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Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 2:59:28 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Just played the demo (comes with a naval battle English v French and a British vs US forces land battle).

Looks absolutely gorgeous. Ran flawlessly on my
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 Quad, 4GB, 8800GT OC2, Windows XP SP3

The land battle gave some very good options for flanking. Looked like it had some tactical playability. Unfortunately, the AI seemed as dumb as a box of rocks. It did have some troops hidden in forests at a couple of obvious routes, but didn't do a lot. IT had a superior force...longer range riflemen for example, and more infantry/horse as well as more artillery (I didn't get details of the composition).

The naval battles were stunning looking and played fairly well. I don't if all the options were there because I'm not a big naval geek, but just to see the big ships broad siding each other was a sight for sore eyes.

Nothing in the demo showing how the strategic layer will play.

Long and short...I will buy (being a self confessed graphics whore) but not on release. They want £39.99 for it and £44.99 for the "Elite Units" edition (comes with HMS Victorious and special land units with distinctions).

Oh...and the demo (and prices quoted) is from Steam - I don't know if it's out anywhere else.
Post #: 1
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 3:09:24 PM   
Erik Rutins

 

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline 		Don't forget about the upcoming Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition if you want detailed land and naval battles, great strategic gameplay as well as a great AI!

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RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 3:32:34 PM   
leastonh1


Posts: 879
Joined: 2/12/2005
From: West Yorkshire, England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Oh...and the demo (and prices quoted) is from Steam - I don't know if it's out anywhere else.

I was getting all excited until I read that bit! I'll pass. Cheers for the mini review though JD.


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Post #: 3
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 4:35:32 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Oh, but Jim...the naval battles alone are oh so gorgeous!!

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RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:15:38 PM   
leastonh1


Posts: 879
Joined: 2/12/2005
From: West Yorkshire, England
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quote:

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Oh, but Jim...the naval battles alone are oh so gorgeous!!

No, no, no!! I'm not listening! I have uninstalled Steam for the last time and will never use it again. That's final. I can't hear you any more. Laa laa laa <fingers in ears> Nope, still can't hear you JD!...Can someone delete this thread please?! Erik, where are you?

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2nd Lt. George Rice: Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded.
Richard Winters: We're paratroopers, Lieutenant, we're supposed to be surrounded.

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Post #: 5
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:26:22 PM   
cdbeck


Posts: 1374
Joined: 8/16/2005
From: Indiana
Status: offline 		Oh Erik, there is room in our life for both games... 

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Post #: 6
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:38:27 PM   
Tomus

 

Posts: 234
Joined: 9/22/2003
From: UK
Status: offline 		You don't need Steam the game is also coming out in a normal version. I thought it was pretty good.

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Post #: 7
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:44:06 PM   
Lützow


Posts: 1517
Joined: 7/22/2008
From: Germany
Status: offline 		I'm going to rent Empire from video store when it's released and rather save my money for CoG:EE.

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Post #: 8
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:47:01 PM   
LarryP


Posts: 3783
Joined: 5/15/2005
From: Carson City, NV
Status: offline 		Here is a link to download it March 3rd:

Direct2Drive

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Post #: 9
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 5:54:28 PM   
Kung Karl

 

Posts: 323
Joined: 7/1/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Don't forget about the upcoming Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition if you want detailed land and naval battles, great strategic gameplay as well as a great AI!


I've noticed CoG comes up when talking about Empire: Total War.

BUT, isn't Empire Total War 1700 - 1800 and CoG Napoleonics? I mean doesn't CoG start were E:TW ends?

Edit: E:TW ends at 1815. But still, CoG is alot more focused and thus not a competitor for E:TW. Two diffrent games with diffrent focus.

If CoG is a competitor to E:TW then it is a competitor to Europa Universalis 3 as well. EU3 cover the napoleonics too but not very good and very short. I am sure CoG is a btter simulation of Napoleonics Europe than both EU3 and E:TW.

< Message edited by Kung Karl -- 2/21/2009 5:59:43 PM >

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Post #: 10
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 7:00:11 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Jim...Jim...come over to the dark side!

Well God knows I had my trouble with Steam regarding their policy of "fingers in ears and eyes closed...can't help, soz"...on the other hand, that particular purchase was my fault.

Steam as a delivery system I have found to be very reliable in the past. Besides I couldn't possibly get rid of it because my beloved Team Fortress 2 is on there

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Post #: 11
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 7:22:45 PM   
moose1999

 

Posts: 788
Joined: 10/26/2006
Status: offline 		Just played the demo and I'm now looking even more forward to CoG:EE as well as East India Company from Lighthouse Interactive (check EIC out here if you're not familiar with it already).
The demo was alright, though. Pretty much as expected.
Although the naval battle was quite fun the arcade feel to it means I would tire of it pretty quickly - and the land battle likewise.
As has become the rule for the TW series, the modders have some work cut out for them.
But the strategic layer sounds like it has improved from previous titles, so that'll be interesting to see up close.

