Napoleon: Total War

Rome Total War has always been my favorite of the series, and until they bring out Rome2, it will stay that way.
That said, Napoleon TW is a very solid game, its well thought out, graphically superb, entertaining and quite addictive.
The turn based map of Europe is detailed and well presented.
The land battles can be awesome, with the musket and cannon effects very pleasing. Overall stratergy and tactics remain similar to the other games, with improvments to the reserch tree, diplomacy, and trading.
Trade is the foundation to your wealth, with taxes running second, secure your trade fleets and you'll have the cash for conquest!
Battles can be won by out flanking as usual, although artillery can also win battles as they now fire faster and canister shot can wipe out many men at close range.
Sea battles are fantastic and fun to play, but make sure you have bigger ships that the enemy or your in trouble.
The only problems I have found during play are in the real time battles, but they haven't detracted from the overall enjoyment.
On land, occasional graphical glitches can cause men and cavalry to run & jump in slow motion and cannons can become stuck and inactive if unlimbered to close to objects on the field. I would say it can get system hungry here too, i've got an i7, but things can still slow down.
On water, ships annoyingly furl their sails and come to a stop when an enemy crosses their path, probably accurate, but i'm for ramming speed!
Overall, great fun and you'll end up playing well into the night if you're not careful.

Compared to Empire Total War (the previous release) the scope (only 1 theatre) and number of playabel countries have been reduced but the various additions are a huge compensation.

The thing is that the changes seem little but add much to the gameplay, such as:

- Previously identical units of different countries only differed by their uniform colours, now
also the uniforms are different.

- The extension of the diplomatic possibilities (like trade embargos etc.).

- the addition of the "liberation" option after winning a (siege) battle resulting in the new state becoming your protectorate.
This simple addition was something that I missed very much in previous total war games and for me it is a tremendous improvement.
A previous game (Imperial Glory) already prove that this concepts worked well. Solutions that worked well in other games should be adopted.

- Generals have a more tactical role (instead of going into battle themselves, which is still possible).

- The expansion of France into more regions.

- A huge amount of historical characters.

- The AI is much better (was already much better in Empire) compared to previous (Medieval, Rome) titels.
I don't understand why some people still find Rome/Medieval better. The AI was horrible.
We should however not be naieve. The AI will never be able to fight like a human but at least in Empire/Napoleon it provides a decent challenge.

- the addition of 2-player on the campaign level.

- the possibility to fight against a human opponent during the campaign (good alternative if you find the AI still too weak).

- There is even a kind of first person view via the insert key (opens possibilities for the future).

- I could go on further

I have the impression that the Creative Assembly listened very well to the community. The tutorial is very good and Napoleon Total War is also very stable (not a singe issue until now).

Their previous release (Empire) was already a big step forward (despite the technical issues which spoiled the fun for too many players) but Napoleon Total War for me is an instant classic and a must buyer.

The game of the year 2010 if you ask me and a definitive five stars.

First off, to the person who gave it a 1 star. I've had a few ATI cards in the past and almost every one of them had problems - drivers, hardware fault or over heating. I eventually became geforce user and never looked back. Undertake research into the problem. It could of just been a simple driver update for all you know. (ATi is pure horrible when it comes to drivers.) Just please don't give what could be a good game a bad score based on your own hardware troubles. It can be very misleading.

Now I said this could be a good game and in my opinion it IS a good game. Well worth the money. I never buy many games but I always make it the "done thing" to buy the total war series. I also feel naughty writing this review on PLAY as I didn't buy it from them. I won't name places, for obvious reasons, but if you're like me you'll probably want to shop around first to find the best bargin, etc etc.

On to the game itself:

- Game feels much more polished and updated than empire total war.
- Hardly any bugs (I didn't find any) and much more stable than empires was.
- Tutorial is helpful if you're new to total war or you're just finding out whats different.
- The AI feels much better than ETW. They actually want to negotiate this time!
- Liberating countries is a nice touch and a welcomed addition to the game.
- Forming a square formation actually works now. Horses won't charge into bayonets.
- Infantry fire and reload faster and in my opinion it feels more balanced (and fun) that way.
- Generals play a bigger part in the game and you would regret not having one in your army.
- AI in battle is improved but do expect them to often make big mistakes.
- Cannons are almost essential in battles and are faster reloading and more accurate.
- Smoke! Smoking kills but its even more deadly when coming out of a barrel. :)
- 2 player campaign coop! Enough said.
- Online multiplayer battles work fine and managed through the Steam network.
- (No need to open up ports and dmz your router, etc.)
- Ship combat is pritty much same as ETW but the bigger ships are easier to build in campaign.
- Unit graphics and unit stats are different depending on your nation.

