Empire Total War -- Special Forces Edition

[Martok]

Well this is interesting:


Link

In a time when a soldier’s life could be given easily and quickly, it took extreme courage and determination for a true hero to forge a reputation for themselves.

Whether through harsh and highly disciplined training, generations of successful military tradition or world-leading technology, the units available as part of the Empire: Total War Special Forces Edition are among the very best of the best.

The Special Forces Edition introduces six of the most influential military forces of the 18th Century. True to the period, these exclusive elite units become available on the campaign map via a certain faction or once a specific geographical region is under control.

Each elite unit brings with it the potential to open up dramatic new strategies and turn the tide of your campaign. A cornerstone of your Empire’s land or naval forces, each has the potential to be used to decisive and devastating effect.

The following elite units are included as part of the Empire: Total War Special Forces Edition. This premium packaged edition for aficionados of the Total War series comes complete with an illustrated campaign map and unique Steam unlock code. Once the game is installed and verified by Steam, players can enter their code and unlock these elite units which will then appear in the single player game.

HMS Victory:
The Royal Navy’s most distinguished and formidable first rate ship of the line; Lord Nelson’s 104 gun flagship is one of the most heavily armed ships of the 18th Century.

Rogers’ Rangers:
Major Robert Rogers’ company of rangers are highly trained elite light infantry, specialising in reconnaissance and special operations. They are extremely mobile in even the most challenging environments.

Ottoman Organ Gun:
A viciously powerful field gun, able to inflict incredible damage on the opposing army. Emphatic proof of the Ottoman Empire’s advanced knowledge of gunpowder and firearms technology.

Ghoorkas:
"Better to die than be a coward" has been the motto of these elite Nepalese soldiers for centuries. Disciplined, tough and courageous, they carry a deadly 18-inch long, curved knife known as the kukri.

Corso Terrestre Guerillas:
An independent light infantry guerrilla regiment, experienced in skirmish and stealth tactics. Surprise raids and ambushes are the guerillas’ favoured tactics, a way to compensate for their limited number and light armour.

Bulkeley's Regiment:
A French unit of Irish mercenaries with a fearsome reputation for hardiness. Exceptionally tough and resilient, they make for a highly flexible and dependable regiment.

[Mailman653]

In other words if you put down extra cash for the Special Ed, not only you get a nice box and other fancy stuff, you get special units that might not get included in the normal version. Hmm....
Well, at least the article states this is SP only, that would prevent any unfair advantages in MP between people with the SE and the normal version


Decisions, decisions decisions...

[batemonkey]

i don't like it, too gimicky

[rajpoot]

By the soundof it, the units are there in all versions, but you need a special code from the special forces edition to unlock them.............kind of.....funny........what of the modders? They tinker around with game files, what if one of them unlocks the units? Will it be illeagel? Or piracy?

[Mailman653]

I recall a game like that not too long ago, I forgot what it was where if you pre-ordered it you got access to some special item or map, and once it was released modders eventually figured how to get without the pre-order code. If I'm not mistaken, the publishers eventually included the special pre-order content in a patch I think.

[Marius Dynamite]

I won't buy it out of principle.

I don't mind buying special editions for things like artwork, but the actual software shouldn't be touched.

[Pantsalot]

I recall a game like that not too long ago, I forgot what it was where if you pre-ordered it you got access to some special item or map,

It's a variety of places like play & Amazon that you can pre-order it from, it's shown on a list
in the pre-order section of the Empire website. The item you get for pre-ordering is US ship
called the USS Constitution.

I like the special edition units & it's good their adding something that will actually make me want
to get it instead of just posters & stickers & a nice shiny box. But me & another 70% of the world
personally h8 the US so I don't like what's included in the pre-order, Y don't they make it something
like a new mercenary unit? or a unit that all countries may have? I'm never going to play as US but
I may fight them..

Nice to hear that they're making a demo & you will only need to install with the disk & won't need to
play with it

[Mailman653]

Where does it say you can get the Consitution? The ship saw service long after the end of the Revolution so kind of doesn't fit into the timeline the game is set in, although I suppose the same could be said about steamships.

All those units in the SE aren't even US related, at least two of those are English.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Can one pre-order the Special Forces Edition? I only see a pre-order for the regular edition.

[TevashSzat]

Methinks that what'll happen is that these extra units are packaged along with the normal copy, but simply not accessible and it'll just take some file alterations to let those with regular copies use them

[Vuk]

I will buy nothing Steam related. I certainly hope that Empire Total War will not require STEAM... :{ I remember when I was the biggest HL fan ever, and dying to get my hands on HL2. When I heard it had STEAM on it I wept like a baby for 2 years and would not buy it (still haven't and never will unless a non-STEAM version is released). I hope Empire is not STEAMified, or else I will be out another game that I am greatly anticipating...


EDIT: Ouch, I see that I will be missing out on this one. Darnnit, they just had to go and do it...

[Sol Invictus]

I would prefer that ETW wasn't "STEAMified" as well, but what is your main complaint with Steam Vuk?

[hellenes]

I will buy nothing Steam related. I certainly hope that Empire Total War will not require STEAM... :{ I remember when I was the biggest HL fan ever, and dying to get my hands on HL2. When I heard it had STEAM on it I wept like a baby for 2 years and would not buy it (still haven't and never will unless a non-STEAM version is released). I hope Empire is not STEAMified, or else I will be out another game that I am greatly anticipating...


EDIT: Ouch, I see that I will be missing out on this one. Darnnit, they just had to go and do it...