I'll buy it, of course, and play through the campaign one time - but not untill a year or two down the line after a handfull of patches and an expansion and after the first big mods have matured into something playable.
By then I might even have a computer that can handle the game...

EDIT: Oh, and while I'm at it - check out this upcoming game for a more grognard take on realtime 3-D Napoleonic battles:
Histwar Les Grognards. Ugly as hell (at least compared to Empire), but with extremely ambitious goals concerning AI and realistic tactical gameplay.

< Message edited by briny_norman -- 2/21/2009 7:31:13 PM >

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Post #: 12
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 7:30:36 PM   
hadberz


Posts: 1629
Joined: 5/11/2000
From: Moncks Corner, SC
Status: offline 		I agree with briny, the naval battles feel like a arcade game. The pathfinding sucks. It's a pass for me at least until some patches come out.

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Post #: 13
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 8:28:27 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		True, but they did look divine...watching all that shot fly through the sails and take the masts down.

Also, it is 100 light years better than in previous carnations.

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Post #: 14
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 8:40:19 PM   
Banquet

 

Posts: 1184
Joined: 8/23/2002
From: England
Status: offline
Thanks for your thoughts Judge, appreciated :)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tomus

You don't need Steam the game is also coming out in a normal version. I thought it was pretty good.



Is that confirmed? Because it's the first I've heard of it. I don't have anything hugely against Steam, but much prefer Matrix and Gamersgate, and have Impulse.. I just really don't want another and will pass if Steam is required.. if there's a version that doesn't need Steam that's great news, but as I understood even shop bought versions would require Steam validation.


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Post #: 15
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 8:52:52 PM   
Phatguy

 

Posts: 1348
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Buffalo,ny
Status: offline 		Really really despise steam.....But installed it just to see the demo. Not to shabby, ok, really beautiful graphics, but I do not like some of the things i'm hearing about the full game.
Seems CA is slowly but surely sneaking into bed with the pimple-faced Ritalin addled crowd  and leaving the ones who "made" the franchise slowly spinning in the wind looking for thier next strategy fix. Very arcade-ish. Dumbed down management portion. meh....but i still might buy it.

Not sure how the mods are going to work out for this game though, with some "special" units only available in the collectors edition and if they will crash the non collectors or vice-versa because 99% of the modders will have the collectors while the rest have the vanilla version.

So I might end up buying but begging Matrix to release thiers before Empire so I can have no qualms about dropping my money on CoG:EE..After all I can only afford one and still face about 2 months or so before my doctor says I can go back to work......

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Post #: 16
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 9:05:41 PM   
Terminus


Posts: 41459
Joined: 4/23/2005
From: Denmark
Status: offline 		As far as I know, you only need Steam to activate Empire. At first I balked at the idea, but now I've got Dawn of War II (also Steam-activated) up and running with a minimum of irritation, I'm getting Empire as well.

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Post #: 17
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 9:58:08 PM   
leastonh1


Posts: 879
Joined: 2/12/2005
From: West Yorkshire, England
Status: offline 		I sacked Steam because of its intrusiveness, I can't play my own games without it, I can't play a game when Steam decides I MUST download and patch 400Mb worth at their convenience instead of mine, I can't download and keep patches, and not least because Steam "support" took over 2wks to respond to a request for help from me and even then expected me to jump through many hoops to get their help. Nope, not for me. Steam is an example of a nice idea with very poor execution. I know lots of people use it without problems, but there are plenty more out there who feel the same as me after having fingers burned.

Sorry, hijack and rant over. I feel better now. Got to have that little tantrum every now and then


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2nd Lt. George Rice: Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded.
Richard Winters: We're paratroopers, Lieutenant, we're supposed to be surrounded.

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Post #: 18
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 10:20:31 PM   
LarryP


Posts: 3783
Joined: 5/15/2005
From: Carson City, NV
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Jim_H

I sacked Steam because of its intrusiveness, I can't play my own games without it, I can't play a game when Steam decides I MUST download and patch 400Mb worth at their convenience instead of mine, I can't download and keep patches, and not least because Steam "support" took over 2wks to respond to a request for help from me and even then expected me to jump through many hoops to get their help. Nope, not for me. Steam is an example of a nice idea with very poor execution. I know lots of people use it without problems, but there are plenty more out there who feel the same as me after having fingers burned.


Amen Jim!!! I could add my horrid experience with Steam 2 years ago (it's actually here in this General section too), but my nerves are calm now and I am not in the mood to change that.

(in reply to leastonh1)
Post #: 19
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 10:29:30 PM   
doomtrader


Posts: 5321
Joined: 7/22/2008
From: Poland
Status: offline 		My first try with Empire lasts for 3 minutes (I'm not counting horrible long loading time).

