| 📰 Title: | Empire: Total War | 🕹️ / 🛠️ Type: | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🗃️ Genre: | Strategy | 🚦 Status: | 04. Released (status) |
| 🏷️ Category: | Strategy ➤ Wargame (on map) ➤ Economy ➤ Civilization, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, ... | 🌍️ Browser version: | |
| 🔖 Tags: | Grand Strategy; Strategy; Turn-Based Strategy; Tactical; Real Time Tactics; Adventure; Historical; Military; War; America; Action; Adventure; Naval battles; Classic; Weather; Atmospheric | 📦️ Package Name: | |
| 🐣️ Approx. start: | 📦️ Arch package: | ||
| 🐓️ Latest: | 📦️ RPM package: | ||
| 📍️ Version: | Latest: - | 📦️ Deb package: | |
| 🏛️ License type: | 💰 Commercial | 📦️ Flatpak package: | |
| 🏛️ License: | Commercial | 📦️ AppImage package: | |
| 🏝️ Perspective: | Third person | 📦️ Snap package: | |
| 👁️ Visual: | 3D | ⚙️ Generic binary: | |
| ⏱️ Pacing: | Turn-Based & Real Time | 📄️ Source: | |
| 👫️ Played: | Single & Multi | 📱️ PDA support: | |
| 🎖️ This record: |  |
🕳️ Not used: | |
| 🎀️ Game design: | 👫️ Contrib.: | goupildb & Louis | |
| 🎰️ ID: | 14624 | 🐛️ Created: | 2015-02-20 |
| 🐜️ Updated: | 2022-08-21 |
| [en]: | Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe. Empire: Total War takes the Total War series to the eighteenth century Age of Enlightenment — a time of political upheaval, military advancements, and radical thought, captured in stunning detail and at your complete control | [fr]: | Un jeu de stratégie avec une gestion de l'empire province par province au tour par tour et des affrontements tactiques en temps réel sur terre comme sur mer, dans l'Europe, l'Amérique du Nord, l'Inde, le Moyen-Orient et les Caraïbes du début de l'époque moderne entre 1700 et la fin du XVIIIe siècle sur des champs de bataille en 3D. Pour cela, le joueur peut faire appel à la force mais aussi à la religion et à la diplomatie. |
|---|
🎲️ Gameplay: (202xxx), (202xxx), [fr](202xxx),
🏡️ Website & videos
[Homepage] [Dev site] [Features/About] [Screenshots] [Videos t(202xxx) t(202xxx) t(202xxx) t(202xxx) r(202xxx) r(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g[fr](202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g(202xxx) g[fr](202xxx) g[fr](202xxx) g[fr](202xxx) g[fr](202xxx)] [WIKI] [FAQ] [RSS] [Changelog 1 2 3]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War): [Humble Store] [Steam] [Gamesplanet]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War Collection): [Feral Interactive] [Humble Store] [Steam] [Gamesplanet]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War - Elite Units of America): [Steam]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War - Elite Units of the East): [Steam]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War - Elite Units of the West): [Steam]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War - Special Forces Units & Bonus Content): [Steam]
Commercial links (Empire: Total War - The Warpath Campaign): [Steam] [Gamesplanet]
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Devs (Creative Assembly [fr] [en]): [Site 1 2] [MobyGames] [mastodon] [twitter] [Facebook] [PeerTube] [YouTube] [PressKit] [Interview 1(202xxx) 2]
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The Project: [Blog] [Forums] [mastodon] [twitter] [Facebook] [PeerTube] [YouTube] [PressKit] [reddit] [Discord]
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Dominate the 18th century on land and sea
Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe. Empire: Total War takes the Total War series to the eighteenth century Age of Enlightenment — a time of political upheaval, military advancements, and radical thought, captured in stunning detail and at your complete control.
Empire: Total War introduces a host of revolutionary new features, including true 3D naval combat. For the first time in the Total War series, 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.
