Gabe Graziani from GameSpy writes:
"In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say that I've never played a Total War game before. My duties over the past few years at GameSpy have primarily focused on the console side of gaming, so my contact with the extreme edge of hardcore RTSes or 4X games has been limited to the likes of Command & Conquer 3 and Halo Wars (notice that I didn't even mention Civilization Revolution... I may not be super-conversant, but I'm not stupid either). So when Miguel asked me to sit in on a demo of Empire: Total War, my first reaction was, 'Me? Really?'"
Spiffy:
* Incredibly expansive, a game of massive scale
* Superb attention to detail
* Relatively simple user interface
Iffy:
* A steep (albeit surmountable) learning curve
* Crushingly clever AI
* Friendly fire is "on" for cannon emplacements
It’s Total War Week at the Humble Store. Games in the popular strategy franchise are up to 75 percent off.
PC Invasion: Classic Total War games such as Medieval II, Empire, and Napoleon now have their Definitive Editions which includes all the DLC. Players who already own the respective base games get the DLC as a free update.
If you didn't know, Time Commanders was a TV show that ran for 3 series back into the early noughties.
I don't really agree with the iffys. A complex game is good in an age where games are increasingly being simplified to appeal to a broader audience; the AI is much improved over previous installments in the series; and friendly fire alludes to my first statement concerning complexity and learning curve.