3.19.2009

First Impressions: Empire

After a week of skirmishing with randomly generated AI opponents, I'm giving up Dawn of War II. I know, after my spectacular losing streak, I left the game's ranked multiplayer arena with a bad name. But I don't really care because I can't go on and play this game any longer. Especially if a marvelous game like Empire: Total War is installed in my PC.

American Militiamen defending against the Iroquois skirmishers.

True to the Total War franchise, Empire is a very sublime historical game. Even more so now because, with the game set in the 18th century, the world map is larger than the previous games -due to the inclusion of the Americas. As for its complex battle system, it still plays out the same as before. Except that the use of gunpowder and cannon fire brings the experience to a new level. The only new feature in this series is the addition of naval battle. I actually find naval battles boring. Unlike Sid Meier's Pirates, naval battles in Empire is just way too slow.

Overall, Empire: Total War is a pretty enjoyable game. It's not as engaging like Dawn of War II or as addictive as Civilization IV. But I'm definitely going to lose some sleep over it.

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2 comments:

Level Up said...

You know, I never got into the Total War series. I have Medeival II but at the time my computer couldn't run it. Too much time passed and I never got around to it. Empire looks amazing though, so not too much has changed? I love the Civ series so I have high hopes for this one when I get around to it.

Skron said...

A lot of people have a hard time running this game too. I even have to lower my graphic settings to make it less choppy. Also, it's been plagued with some show stopping bugs. But other than that, the game is awesome in its enormity.