit diversity is satisfaying, especially if you play with non-european empires. European nations fight each other with the similiar line infantry and its upgraded versions. Maratha Confederacy and Ottoman Empire have interesting units to play like war elephants and janissaries. You can combine their melee units with their weak rifleman and try different strategies against modern european armies. Battle AI is terrible but thanks to the early modern warfare concept and line battle tactics which hide AI's meaningless decisions, you can play as if there is no huge problem.(Units are generally static except cavalary) Other features like trade system, goverment management and technology development are well designed. If you really want to play this buggy game you should get DarthMod to enhance your gameplay. Good luck and have fun...… Expand
  20. Magnethead
    Dec 23, 2014
    5
    This game is a source of continued frustration. I periodically install it and then remember why I never play it and uninstall it two hours later. The game has so much potential, great ideas, nice naval battle addition and the whole idea of playing the gun line battles in the Total War engine is excellent. However, it all falls apart due to the controls of the game.

    Moving your gun lines    This game is a source of continued frustration. I periodically install it and then remember why I never play it and uninstall it two hours later. The game has so much potential, great ideas, nice naval battle addition and the whole idea of playing the gun line battles in the Total War engine is excellent. However, it all falls apart due to the controls of the game.

    Moving your gun lines around is just too tricky and illogical for the game to feel like anything but a struggle against the engine itself rather than against the enemy. Many areas of the maps don't allow for lines to be deployed evenly there and if you try, you get very strange formations with your soldiers often pointing in the wrong way or just taking forever to get into formation. At other times they'll just take the most ridiculous route to get into your new formation in your new location. Finally, sometimes they just bug out and either wander off the map completely or do nothing. The game compensates for this by making the AI ridiculously easy to beat. I've had many battles where I never felt like I was in control and that my plans came together and yet I'm rewarded with a heroic victory time and again. And this is on Very Hard difficulty, mind you.

    Darthmod helps a bit with some of the most annoying errors but not nearly enough. In the end, this game could have been excellent but just ends up being very annoying.    … Expand
  21. lifeofbrian
    Dec 1, 2014
    7
    Its a solid game. However unfortunately they left the game riddled with bugs. I just picked the game up after years of not playing it and lo and behold the game will still continue to freeze on occasion when you say to start a next turn. This was a problem that the game had back in 2009 when it launched. Basically buyer beware.
  22. Cam_53
    Aug 16, 2014
    5
    Great game until i get to the year 1760 then it crashes have tried all fixes and nothing works so half the rating for a half playable game disappointed overall.
  23. Scottyv2
    Feb 13, 2014
    6
    I can't say that I exactly enjoyed the hell out of it, it seemed to be more marketed for casual gamers who just pick it up and play for an hour then go outside with friends. When I would be playing this it would be for at least 2 hours minimum and I just can't enjoy it, even with darthmod increasing the re playability. The battles just aren't as epic as Napoleon that came afterword andI can't say that I exactly enjoyed the hell out of it, it seemed to be more marketed for casual gamers who just pick it up and play for an hour then go outside with friends. When I would be playing this it would be for at least 2 hours minimum and I just can't enjoy it, even with darthmod increasing the re playability. The battles just aren't as epic as Napoleon that came afterword and there came a point that I just auto resolved all my battles and won. After that win I just couldn't enjoy it, so couldn't give it a very high score over all.… Expand
  24. Dimppa
    Dec 12, 2013
    6
    After playing somewhat 500 hours with Medieval II it was a shock to play Empire. I understand that they didn't want to do something over and over again, but i really missed family tree duo to that it's missing everything and everyone fell hollow. AI was here bad but not much from Medi II. (or it might be duo to mods that i had more than 20) Also i never like whole 17 19-Century timeAfter playing somewhat 500 hours with Medieval II it was a shock to play Empire. I understand that they didn't want to do something over and over again, but i really missed family tree duo to that it's missing everything and everyone fell hollow. AI was here bad but not much from Medi II. (or it might be duo to mods that i had more than 20) Also i never like whole 17 19-Century time period.
    But if you like muskets and ships it's still a good game    … Expand
  25. orctown-troll
    Oct 20, 2013
    7
    A game with pros and cons. Sure buy for CA fans and strategy nuts. The game is pretty, with a nice range of factions, a huge map to mess around in and fun tactical battles. Beyond that the game is pretty shoddy, and is so incredibly easy, that it really needs the player to handicap themselves. The craziest feature is political control. Once you conquer an area, the player has to wait aboutA game with pros and cons. Sure buy for CA fans and strategy nuts. The game is pretty, with a nice range of factions, a huge map to mess around in and fun tactical battles. Beyond that the game is pretty shoddy, and is so incredibly easy, that it really needs the player to handicap themselves. The craziest feature is political control. Once you conquer an area, the player has to wait about 12 months before it fully assimilates into your country. Thus you can conquer and hold ALL of Europe, the middle east and the Americas without needing to worry about rebellions, or financial costs that might threaten your complete control of the world. This is of course, ridiculous. Compared to Europa Universalis games it is also POOR game design. CA games look prettier, and it is probably more fun to feel tough and kick everyone in the arse. However as a simulation or 'historic game' it's a complete joke. Also, its no small matter that the loading screens in this game run for ages. Over time there is a lot of time lost waiting for the computer to stuff your screen with mindless prettiness.