Conquer the 18th Century world on land and, for the first time in the Total War series, at sea! Set against one of history’s most turbulent and revolutionary eras, Empire: Total War begins in 1701 and allows you to experience events such as the Industrial Revolution, America’s struggle for independence, the race for control of Eastern trade routes and the globalisation of war. Fully re-written AI with a wider range of strategies and tactics provides consistently formidable opponents on land, sea and on the campaign map. A variety of powerful gunpowder weapons will also force you to think creatively when designing your military strategies. An all new graphics engine and technology allows for new advanced landscapes, floral systems and breath-taking visuals.
Choose one of eleven playable contemporary factions each with their own respective territories, strengths and specialities and re-write history as you forge an empire, navy and army formidable enough to master the globe. Recruit and move your armies and navies around the world, with enhanced systems for controlling the three new agent types to conduct trade, espionage, sabotage, diplomacy and the internal politics of your nation on the detailed and intuitive and richly designed Turn-Based campaign map. Settle conflicts and combat on the campaign map automatically or take command yourself, deploying vast numbers of troops, ships and advanced military tactics to emerge victorious in 3D real-time land and sea battles.
The Turn-Based campaign mode is similar to previous Total War titles but features several advancements such as new diplomacy options, a streamlined user interface and visible upgrades for buildings and settlements. The way that provinces function has been decentralised, meaning that a region’s productivity can be disturbed without having to assault the regional capital. Ministers can now be appointed to form a court or cabinet to govern the nation and, unlike previous titles where a governor’s attributes only affected the settlement he lead, governors now influence all settlements under the player’s control. Generals can now recruit units from nearby settlements rather than having to wait for troops produced elsewhere to travel to them.
Other new features include a technology tree that has been introduced allowing the player to research technologies that will lead to advances in areas such as politics, infrastructure, agriculture or the military. Revolutions and rebellions may occur depending on the type of installed government and the way that the general populous view them, the player can choose to side with either rebels or loyalists and the outcome of the revolution will affect how other factions on the campaign map view the player and will influence their diplomatic relations. Whilst religion doesn’t play as large a part as it does in Medieval 2 it is still important, for example allowing two same-religion nations to identify with each other, bolstering alliances between them.
There is also the story-driven ‘Road to Independence’ campaign wherein the player takes on the role of early colonial settlers in America. Beginning with the establishment of the Jamestown settlement, this campaign follows the fledgling nation’s struggles as it battles dangerous natives and severs its ties with the encroaching British Empire in order to secure its independence.
In land engagements, players command an 18th Century army with a variety of units each with their own abilities, advantages and costs. Factions can now lay siege to settlements resulting in close quarters fighting and units are capable greater interactivity with their environments allowing them to take cover behind walls and to set up field defences. Outside of the campaign there are several historic battles from the 18th and early 19th Centuries to play through. Multiplayer options include player rankings, leagues and ladders as well as custom battles and a new multiplayer campaign mode. Whereas in previous titles, naval battles could only be resolved automatically, in Empire they can be commanded in real time. Control a fleet of up to twenty ships, varying in class, size, armament and crew. Tactical variety is reinforced by the addition of varied ammunition and the ability to board and specifically target areas of a ship to maximise damage as you see fit.
Empire: Total War is the fifth game in the Total War series. It was released on the 4th March 2009 by the Creative Assembly and Sega.
🌍️ Wikipedia :
Empire: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics computer game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The fifth installment in the Total War series, the game was released in North America on 3 March 2009, and in the rest of the world the following day. The game, which focuses on the early modern period of the 18th century, was announced at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2007. The Mac OS X version of the game was released by Feral Interactive on 13 September 2012. Linux version was released, also by Feral Interactive, on 9 December 2014.
Following a similar style of interface and play to earlier Total War titles, players choose a contemporary 18th-century faction and set out to ensure that faction's domination over the known world through military force, diplomacy, espionage and economics. Although the campaign element of the game is turn-based, players can direct battles in real-time. Empire: Total War is the first game in the series to allow naval battles to be conducted in real-time. In addition to the standard campaign mode, the game includes a special campaign that follows the development of the United States from the settlement of Jamestown to the American War of Independence. Players may also engage in recreations of several historical battles from the early modern era such as the Battle of Fontenoy, Battle of Rossbach, Battle of Brandywine Creek and Battle of Lagos.
