Empire: Total War (PC DVD)

Ok, so i've been a total war nut since Rome and have enjoyed every one since. However i was put off buying Empire because of all the dreadful reviews relating to Steam.I am no lover of Steam what so ever. I get the anti piracy part but i don't understand why you have to download the game first to install it... it's nuts.That said i finally decided to take the plunge as it was going for less than a fiver.I'm glad i did.Installation was easy enough. It did download and roughly took an hour or so to download, install and update. As i have no internet connection at home i took my laptop to my parents to do the installation. Fearful that it might not play once disconnected from the net i quickly tested to see if offline mode really worked... It did and has done ever since. That was 3 weeks ago.So installation was a bit of a faff but was not as bad as expected which was a bonus. So armed with that knowledge and a little patience the installtion shouldn't be too bad for you.The game itself then... so far I LOVE IT!! There is a rather annoying bug that randomly reloads the map in campaign view but i think that could be because i'm on Windows 8. That aside i think this is the most indepth TW yet, politics, trade the works and the battles are fantastic. i found myself skipping battles in Rome and Medieval 2 as i found them a bit reptative after a while but not Empire. Tactics IMO seem to play a bigger role and there is an element of using a ruse to trap the AI which i find fun. AND if thats not enough then you could always sink your teeth into the naval battles. I haven't mastered these yet but I love them all the same.My only gripe really is that there aren't many small nations to play. You seem to be offered the choice of playing only the superpowers of the time and other lesser but still great nations. i like to play as the underdog from time to time and take them to world domination but i can't here and that bugs. There are also NO unlockable nations, who you see is who you get; unless you mod of course.PS - for the cheaters out there - the console no longer exists no more 'process_cq' i'm afraid. (personally i find it better this way)So in a nutshell out of ten:History: 8.5Gameplay: 9.5Graphics: 8Battles: 9.5Sound: 8Replayability: 9Installation: 3Engrossment factor: 10Go on give it a go... if you have the patience to install it this game, it is very enjoyable and rewarding.**EDIT**So after playing this game for over 5 or so weeks now i thought I'd leave a little update.I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS GAME!!!I think it has come into a little unfair critism and feel this is a worthy addition to the TW family.I had to set my laptop back to Windows 7 after finding various crucial legacy programs wouldn't work on Windows 8 and was quite apprehensive about the reinstall of Empire. i have to say again it was no issue. I downloaded and installed the steam client and there was empire waiting to be downloaded and installed. (note: i didn't download it to reinstall, i followed the initial install process using the discs) it took some time but as i was prepared for it, it was no bother. I even downloaded the DLC for this game at the same time and it installed perfectly.I have not been able to put this game down - it is immersive and gives me that 'just one more turn feeling' that my wife hates.It is also worth noting that since going back to windows 7 i have experienced NO BUGS what so ever. its as smooth as a babies bum. Could be the DLC maybe but either way it works great.Any way I'm off to have tea (freshly imported from my indian colony) with William III, demand a re-election of my government, destroy the French (they started it) and then pick a fight with Prussia... all in an afternoons work, it's a hard life...-- Gaming is not just for Christmas, it's for Life --

SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT STEAM:First of all, if you have broadband internet and a pc which can run this game the steam client is in fact a big plus for the game. This comes with two install discs from which the game is installed, you do not have to download it! Once you entered the serial number the games installs in about 20 min depending on hardware speed, then you can start playing while the +1GB updates download in the background. After the download finishes it's applied automatically. I have a very fast internet so it only took a few minutes to download. The current release of steam works flawlessly and doesn't take up any resources on my pc while running apart from 72MB on ram memory ;) If the servers are down you can always play in offline and also you can easily play with friends, share accounts so they can download your games and you download theirs :p But anyway steam is great and you will surely appreciate it's benefits.THE GAME:At launch the games was very buggy and CTD's* were happening every couple of minutes, it was that bad for some users but now finally everything is patched and the game is very reliable, balanced and performs well on my Win7 Pro 64bit. I'm sorry that I won't write an essay about the game's gameplay but you can read a more professional review on gamespot/ign or even from the other reviews. The game is visually incredible, easy to learn yet sometimes very challenging while in battle, and is to my knowledge historically accurate. There is a wide variety of countries to choose from in the great/main campaign and each nation has it's distinguishable advantages as well as disadvantages ranging from a great specialised unit {e.g. the "dragons" cavalry units from Poland} to a difficult strategic position of the region{e.g. Poland again, located at epicentre of powerful nations such as the Russians, Prussians, Austrians etc.} As you might have guessed I'm playing the campaign with Poland and so far I'm having great fun conquering eastern Europe and opening trading routes with Asia and the America.The american conquest campaign is also decent but sometimes too scripted and doesn't give much room for the impact of your economical and strategic decisions, in my opinion.In conclusion if you're a strategic troll or a complete noob I'm quite sure you'll find yourself satisfied with this game because I am somewhere in between those two groups and I absolutely love this game.*CTD = Crash To Desktop - for those who haven't came across this term before ;)My brief system specs (I run this game completely maxed out)i5 3450ASRock Z75 PRO 3 moboASUS Direct CU HD6870 1GB GDDR5OCZ StealthXtreme 2 600W PSU1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12

It is a very fun game to play on, with a large campaign map to conquer and several major factions to play as, including Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire. The good thing about moving troops and ships around is that you don't have to watch them move to their destination, meaning you can move two troops at a time. The towns are different from previous games and you have to do a lot of researcha and development to build new buildings and get more militry power.The battles themselves have a lot of detail, especially the sea battles. The sea looks real and the ships look beautiful. The town detail is impressive and the troops climbing over fences gives it that little bit extra. The only downside is that the camera is a bit jumpy, but you'll probably son get used to it.It did take a couple of hours to download because if Steam but overall, I would recommend it for those people who are waiting for Rome Total War II to come out and have some time to fill in.

Its like MARMITE on toast you either like it or you wonder what all the fuss were about. Personally my husbands only gripe with the game is the mill pond for seas and oceans. The battle scenes land and sea , he found it addictive, although I agree its not to everyones taste. Its not just point click move your forces to battle. You need to invent new weapons, technology, farming , look after your civillians, Military personel and weapons cost money and can be your downfall with too many. How much should you tax your population .What Government will you have. Have Fun .For the price offered £4.50 approx , just superb. The game was bought for my husband and he is well pleased. You can well imagine in its day it would have heen a top top miltary strategists game.