The king of strategy games has stumbled for the first time in ten years, but still dons a new crown.
I feel like I'm playing Rome: Total War again because the characters are more cookie-cutter like, especially the English and American troops which all seem to have the same face despite uniform differences. The old pathfinding issues are back from the previous games, and you can forget about telling more than four units at a time where to go without them moving in opposite directions. Sieges are almost as useless as in Shogun: Total War, where there's basically a limited amount of options to attacking a fortress and, as a defender, you have almost no control over your troops. This really disappoints me because sieges have always been my favorite part of the TW series since the first Medieval. Empire's siege defenses require you to simply set your men up at choke points and hope for the best, which is agonizing when you watch your men wander outside of the fort, climb down enemy ropes, and refuse to man a rampart.
Outside of that, my hat is off to Creative Assembly for creating an entirely new combat system while maintaining the spirit of the parent games of the series. The greater use of rifles and the lack of heavy armor have completely changed how attacks are executed and how well field defenses hold up. Friendly fire is more prevalent than ever, and it's not uncommon to see one platoon of Rangers annihilate a friendly cavalry unit just for crossing the line of fire. This, in turn, calls for longer, thinner ranks as you place your men, instead of stacking archers behind thick rows of spearmen. After ten years of "attack with cavalry and sword, defend with archers and spears", I have to read every unit description carefully and determine who can lead a charge, who needs to stand and shoot, and who can do both. Dragoon units now charge to the line on horseback and can serve as light cavalry, but then jump off their horses and become line troops, something we haven't seen since M:TW1.
The new ship combat is VERY disappointing. Enemy ships can take a ridiculous amount of damage, and wind direction and sail integrity is not near enough of a factor as it should be. Yet again, as in so many naval combat games, ship tactics do not translate properly into an entertaining format, and naval engagements are either boring and tedious, or a frantic uncontrollable mess. There's a prominent navigation bug where if I select more than four ships and click in front of them, they all turn 180 degrees and sail the opposite direction. I find myself auto-calculating ship combat, as well as siege battles in Empire, so basically I'm right back to playing like I always have in past TW games.
I played through the "Road to Independence" campaign/tutorial, then started a full British campaign, focusing on the American theatre map. I have to say that the inception of the technology tree is a wonderful way to feel more hands-on with the development of my empire, especially since diplomacy and tax management have been streamlined. A real ruler has to consider their nations as a whole, and nitypicky micromanaging can actually be a waste of time, but in terms of entertainment, many of us grognards like to get our hands dirty with details. I would have liked to see the full options for individual territories remain. The tech tree accommodates the new system by helping establish the overall direction of your nation toward social economics, agrarian output, warrior advancements, or all three. You can focus on building the most advanced army in the world, but end up fighting your starving people internally as they scream for a revolution.
The people themselves have taken place of the Church or Counsel from past Total War games in being the thorn in your side. Instead of sending you random missions and wild goose Crusades, however, they have to actually be appeased as you simultaneously strangle them for taxes and cooperation. It all makes perfect, brutal sense, and you still have a hands-on feel while tending to the populace as a whole. I have also noticed the enemy AI is much craftier on the campaign map. I've been suckered into quite a few fights where a city was under-guarded with a small army hidden beyond the fog of war. When I moved to attack the city my strike force was pummeled by an army twice its size.
A slow-motion bug on the battle map, persistent sound bugs, and my graphics card completely disagreeing with the water reflections on the battle map, all give the game an "unpolished" feeling. I don't think this will dethrone Medieval II as my all-time favorite Creative Assembly creation, but it certainly qualifies as innovative to the series. They've created a unique Total War experience, but the bugs tarnish the game play jewels on the new crown.