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. AnonymousMC
    Mar 12, 2009
    0
    This game was obviously rushed to release and not thoroughly playtested. The fact that it shipped with a trade port bug, where you could not use trade ports while playing as certain factions, confirms the shoddy playtesting. They've fixed this particular problem, true, but it still is a smoking gun that signals time was not spent actually playing each faction to see if the gameThis game was obviously rushed to release and not thoroughly playtested. The fact that it shipped with a trade port bug, where you could not use trade ports while playing as certain factions, confirms the shoddy playtesting. They've fixed this particular problem, true, but it still is a smoking gun that signals time was not spent actually playing each faction to see if the game worked. There are many other bugs which remain to be fixed.

    I wish I could give a higher score, as it does have the promise to be an addictive game. However, seeing as it is not complete or working, it can only get a zero for now.

    Buy this immediately if you enjoy gambling. There's a great chance it will not work out well for you for quite some time.

    Otherwise, wait a few months for them to actually finish it.    … Expand
  2. AaronS
    Mar 12, 2009
    10
    The game is a phenomenal addition to the TW series. Definitely a choppy launch with a lot of memory leaks and bugs, but when you consider the epic scale of the game and the plethora of new features it's far beyond a fair trade. Unlike Medieval TW, this game doesn't have a bunch of pointless features and boring objectives. The battles are epic and the graphics are breathtaking. The game is a phenomenal addition to the TW series. Definitely a choppy launch with a lot of memory leaks and bugs, but when you consider the epic scale of the game and the plethora of new features it's far beyond a fair trade. Unlike Medieval TW, this game doesn't have a bunch of pointless features and boring objectives. The battles are epic and the graphics are breathtaking. Just finished my first campaign and it grows on me a little more every time I play.… Expand
  3. ML
    Mar 13, 2009
    8
    This is an amising game, but i expected more of it. I find he turns to be short, despite the large campain map. Naval battles get very chaotic very fast. Some people complain the AI will never transport troups over seas. I have founs this to be false as i was i got attacked by the french while playing the brittish. The AI pathfinding might seem terrible, but when u think about it, u see This is an amising game, but i expected more of it. I find he turns to be short, despite the large campain map. Naval battles get very chaotic very fast. Some people complain the AI will never transport troups over seas. I have founs this to be false as i was i got attacked by the french while playing the brittish. The AI pathfinding might seem terrible, but when u think about it, u see wat their trying to acomplish, wich is not much and could still use alot of improvements. The techtree, land battles in general the addition of sea battles and small towns are great. I have seen very litle bugs and crashes.The historaical acuracy could be beter. I find M2TW and Rome to be more "user friendly"(in lack of beter words). I realy liked the family tree in rome and medieval, wich has been remooved. I hope in the first expantion pact they will fix most of these problems and include the erly XIXth century and a seperate campain simular to the road to independance, but based on the napoleonic war.… Expand
  4. JohnM
    Mar 13, 2009
    5
    a big disappointment. I don't understand how critic reviews can be so high when the game is so strewn with bugs. Charitably this is a beta level release (loss of sound in battles, crashes to the desktop, corrupted save games), but there are critical AI level problems as well. Units which don't fire...units which don't die..naval battles look cool initially but then you get a big disappointment. I don't understand how critic reviews can be so high when the game is so strewn with bugs. Charitably this is a beta level release (loss of sound in battles, crashes to the desktop, corrupted save games), but there are critical AI level problems as well. Units which don't fire...units which don't die..naval battles look cool initially but then you get bogged down in micromanagement. In short -- released with a criminal amount of bugs and lacking in strategic depth.… Expand
  5. JoonaH
    Mar 14, 2009
    10
    First off, I was very critic about the gunpowder age since the gunpowder weapons werent very special in earlier games, but the game suprised me very much with its excelency! The naval fights are great too! I always wanted to have naval fights and now I got it! Only thing bad I have to say about the naval fights is that they are always on the open seas and the lack of islands, reefs and First off, I was very critic about the gunpowder age since the gunpowder weapons werent very special in earlier games, but the game suprised me very much with its excelency! The naval fights are great too! I always wanted to have naval fights and now I got it! Only thing bad I have to say about the naval fights is that they are always on the open seas and the lack of islands, reefs and coastline. Otherwise, an excelent Total War game. PS. I'm a huge Total War fan :P… Expand
