ETW review (I)

[edyzmedieval]

Based on first impressions.

I purchased E:TW yesterday, the Special Forces pack (got the last copy, wohoo!) and throughly installed it today on my computer. Not a very fast computer, but I can run it on low and even on low the campaign map looks good. Installed it, it was already patched to version 1.5, but I got a small surprise from the start...

The special edition now has three extra units to add to the game once you activate it on Steam. The units that are available in the Special Forces pack for those who have the normal version.


Anyways, I loaded it up, and started a Hard/Medium campaign with the English. First impression? Campaign map looks amazing, I love the three different theatres of war plus extra trade opportunities. I was amazed by the depth of the game - buildings, troops, government... My favourite ones are trade and technology though. Since I was playing as the English, trade was pretty important and it's not that hard to make some cash in the beginning, since London gives you so much money in your treasury. Loyalty is quite hard to maintain, and you need to constantly improve your city in order to avoid any revolts and such.

I developed my farms and coal works in the countryside, and some minor additions to my cities, taxation a bit high (I like the separate option) and worked some trade deals.

Played a battle, didn't expect much since it was everything on low (sprites looks horrible on low...) but it had a good flow. It felt kinda sketchy, as a typical Total War battle - two lines, each other attack, no flanking maneouvres, nothing... I was on Medium, so I can't expect much. And it was against the Inuits, in the north of Canada.

You go to war quite often it seems. I'm against almost the whole of Europe, Prussia even attacked my London trading port and made it shambles, but otherwise nobody else attacked me in the first 12 turns that I have played. This enabled me to build up my Empire, strengthen my borders and train some more troops, and hopefully the following 10 turns will be the same while I build up my treasury reserves.

Bugs wise? So far so good. Stability is excellent, loading times are ok, no CTD's yet and I can't wait to discover the extra unit pack that I have included in my edition.

Overall, I haven't explored much but I am definitely liking the game and I am impressed by the effort CA made overall. Score, I would say something along a 9 strongly going towards 9.5 because of the depth and content in the game. Downloadable packs definitely add to the mix, as I think they contribute to the overall gameplay. And they are reasonably priced, at 3, 4 euros. That's like, what, 5 half-litre bottles of water?


I'm not a fanboy, I'm not sucking up to CA. Got nothing to gain from it. But perhaps I was too impressed by some aspects. When I throughly play it, especially after finishing a VH/VH campaign, I will give the final review for the game.

[peacemaker]

Good to hear some positive reviews as of late ;)

My main gripes with ETW nowadays are
a)the BAI which seems to work great with some people but do poorly on other computers.
b)When you get to your 50+ turn, the loading times for other factions to move take forever. But that's just because I have a fairly low-end laptop :D

[Fisherking]

The first unit available will be Roger's Rangers if you build the Military Governors Barracks in Rupert's Land.

The others take a lot of tech before you see them.

[Peasant Phill]

Good review, though I expect your appreciation for ETW will drop a bit once you play some more.

2 quick hints if you want them:

1) Don't put your taxes to high. It hurts the population growth and your economy. New towns and more income with the same industry is the only thing that'll keep the unrest under control mid-game.

2) Try to get as many trade agreements as you can. Nations that trade with you are less likely to attack you. And if they still want to, you'll at least be forwarned.

[edyzmedieval]

Good review, though I expect your appreciation for ETW will drop a bit once you play some more.

2 quick hints if you want them:

1) Don't put your taxes to high. It hurts the population growth and your economy. New towns and more income with the same industry is the only thing that'll keep the unrest under control mid-game.

2) Try to get as many trade agreements as you can. Nations that trade with you are less likely to attack you. And if they still want to, you'll at least be forwarned.

Most probably it will drop once I stumble upon the annoying bugs that everyone is experiencing.

1) Taxes are really a feature I enjoy now, because I can micromanage my Empire. Each city has its own specific taxation and in this way I can maximize my revenue.

2) I find this hard to do. Only minor nations and couple others like Austria and Netherlands are allied with me, the whole of Europe is against me, and even trade agreements with minor nations are hard to obtain!

Oh well, tomorrow I'll continue my campaign. More impressions coming up!

[Peasant Phill]

2) I find this hard to do. Only minor nations and couple others like Austria and Netherlands are allied with me, the whole of Europe is against me, and even trade agreements with minor nations are hard to obtain!

Oh well, tomorrow I'll continue my campaign. More impressions coming up!

I find military agreements less interesting unless I really need a potential threat on my side or when a bit further in the game when Europe/America has settled on a few ongoing wars.

Trade agreements are actually quite easy to get IMO. Just throw some cash against it. if you give them 2000 florins or so they'll most likly oblige and you can earn that amount back in 4 turns or so. of course there will be 1 or 2 nations who'll break there trade agreement over and over again but the others will have grown friendly in 20 or so years.

[edyzmedieval]

So I played until turn 90 or something like that, continuing my campaign with the British.

