Quote Originally Posted by Pontius Pilate View Post
I think CA has to come up with a completety new idea for their next installment. Because lets face it, if they continue making total war games in the style of Rome, MTW2, Empire, etc., no matter what they come up with it's just going to be the same as the status quoe except with better graphics, new units, and an revampted map. But there will be nothing radical about it. I mean you could even say that MTW2 was just RTW with better graphics. I think they may have to change their whole underlying system and start from scratch. Of course this might end in disaster. But I think they will lose a lot of customers who aren't die-hard total war fans if they don't change completely after Empire. Because come on, it's just going to be the same thing over and over again...
Hah, that's what happened to my second most favorite franchise: Empire Earth. Age of Empires had the future in mind when they made their first game. They are making one game per historical era - one for antiquity, one for medieval, one for imperial, and maybe one for 20th century as well as possibly even the future. EE games, on the other hand, covered all of history, with no room for unique future releases. Empire Earth I was my most favorite computer game after RTW. Empires: Dawn of the Modern World was likewise brilliant, and I liked it just as well as EEI. However EEII was boring, and I never even got EEIII, which was a complete disaster. As you can see, the lack of room for unique future releases kills a franchise. One simply cannot make the same game over and over again.