  6. ISocratatus
    Mar 14, 2009
    6
    A potentially great game, but misses because it`s UNFINISHED. The units, the fighting, even the AI is better, but once you`ve played for a few turns you realise that the CampaignAI NEVER attacks you. Ok, I`ll be more specific. Indians of the Americas may actually attack you (I had one case), but Europeans NEVER do. I play as Britain. I declare war on them, they declare war on me then.. A potentially great game, but misses because it`s UNFINISHED. The units, the fighting, even the AI is better, but once you`ve played for a few turns you realise that the CampaignAI NEVER attacks you. Ok, I`ll be more specific. Indians of the Americas may actually attack you (I had one case), but Europeans NEVER do. I play as Britain. I declare war on them, they declare war on me then.. nothing. I`ve even left my towns with a skeleton army while France builds hundreds of troops, yet in 20-30 turns they simply do not take the intiative. Now if you take their lands they`ll fight to take it back. If they get their land, they stop. They won`t go further and attack your original territory. I don`t get why they have made the AI like this, surely, testing should have revealed this. Interestingly this happened in RTW and MTW2 until patched about 3 months later. Their are two possible reasons: 1.CA are stupid and just can`t get it right first time or.. 2. they make the Campaign AI Passive on purpose to make new players feel like their getting somewhere. I think the latter, so when they Patch it in 3 months so the European AI actually attacks it will be worth 810. Of course, graphics are nice battles are nice and there`s quite a bit of depth, but it`s useless if the enemy AI NEVER takes the INITIATIVE. It`s no strategy at all. Why only 8? Well because of Steam. Without Steam and the need to Activate online it would`ve gotten 9.5 And that`s a fact.… Expand
  7. MarcoT
    Mar 16, 2009
    1
    It's not enough that this game isn't much more than a beta (some would even go as far as rating it as an alpha), no, what puts insult next to injury is that the publisher adopted Steam for this release - a system technologically as reliable as a badly maintained 70s mainframe, hungry to gather all the data on you it can and effectively prohibiting you from ever reselling the It's not enough that this game isn't much more than a beta (some would even go as far as rating it as an alpha), no, what puts insult next to injury is that the publisher adopted Steam for this release - a system technologically as reliable as a badly maintained 70s mainframe, hungry to gather all the data on you it can and effectively prohibiting you from ever reselling the game. Which in my opinion is the number 1 reason why Sega adopted Steam: It's not the pirates they are after, but killing off the second hand gaming market, which most publishers these days see as a much bigger or at least as big threat to their revenues. Sorry Sega and CA. If you keep up with these politics then I bought the last of your games.… Expand
  8. RussD
    Mar 16, 2009
    2
    This game is so buggy. Even after the 3/10/09 fixes mine still crashed in later years on the grand board. The in battle graphics works (on high) pretty well but has some minor quirks Command not graphics). The (what I call ) the play board or grand board is where the big bugs sit. Not only crashing (a lot in out years) but, withdrawing soldiers to places where I can move them to other This game is so buggy. Even after the 3/10/09 fixes mine still crashed in later years on the grand board. The in battle graphics works (on high) pretty well but has some minor quirks Command not graphics). The (what I call ) the play board or grand board is where the big bugs sit. Not only crashing (a lot in out years) but, withdrawing soldiers to places where I can move them to other land space or move them onto ships. This was a good one. I had a fleet which left off on army and then 2 turns later I tried to move the fleet and it would not let me. It claims that the water I am trying send them to is land. I don't think the Atlantic Ocean is land. I pray evertime after 30+ years in that it does not crash when I make moves on the grand board. I am running Phenom AM3 with 4 meg DDR2 (2 megs a chip) and a 6800 GeForce Video card. I have played and liked the previous Total War but this was a major disapointment. You needed more beta testing. As shown by how soon you had to put a patch out. Maybe you are working off the Microsoft mentality. It doesn't have to work out of the box, we can patch it. The people who wrote the articles didn't play this game for 20hrs through a campain or they would have seen the issues. Send it back. They can do better.… Expand