Reviewers gave Empire: Total War a positive response upon release; several critics commended it as one of the foremost strategy titles of recent times. Praise was bestowed upon the extensive strategy breadth, accurate historical challenges and visual effects. The real-time land battles, with a far greater focus on gunpowder weaponry than earlier Total War titles, were thought to be successfully implemented. Criticisms focused on shortcomings with the game's artificial intelligence and on the real-time naval battles, the latter of which were perceived to be difficult to control and co-ordinate. The game was a commercial success, topping sales charts within the week of release; nevertheless, several Creative Assembly employees later commented on issues caused by a perceived early release.
Gameplay
Empire: Total War is focused on exploration, economics, politics, religion, the founding of colonies and, ultimately, conquest. The game is set in the early modern period, spanning from 1700 until the end of the 18th century, allowing players to lead a variety of contemporary nations to dominate Europe, the Middle East, India, North America and the Caribbean, along with maritime trade theaters including the South American coast, the Gulf of Guinea, the Mozambique Channel and the East Indies. The player will use both complex strategies on the campaign map as well as command military forces in battles on both land and sea. As with previous Total War games, Empire: Total War consists of two broad areas of gameplay: a turn-based geopolitical campaign that allows the user to move armies and navies across the globe, conduct diplomacy, trade, espionage, and the internal politics of their nation, and other tasks needed to run their nation, as well as a real-time battle mode that enables players to direct the course of any battles that take place.
Empire: Total War features approximately fifty 18th-century factions; however, only eleven of the most powerful and influential factions of the era are playable. In western Europe, the main factions are Great Britain, France, the United Provinces, Spain and Sweden, while central and eastern Europe are represented by Prussia, Austria, Russia and Poland–Lithuania. In the Balkans and Middle East, the Ottoman Empire is depicted as a dominating faction for Islam, while the Maratha Confederacy and Mughal Empire are the major powers on the Indian subcontinent. The New World colonies of the major powers are represented as protectorates of their respective home nations. The establishment of key nations during the era, such as Revolutionary France and the United States, and the fall of native states to the larger empires is reflected in the game, though given player involvement any of these major events may be averted. Smaller factions, including the less powerful German and Italian states, Native American tribes and North African countries are also represented. Each faction varies in territory, strengths and specialities.
A story-driven campaign mode entitled "Road to Independence" is also included in Empire: Total War, where the player guides the British colonisation of America in three structured chapters. The first chapter sees the player establish and develop the English colony of Jamestown, the second focuses on the British fighting both the French and their allied Native American nations in the French and Indian War, whilst the third portion has the player directing the American Continental Army against the British in the War of Independence. This campaign is goal-oriented and strictly historical in nature, and additionally functions as an active learning experience, where players may learn, in each chapter: firstly, to manage and defend regional economies, secondly, to form alliances and to capture and hold territories and exploit their resources on increasingly large scales, and finally, to use all of the player's acquired skills to survive and achieve victory in a total war against a superior opponent. Completion of "Road to Independence" unlocks the newly formed United States for use in a shorter, later version of the full campaign.
Campaign
The main campaign of Empire: Total War involves a player choosing a faction and moving to forge a global empire during the 18th century. Each faction controls various historical provinces, each with a regional capital, and a number of other settlements ranging from minor villages to prosperous sea ports (as long as they are coastal territories). The player can recruit armies and navies to take and defend provinces by military means, or adopt diplomacy and politics to make advances in the game. In addition, players can use economics and religion to their advantage, as well as clandestine means such as espionage and assassination. The campaign mode is turn-based, with each turn representing six months starting in summer or winter, allowing the player to attend to all needs of their faction before ending their turn and allowing the artificial intelligence to make all other factions' moves.
