Empire: Total War | 
| From: Sega of America
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $33.94
as of 11/22/2009 21:07 CST details
You Save: $6.05 (15%)
New (18) Used (14) from $25.60
Seller: gamecityonline1
Rating:  240 reviews
Sales Rank: 962
Format: CD-ROM
Platforms: Windows XP, Windows Vista
Genre: fighting_action_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 85229
Model: 85229
UPC: 010086852295
EAN: 0010086852295
ASIN: B0018YXM3Y
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | New Real-time 3D Naval Warfare. Players control single ships or vast fleets with fully destructible sails as well as cannon and musket action, boarding raids and more. This is the complete naval combat experience. | | • | All-new Game Engine. With a newly created Windows XP-compatible DirectX 9 graphics engine, players will experience real-time seascapes, dynamic weather and a new advanced landscape and flora system. | | • | Episodic Campaign. Improves accessibility to the game by gradually introducing advanced features over time. | | • | Massive Scope. Over 30 in-game factions encompass all of the World's major powers including the United States of America.and dodge pursuers using the stylus. | | • | Brand New Multiplayer Modes. Players vie for a place at the top of the rankings and join leagues and ladders for even more gameplay challenges. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Strategic action game play has never been so realistic and challenging. Enter the age of Imperialism as empires expand around the globe extending their sphere of influence to distant shores.
Empire: Total War introduces a host of revolutionary new features, including true 3D naval combat. For the first time in the Total War series, you will be able to intuitively command single ships or vast fleets upon seascapes rich with extraordinary water and weather effects that play a huge role in your eventual glorious success or ignominious defeat. After pummeling your enemy with cannon fire, close in to grapple their ship and prepare to board, taking control of your men as they fight hand-to-hand on the decks of these wooden behemoths. In addition, Empire: Total War will see further enhancements to the Total War series' signature 3D battles and turn-based campaign map. Real-time battles will pose new challenges with the addition of cannon and musket, challenging players to master new formations and tactics as a result of the increasing role of gunpowder within warfare. And the Campaign Map for many, the heart of Total War introduces a variety of new and upgraded elements, including new systems for Trade, Diplomacy and Espionage with agents; a refined and streamlined UI; improved Advisors; and a vastly extended scope, taking in the riches of India, the turbulence of Europe and, for the first time, the untapped potential of the United States of America. All new graphics engine and technology features staggering real-time seascapes, new advanced landscape and flora systems, and dynamic weather.
Amazon.com Product Description
Call the shots in epic battles all over the world and expand your realm of influence throughout the tumultuous eighteenth century with Empire: Total War for your PC. Set against the bold intellectual landscape of the Enlightenment, this extension of the Total War franchise brings you out of the middle ages and into a realm where guns, gunpowder, and naval warfare have a dramatic influence on the face of combat. 
Realistic landscapes and weather add drama to your campaigns. View larger. | 
Dynamic, 3D naval warfare expands the combat zone. View larger. |  | 
For the first time, North America is open as a field of battle. View larger. | 
Ships boast destructible sails. View larger. |
Historic Factions, Expanded Horizons, and an Updated Campaign Map
Total War's detailed, turn-based battle system has received some serious upgrades that will have an impact on both seasoned commanders and newly minted combatants. The UI has been streamlined, and the systems for handling trade and diplomacy have been updated. You have improved advisors at your disposal, and realistic espionage techniques can be carried out using agents. Empire puts a variety of major political factions into your hands, including France, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, the United Provinces in northern Europe, Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia. Detailed strategic elements come into play, whether you're fighting in the heart of Europe, warding off Mamluk horsemen in the middle east, or working to capture the wealth of India. Beyond all this, for the first time in Total War history, the continent of North America is an open field of play that portrays the unique strategic problems encountered by the founding fathers during the revolutionary war. Dynamic 3D Naval Battles and Forces of Nature
Total War's signature 3D battle scenes are paired with a new graphics engine and improved technology, allowing war and conquest to take on an even more realistic feel. Advanced landscape and flora systems add both realism and depth to the world stage, while dynamic weather consistently threatens to throw a wrench in your attack plans. Whether you're coordinating platoon firing or supporting a defensive square formation, the musket and the cannon take center stage as newly developed implements of war. And they're not just for use on land. Real-time naval battle set on dramatic seascapes help shape the balance of power and determine the scope of your Empire, and they're rendered in the same impressive 3D as battles on land. You may find yourself directing a vast fleet through intricate maneuvers, controlling the helm of a single tall ship, or grappling to the enemy's boat and dictating the course of hand-to-hand combat on deck. New Multiplayer Action