  9. EricD.
    Mar 18, 2009
    3
    Like many others said this game had the potential to blow the competetion out of the water, but with the addition of steam and the unprecedented number of bugs its just another dissapointment, oh and to all the dumb people that hail steam i just spent 15 months in iraq with no internet connection i cant express the level of anger i had when i couldnt play even once a week with missions, Like many others said this game had the potential to blow the competetion out of the water, but with the addition of steam and the unprecedented number of bugs its just another dissapointment, oh and to all the dumb people that hail steam i just spent 15 months in iraq with no internet connection i cant express the level of anger i had when i couldnt play even once a week with missions, because you had to use steam that is rediculas, if they want to use steam to patch cool and even sell downloadable copies more power to them but to force me to get on steam to play a game i have a hard copy of is too much, as for the game i love it when it will work which isnt much if more patches dont come out and soon this will be the last ca sega game i and many friends ever buy.… Expand
  10. JesusZ.
    Mar 19, 2009
    9
    Excellent awesome game... a pity that lots of common bugs make the game unplayable at this date. I'm awaiting the necesary patches urgently in order to play without continuously crash to desktops and autodestructible savegames. Anyway, when CA launches the patch(es) that will correct all this things, this will be an epic game!
  11. 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
  12. MickN
    Mar 21, 2009
    5
    Some interesting ideas on how to make the strategic portion of the game more varied and interesting, but it's all for nought as the AI suffers from fatal flaws. One hopes it will be fixed in future patches, but CA's track record when it comes to programming a competent AI is poor at best. The game was simply not ready for release yet they shoved it out the door anyway. It's Some interesting ideas on how to make the strategic portion of the game more varied and interesting, but it's all for nought as the AI suffers from fatal flaws. One hopes it will be fixed in future patches, but CA's track record when it comes to programming a competent AI is poor at best. The game was simply not ready for release yet they shoved it out the door anyway. It's sad that once again, we must rely on the works of 3rd party modders to do the work that CA should've done in the first place. One glaring example of the broken AI is the fact that the AI is incapable of landing troops on a foreign shore. This means, should you play as Great Britain, you needn't spend any resources on defence as no enemy will ever set foot on your island. While is flaw makes losing pretty much an impossibility when playing as Great Britain, it also pretty much invalidates the entire N. American and Indian sub-theatres no matter which nation you're playing. They simply become wars of attrition as no European power not in possession of a base in either theatre at the start of the game will ever gain one and therefore will never present any threat to your ambitions. Avoid the game for now.… Expand
  13. MarkusS.
    Mar 23, 2009
    9
    Greatest Game ever!!!! outstanding graphics and good tutorial. The batles are lots of fun and the campaign really keeps you on the game!!! Only kritik I have is that the first Patch keeps crashing the game...hope 2nd patch will solve this problem! 9/10 points.