The campaign mode has been redesigned from earlier games to reflect early modern politics and economics
The campaign mode features a similar approach to those in Rome: Total War and Medieval II: Total War, but includes several enhancements. The game features three main theatres of play: Europe (which also includes North Africa and the Middle East), the Americas, and the Indian subcontinent, as well as four minor trade theatres: the East Indies, the Ivory Coast, the Straits of Madagascar and Brazil. The way provinces work has been decentralised; although a central settlement is still used, other locations within a province can deal with trade and technology, allowing factions to disrupt a province's productivity without assaulting the main settlement. Diplomacy, taxation, and trade have been streamlined with the aim of reducing the need for micromanagement. Part of this streamlining involves allowing the player to appoint ministers to form a cabinet or court to govern the nation. Previous Total War games required the player to promote governors for each major city, whose qualifications would affect only the government of that city, whereas in Empire ministers' qualifications affect the government of all the player's cities, modified in each individual case by the size of the metropolitan administration, reflecting the shift to modern nation-statehood from premodern city-statehood. The wandering scholars, spies, emissaries and assassins used in previous titles to deal with the diplomatic, trade and espionage aspects of the game have been replaced with just three units: gentlemen, rakes, and missionaries. The former handle research and can challenge other characters to a duel to dispose of them honourably (thus eliminating the diplomatic risk of being implicated in an assassination plot), while rakes perform clandestine tasks such as spying, assassination, and sabotage. Missionaries serve to convert the populace of regions to the state religion of the nation deploying them, which reduces religious unrest and softens cultural unrest. Isomorphic units also exist for certain nations - namely, Ottomans, Persians, and other near eastern nations replace rakes with Hashashin, while Indian nations use Thugees for the same purposes, and all nations south and east of the Ottoman Empire use Eastern Scholars instead of gentlemen (these are not completely isomorphic, however, because they cannot duel), and a variety of isomorphic religious leaders exist, such as Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant missionaries, Imams, and Brahmin. The way armies are produced also differs: in addition to being produced by settlements and then moved to generals by the player, generals can now also build their armies directly by recruiting from nearby settlements. Players can now research technologies along a technology tree, leading to advances and new discoveries in areas such as infrastructure, politics, agriculture or the military.
Changes in government may occur during the campaign as the rise of republicanism over the traditional rule by monarchy becomes an issue in the early modern time period. For instance, the United States may only come into existence if the ruling British Empire is unable to maintain social order. In addition, nations with highly unpopular governments and a history of workers' strikes, riots, or popular demands for change may experience revolutions similar to the French Revolution. When the middle or upper classes become similarly disenchanted with a current government, a civil war or revolt may occur. Factions will also have a varying number of objectives such as establishing successful colonies, trade routes and dominance in certain regions as victory conditions. Rebellions and revolutions may occur, and are influenced by the form of government in place. When a revolution occurs, the player can opt to side with the rebellious forces or the loyalist troops. The type of government installed by the player in their faction will determine how other factions view the player and will influence their diplomatic relations. While religion no longer plays a central role as in Medieval II: Total War, it is still important in helping bring under control newly captured regions and in defining to some degree diplomatic relations between nations.
Warfare
The second major area of gameplay is the battle and or fighting system. Unlike the campaign part of the game, players control battles in real-time. As with all titles in the series after Shogun: Total War, battles in Empire: Total War can take place on both land and water. However, Empire is the first Total War title to allow naval battles as well as land-based engagements to be fought in real-time; previously, when a naval battle was fought it would be automatically resolved by the game's artificial intelligence, taking into account factors such as number of ships and crew, and armament types to decide the victor. Automatic resolution of battles during a campaign is an option for both land and sea battles. Outside the main campaign mode, players can participate in recreations of historical battles in the 18th century and early 19th century.
In land engagements, players are given access to an 18th-century army consisting of a variety of units, such as cavalry, musketeers, riflemen and artillery. Each unit has its own intrinsic advantages, disadvantages, cost, and overall level of effectiveness. Players must use 18th-century tactics and formations with the units they have available to defeat their enemies. The terrain of the battlefield and the weather also impact on how a battle is fought. Factions can lay siege to settlements, replacing open land battles with street fighting and close-quarters combat. Each unit has morale, which can increase if the battle goes well for their faction, or decrease in cases such as heavy casualties, army losses, being under artillery bombardment or the death of the general. Tactical situations such as attacking from a flank or a rear, or depriving a unit of allied reinforcements would also cause the morale of the unit to drop dramatically. When a unit's morale is sufficiently depleted, it will be routed and attempt to flee the battlefield. Depending on whether the unit's morale is merely broken or entirely shattered, the player may be able to rally the men in the unit and regroup. Victory in battle is achieved by causing every enemy unit to rout, or by annihilating the opposing army. In addition, siege battles can be won if the attacker manages to take control of the settlement's central square for a set amount of time. Empire: Total War also introduces several new battlefield elements to the Total War series. Units can take cover behind walls or in buildings, allowing increased interactivity with the terrain and making some buildings points of strategic interest. Field defences may be set up in real-time on the battlefield, to adjust for given situations. Infantry units can also scale small obstacles in the field, such as walls and fences. Weapons based on gunpowder are prone to accidents and can misfire. Each unit has different capabilities like Square Formation, Wedge, Diamond, Equip bayonets, or Fire at will.