Additional updates to the Total War model include a multiplayer component that provides player rankings for competitive commanders, leagues and ladders, and a selection of entirely new modes of game play.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 240
 A Good Game: The Reviews On This Site Are Ridiculous! November 19, 2009
Dallas de Veers (Connecticut, USA)
I would just like to point out how amazed I am with the unadulterated hatred, bias and utter ridiculousness that saturates the Amazon reviews of this game. Reviewers sully the name of Sega, CA, Steam and the Total War series simply because they are immature. I'm not surprised that Amazon lowered its price another $10, its probably not selling because of these stupid reviews. Because of the general sentiments on this site, I can't help but think the same people who are bringing down the ETW score on Amazon are the same people who brought down the User Score on Metacritic. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if many of them are users from the Total War Center... Their grievances are as follows and I will address them throughout my review: Steam distribution system, bugs (that have been fixed), AI, editing tools and historical accuracy. It's unbelievable that people who haven't even played the game believe it deserves one star because of their isolated experiences with Steam. There is one comment I would like to address in particular and that is "you can't play ETW without an internet connection"--completely FALSE. If the people reviewing this game knew anything besides how to spew nonsense they would know that you only need Steam to activate the game. Once that is completed, Steam can run in offline mode--playable without an internet connection. Granted if the game received a patch it would have to be updated before you can play it in offline mode, but that has only happened a few times since its release (and there probably won't be any more updates). I think it's safe to assume that if you are reading this review you have internet so this shouldn't present an issue in the first place. Obviously if you have a dial up connection, activating and updating the game will be time consuming...no reason to blame that on the game. I have only had one bad experience when using Steam and that was because my college's internet connection was terrible. The major bugs that interfered with the basic game experience that so many have referenced HAVE as of late been FIXED and improvements have definitely been made to AI capabilities. I have to admit there are times when I believe the AI made stupid mistakes and let up a little but the Very Hard difficulty is just that; very hard. Some believe AI is a challenge some do not, I believe that it is challenging.
This of course means many of these reviews are obsolete and should be removed because they hold argument that is no longer valid. People who have had experiences with other Total Wars games, more specifically Rome: Total War, conveniently forget it wasn't perfect upon release yet they hail it as CA's supreme masterpiece. Not to mention that many have downloaded modifications that alters the actual game from its retail form making it "better" in their minds. This is why they are upset that Empire doesn't have editing tools. Empire is for the most part unmoddable and instead of appreciating a good game they take it out on CA by posting ridiculous reviews. Most people who purchase Empire aren't going to mod it to begin with so this shouldn't make or break the game.
Empire Total War takes place in the 18th century, during the Enlightenment where field combat and tactics were based on gunpowder. There are no hordes of men or knights equipped with sword and shield charging and having at each other like in Rome or Medieval. Combat was based from a distance via missile units (line infantry/musketeers/cannons) with the addition of close quarters combat with bayonet charges and cavalry. This means the battle experience is limited and will probably not attract those who favor the aforementioned. I on the other hand enjoy it thoroughly and this happens to be one of my favorite periods in history. Empire is a Turn-Based/Real-Time strategy game. To put it simply, the campaign map is where you spend the majority of your time and is where you manage your empire through taxes, economics, diplomacy, research for military and social progress etc. and move your armies. Time progresses through turns (hence turn-based) and once you've finished with your turn the other factions make their moves. There are also different government types (Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy and Republic) that have their advantages and disadvantages and if conditions are right you can have a revolution on your hands and a change in government type. Of course you get to decide which side to fight on though. In terms of battles, when you engage an opposing faction you are sucked into the heat of battle and command your army in real-time. Each faction speaks in their native tongue and it gives you chills when you here the unit officer yell "fire" as you decimate your opponent. Combat animations and graphics are superb (you can even see soldiers using their scouring sticks to reload) but there are instances where path -finding for units becomes an issue and some soldiers still wait around to engage in hand to hand combat with others. In my opinion these do little to detract from the game. The sea battle I believe is Empire's biggest issue because they become chaotic as ships zigzag across the ocean going the direction you didn't intend. This is exacerbated on a large scale and I have found my ships to incur unnecessary damage as they crash into each other on more than one occasion. It also feels like the winner of the sea battle is always