    Orctowngrot    … Expand
  26. jamesphillip198
    Sep 14, 2013
    6
    This game has good new features that weren't polished enough, and the AI leaves much to wish for. Once you conquered 5 to 6 cities is pretty much game over. The AI never really puts a challenge against you, and spams trade ships like crazy instead of a solid fleet. It's enjoyable with mods, but the vanilla game as a 'meh' feeling to it.
  27. Orctownorc
    Aug 24, 2013
    7
    A game with pros and cons. Sure buy for CA fans and strategy nuts. The game is pretty, with a nice range of factions, a huge map to mess around in and fun tactical battles. Beyond that the game is pretty shoddy, and is so incredibly easy, that it really needs the player to handicap themselves. The craziest feature is political control. Once you conquer an area, the player has to wait aboutA game with pros and cons. Sure buy for CA fans and strategy nuts. The game is pretty, with a nice range of factions, a huge map to mess around in and fun tactical battles. Beyond that the game is pretty shoddy, and is so incredibly easy, that it really needs the player to handicap themselves. The craziest feature is political control. Once you conquer an area, the player has to wait about 12 months before it fully assimilates into your country. Thus you can conquer and hold ALL of Europe, the middle east and the Americas without needing to worry about rebellions, or financial costs that might threaten your complete control of the world. This is of course, ridiculous. Compared to Europa Universalis games it is also POOR game design. CA games look prettier, and it is probably more fun to feel tough and kick everyone in the arse. However as a simulation or 'historic game' it's a complete joke. Also, its no small matter that the loading screens in this game run for ages. Over time there is a lot of time lost waiting for the computer to stuff your screen with mindless prettiness.

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com    … Expand
  28. Tripnip14
    Aug 5, 2013
    5
    The campaign and naval battles are awesome!!! The new technology tree and the immense scale make the campaign very fun, and the naval battles are top notch. However the land battles are absolute garbage, with horrible AI and even worse pathfinding (it's not unusual for it to take a cavalry unit 15 minutes to get out of a gate). I've been playing total war games since Medieval 1, and thisThe campaign and naval battles are awesome!!! The new technology tree and the immense scale make the campaign very fun, and the naval battles are top notch. However the land battles are absolute garbage, with horrible AI and even worse pathfinding (it's not unusual for it to take a cavalry unit 15 minutes to get out of a gate). I've been playing total war games since Medieval 1, and this is definitely the most thrown together one. Since you'll be spending most of your time on the battlefield, and it is broken, I give this game a 5.… Expand
  29. iseeall
    Jul 29, 2013
    5
    A game in Total War series which I liked much less than Rome or Medieval. Most of the new features were annoying: the strategic map is now crowded with buildings which used to be parts of cities previously. Too detailed and over-complicated empire management. The ability to control a ship is out of place in a strategic game here it's just a clumsy simulator. Finally, the US flagA game in Total War series which I liked much less than Rome or Medieval. Most of the new features were annoying: the strategic map is now crowded with buildings which used to be parts of cities previously. Too detailed and over-complicated empire management. The ability to control a ship is out of place in a strategic game here it's just a clumsy simulator. Finally, the US flag everywhere and the main campaign focusing on the US independence war. I know your primary paying audience is the US, but the rest of the world which is much more people and more players aren't that much interested in the US history so that you would have to put it (and nothing else) into the campaign. I didn't have any interested in the main campaign, tried to play for Germany and Russia and dropped after a few turns. The strategic map is just muddy, you can't see anything. The battles are somehow clumsy and lack the drive of Rome Total War. The units speaking their own language might seem a fun idea at first but I would much more prefer to hear english with national accents. Not that this game is bad: those who haven't seen Rome or Medieval may like it. It's just that the series lost its touch in this game. Actually, I'm not even sure one could create a playable Total War-style game in the setting where there are so many range units and the concept of "line tactics". This just doesn't work with games where you normally want to out-maneuver opponents.… Expand
  30. CaptainThom
    Jun 27, 2013
    7
    Empire total war has received an unjust amount of criticism allot of which was due to bugs and initial issues with steam. Now the game has been patched its a far better gaming experience but doesn't live up to M2:TW and Rome:TW, battles just aren't as fun or engaging and sieges in particular are a mess.No longer do you attack castles/towns with the buildings from the campaign map insteadEmpire total war has received an unjust amount of criticism allot of which was due to bugs and initial issues with steam. Now the game has been patched its a far better gaming experience but doesn't live up to M2:TW and Rome:TW, battles just aren't as fun or engaging and sieges in particular are a mess.No longer do you attack castles/towns with the buildings from the campaign map instead you attack different forts which are pretty much the same every-time and offer little variety of strategy required to capture them. Naval combat which looked brilliant is just a pain and even after 250 hours i have no clue how it works resulting in the imperfect auto resolve option being used the majority of the time.

    That said the campaign map has been extended dramatically with America, India and trade routes added giving the game a much grander feel. The graphics are also fantastic really stepped up from M2:TW, giving battles a realistic and epic feel. Technology trees also allow you to research advance technology which you can see take effect on the battlefield in the form of new moves or new units, you can use technology to improve the economy or the enlightenment of your people. This adds new complexity to the game and allowing different styles of play to be used.    … Expand
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 »