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
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  1. lefevrel
    Jun 22, 2009
    9
    At the beginning i couldn't play because it had a lot of bugs and always crashed with my computer which is powerful enough to un it at very high. after patch 2 i manage to play and Whow!!! the best strategy game i've ever played until now.
  2. AdamW
    Jun 22, 2009
    8
    Very good game but not with out its bugs, most of them have been fixed in patches and post release patches have been good including new units added to the game.
  3. KevinR
    Jun 21, 2009
    10
    I think that this is a modern classic of gaming. I do not agree with all of the people that say it requires much tweaking. Yes some tweaking would be nice but as a basic game it did everything that it said it would do and could do. Naval Battles:Check Land Battles:Check Historical Accuracy: Check Graphics:Check I have never spent a better $50 in my life. Another great Total War game. I think that this is a modern classic of gaming. I do not agree with all of the people that say it requires much tweaking. Yes some tweaking would be nice but as a basic game it did everything that it said it would do and could do. Naval Battles:Check Land Battles:Check Historical Accuracy: Check Graphics:Check I have never spent a better $50 in my life. Another great Total War game. 10/10 all of the way.… Expand
  4. jeffp
    Jun 21, 2009
    0
    Wow....this is a sad sad attempt at making a cheap buck. I'd rather play pong nonstop for a week than play the campaign of this game...its so repetitive...or it at least feels that way cause im playing the same mission over and over cause it wont stop freaking crashing! I mean WTF?
  5. EmilTorkelsson
    Jun 21, 2009
    9
    This game is good and I mean really good.... But then there is the Sound. Apparently my sound stutters when ever I view a cinematic in the game... This is yet to be fixed but with the latest patch to be released soon I have great hopes that this problem will disappear. But other than that this is a milestone in gaming and i hope that a expansion pack is released soon. Then I can finally This game is good and I mean really good.... But then there is the Sound. Apparently my sound stutters when ever I view a cinematic in the game... This is yet to be fixed but with the latest patch to be released soon I have great hopes that this problem will disappear. But other than that this is a milestone in gaming and i hope that a expansion pack is released soon. Then I can finally take my Swedish Empire to even greater heights and glory.… Expand
  6. 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
  7. HenryB
    Jun 21, 2009
    5
    In short, this game just isn't ready for prime time. I've tried playing this game for over a week now, and it is just infuriating how many show-stopper bugs crop up. This isn't just about crashes to desktop (I've actually not experienced any). My problems have all been around the campaign running along for several hours, only to encounter a bug that wipes out all of In short, this game just isn't ready for prime time. I've tried playing this game for over a week now, and it is just infuriating how many show-stopper bugs crop up. This isn't just about crashes to desktop (I've actually not experienced any). My problems have all been around the campaign running along for several hours, only to encounter a bug that wipes out all of your work. - Ships trying to blockade your port end up on land, so you cannot attack them and break the siege. (Your economy is now ruined, and you must start over). - Your key artillery pieces are enormously stupid. I can understand if they accidentally shoot other units. But if targets move sufficiently off to the side, the cannons will line up in a single file and shoot through each other. That is silly. And can turn a key battle from sure victory to a close defeat. - Units on the campaign map will just disappear when moving between fleets and land, making rush reinforcements of areas risky. - The AI in battles and campaign is just horrible. - The trade Routes system (IMHO) is botched in its design. When you create a trade route from (say) the east indies to Europe, it goes through 4 or 5 different maps. In any one of these maps, a pirate can attack the route and severely disrupt your income. The interface doesn't allow any practices that were used to avoid this problem in reality- convoys, seasonal shipping, etc. - Agents just don't work well. You can't make them and they just die randomly (either through assassination or old age) leaving you without a key person. I love the Total War series. However, this game shows so many gameplay bugs (again, not just crashes to desktop) that you will find yourself absolutely infuriated when you must abandon a campaign after hours of work. There is no excuse for such horrible quality. I am actually shocked how favorably all the Critics reviewed this game. No other game in my memory has gotten such rave reviews by the critics only to be panned by the public due to bugs. How did CA manage this? Were the reviewers not reading closely? I've seen a lot of criticism of negative reviewers on this board and elsewhere. People say things like "its just a minority of users with problems complaining. The vast majority of people have no problems." This just isn't true. Right now, the user reviews of MetaCritic put this game at 6.8. And CA's forums are near revolt. Empire isn't the worst game ever- indeed its promise is what annoys me so much. But it has to be one of the biggest DISAPPOINTMENTS in my long (20+ yrs) gaming career.… Expand
  8. JuergenK
    Jun 20, 2009
    2
    To much crash downs. It's a problem of the game. My PC is high performed - no problems with the requirements.