In naval battles, players can control a fleet of up to twenty ships, varying in class, size, armament and crew. As in land-based conflicts, players must make use of 18th-century tactics to overcome enemy fleets. As with army units, each ship's crew has a set amount of morale that changes as a battle progresses; a crew may attempt to withdraw their vessel from the battle if their morale is broken, or in extreme cases may surrender without further enemy action. A battle is won when all of the hostile ships have been sunk or captured or have left the map. Individual ships can be adjusted to allow for a maximum field of fire while attempting to maintain a minimised target, all whilst remaining within an overall formation with the rest of the fleet. Players can designate which parts of a hostile ship they want a crew to target, making ships prone to sustaining authentic damage during a battle: masts can be toppled, sails and gun ports can be destroyed and various other damage can entirely disable a ship's ability to manoeuvre or eventually sink it. Various types of ammunition can be used during a battle, such as grapeshot, chain-shot and round shot, which have different uses, from killing enemy crew to disabling enemy movement. As battles progress, crews can attempt to board enemy vessels and fight hand-to-hand in an attempt to capture the ship. Lastly, the weather in a naval battle can impact how it is fought; bad weather can result in effects from poor visibility to endangering a ship's safety. Ships cannot be repaired in mid-battle unlike its successor, Napoleon: Total War but fires on board ships can be put out.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer comes in two forms in Empire: Total War. As with previous Total War titles, players can engage in real-time battles against each other either by creating the composition of their armies themselves, or reenacting historical battles. However, following a one-month delay of Empire: Total War in January 2009, the addition of a full campaign multiplayer mode was unveiled. The technology to create a multiplayer campaign game was not available in previous Total War games, and the extended development time allowed The Creative Assembly to implement the underlying technology for such a mode in Empire: Total War. The campaign multiplayer mode was first tested in a two-player beta build which was released on 7 December 2009.
Expansion
In September 2009, an expansion titled The Warpath Campaign was announced for release the following month, as was the next game in the series, Napoleon: Total War. The campaign, released as downloadable content, focuses on the battles of the Europeans and Native Americans throughout most of North and Central America. The new campaign expands the North American territories and features 5 new playable factions: Iroquois, Cherokee, Huron, Pueblo and Plains Nations. New researchable technologies were also added, along with the new scout and shaman agents and new faction specific objectives. Napoleon: Total War, released February 2010, focuses on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, building upon the technology used for Empire: Total War. Napoleon was released as a standalone game rather than an expansion for a number of reasons, mostly to do with technical limitations; according to Mike Simpson "the level of detail required to successfully depict the Napoleonic Wars is an order of magnitude greater than we were working to with Empire: Total War". Empire and Napoleon Total War Collection - Game of the Year was then released on 1 October 2010 joining both games together, including all of the available downloadable content.
Un jeu de stratégie tactique dans lequel le joueur prend le contrôle d'armées au XVIIIe siècle, dans d'épiques batailles sur terre comme sur mer, par le studio Creative Assembly, portage Linux par le studio Feral Interactive.
Empire: Total War est le cinquième opus (après Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War, Rome: Total War et Medieval II: Total War) de la série Total War. C'est un jeu de stratégie solo/multi avec une gestion de l'empire province par province au tour par tour et des affrontements tactiques en temps réel sur terre comme sur mer, transposant le système de jeu des précédents opus dans l'Europe, l'Amérique du Nord, l'Inde, le Moyen-Orient et les Caraïbes du début de l'époque moderne entre 1700 et la fin du XVIIIe siècle sur des champs de bataille en 3D. Pour cela, le joueur peut faire appel à la force mais aussi à la religion et à la diplomatie.
