"Your general is dead"
k rip thx

Oh yes, oh yes.
Now for my pros and cons list
Pros:
Lots of Units
Lots of Countries
Lots of Annexing
Lots of Capturing
Lots of British
Lots of India
Lots of Trade
Lots of Negotiating
Lots of Generals
Lots of Boats
Lots of Horses
Lots of cannons

Cons:
A lot of the countries, when trying to negotiate with them, are either big jerks or ♥♥♥♥ing stupid.
Ex:

Me
Offers:
All Tech
5000 Dollars
4 Regions
Indefinite Military Access
Access to Trade Routes
Demands:
Military Access: 5 turns

NPCs:
No

Took over the entire world with Russia.
10/10 Would create my own Soviet Union again

George Washington died of old age during Act Two of Road to Independence.

10/10 for historical accuracy

First Total War game, and still is my faviort after playing Napelon, Shogun 2, Rome II, and Attila. (Not saying those games are bad) The game just has somthing to it that is diffrent from every other Total War game. I would sugest to new Total War players.

Took over the whole world playing as the Russians.
10/10 Would make my own Soviet Union again
Stalin would be proud.

Watching a line of infintry march down a field while cannon balls explode around them is awesome!

Amazing game, basically allowed me to turn Isaac Newton into a scholar assasin.

It's one of the best Rts games I've ever bought. Totally worth the $20

I've really enjoyed playing Empire: Total War.

It has the perfect balance between detail and size. Medieval II: Total War, for instance, has so much detail it's hard to look at.

But Empire is in that happy zone of size versus detail. It has great replay value, because of the level of gameplay details. At the same time, it doesn't get bogged down by virtue of being too detailed. This keeps the gameplay moving. I find it particularly refreshing in a Total War title, since I love playing them but get tired of the later-game level of nation management. In short, it doesn't drag you down with administrative tasks as the game gets into the later stages. You can keep conquering enemy nations, instead of keeping your nation afloat with never-ending building management, like in the original Medieval: Total War.

The level of advice in the game is perfect for newbies, or for players returning after a long hiatus. It really holds your hand and shows you the ropes, all without being too intrusive. After you've wrung all you can from the advice, you can turn it down or off.

The new battle mechanics of using largely gunpowder troops is a switch for Total War. Of course, previous titles were dominated by hand-to-hand combat with pikes, swords, and the like. Lining up blocks of infanty, by contrast, may get boring after a while since it has less detail. But that depends on the type of player you are.

Instead of concentrating all of a province's buildings in the region capital, there are now buildings spread throughout the province. For instance, farms, universities, and industrial buildings are spread throughout the province. This makes the game more interesting to look at, since it isn't a meaningless landscape dotted with region capitals. It also gives an added stragegic element to the game: you can pillage these buildings, and thus remove the benefits they provide the other nation. For instance, you can pillage a university and thus take it out of action. It then can't do research for the nation you're fighting. These buildings can be repaired for cash in one turn. But still it puts a monkey wrench in the works, especially if it's an advanced building which is expensive to repair.

The different strategic regions (Europe, The New World, India) feel very balanced. It's especially fun to be fighting in North America around the time range of the American Revolution. India feels very boring, since it's basically an inverted triangle. But still, it has a meaningful level of detail to it. It doesn't just feel like a sideshow, though you can ignore it if you wish.

I like that you can send trading ships, called Indiamen, to different places in the world to bring back valuable resources. So for instance, you can dispatch an Indiaman to the west coast of Africa to bring back ivory for your nation to sell to other nations. It's a good source of income, and I like the reliability and simplicity of it. It's a very nice touch.

Diplomacy has a good deal of detail. For instance, if you're allied to a nation, break your alliance with it and then attack it, you'll get a permanent negative rating with most of the nations of the world. They don't like treaty violators! It makes them think twice about engaging in any deals with you. So be careful who you ally with. Don't do it as a convenience which you intend to break 10 turns later. Additionally, there are "historical grievances" between different nations based on their actual history. So for instance, the United Provinces have historical grievances with Spain because of Spain's attempts to conquer the nation. It adds a nice amount of...landscape to diplomacy. It doesn't feel like you're all just a bunch of random nations dumped into an Earth-like arena with no background. It feels more like actual history.

Unfortunately, you can't play as the United States. I guess they thought that it would be impossible to make it into a meaningful power with any realism. Still, it would have been nice to try! So if you would like to have a part in American history, it will have to be secondary part. For instance, in my first campaign I was playing as Prussia and conquered Britain. This sparked the American Revolution by eliminating the Original Thirteen's rulers across the sea. So you can be involved, but only in a secondary way.

So if you like Total War games, and especially if you'd like one that moves a little faster than previous titles, give Empire: Total War a whirl!

Despite the terrible ai, the game is pretty great. It was amazing for its time and it is pretty good for todays standards as well. I would even go as far as to say some features in this game surpass some other Total war games recently released. I've never really had that much fun with trading as i had in this game as of late.

Dont buy this as your first Total war game though. I think the newer titles are better for that. Unless you are particulary interested in the time period this game offers.