  14. 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
  15. Felixilef
    Mar 23, 2009
    6
    This is the best of the Total War Series, easily the most fun to play. But it does require some extensive patching. Certain behind the scene aspects of the game seem primitive or unfinished. The AI is very rudimentary, no advance on previous total war AIs. It is quite obvious that the AI is Dumb and unresponsive. Path finding of the units also needs a lot of work, especially during sieges This is the best of the Total War Series, easily the most fun to play. But it does require some extensive patching. Certain behind the scene aspects of the game seem primitive or unfinished. The AI is very rudimentary, no advance on previous total war AIs. It is quite obvious that the AI is Dumb and unresponsive. Path finding of the units also needs a lot of work, especially during sieges and around rocks and things. So although the units look really good, they're doing a lot of stupid things. I'm looking forward to some game play patches, this game really really needs them. If you got the money, get this game and wait for the patches, there's excellent re-playability here. If you're strapped for cash, probably wait til the patches are released, it'll probably be cheaper then too.… Expand
  16. NickW
    Mar 24, 2009
    8
    A fairly solid game that could use a little polish. Campaign AI is meak and the ship AI is even worse. Rakes, the assassination and spy unit, are quite weak and have a very low probability at succeeding in their task - making them quite unreliable. Sea battles are very hard to control, which is suprising considering that the land battles are so intuitive. I have to say, the focus on A fairly solid game that could use a little polish. Campaign AI is meak and the ship AI is even worse. Rakes, the assassination and spy unit, are quite weak and have a very low probability at succeeding in their task - making them quite unreliable. Sea battles are very hard to control, which is suprising considering that the land battles are so intuitive. I have to say, the focus on Firearms makes this Total War far more exciting than previous titles and the tactics change accordingly. Melee still has its place however, which some of the most effective units belonging to this catagory.… Expand
  17. TysonW
    Mar 25, 2009
    9
    Great game, hours of fun. didn't know if i would like it cause it takes place in 1700. got it cheap for 40 dollars at best buy 1 week ago. it has its bugs but just got the new patch that came out today and hasn't crashed or glitched on me yet. i highly recomend you buy this game.
  18. BarryS
    Mar 26, 2009
    2
    wouldnt of minded if i had a poor computer but its 2 grands worth so for the first and hopefully last time im saying this game is so very poo,r at the moment i would even consider it to be some sort of breach of ethics or if it was a bank then conduct or something like that. putting out a product that could of been brilliant and will be but there are loads of brits on the team for christ wouldnt of minded if i had a poor computer but its 2 grands worth so for the first and hopefully last time im saying this game is so very poo,r at the moment i would even consider it to be some sort of breach of ethics or if it was a bank then conduct or something like that. putting out a product that could of been brilliant and will be but there are loads of brits on the team for christ sake. we are awesome at this stuff.… Expand
  19. NigelBl
    Mar 26, 2009
    0
    Very unstable game, very disappointing, bought nes system to run this game and the game crashes all the time despite the recent update, i have bought all the games in the series and this has been the worst for stability, ship battle is disappointing and game play same as last offering, Steam are rubbish and dont respond to problems.
  20. 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!
  21. 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.
  22. JimW
    Mar 27, 2009
    3
    This game is nothing more then a black-eye on the superb Total War franchise. In a nut-shell: 1) Runs poorly and slow even on high-end computers 2) The AI is Terrible 3) More bugs then most Alphas that I have played 4) Few words in the English language can adequately describe how bad STEAM sucks In conclusion, This game is a train wreck. No amount of last minute patching can save it This game is nothing more then a black-eye on the superb Total War franchise. In a nut-shell: 1) Runs poorly and slow even on high-end computers 2) The AI is Terrible 3) More bugs then most Alphas that I have played 4) Few words in the English language can adequately describe how bad STEAM sucks In conclusion, This game is a train wreck. No amount of last minute patching can save it because of STEAM.… Expand
  23. derikr
    Mar 27, 2009
    1
    I own all Total war games, adding to my library for years now, one by one.First and foremost, I purchased Empire, and for my money, was given Steam. Having to use Steam irritates me to no end. I cannot defrag my hard drive because of Steam. Ca has been gracious enough to respond to support questions in a timely fashion. however Steam, and Sega have not responded in a week. Now to the I own all Total war games, adding to my library for years now, one by one.First and foremost, I purchased Empire, and for my money, was given Steam. Having to use Steam irritates me to no end. I cannot defrag my hard drive because of Steam. Ca has been gracious enough to respond to support questions in a timely fashion. however Steam, and Sega have not responded in a week. Now to the game, At first it was so buggy, I couldnt run it. After fooloing around with the graphics settings, I finally got it to work, For me it runs pretty well. Again, only pretty well. The AI is dumb as a box of rocks, There are in my mind, too few playable factions, and most are so similar, why bother giving them a name, just call it me - vs - them, and pick a spot to start. I do like many aspects of the game, such as tech tree, diplomacy, easy income, However Steam is so bad, you will wish you spent your money on used clothes instead. Your files are locked away, and in some cases hidden. If you try to defrag your hard drive, you cant, If you delete the files causing the problem, you have to reload the game, which takes several hours. Auto saved games can become unplayable, resulting in CTD over and over again. I make this promise to Ca, and Sega. If I ever have to buy Steam, to get thier game, I will not buy it. I'm giving you my very best advice....dont do it. You will feel better giving your money to a paper shredder. For Steam, and poor AI, my review is a big fat 1.… Expand