Dominez le 18ème siècle sur terre et sur mer
Commandez les mers, contrôlez la terre, forgez une nouvelle nation, et partez à la conquête du monde.
Empire: Total War porte la série Total War au XVIIIe siècle des Lumières - un temps de bouleversements politiques, de progrès militaires, et de la pensée radicale, dans une réalisation tout en détails magnifiques et vous délivrant un total contrôle.
Empire: Total War introduit une foule de nouvelles fonctionnalités révolutionnaires, y compris de vrais combats navals en 3D. Pour la première fois dans la série Total War, commandez intuitivement des navires seuls ou de vastes flottes sur de riches paysages marins avec des effets d'eau et des conditions météorologiques extraordinaires jouant un rôle énorme dans votre glorieux succès ou dans votre éventuelle honteuse défaite. Après avoir trituré votre ennemi à coups de canons, verrouillez son navire au grappin et préparez-vous à passer à l'abordage, en prenant le contrôle de vos hommes dans des combats au corps à corps sur les ponts de ces mastodontes de bois.
🌍️ Wikipedia :
Empire: Total War est un jeu vidéo de stratégie au tour par tour et de tactique en temps réel développé par Creative Assembly et publié par Sega en mars 2009 sur PC et en septembre 2012 sur Macintosh. Le jeu est le cinquième opus de la série des Total War dont il transpose le système de jeu dans l'Europe, l'Amérique du Nord, l'Inde, le Moyen-Orient et les Caraïbes du début de l'époque moderne entre 1700 et la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Comme ses prédécesseurs, le jeu mélange des phases de stratégie au tour par tour, lors desquelles le joueur gère son empire province par province, et des phases d'affrontements tactiques se déroulant en temps réel dans un environnement en trois dimensions. Le joueur y contrôle une des puissances de l'époque cherchant à étendre sa domination et à fonder un empire. Pour cela, le joueur peut faire appel à la puissance de son armée mais aussi à la religion, à l’espionnage, à la diplomatie et à l’économie.
À sa sortie, le jeu est bien reçu par la presse spécialisée qui met en avant sa profondeur stratégique, son réalisme historique et la qualité de ses graphismes. En septembre 2009, le jeu a bénéficié d'une nouvelle campagne disponible en téléchargement – baptisée The Warpath Campaign – se focalisant sur la conquête de l'Amérique du Nord et incorporant cinq nouvelles factions. Il a ensuite bénéficié d'une suite, baptisée Napoleon: Total War et publiée en février 2010, dont la campagne retrace les Guerres napoléoniennes.
Système de jeu
Empire: Total War porte sur le XVIIIe siècle. Le jeu mêle stratégie au tour-par-tour, à la manière des jeux de guerre, et combats en temps réel, à la manière d'un jeu de stratégie en temps réel. Avec une nouvelle stratégie due à l'époque jouée, des batailles navales apparaissent, les sièges des châteaux n'ont pas beaucoup d'importance vu que les armées stationnent la plupart du temps en dehors des villes. Des révolutions et des rébellions ont lieu, ce qui provoque des troubles internes dans le pays concerné. L'impôt peut être payé seulement par des classes sociales comme les nobles, ou le peuple.
La généralisation du feu dans les armées rend par conséquent les unités de mêlée obsolètes et inutiles si mal utilisées (en effet, il ne s'agit plus de charger de front pour l'emporter, une volée massive à courte portée étant dévastatrice pour le moral et les rangs). Cependant, les charges de cavalerie, si elles interviennent à des moments opportuns, peuvent bouleverser une bataille, et décider d'une victoire. L'artillerie bénéficie également d'une importance accrue sur le champ de bataille, cette dernière pouvant affaiblir l'ennemi pendant sa progression vers les lignes, ou encore le forcer à quitter une position défensive abondamment pilonnée afin d'engager le combat.