  9. ChongL
    Jun 20, 2009
    4
    Game is unplayable at later stage. Your navy becomes useless since tring to use them will crash the game.
  10. PaulU
    Jun 19, 2009
    9
    Really good game, and those saying steam is so horrible are wrong. I myself love steam, its very convenient. Anyway, the game itself is great. The graphics are good, the AI is pretty good as well. I like how each individual unit fights, they aren't all clones doing the same thing. I do not have any bugs, but maybe that's just me.
  11. ChrisR
    Jun 18, 2009
    10
    1st of all do not listen to those who have whined and whined constantly about bugs, its only been out a few months and every single bug I had on release seems to have been fixed, this game is now honestly the greatest strategy game I have ever played, (and I've played a lot, trust me ;) ) It really does deserve all those high scores it got from the media. I hear a lot of people 1st of all do not listen to those who have whined and whined constantly about bugs, its only been out a few months and every single bug I had on release seems to have been fixed, this game is now honestly the greatest strategy game I have ever played, (and I've played a lot, trust me ;) ) It really does deserve all those high scores it got from the media. I hear a lot of people complaining about the AI in this game and I really, honestly think they're just doing it because CA have had a few bad AIs in the past (lets face it rome total war's AI did suck pretty badly, and Medievals wasn't much better) but really, the AI in this game has been improved so, so much from the last game; the battle AI makes some smart moves and it can actually prove a challenge now, it flanks properly, uses buildings chooses the units it attacks wisely etc, and the campaign AI is a perfect balance between aggressive and passive; it forms and actually holds alliances really well this time, anyway before I start to drone on, I just think people are too harsh on this game - it really is fantastic!… Expand
  12. berty
    Jun 18, 2009
    6
    So i haven't got the best PC in the world 3GBram 3GBpro, downloaded the updates and still crashers ! changed the graphics still crashers ! great game but cant handle the crashing all the time its SO annoying. If ya get pissed off really quick DO not buy this game.
  13. SerraS
    Jun 18, 2009
    7
    Totally agree with the above. The game is beautiful but older computers will have LESS problems....SLI is not supported by this game, so any modern powerful rigs will have to disable SLI or go back to old nvidia drivers. The strategy part of the game has moved on leaps and bounds and is much better on nearly every level. However..the battle maps, gorgeous they might be, are home to pretty Totally agree with the above. The game is beautiful but older computers will have LESS problems....SLI is not supported by this game, so any modern powerful rigs will have to disable SLI or go back to old nvidia drivers. The strategy part of the game has moved on leaps and bounds and is much better on nearly every level. However..the battle maps, gorgeous they might be, are home to pretty boring battles. Cavalary are the most interesting units now as they at least FIGHT one another. blokes stood shooting at one another just doesnt cut it. Compare this with the joy of unleashing a plethora of arrows at the enemy from a hill and hearing that satisfying noise as they dig in.........Medieval Total War is a much better play....and still looks nearly as good. Empire Total War ? Naa....This is Empire War....nothing total about it.… Expand
  14. JezL
    Jun 18, 2009
    1
    Anyone that has rated ETW "great" deserves to be retarded. The AI is dumber than ever; your own men make your own generals cannon fodder while the enemy tends to do dumb things as well; send their own generals to the front line in a suicidal charge or never invade you by sea. The pathfinding is horrible; your ships tangle into each other no matter what formation you give them. The same Anyone that has rated ETW "great" deserves to be retarded. The AI is dumber than ever; your own men make your own generals cannon fodder while the enemy tends to do dumb things as well; send their own generals to the front line in a suicidal charge or never invade you by sea. The pathfinding is horrible; your ships tangle into each other no matter what formation you give them. The same applies with your own land troops; they will just stand there to be shot at if no orders are given instead of defending themselves by turning their attention on the closest enemy. All in all, a game that fails blatantly short like previous titles from the TW series. To do some justice. the only obvious effort given to this latest installment is the graphics and very minor adjustments. CA team is not the original team and it shows. A pity.… Expand
  15. MichaelBraly
    Jun 18, 2009
    5
    Initially enjoyed the game as a step forward as I figured out the system and it's differences from Medieval 2: Total War. Then I realized that there's no reasonable AI to speak of at the strategic level. Combined with somewhat obtuse documentation and a development team which seems focused on providing shinies instead of gameplay improvement (in fact, strategic gameplay almostInitially enjoyed the game as a step forward as I figured out the system and it's differences from Medieval 2: Total War. Then I realized that there's no reasonable AI to speak of at the strategic level. Combined with somewhat obtuse documentation and a development team which seems focused on providing shinies instead of gameplay improvement (in fact, strategic gameplay almost feels like a step back from previous titles), I'm comfortable placing this at 5. Great for the graphics and the boom of guns, but horrible if you're looking for an interesting and engaging game that will suck all of your time.… Expand