undetermined despite one's superiority. However, CA has gone to great lengths for detail. The water is phenomenal (took a year to develop), you can see hundreds of men loading cannons, the exchange of rifle fire as ships approach each other, masts fall into the sea from chain shots, sails rip from cannon fire, ships sink according to where damage was sustained, you can board enemy ships to have a brawl and there are great animations such as the explosion of an entire ship due to the ignition of gunpowder stores. In terms of audio, everything seems realistic right down to moans and groans of fallen soldiers. So much so in fact that if you get close enough to a cannon you actually have to turn the volume down or you'll go deaf. In addition, VanDyke has composed another epic soundtrack which is why I own it on CD. Online play is fun although player internet connections can slow the game down. There could have been more options to customize battle matches so for instance you could exclude the use of certain units or limit the number of a particular unit allowed. Unfortunately the campaign game cannot be played against other players online although it was something promised by CA. When it comes to historical accuracy, CA tries its best to make the game as historically accurate at the beginning as possible. This is because the game is open to the "what ifs" of history. What if France invaded Britain, what if Austria became a major colonial power. What frustrates a minority of hardcore fans are believe it or not uniforms. Some went as far to argue for a particular button on a coat. One noticeable uniform issue was that of Spain. Historically speaking it was white but yellow in Empire to prevent player confusion. It since has been changed to white.
I have just screened the surface of the depth of this great game and if you are seriously considering purchasing this it I would encourage you to read more about it on the Total War website and read reviews that are balanced. The people who write this garbage are wining because they gave into hype, have personal technical issues, and are upset. In conclusion Empire Total War is for those who ever dreamed about conquering the world, commanding armies, enjoy 18th combat and history (closet you'll get) and or would like a good turn-based/real-time strategy experience.
 1 step forward, 20 steps back minus the afformentioned step forward November 7, 2009
John Molfetto
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This game was absolutely terrible, I have been a loyal fan of the Total War series since Rome: Total War. However, the glitches, sluggishness, and generally sterile battles and classical elevator music, among other things, make me want to vomit, because I know this will be the last Total War game I buy. I have a Core i7 2.66ghz, a GTX 285, 12gb's of ram, and it looks as if I am trying to play this game on a Pentium 3. Oh yea, Steam is HORRIBLE, and you can NEVER resell this game, because of Steam.
So if you buy this game, and you do not like it... you are screwed.
 The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall November 7, 2009
Samuel Henderson
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The scope of this game is massive. Creative Assembly tried to do a whole bunch of new things with this game. Multiple continents, trade theaters, navel combat. They succeeded in some areas but completely and utterly failed in others.
I'll start with what CA did correctly. The navel battles are a welcome addition to the game. The ships look beautiful as does the water. If you have the graphics card for ultra settings you will not be disappointed. The huge campaign map is really nice, it gets away from just fighting in Europe all the time. The Campaign AI after the 1.4 patch has started to behave like it deserves the title artificial intelligence.
CA failed a lot with the game. The Battle AI is none existent. It rushes the middle of your battle lines only to be encircled and destroyed, utterly, every battle every time. Land armies are a little bland. One model for line infantry just team colored. The land graphics are good up close. Though they brought back clone armies. Farther away the game switches to sprites at inappropriate distances and looks terrible. Fort battles are a mess and boring, the BAI is so terrible you can hold a fort with minimal forces outnumbered 3 to 1. CA's support is terrible with this game, It took patches up to 1.3 to get the game playable. Then after 1.4 and whatever 1.5 did they decided the game is finished. Hardly.
It would sound like I don't like this game. I do, it is fun to an extent but the BAI is just too terrible. It took 7 months or so of patches to become fun. I won't be buying CA's next game that's for sure.
Requires Heated Shot November 5, 2009
M. James (Vancouver, B.C.)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The writing is on the wall: the death of the PC game is at hand. Console games continue to eat up the lion's share of video game revenues and have relegated the PC to a sad and pathetic side market. You notice this at your local retailer where the PC section has shrunk to minimalist proportions. Console games are easier to design and more lucrative to market. Hence, companies like Amazon will be the key distributors for PC gaming in the future.
A DISCLAIMER TO THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY:
The platform being designing for should not negate the professional standard to which any self-respecting Company aught to hold itself. Herein lies the problem. Since inception, video game manufacturers have had an unhealthy disrespect for their target consumer. Originally conceived as a medium pandering to a juvenile audience, video gaming has grown up. At least the consumer has; the developers - not so much.