Nous noterons également l'apparition d'un nouveau système de recherche technologique. En effet, il est désormais possible pour le joueur de développer des technologies organisées en trois principales branches (militaire, industriel et philosophique), elles-mêmes subdivisées en sous-domaines. La chose s'effectue grâce à la construction de collèges, qu'investissent des gentilshommes (allant de Newton à Kant) afin d'y accélérer les recherches. L'avancée technologique donne véritablement un avantage dans les batailles, surtout quand elle octroie l'habileté relative au feu par rang qui triple la puissance de feu, ou encore celle relative aux baïonnettes, sans compter celles améliorant de façon notable les munitions d'artillerie.
Nous noterons également la disparition de la faction rebelle, présente dans tous les Total War. En effet, à présent, les différents territoires sont occupés par des nations majeures ou mineures.
Faction
• Empire d'Autriche (composant du Saint-Empire romain germanique)
• États-Unis (La route vers l'indépendance)
• Empire Marathe
• Empire ottoman
• Provinces-Unies
• Royaume d'Espagne
• Royaume de France
• Royaume de Prusse
• Royaume de Suède
• Royaume-Uni
• Treize colonies (La route vers l'Indépendance)
• Union de Pologne-Lituanie
Le reste de la carte est composée de factions non-jouables, certaines étant présentes dès le début de la campagne, d'autres apparaissant ultérieurement à la suite d'une révolution. À noter que même détruite, toute faction peut réapparaître sur la carte grâce à une révolution mais la destruction de la faction du joueur reste synonyme de défaite.
Champ de bataille
Empire: Total War comporte des batailles terrestres en temps réel comme les autres Total War, mais surtout des batailles navales en 3D, un nouveau gameplay de la série jusque là encore jamais exploitée. Quelques nouveautés :
• La mise à feu des canons et des mousquets est rendue plus réaliste.
• La musique transforme à sa manière le champ de bataille avec des tambours et des trompettes.
• Les armes peuvent être enrayées et avoir des ratés, la pluie peut mouiller la poudre et donc compliquer la mise à feu.
• De nouvelles animations (les soldats peuvent donner des coups de crosse à l'aide de leur fusil avant d'achever leurs ennemis à la baïonnette) qui rendent les mêlées bien plus réalistes.
• Les combats ont été réalisés à l'aide de la capture de mouvement, ce qui les rend beaucoup plus réalistes et agréables à regarder.
• Il y a une nouvelle évolution du moteur graphique.
Carte de campagne
La "Carte de Campagne" est une des marques de fabrique de la série Total War. Elle prend la forme d'une carte en 3D couvrant une partie du monde, reprenant ainsi le principe des wargames. Le joueur peut y recruter des troupes, construire des bâtiments et créer un empire, le but du jeu étant de conquérir un maximum de territoires (dont une partie obligatoire) en usant de diplomatie ou de force militaire. Lorsque deux armées ou flottes ennemies se rencontrent, le joueur a la possibilité d'aller sur le champ de bataille pour diriger ses troupes en temps réel (cf. la partie "champ de bataille).
L'intelligence artificielle de la diplomatie et de la tactique militaire a été largement revue par les programmeurs. En effet, l'IA ne se contentera plus d'avancer en ligne vers la position du joueur, mais usera de diversions en envoyant par exemple un détachement vers un des flancs, pour ensuite lancer sa force principale sur l'autre flanc, tout en maintenant une force réduite mais étirée au centre afin de créer une illusion de solidité.
Certains bâtiments sont stationnés en dehors des capitales, comme les mines, les ports ou les fermes. Ces derniers pouvant bien sûr être capturés par l'ennemi. Lorsqu'une autre armée vient à attaquer celle-ci, le combat se déclenche au sein de la ville, le défenseur se retranchant au sein de cette dernière. Pour simuler au mieux les combats de rue qui apparaissaient à l'époque, les développeurs ont modélisé des bâtiments (fermes, mairies…) permettant au joueur d'y positionner un ou deux régiments qui harcèleront toute unité ennemie parvenant à portée de leurs mousquets, tout en se protégeant du feu ennemi. Notons cependant que des troupes stationnées dans un bâtiment demeurent des cibles de choix, car grandes et immobiles, pour des tirs massifs d'artillerie.
