Empire: Total War hands-on preview

Land Battles

Land battles in Empire initially look similar to those of any other Total War game. You’ve still got blocks and lines of men all neatly arrayed, there are still groups of chaps on horses ready to charge in and take all the glory, and there are still artillery units to add a bit of expediency to the mix. Generally that’s all true, but as we’ve said, the fact that just about every man now has a gun significantly changes things.

In fact, things are different from the very start. If you’ve researched the required technology, you can now fortify your position with obstacles in the Deployment phase and in real-time.

Chevaux de fries – like wooden anti-tank caltrops – will hinder cavalry charges as well as potentially funnelling infantry into deadly crossfire situations. Other obstacles include infantry earthworks and gabions (large earth-filled wicker baskets to build gun emplacements from) that can protect against artillery.


Just as each cannonball and mast is individually modelled, so is every man and musket-ball – all 20,000-odd. This is a mighty undertaking for the physics engine, but means that a man standing behind a tree will have better protection than a man of the same unit standing out in the open.

To add extra cover, you can garrison troops in buildings, and we’ve seen plenty of evidence of bloody urban battles in the time we've spent with the game.

With firepower king on the battlefield, manoeuvring to get the most from your guns is crucial. We saw a recreation of an historical battle between Russia and the Ottoman Empire where the AI spread its forces in a long thin line to bring every gun it had to bear upon the Russians. This had the obvious downside of being very easy to punch through, though, and the now battle-hardened CA player quickly routed the Ottomans.


The AI wasn’t given much chance to react in this battle, but CA tells us that it’s been completely re-written for Empire. Previously CA used a chess-like decision tree, where the AI would choose to do X or Y if presented with situation A. In Empire, the AI runs a ‘goal-orientated action plan system’ where it has certain to-do objectives such as destroy opposition cavalry and protect own general which it ranks and re-prioritises as new situations crop up.

At this point, it looks like Empire will allow you to zoom out of a battlefield map further than previous Total War games. This is helpful, as these maps are bigger than before. As with all Total War games, the troops look stunning whether you’re watching an army march across a field or you’ve zoomed right into the bloody action.

Talking of marching, units now march in formation. Previous Total War games have been a bit flaky in this respect, with carefully arranged army formations breaking into a rabble as soon as you move them. As such, it was often a valid tactic in Rome and Medieval II to sit back and let an army come to you. With Empire, you’re more able to take the fight to an opponent, and on your own terms.


Another criticism of Medieval II was that it essentially saw blokes in armour fighting blokes in armour, which felt monotonous after the massive variety of Rome. Empire looks like it’ll avoid that flaw with both a range of fundamentally different units for the 50 factions (only 12 of which are playable) and different tactics for each faction.

For example, France has a particular fighting style to reflect the excellence of the French soldier during this era, and also has access to special French tactics. Even further, generals from certain factions will also apply their own particular tactics which you’ll have to deal with. The upside of this is that if you encounter that same general later in the game, you’ll know what kind of tactics he favours and be able to adjust yours accordingly.