  16. StephenL.
    Jun 16, 2009
    8
    In the Total War line up this is the best so far anyone who complains that there pc crashes should spend money and get a real pc the AI is the only thing i think sucks they are stupid and to easy to destroy with little effort the naval battles are an awesome addition to Total War with updates im sure the bugs will get worked out but i have yet to have the game crash the graphics in the In the Total War line up this is the best so far anyone who complains that there pc crashes should spend money and get a real pc the AI is the only thing i think sucks they are stupid and to easy to destroy with little effort the naval battles are an awesome addition to Total War with updates im sure the bugs will get worked out but i have yet to have the game crash the graphics in the game look friggin awesome with SLI and i cant wait to see whats next in the line-up for Total War.… Expand
  17. MarcusG
    Jun 16, 2009
    5
    I love the disclaimer and will have to visit again just to see what happens to my comment, "Coments will be reviewed and may be edited prior to postin.: With the exception of vulgarity, why would a comment need editing? Does that not undermine the basic credibility as well as point of user comments? LOL. Perhaps someone should have edited all the poor grammar and mispellings. At any rate, I love the disclaimer and will have to visit again just to see what happens to my comment, "Coments will be reviewed and may be edited prior to postin.: With the exception of vulgarity, why would a comment need editing? Does that not undermine the basic credibility as well as point of user comments? LOL. Perhaps someone should have edited all the poor grammar and mispellings. At any rate, I have played Creative Assembly games from Shogun to the present Empire. I have enjoyed Shogun more than any other title, however, I do have a penchant for Samurai. Until an update on June 16, 2009, my Empire wokred well. Alas, now it crashes whenever I attempt to initiate a game from the main/in -game menu. No this game is not perfect and having to use Steam is...not ideal. This is the way of the world and ALL developers should consider how customers can be alienated away from their franchise by this practice. We are paying and may not wish to use steam, gamespy, Xfire... Afterall, only the developers are benefiting from this practice and at 50 bucks for this title... Enough said. When Empire works, it is a BLAST. Sometimes it is a bit slow...the campaign map movement takes time and SHOULD take time as armies march across the land. As for the naval battles, well...I do enjoy them despite seeing certain shortcomings. These shortcomings certainly reflext the communication barriers of that time. Deal with that as there were no iPhones/Sidekicks/Rants onboard naval ships of that time, so I think the challenge of naval battles lends a great amount of realism. I won't post my system specs here as they far exceed what is recommended minimum, though not a Core i7 system. I won't be upgrading to that for awhile and it is unfortunate developers would design for such high end systems while also not disclosing that little fact on the product packaging. At any rate, like US, this game is not perfect, but fun and has some interesting features. I cannot rate it as high as I would like and if this entire review was read, it should be apparent why. Is it worth $50? Not in my opinion, however it is a worthwhile addition to the library. I just hope the patches and improvements continue and allow this game to do more than gather dust in my library.… Expand
  18. RandyH
    Jun 14, 2009
    9
    Firstly the game requires very specific, and ambiguous computer setups to operate. I lucked out and one of my computers was able to run it (the rest matched the on box requirements, but for some reason it didn't run) and so my laptop runs it - amazingly. The graphics, firstly, are amazing. The region system, if you have ever played the Civilization series or previous TW games, the Firstly the game requires very specific, and ambiguous computer setups to operate. I lucked out and one of my computers was able to run it (the rest matched the on box requirements, but for some reason it didn't run) and so my laptop runs it - amazingly. The graphics, firstly, are amazing. The region system, if you have ever played the Civilization series or previous TW games, the regions are always a city, build in the city, and hope it works. This has a much more realistic, if not perfect, region system. The battle graphics are amazing as always, the naval battles= 10.9 on my scale for this game since that makes this really three games in one- campaign, land, and sea battles are usually independant focuses of other games without the other two. Civ 3, Command and Conquer, Hunting Red October are the examples of games that focus on one of the three, but do not exemplify the other two. That is why this game should be the highest rated and I give it a 9 because there are bugs (I have hit one, and only one, in three weeks of gameplay) and so nothing is ever perfect - so a 9 will suffice. 9.8 to be specific.… Expand
  19. KyleK
    Jun 13, 2009
    9
    Hands down, the Total War series is the best RTS series ever. Combines all the strategy and planning from turn-based games in the campaign mode to RTS action in the land and naval battles. Empire:Total War, in my opinion could use a little more achievement feeling like unlocking new playable factions after you beat them, as in the previous titles.