• La carte est divisée en plusieurs zones, une par continent (Europe, Amérique du Nord, et Inde que l'on pourra faire défiler entre eux via un système de flèches sous la mini-carte). Des points de commerce maritime importants (Indonésie, Brésil, Côte d'Ivoire, canal du Mozambique) permettent de créer des routes commerciales grâce à des comptoirs, et donc de gagner de l'argent. Les denrées exotiques obtenues de ces comptoirs permettent en effet d'enrichir la nation qui en fait le commerce, mais le jeu prend en compte le mécanisme de l'offre et de la demande, empêchant ainsi un enrichissement proportionnel au nombre de comptoirs occupés. Au bout d'un certain volume, le produit en question rapporte de moins en moins au joueur.
• Il y a trois nouveaux types de gouvernements qui peuvent être destitués lors de révolutions : monarchie absolue, république et monarchie constitutionnelle. Lors d'une révolution, le joueur a le choix entre le camp des loyalistes, et celui des révolutionnaires. Si la révolution est provoquée par la noblesse, le régime instauré en cas de victoire de la révolution sera une monarchie absolue. Si le "bas-peuple" en est à l'origine, ce sera une république.
• Chaque régime politique a ses caractéristiques : la monarchie absolue permet de fidéliser la noblesse, mais le développement technologique et économique demeure faible. Le roi peut cependant licencier et remplacer ses ministres avec pour seule limite le nombre de candidats (limités à 5, avec un nouveau par tour). La république profite à la classe moyenne, d'où une prospérité accrue et un développement technologique rapide. Le président a cependant peu de pouvoir, ne pouvant limoger qu'un ministre à la fois et ayant des élections à remporter tous les 10 tours. La monarchie constitutionnelle demeure un compromis entre les deux.
• Il y a 5 à 7 ministres : Diplomatie, Finance, Justice, Guerre et Marine (éventuellement les ministres des Amériques et des Indes pour les factions européennes, et celui d'Europe pour l'empire Marathe et les États-Unis)
• Il y a des élections pour les républiques et les monarchies constitutionnelles.
• Il y a 2 sortes de taxes : une pour les classes inférieures et une autre pour les classes moyennes. Si l'écart entre les deux taxes est trop important, il y a une révolution déclenchée par la classe surtaxée.
• Il n'y a pas qu'une ville par région, mais plusieurs petites ou moyennes villes dispersées autour d'une capitale.
• Le joueur peut construire librement des forts fixes permanents pour protéger son territoire, bien qu'il doive prendre garde à ce que l'ennemi ne les retourne pas contre lui.
• La disparition de la faction rebelle est à noter, présente jusqu'alors dans tous les Total War. Dorénavant les différents territoires sont occupés soit par les nations majeures, soit par les factions mineures, soit par des rebelles nationalistes, politiquement inactifs et hostiles à tous.
Extensions
En septembre 2009, The Creative Assembly annonce être en train de développer une extension, baptisée The Warpath Campaign, devant être publiée un mois plus tard, ainsi que le prochain opus de la série, Napoleon: Total War. The Warpath Campaign est publié sous forme de contenu téléchargeable et se focalise sur les affrontements entre les Européens et les Amérindiens en Amérique du Nord et en Amérique Centrale. Sa nouvelle campagne propose ainsi de nouvelles régions à explorer en Amérique et propose cinq nouvelles factions jouables : les Iroquois, les Cherokee, les Huron, les Pueblos et les Lakotas. L’extension inclut également de nouvelles technologies pouvant être recherchées par les joueurs, de nouveaux objectifs spécifiques à chaque faction et de nouveaux agents, l’éclaireur et le chaman. De son côté, Napoleon est publié en février 2010 par Sega, sa campagne se focalisant sur les Guerres napoléoniennes. Bien que basé sur le même moteur de jeu que Empire: Total War, il est finalement publié sous la forme d’un stand-alone, les développeurs considérant que le niveau de détail requis pour dépeindre correctement les Guerres napoléoniennes est beaucoup plus important que ce qu’ils avaient fait pour le jeu original.