Designers have long hidden behind the facade of PC diversity to excuse the release of titles riddled with flaws and bugs. The onus has been reversed upon the PC consumer to remedy troubles by either awaiting patches and/or updating their systems. Many reviewers have correctly attributed the prevailing industry attitude as reducing the consumer to an unwitting Beta tester.
In an ever shrinking market designers enter into partnerships to hedge their investment capital. When these partnerships work they should make the gaming experience better. When they have the opposite effect the result is disastrous. EMPIRE TOTAL WAR will become a landmark in the industry for how not to develop a collaborative title.
THE REVIEW:
STEAM, love it or hate it, is the root of all the evils afflicting this product. Like many of the reviewers for this title I am a mature user. Like many older gamers I have been resistant to the trend toward internet content. Because I lacked an internet connection I carefully screened packages to ensure that they do not require online activation. After all, why would anyone buy what they can't use?
PC game distributors know that when they slap the words ONLINE PC GAME onto a title it is a kiss of death to sales. Hence, almost all distributors have reverted to the use of microprint to hide the offending clause. EMPIRE TOTAL WAR is a glaring example of how this tactic is employed. The text is partially obscured behind graphics of similar tone. I have worked in the print industry for decades. No self- respecting graphics artist would let that slip without commenting on it. I therefore assume the camouflaging is deliberate.
Clearly the minimum game requirements are a bit skewed, but this is an industry wide sham. It should be axiomatic that the minimum standards are those required to have a satisfactory gaming experience. Unscrupulous developers lower the bar knowing full well that the game will not run effectively. A STEAM account can be created with a dial-up connection (the box only mentions activation) but there is more to it than the simple activation of a CD Key. I was informed that to download essential content would take 1 day and 23 hours using my 56k modem. (This comically downloads from STEAM at a whopping 4.6kbps).
Be forewarned that STEAM will hijack you from the moment you put your CD in the computer. Despite having two game CD's and a third CD Manual none of the game content was installed on my computer, excepting for the STEAM software. Even the game icon was registered with them. You will be forgiven if you must double-check to ensure that you saw the SEGA logo on the box; yes it is there, very little else of them will be seen thereafter.
From the start I had trouble with STEAM. Nothing about the installation, registration and activation went smoothly. It took multiple attempts, days of frustration and wasted effort. I still have not been able to install the game on my computer. After reading one reviewer who commented that: `STEAM is a reminder that I don't own the game I paid for,' I can only agree wholeheartedly.
Most annoyingly the game will try to install from the STEAM website. WTF do I have game CD's for? Using anything other than a high speed connection will make this impossible. The customer service folks at STEAM sent me to a page where it walked me through how to install from my CD's. Following their prompts I proceeded to go through the install again and still ended up back at STEAM with a massive download ahead of me. EMPIRE TOTAL WAR is essentially an ONLINE PC game without the honesty of labeling it as such. If you're comfortable with that, all power to you. I thought I was buying a PC game.
I suspect that SEGA had troubles with this game in development; that they decided to share the costs with STEAM; cut them in for a slice of the pie; gave them prioritization as the host platform (instead of your PC) and wiping their hands clean of the customer service headaches that ensued. CREATIVE ASSEMBLY has cut its own throat. The damage this title will do to their reputation is insurmountable. I can only assume they saw the demise of the PC game coming and have taken a cheap payday over professional integrity. Too bad: The TOTAL WAR franchise was a promising one; such a waste.
This ultimately is how the manufacturers have come to think of the consumers of their games. By blindly following the technocrats' wishes and accepting the onus of meeting their requirements we have allowed them to commit mass perpetrated fraud. I buy in good faith. SEGA, CREATIVE ASSEMBLY and STEAM have betrayed that trust. I can only remind people to hang onto their receipts for this game. At some point a class action law suit may be brought against a Video Game Developer for false advertising and marketing an unsaleable product. The time is long overdue for an oversight and regulatory body to step in and hold manufacturers to an industry standard that meets the minimum requirement: functionality.
VIVAT VERITAS.
great graphics November 4, 2009
Regan W. Polone
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The game is well thought out and overall is a fun and enjoyable war game not too difficult to control or overwhelming to manage. Some inconsistencies with the AI but overall worth the price.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 240
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