- there's an overwhelming sense of the game not reaching it's potential
And everything goes into this category, from the campaign map to naval battles, diplomacy and beyond. What annoys me the most is that a lot of other economic options could be introduced, yet they left them out, and also the number of units at the low level tiers. Generic.

- the most challenging TW game since MTW. period. I nearly lost hadn't it been for my navies which blown a Spanish navy blockading my trade.

- much of the appeal is lost by playing on Low settings - for those considering to buy ETW, full experience is when you have an amazing computer

- watch out for the economy. You can easily play on low tiers until the very end if you're not careful, and if you don't carefully manage your colleges to research technology

- addictive. i played until 4 am last night.

- diplomacy is diplomacy this time, but too many Declarations of War.

- I have the huge feeling that Napoleon will expand but still for those who played ETW will still prefer ETW instead.

- DLC packs add extra pleasure to the game. And they're relatively cheap, so why don't you buy them if you have some spare cash?


Overall? Best TW since MTW. Even unfinished. But the sense that it's not reaching its potential is overwhelming, and at point I even wanted to drop it. It was so dissapointing, I felt like a low level cap was placed upon myself.

Or something of a farm with abundant yield but only being able to evolve until tier 2.

One more ANNOYING thing - it feels somewhat as a Civ IV clone. I don't know why, but I feel like playing a much expanded Civ IV.

[Tsavong]

Overall? Best TW since MTW. Even unfinished. But the sense that it's not reaching its potential is overwhelming, and at point I even wanted to drop it. It was so dissapointing, I felt like a low level cap was placed upon myself.

I think that is a good way of summing it up. I do still enjoy Empire but I think it could have done with more time in development. But all in all its worth the money I spent on it as I have fun with it.

I will miss the big map when Napoleon comes out.

[Thermal]

Stability is excellent, loading times are ok

I couldn't disagree more, loading times are monstrous for me... though to be fair my computers specs aren't as bright as I'd like.

[Megas Methuselah]

I will miss the big map when Napoleon comes out.

Yeah, but if NTW turns out to be easier to mod (mod tools?), then I really won't care.

[Thermal]

Rather quality over quantity, if a small map is a good map, then go for it...

Kingdoms is a series of small maps and there good.

[edyzmedieval]

I started a campaign with Spain, gave myself enough cash to survive (surprisingly, I took on 750000 florins, and it took me until 1728-29 until I made a decent profit!!!). This one is on VH/VH, and it is more challenging, but if you manage to fend off the first 50 turns or so, then you can basically relax since the AI won't attack you any more.

However Maratha Confederacy is starting to be a bit of a concern, since they almost conquered the whole of the Ottoman Empire and the whole of India as well.

But Spain is enjoyable. Conquered Portugal, Morocco and now New Spain is under my umbrella.

I'm somewhat surprised - New Spain only gives me around 3k per turn. The whole area.

[Megas Methuselah]

However Maratha Confederacy is starting to be a bit of a concern, since they almost conquered the whole of the Ottoman Empire and the whole of India as well.

I hate this. There are mods, though, that give some Europeans land in India at the start to discourage immediate Maratha expansion. I myself modded the startpos to make the Mughals a republic (they can control their territories easier that way), so to pose a tougher obstacle for the orange plague.

But Spain is enjoyable. Conquered Portugal, Morocco and now New Spain is under my umbrella.

Haha, nice. I remember when I played as Morocco, I had a tough time conquering Iberia with camels and desert warriors.

I'm somewhat surprised - New Spain only gives me around 3k per turn. The whole area.

It gets better the more you develop the region. Moreover, New Spain produces trade resources that make you even more money through your trade partners.

[Fisherking]

You should remember that every bit of your trade goods come from the Americas. Think of that when you are looking at the slim tax revenue of your colonial empire. Most have two or more plantations, and that money does not go on the details of the region.

[edyzmedieval]

Apart from Cuba which really provides you with lots of cash since everything there is either abundant or high yield, the other provinces only have meagre, low or average yield. Including the mines!

And I have almost no troops over there since I dont think the AI will actually attack me. And I'm taking Jamaica from them now.

[Fisherking]

You may be attacked. I would not rule it out. The usual suspects are the English and Maratha. But any major power with enough resources may try now and then to disrupt your trade.

It is usually best to keep a sloop in your ports and a small garrison on the islands. You should have a few Military Governorships from which you can dispatch strong enough armies to retake any lost islands and a couple of naval shipyards to control the seas so it is no big problem if you are somewhat prepared to fight off threats to your trade.

Playing on VH you should be prepared for a couple of challenges at the least.

[edyzmedieval]

I made a military alliance, trade agreement and I'm good friends with Maratha. They conquered the Leeward Islands and they have a massive fleet over there, so I hope they will at least respect my territory.

I have a massive army guarding Texas where my New Spain Empire begins, so whenever I need, I have a fleet with 5 brigs and 1 sloop ready to ship them over where needed. Line Infantry are really useful, but they're kind of expensive to maintain especially when you have them in big numbers.