  20. PaulR
    Jun 13, 2009
    9
    A really really good game, it's my first TW but I'd say it's the best strategy game I ever played, including EU, Civ, and various RTS games. Tough the game could use a little more debugging and stability, it hurts not too much.
  21. 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 ?
  22. Joeyf
    Jun 12, 2009
    5
    I'm so dissipointed in this game. it's a lot of fun to play except for the bugs. There is a random audio bug that cuts short whatever the advisers tell you and sometimes shuts off the audio altogether. Even worse though is a bug that stops the game from giving you more objectives after chapte 2 of the Road to Independance campaign unless you do everything in a super specific I'm so dissipointed in this game. it's a lot of fun to play except for the bugs. There is a random audio bug that cuts short whatever the advisers tell you and sometimes shuts off the audio altogether. Even worse though is a bug that stops the game from giving you more objectives after chapte 2 of the Road to Independance campaign unless you do everything in a super specific order. if that was the only big bug i would go back and play through that chapter a 3rd time following the steps in the online forums but it sounds like that kind of radom crap happens a lot in this game. i don't have enough game time to start playing stuff that crashes out like that. i'm chucking this peice of junk. Shame on you SEGA!!!… Expand
  23. RyanL
    Jun 11, 2009
    0
    Lack of support is devastating this game. The game crashes and has ridiculous bugs and gameplay flaws, yet the developers keep feeding the ignorant masses like new units (which do the same thing as old units but just have a shiny new name or uniform). It's garbage!
  24. Tom
    Jun 10, 2009
    9
    This is another brilliant release in the TW series the only fault is the slowness of the loading and that is considerabaly small down fall when taking the rest of the games features into account
    This game keeps getting more efficient everytime it is updated by steam.
    And if your particular probelm hasnt been solved in a few months then you might have a reason to complain
  25. JamesG
    Jun 10, 2009
    5
    Im a huge total war fan, but i feel let down by this rushed and incomplete game. It has so many bugs, and the AI is even worse that before, even after a patch. I think after a few more months of work this game will be upto the standards of the other total wars, but for now this game just gets a 5 from me. I feel sega may have got CA to rush the game for release, it so needed a few more months.
  26. RichardB
    Jun 9, 2009
    6
    Crash, play for 20 mins, crash, play for 20 mins and then another crash. Another game that was rushed out the door before it was ready. Would really love to play a game that was stable on release, any game! Apart from all that the game is great - well you can imagine it being great when they getting it stable!
  27. TomH
    Jun 9, 2009
    0
    Until now. Big problems just to install the game. Stem connection lost. Install interrupted. Starting the game. Not available. I Have pay'd for a finish product. To get a steam connection...Why steam connection ? I want to play of fline.
  28. PedroR
    Jun 8, 2009
    7
    Pretty awesome game, the improvement in the government feature of the game makes the game more interesting than the previous games. The sea battles are pretty cool too. But I must give an 7 because of bad AI and path-finder. It also takes a lot of graphical memory (which I don't think it needs to): I prefer a game with not-some-much graphics but playable than a fancy "look at the Pretty awesome game, the improvement in the government feature of the game makes the game more interesting than the previous games. The sea battles are pretty cool too. But I must give an 7 because of bad AI and path-finder. It also takes a lot of graphical memory (which I don't think it needs to): I prefer a game with not-some-much graphics but playable than a fancy "look at the shiny things" that you would need a expensive PC to play.… Expand
  29. Kristian
    Jun 8, 2009
    5
    For me this game recieves a solid 5. The graphics are good, the gameplay itself is good, though difficult for someone with no gaming skill like myself. Enjoyable, but riddled with bugs and set up issues that have really knocked the rating down for this one.
  30. AymericPROFFIT
    Jun 8, 2009
    8
    Un très bon jeu sur le plan immersion. Les commandes sont intuitives comme ces prédécesseurs et certaines améliorations de l'IA sont intéressantes comme une utilisation plus judicieuse de la cavalerie et la mise en place de stratégies réactives a vos propres actes. Les nouveautés comme les batailles navales jouables, lesUn très bon jeu sur le plan immersion. Les commandes sont intuitives comme ces prédécesseurs et certaines améliorations de l'IA sont intéressantes comme une utilisation plus judicieuse de la cavalerie et la mise en place de stratégies réactives a vos propres actes. Les nouveautés comme les batailles navales jouables, les technologies à rechercher, le nouveau système de diplomatie et autre, d'abord déconcertant pour un habitué des total war, se révèlent au final un moteur pour la recherche de toutes les possibilités de jeu existantes (du moins, pour ma part). Mais, car il y a toujours un mais, de trop nombreux bugs dans les batailles et certaines incohérences diplomatiques toujours présentes comme sur les autres total war ternissent ce si bon jeu.… Expand
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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
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