Don't believe all the negative reviews, definitely worth the investment.
Negatives:
Can Not Separate Armies from Generals
No Family Tree
No Princesses
Long Load Time after Turn
Diplomatic Agreements Fruitless
Can't Load Individual Armies onto Fleets
Glitches, Glitches, Glitches, Poorly Programmed AI
Lackluster Graphics
Lack of Manual Options to Micro-Manage Economics, Buildings and Infrastructure
Those are the biggest annoyances to me. The worst thing is the armies having to be grouped with generals in my opinion. This makes it impossible to keep your settlements and cities happy, because you don't have enough generals to occupy your settlements and cities to maintain happiness and at the same time attack and expand.
Positives:
Fast Game-Play
Multiplayer Campaign Option
Edicts When Controlling a Complete Region
Traditions for Generals and Armies
Quickly Level Up Agents and Generals
Nifty Reinforcements From Nearby Ships during Battles Real Time
More Destructible Environments during Battles
More Individualistic Settlements during Battles
Cool pre-Defensive Abilities, like Rolling Fire Balls
Larger Armies
The coolest feature to me is the multi-player campaign possibility if they get it working correctly. I enjoy the fast game play as well, which helps the game become less stagnant. However, I only have about 15 hours of game play and haven't had a chance to play all the factions. I thought I would put a review up for anyone who is contemplating getting the game, but having doubts due to the negative reviews. If you are a Total War fan, definitely get this game, different, but still quite enjoyable. I think people have gotten so used to the previous games when a company changes things people get too nostalgic and instantly become hostile and write a negative review. Fun now, will be great once all the kinks are fixed with updates. 8/10