So before I get into the preview of Empire Total War, I’d like to note how excessively detailed this game is. For example, the game accurately measures buoyancy, every musket ball is accurately modeled using the game’s physics engine, and land battle maps are created from NASA satelite imagery.
Naval battles are one of the pinnacles of this game in action. Lets describe the scenario in a massive naval showdown between the British and the Americans. Dozens of types of ships are readily seen; small sloops, large frigates, ships of the line, and even rocket-armed ships to the predecessor of early steam-powered behemoths. Cannon fire erupts, billowing smoke arises in crisp detail from the ships, masts are snapping and crashing in astonishing detail into the shiny water. Crew effects have been added to the game since and now the ships sports a copious amount of sailors running about the decks.
Even engagement such as the boarding of a ship is detailed. In-game sailors shoot grappling hooks to draw the enemy ship closer and once the two ships had joined, planks were dropped allowing the sailors to approach the enemy ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat and quick musket fire. Combat in Empire is rendered on a soldier by soldier basis.
At first glance, the naval combat looks easy to learn, but it is inherently difficult to master. Flag icons mark friendly and enemy ships while a compass surrounds the hull of each ship indicating the available arc of fire and wind direction. A variety of cannon shot can be accessed in order target specific areas of enemy ships.
On land, cover will be an important focus of the game, making trees and ridges all the more important in the terrain. At sea, cannon fire can pass through one ship and strike another depending on the situation. The physics in Empire can be evidently seen during the boarding of a ship where a fire unexpectedly spread to another ship due a shift in the winds direction. The fire then spread into the ammo storage and exploded sending splinters and the crew into the air. Animations were richly and hilariously detailed as the other members of the crew jumped ship into the water to save themselves while the ship burned away.
The tradition of Total War follows on as you bring from the year 1700 and progress on through history. Over 50 factions will be featured in the game through the continents of Europe, North America, South America, and the Indies. Research trees are used in the game to progress in technological upgrades and to gain access to dozens of ships.
As we mentioned earlier, NASA satelite imagery is used to generate the maps for the campaign, creating in-game terrain automatically for land battles. Rain, mud, trees, and visibility are now integral features that will play a part of the strategy.
Perhaps the most exciting feature will be the improvements in AI and the UI (User Interface) . The campaign AI will tell the battle AI how important a battle is, leading to more realistic decisions as in contrast to fighting to the death, the enemy AI will know better and retreat in order to cut losses.
Through the campaign, colonies can be taxed as a whole. Building management has been streamlined to incorporate generals automatically being able to recruit troops from nearby provinces. The American story mode will take players from the founding of the Jamestown colony to Washington’s victory.
CGI Trailer can be found here.
Empire Total War is set to release on PC in early February 2009.
