How good is it? ETW, overall....review

[PrimusPilus]

It is now apparent I will have to buy a new computer to play. HP should be giving CA a kickback. I need a new machine for every new TW.

So what is the general thought about ETW now? I am reading a lot of complaints.

Thanks,

PP

[Dayve]

It's great.

Crap music, a lot of historical inaccuracies, severely buggy, but great.

I realize that looks sarcastic, but it isn't. Also, don't buy your new PC from HP. If you buy brand name, ready built PC's, that's the reason you have to upgrade everytime a new TW game comes out. Ask somebody who knows a little about computers to make you a list of what components would be best to throw in there, take it all to your nearest PC repair/upgrade store and tell them to put it together for you.

[Megas Methuselah]

It's great.

Crap music, a lot of historical inaccuracies, severely buggy, but great.

[Feanaro]

The strategic map is the best one to date and probably the best addition. Land battles are generally good, marred by sometimes silly AI. I think this style of warfare deserves a slower gameplay but that's probably just me. Naval battles have a hefty learning curve once you command more than two or three ships. Some people will probably never be any good at them without being shown how. You may end up auto-calcing them all. That said, there is strategy to it, it's just sometimes non-intuitive.

Some parts of the game are plain old busted. The AI being unable to invade via sea, artillery that limber and unlimber in an unending dance and a bipolar AI that has flashes of brilliance, followed by dancing in front of your muskets to be shot to bits. I still enjoy the game in spite of this but it can be annoying.

I've not experienced any crashes since starting my Grand Campaign. However, I had to delete the .ini file or I couldn't even start the GC. Some people experience crashed when selecting navies, clicking ports, and other oddities. Sometimes I have a lag of 5-10 seconds when clicking a fleet and the UI can be laggy in general.

E:TW is a good game but it could be frustrating to play until it's patched. If you are easily annoyed, you might want to wait until it's fixed. Otherwise, I'd say buy it.

[Chimpyang]

I've not met any gamebreaking bugs thus far. Buy the game and wait for patches/mods to make it better - same with any other TW game. If you can get good at naval combat in the meantime, well, there's a challenge!

[Turbosatan]

I can wait for the patch. I've only had the game since last Sunday & I've only played twenty six turns (after playing forty turns of a Russian one, then having to reformat my hard drive & reinstall for an unrelated viral issue) & have only had one CTD, when my antivirus finished updating whilst I was playing.

It does take a long time to load. However, I'm playing it on an XP rig with a 2.0 Ghz AMD 3400, 1 Gig of RAM & a 512 meg ATI PCIE graphics card. The battles don't lag & I run them on HIGH settings.

I'm enjoying it, & glad I bought it. It's not perfect, but I'm a realist. I've been playing Medieval 1 for four years & there's bits of that game that are totally broken. I'm happy with what I have now & quite interested to see how it develops.

[Quickening]

Best Total War game yet in my opinion. The game refused to install from the second DVD (actually the second DVD wouldn't work at all) so I had to download the rest of the game but aside from that I have had no problems at all. I love it. Music is good but not enough variety.

[crazyviking03]

After the first patch, I have only had 1 CTD. It was a few minutes ago actually (hence why im roving the forums lmao). There are a few bugs, the whole bit with the AI not being able to invade by sea sticks out like a sore thumb. However, if you play a landlocked campaign like Prussia or Austria, you are in for a treat. I may be a little bit biased since this is my favorite period in history, but this is a great game. I have added the Smoke Blood and Sound mod, the 4 years per turn mod, and the tighter formations mod, and I am now officially in heaven. They are really easy to install and add much realism. I havent felt this hyped by a game since Rome.

[MikeV]

So what is the general thought about ETW now? I am reading a lot of complaints.

Check out twcenter.net for the gushing fanboy raves. Here, you'll get a more balanced review.

It is now apparent I will have to buy a new computer to play. HP should be giving CA a kickback. I need a new machine for every new TW.

Yeah, I hate that too. But, all the game developers are caught in the same Prisoners' Dilemma: if they don't satisfy the magazine reviewers with high-end graphic eye candy, they'll never get the Best Game of the Year at E3. Sacrificing those of us with "ancient," 3-year old machines, is the price they're willing to pay to get it ("Think of the prize, boys!" )

[NimitsTexan]

Hence the introduction of scaleable graphics options. :)

[Daevyll]

It's great, bordering on fantastic.

So far, it is ranked second in my overall list-of-great-TW-experiences ;)

1. MTW
2. ETW
3. M2TW
4. STW
5. RTW

And I expect ETW will get better still with a few more patches fixing the things that are currently not optimal (like naval invasions and some diplomacy things, though already a marked improvement over previous titles).

Make sure both OS and drivers are fully up to date though. I cursed my way through the first week with crash after crash, then almost 100% stable since the latest Vista and Nvidia versions

[PrimusPilus]

Thanks for the replies.

I am playing RTW- europa barbarorum. I love the MOD

I will get a new comp...in some form or fashion. Thanks for the advice about getting one made to order.

More comments on the game are welcome!

I like the period.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Well, the new features certainly are an improvement. Especially love the new Strategy game features. However, the AIs ability to make use of these features is poor or just fails flat out. Not enough protection for capitals and uncoordinated attacks. The naval invasions have been mentioned and make the game ridiculously easy. Essentially any enemy overseas territory is yours for the taking and won't need defending. I garrison islands for the look if it, but you don't need to.
Tactically the AI can attack well enough, favouring getting on your flanks quite capably. The AI is too prone to being a bit indecive, most critically marching aimlessly back and forth in the range of the musketry of your battle lines. also, the AI should try and take better advantage of artillery superiority instead of launch it's attack straight away. Overall though, I'd give it a thumbs up.
But contrary to the traditions of wargaming it's not so hot on defence, where it'll frequently allow you to isolate and destroy units piecemeal. Especially when defending a town, where it'll happily place units in a building while some units sit well back and to the sides of the units in the buildings and will await their destruction patiently. It's just incoherent. It also is too fond of sitting behind walls, frequently continuing to do so when your units are behind the wall and firing in to their backs.

I don't agree with some of the units stats, land and naval units. But that's what modders are for.

And then there are the technical problems, CTDs and the like. If your one of the many that suffer from these, it can ruin your campaigns beyond salvage. As a result, I'm doubtful in recommending the game. I stopped playing all together. But the basics are there for the best game in the series so far. If I were you I'd wait till patches and mods fix the chief problems. Then snap up this title cheap. With even half the problems fixed, this game becomes a must have.

[Furunculus]

It's great, bordering on fantastic.

So far, it is ranked first in my overall list-of-great-TW-experiences ;)

1. ETW
2. MTW
3. ----
4. ----
5. STW
6. ----
7. ----
8. M2TW
9. RTW

[PrimusPilus]

I am able to run the campaign game and it is totally fascinating. I hope all the bugs get solve. Buying a new computer next month!

[Beefy187]

It's great, bordering on fantastic.

So far, it is ranked first in my overall list-of-great-TW-experiences ;)

1. ETW
2. MTW
3. ----
4. ----
5. STW
6. ----
7. ----
8. M2TW
9. RTW

That is very pleasing to hear. Now I feel like buying a new computer and buying ETW