This is the problem with these insane and futile "antipiracy" attempts....it breeds more pirates instead of vanishing them...because any pirated Steam game comes as a hassle free simple install form with STEAM being ripped out of the system....

[Sabuti]

No sir, I don't like it. I don't like it at all. How much more will it cost? For what? An illustrated map, which is just fluff, and 6 elite units.

1. Assuming you bought the SF edition. Can more than one of these elite units be trained? If you can have only one, can you bring them back to full strenghth with retraining?

2. It says the code unlocks the units, so obviously the units are already in the game, making two different CD's would be wasteful cost-wise. If I'm already going to pay you $50.00 for a game, how much more should I pay you to use content I already have?


[EDIT: No CA-bashing, please. -- Martok]


PS In general, with online game downloads vs buying the CD copy, shouldn't the onlie one be about $10.00 cheaper since you are not also getting the CD's, box, booklets and other related production overhead items?

[Mailman653]

http://www.sega.co.uk/news/?n=2427

A bit more that may have been missed.

also this: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...19&tag=nl.e579

Good article.

As for the SFE, sounds interesting because the news states its only in regards to the UK. So it seems like its an UK exclusive, sounds a little unfair not to include the rest of Europe with that edition.

I don't mention the US since it's possible they might have their own thing going as with someone stating earlier that the US version might have a special ship unit.

[Sabuti]

Good article.

As for the SFE, sounds interesting because the news states its only in regards to the UK. So it seems like its an UK exclusive, sounds a little unfair not to include the rest of Europe with that edition.

I don't mention the US since it's possible they might have their own thing going as with someone stating earlier that the US version might have a special ship unit.

The SFE info is on the main Empire site. It's not a UK exclusive.

[PBI]

Am I right in thinking it doesn't actually mention anywhere how much more it'll cost?

If it's a couple of pounds extra, I might consider it (mostly cause of the map, I do like a good map to plan my conquests on). If it's twice the price, probably not.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I will be getting the limited edition.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Nice, special units!

It's like flaming pigs and Arcani in RTW and Battlefield Assassins in M2TW!

[darrin42]

Interesting? I think its a bloody disgrace! Just another money making scheme. They could just as easily, put them units into the normal game. Deff shall not be buying this.

[Martok]

I have to admit, I'm halfway tempted to get the SF Edition (assuming it's available here in the U.S.) simply for the box art. It looks much cooler than the regular cover. I've also always liked the idea of a paper map, even if it is superfluous -- I'm just a sucker for maps.

[Mailman653]

Play nice.

I have to agree with Martok, I'm half tempted for the SFE, what would have me sold is if it came with some kind of DVD extra from the History Channel or AE, like what they did with RTW and MTW2.

[Sheogorath]

Play nice.

I have to agree with Martok, I'm half tempted for the SFE, what would have me sold is if it came with some kind of DVD extra from the History Channel or AE, like what they did with RTW and MTW2.

Bah. While we were on the subject of countries we hate, I had a thing or two to say about Lichtenstein. The bastards.

Anyway...the units aren't very tempting. It seems like they took the regular approach and focused on Western European nations, throwing in a generic 'organ gun lol' as a sort of bone to those of us that think Western Europe is boring.
It'll probably be just about as useful as the MTW2 one >_>;

[rajpoot]

It sounds like even if one does buy the SFE, even then not all units will be available.......most of the elite ones, but not all; Some will be available on pre-order from specific websites like Amazon etc.....so, it's like even if you are willing to spend all that money, you still won't have access to every elite unit in any case, in a single copy of the game.
I sure wish to know what'll it be if modders do unlock these units......and yes, like pevergreen has asked, will it be all right to share the mods that do it on the org........?

[Fisherking]

Well if no one else noticed Roger’s Ranger’s I did! That is an American Colonial-English unit, one of several put together by William Johnson in the French and Indian War…

It said something about times and locations to spawn some of the units too.

I like the booklets and paper maps to go along with the game also. That said, cost is still an issue, but the way I read it, it is sort of a preorder bonus or download… I will have to look a little deeper into it.

[Martok]

Incidentally, you can see a picture of the Special Forces box and its contents here.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I might buy it for the maps but certainly not for the units. Modders will correct (or improve upon?) the absense, and good tactics should be able to make quick work of them anyway...

Now, will I be able to buy the SF edition a while after the main release or is it restricted to pre-ordering?

[Fisherking]

Something I found when looking at the preordering links was at play.com they had listed that they have exclusive link to add the USS Constitution to the game.

I found it odd that this is a UK company and they have exclusive add-on of the most famous US ship…

But some how I think these links and codes are something the players will be able to share…I hope so, but I could be wrong…

[Praxil]

I'm pretty sure that there will be someone who will quickly get these units out as an mod. And that probably doesn't take more than an hour to provide the link to download this mod.


Anyway, I find this way to make money highly questionable. This is a low blow in my opinion, and doesn't make any good for the reputation of the developer and the publisher.

I'm starting to think that maybe the game isn't that good after all. Exactly this kind of ways I can think of, if I'm not confident in my games ability to sell itself as an great game. I got great examples, Battlefield: Bad Company and upcoming Call of Duty: World at War.

I have to admit, I'm halfway tempted to get the SF Edition (assuming it's available here in the U.S.) simply for the box art. It looks much cooler than the regular cover.

I agree.

[edyzmedieval]

I always buy the Collectors Edition/Special Edition because I love to see the artwork that has been made, the cooler box and also the extras that come with it. I have TW Eras and M2TW Collectors, and I was very happy with both of them.