  24. JohnE.
    Mar 27, 2009
    9
    I have played a few total war games now and this is far the best of the lot. Naval battles take it all to a new dimension. I found it easy to understand, the only problem is random crashing which is annoying especially when you have just taken over a major town.
  25. 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
  26. MattP
    Mar 31, 2009
    9
    I read that it crashes a lot but purchased it anyways a week ago. It probably has crashed 5 times and I have played it for 3-6 hours a day so I wouldnt worry about the crashes especially since they have released four patches since it came out. Love this game!
  27. ChrisR.
    Mar 31, 2009
    9
    While the game does have its glitches, and yes, it is laggy at times, the full scale of control that it gives you over every facet of economic and military institutions available in the 18th century makes it a spectacular game. Yes, the campaign map is a step down in graphics, but this is more than made up for by the in battle graphics and the ability to control towns, trade theaters, While the game does have its glitches, and yes, it is laggy at times, the full scale of control that it gives you over every facet of economic and military institutions available in the 18th century makes it a spectacular game. Yes, the campaign map is a step down in graphics, but this is more than made up for by the in battle graphics and the ability to control towns, trade theaters, colonies, and three zones of fighting that give the game a much larger presence than former Total War titles. In addition, the AI has been drastically increased and the addition of minor nations and the vast amount of territory in the maps give a large world to be ruled by diplomacy, trade, and war. The AI has also been made more aggressive, making the game more challenging, and, unlike previous Total War's, allowing the computer to attack you instead of you always having to go to the computer. While I'm a big fan of both Rome and Medieval II, Empire Total War definately tops them all.… Expand
  28. BrentG
    Mar 31, 2009
    6
    They worried too much about the visuals and left the game full of bugs, memory leaks and crashes. The number of patches in just the first few weeks says a great deal. I've been a big Total War series fan, but the problems with Empire make it difficult to enjoy.
  29. JacobB
    Mar 31, 2009
    3
    Looks to be a great game, though I would agree that Rome and Medieval 2 had a better "feel" right out of the box. However, the numerous issues and problems with this game, causing graphical errors and CTD's like no other game I have ever bought, give this game it's current low score. Fans of the Total War series hear me! Do not buy this game yet! They have many patches to go Looks to be a great game, though I would agree that Rome and Medieval 2 had a better "feel" right out of the box. However, the numerous issues and problems with this game, causing graphical errors and CTD's like no other game I have ever bought, give this game it's current low score. Fans of the Total War series hear me! Do not buy this game yet! They have many patches to go before it isn't sinking from hull damage!… Expand
  30. williamc
    Apr 17, 2009
    2
    To many crashes when playing long campaign games,especially if you're will far along in developing technology. Also a downer is if steam decides to update you while playing your game will crash. Way to many crash bugs for the money they're asking. Compare to other Total War games this is a joke cause of the crashes.
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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

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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]
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  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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