Empire: Total War
I’m always a sucker for strategy games and the Total War series is one of the more in depth ones that I enjoy. Though I have only really played Rome: Total War, I am very excited to get my hands on Empire: Total War because the game looks down right beautiful. The game was in the pre-alpha state but it still looked magnificent. It takes place during the colonial times of the U.S.A. and the focus is on the Revolutionary War specifically. Players command a faction as they have done in previous games and play through a chunk of history to their own tune. But this time around, Empire has many new tricks up its sleeve.
First of all, I must put out there that I’ve never seen more realistic water in a game ever. The water is absolutely realistic and the rest of the game is equally beautiful. I don’t really know what kind of a video card this game is going to require but I’m sure it will be a higher end one because of the visuals and the level of combat that ensues. The good thing to know though is that the game is at least Direct X 9 compatible in case you haven’t upgraded to 10 yet.
One of the major staples of the game is the naval combat. Players control ships just as they would in any of the previous games but this time around there are other factors to consider such as wind speed and direction, as well as sea conditions that could affect the tides of the battle. Each ship has an individually animated crew from the deck to the cannon crew below. Also, the physics of every cannon ball fired is modeled to ensure that the experience is as realistic as possible. The possible destruction to ships is very realistic as well. If a cannonball hits the mast or any supports they may break. If gun powder is hit or the boat is attacked, it may catch on fire. If a ship is abandoned by the enemy or it is no longer able to move, you can board the ship to try and attain control of it. Overall, sea battles looked about as easy as normal battles, once you get used to it.
Other cool features included in the game are the tracking of every musket fired and the ricochet of cannonballs off of rocks. There should be 50+ factions in the game, all historically researched and the Campaign map was developed using NASA satellite imagery. Though the land portion of the game was not in the build, the developers showed us some pictures of land battles. One part of the game that should make it seem even more realistic is the addition of hand to hand struggles between two people combating. Rather than hack and slash at air, the people actually react to their enemies and appear to be in an epic struggle to survive.
Also, improvements on the gameplay include the ability to set taxation across all of your colonies and streamlined unit hiring where generals can request reinforcements which will be purchased and sent to his location (provided there are some to purchase in the town). Though the game is very early in the E3 build, it’s easy to see that Empire is going to be a deep, beautiful title.