I just don't like it. I'll give it one more try but ATM it looks like I will cancel my preodrer.

And infantry shoots with tracers or what?

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Post #: 20
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 10:31:27 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Jim_H
...and not least because Steam "support" took over 2wks to respond to a request for help from me and even then expected me to jump through many hoops to get their help.

Well, sounds like we've all been there

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Post #: 21
RE: Empire Total War - 2/21/2009 10:32:35 PM   
Banquet

 

Posts: 1184
Joined: 8/23/2002
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Jim_H

I can't play a game when Steam decides I MUST download and patch 400Mb worth at their convenience instead of mine


I hear ya

My first experience of Steam was buying Half Life 2 to cheer myself up after a really bad day. I got home, registered with Steam and was forced to download a patch which I think was about 70meg.. I was still on dial-up in those days and so I never got to play the game at all that evening. That's the closest I've ever come to throwing my computer out the window..


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Post #: 22
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 12:04:01 AM   
IronDuke_slith

 

Posts: 1595
Joined: 6/30/2002
From: Manchester, UK
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

Really really despise steam.....But installed it just to see the demo. Not to shabby, ok, really beautiful graphics, but I do not like some of the things i'm hearing about the full game.
Seems CA is slowly but surely sneaking into bed with the pimple-faced Ritalin addled crowd  and leaving the ones who "made" the franchise slowly spinning in the wind looking for thier next strategy fix. Very arcade-ish. Dumbed down management portion. meh....but i still might buy it.

Not sure how the mods are going to work out for this game though, with some "special" units only available in the collectors edition and if they will crash the non collectors or vice-versa because 99% of the modders will have the collectors while the rest have the vanilla version.

So I might end up buying but begging Matrix to release thiers before Empire so I can have no qualms about dropping my money on CoG:EE..After all I can only afford one and still face about 2 months or so before my doctor says I can go back to work......



I think this dumbing down process started with Rome. It simply wasn't playable until someone sorted out the arcade battles. The Maker's business model seems to be to produce something flash to appeal to the console crowd and then allow the modders to make it playable for those wanting something more.

I recall with Rome that everyone thought it was due out one September. All the Computer mags were carrying articles to this effect the previous march, someone had clearly said something. Then closer to to September they announced it was going to be another 12 months if memory serves.

I picked up a nasty rumour somewhere that they had taken the game to some convention in the States and got some excellent feedback (in commercial terms) on the potential but were told it was too complicated for general American tastes. So, they cancelled the release and spent twelve months dumbing it down to increase sales. Anyone else recall this delay and why? I remember a number of very experienced "clan folk" in the forums expressing reservations before it was even released and for a while afterwards.

Except for graphics, I don't really it see it as having come far enough from the original and excellent Shogun. Even the switch from provinces to a more open format was a cop out in my opinion. It hasn't evolved far enough in the non-graphic areas of the game and I look forward to the "Empire: Total realism" mod far more than I do the game.

Regards,
ID

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Post #: 23
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 2:18:03 AM   
jagdwolf

 

Posts: 25
Joined: 2/9/2009
Status: offline 		Well having just tried the demo, my biggest question is what the heck is up with the massive loading times for everything? I have a nice high end system, no reason I should be able to go make coffee and come back while a simple demo battle loads. If it is that bad in campaign play, it will be horrible.

The game is a bit dumbed down and "arcadey" but it's always that way at release, the question is can the historical modders still make it better?

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Post #: 24
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 4:07:21 AM   
Phatguy

 

Posts: 1348
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Buffalo,ny
Status: offline 		Hmm..my system is running towards long in the tooth these days... took a short time to load..you might have something else going on

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Post #: 25
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 4:29:51 AM   
hadberz


Posts: 1629
Joined: 5/11/2000
From: Moncks Corner, SC
Status: offline 		It took forever to load on my computer too. My system is high end as well. I imagine its just some weird bug, since all my other games load normal. I notice when you fast forward the battle it gets really choppy, but at normal speed the framerate is fine. The game does look good though.

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Post #: 26
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 5:17:14 AM   
Grell

 

Posts: 1064
Joined: 4/1/2004
From: Canada
Status: offline 		Thanks JD for the mini review, I'll be purchasing it as well.

Regards,

Grell

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Post #: 27
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 5:18:23 AM   
V22 Osprey


Posts: 1593
Joined: 4/8/2008
From: Corona, CA
Status: offline 		I may get Empire:Total War, but I am not willing to pay 50 bucks for it.

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Post #: 28
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 7:35:20 AM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		I thought the load times were excessive too...I'll have to try again, but that's what I recall.

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Post #: 29
RE: Empire Total War - 2/22/2009 9:02:22 AM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Two minute load time for the land battle....not that bad I suppose, considering what it's loading

There are worse out there (World War One!!)

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Post #: 30
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