Also if you're intrested, get yourself the Radious sound mod. It makes the weak "puffs" of the rifles sound much more deadly. Its a small change but brings a whole new level of epicness to the battle.

Napoleon feels like either: The game that Empire should've have been(Cough, Multiplayer campaign, cough) or the mother of all expansions, it could happen remember Kingdoms? Napoleon is graphically superior & those of you that could run Empire well will be pleased to know that Napoleon's not that much more demanding on the old resources.
There's quite alot to chose for the single player. The Napoleon Campaign is very cool, my poision is the Coalition campaign becuase amongst all the other nations you can play as, for me it's good old Blighty, there's also a very cool historical battle campaign that's worth your time. The campaign map is smaller, it's only Europe really, but the game doesn't feel smaller because of this. The risk style part of the game has been simplified which could be seen as refreshing rather than a step back. The in battle graphics & affects are lovely to behold & the naval battles look even better with more lavish details. The Ai is still weak, however for those that want more of a challenge there's a "Drop in" feature which allows a random human player to connect to your single player campaign & fight you....Brilliant!. Multiplayer is better all round with the ability to do 2 vs 2 seige this time around. But for me it's the Multiplayer campaign, that's where myself & friend go week at the knees. no kinding we were playing for a day solid, no kidding & i'm married (not for long)
It's sad that more & more titles that have a huge potential for the PC are ported from consoles & as a result are NOT fit for purpose. But Total War has always....ALWAYS been for the PC users. As soon as that changes (God forbid) i'm off to them hills.
For now they represent all that is good & pure for us PC users. A MUST MUST have & at a stupidly good price.

Having been a fan of ROME: TOTAL WAR (plus its data disks), I was eagerly awaiting this latest game in the franchise. Happily I was not disappointed!

Anybody who has played the previous TOTAL WAR games will know what to expect here. Players assume command of one of the main nations of the period (France in the three Napoleons Campaigns or either England, Prussia, Austria or Russia in the Campaigns Of The Coalition), make turn-based strategic choices on the map and, when opposing forces inevitably meet, fight battles in stunning 3D real-time combat.

SEGA has ensured the presentation is highly polished and worked hard to ensure the graphics are top notch. Zoom in on a unit, for example, and the soldiers have different faces! This attention to detail is a huge bonus but despite the nicely rendered graphics the action only rarely slows down, even when there are numerous units on screen.

The campaign map is a nice 3D affair with various levels of zoom but this does occasionally give problems when moving units, especially in hilly terrain. Movement is simplicity itself, merely a select and click system, and the troops will march as far to their destination as time and/or movement points allow.

Running a successful empire is made easy thanks to a clear, well laid out game interphase. Governmental policies, troop recruitment, building requirements, advancing technologies and diplomacy are all easily accessible and the current date and treasury money are always displayed.
Various building types can be selected for each province - both military and civilian - and troops recruited but they all take a number of set turns to complete. Armies need generals and these can be assigned (at a cost) whenever they become available but as the number of leaders is limited careful selection of the possible candidates is a necessity.

Both land and naval battles can be fought depending on the current situation and once more ease of use is the order of the day. Units are given orders and certain conditions can be set - such as ammunition for artillery/ships, skirmishing attitudes, defending key locations and troop formation - while various weather/wind effects and terrain all contribute as to how a battle is fought. The commanding officers are displayed as units too and may become casualties of war like everybody else, although they can also inspire the troops and rally routing units to bring them back to the fray.

Despite the vast numbers of troops involved in larger battles, they are easy to manage but orders can still be given in Pause Mode if things become too hectic! The computer AI is not the strongest though and the computer often tends to favour frontal assaults which can leave it highly vulnerable to flank attacks.

Naval clashes are similar to land battles but here the wind plays a major part in proceedings. Ships can be ordered to bombard enemy vessels to either sink them, kill the crew or destroy rigging if a boarding action is preferred. Sometimes vessels can catch fire and explosions as a result are not uncommon!

Players need a STEAM account to play the game. Through it they receive free updates, can purchase downloadable content if desired - such as new units, set piece battles and scenarios - and the game itself comes with a unique code for the free Elite Regiment Pack of five additional units.

Not since the (now budget priced) IMPERIAL GLORY has a Napoleonic Wargame looked so good. After adding NAPOLEON: TOTAL WAR to my PC collection, though, that other game has hardly had a look in and this SEGA hit is surely one even The Little Corporal himself would have been proud of!