IGN Empire: Total War Review (9.5)

[Dogfish]

I saw this over on the official forums, and didn't see it here yet.. the review is really good, 4 pages, too.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/957/957883p2.html

Final quote from Steve Butts:

"I've never given a score this high before, but that's only because I've never played a game as thoroughly enjoyable as Empire Total War."



5 DAYS!

[Dogfish]

Potential double-fail on my part!

a) I probably should've posted in the "Latest ETW Reviews" sticky thread
b) I linked to the second page of the review (http://pc.ign.com/articles/957/957883p1.html)

[Monk]

9.5 from IGN? That is a surprise.

Here's a direct link to the video review. Lots of good footage.

[pyradyn]

Prussia owning Rome is great it makes me giggle

[Skott]

I dont pay attention to official IGN reviews. I dont consider them a honest unbiased source. But thats just my opinion.

[Sol Invictus]

Steve Butts is usually dependable. It couldn't be a much better review.

[Belgolas]

The second highest strategy game they jave rated. Nice!

[Eusebius86]

What's the highest strategy game they've ever rated? Because ETW is going to be AMAZING!!!

[Monk]

Steve Butts is usually dependable. It couldn't be a much better review.

I agree. IGN gets a hugely bad rap, most of it deservedly so, but they have a few reviewers who are pretty good. As someone pointed out they normally don't tend to score strategy games this high. Which lead to my earlier post and initial surprise when I saw the score.

Even if you don't like IGN i really recommend checking out the Video Review and the written, there's some new screens and great footage to be had.

Also, cheers for the find Dogfish!

[Belgolas]

What's the highest strategy game they've ever rated? Because ETW is going to be AMAZING!!!

Black and white. That game back then didn't deserve the rating it got. Anyways IGN PC is a lot tougher on rating games so if it got this high of a rating then it has to be good. There are no PC games rated 10/10 but there are several dozen console games rated 10/10(most don't deserve that high of a score. Like GTAIV is not a perfect game. Maybe someone is paying them ) This is the 7th highest rated PC game at IGN of all time.

Apparently it has as high of a rating as Star Craft.

http://pc.ign.com/index/reviews.html...ort.order=desc

[pevergreen]

Even then, there are some short term goals for the English. If they can strike out against the French in Canada and take out the Cherokee in the south, the entire colonial protectorate, from the Carolinas up through Maine, will merge with the British empire.

Oh dear lord. This is incredible.

[A Very Super Market]

Where does it say that?

[pevergreen]

First page. Think of the mods now!

[Monk]

Oh dear lord. This is incredible.

This might explain why the colonials have appeared as if they are directly controlled by the British in some screen shots. Clearly the AI had achieved that condition and merged the colonies with its empire.

[Gregoshi]

It is going to be a long painful wait until I can get a PC with enough muscle to play this game.

[DEY123]

I clicked on one of th epictures in the review and I saw units with 200 men in them...

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/958/95...g_6504212.html

I'm sure that will make a bunch of people with powerhouse machines happy.

[Marten]

Prussia owning Rome is great it makes me giggle

Me 2! Obviously there are money cheats ... he took over half of Europe in relatively short time.

Maybe that's it, why the AI didn't like him ... Anyway, good find and very good review.

[A Very Super Market]

You don't need a powerhouse to have huge unit sizes on somewhat low settings

[Polemists]

Well mostly it comes down to a graphics card, and speed combo but unless you are supporting 512 and Duo or upwards you are going to be playing this on Low-Med.

Let me say I don't not think IGN is the be all end all of reviewers but regardless of how you feel about the scores they do post more information in reviews then most other sites. You get 4 pages here of review where other sites give you 3 paragraphs.

Now, they mention some things I don't care for. For one thing I find the esponiage slider in CivIV possibly the most boring mechanic ever invented. So I'd rather stick with spy agents but to each thier own.

IGN is probably the best review from a major site you are going to find. Gamespot and Gamespy generally match IGN in review style.

Most people will inevitably only care about how they player and enjoy it, or how a fellow Orgah who they trust plays and enjoys it.

It looks like a great game...march cannot come soon enough.

[Sir Beane]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! This is great news. I tend to read reviwes for the words rather than for the finishing number, but 9.5 is suitably impressive.

Plus that reviews has loads of juicy info. Factions changing alliance based on completing historic goals? Awesome!

[Polemists]

I honestly like the fact that Allies change opinon based on how powerful you are.

It would make alot more sense to me to see other nations get hostile as you start to rule the world. Rather then just arbitarily attacking you.

We may not get coalitions as a faction, but it seems likely that if you become a world power the other nations may become a coalition against you.

Unlike mtw2 where no matter what you did by turn 5 the nations of the world formed a coalition against you

MTW2:
"DID HE JUST BUILD A STABLE?"
"UNITE THE NATIONS FOR A ATTACK"

[A Very Super Market]

Gah! Memories of Milan....

Coalitions happened so many times in the 18th century, that I'm hoping its actually an integral part of gameplay. There should sometimes be a faction so powerful that you just can't defeat it, and have to enlist help from your neighbours.

Then backstab them.

[Lusitani]

Hmmm multiple days to finnish a game in the grand campaign??? I want weeks...or even months!!

V.

[CBR]

Hm from the video it seems star forts are just a standard walled structure with a different shape than earlier TW titles. So nothing special about sieges except a simple bombardment to break down part of the wall.

A shame really as this era had the most interesting siege warfare and CA could have made something good if they wanted.


CBR

[Explodingcannonballfromhell]

Its a good preview but he is not saying much in terms of performance besides that hes got it running on a quad core and an 8800 GTX.

[hoom]

For one thing, it seems that your own success inspires other nations to hate you, and I've found that it's harder to make friends when I'm doing well than it is when I've got my back against the wall.
Secondly, the AI never really comes back with a counterproposal when they reject an offer, so players aren't ever really going to be sure what they need to do to sweeten the pot.

hmm, this was something I thought was going to be much improved, not good

It should at least give some sort of counter-offer or hint as to why your offer is rejected:
-My Allies gave me a bunch of stuff (extent of details affected by presence of Rakes?) to be at war with you, so you need to offer me a better deal.

-I hate you because you took this province from me (give it back & we might be able to at least have a truce)

-You're at war with my more powerful Ally & we think that combined we'll beat you, so I won't make peace. (make peace with the more powerful country & the smaller one will be more likely to make peace)

-You're too big & powerful, give me some tech & a bunch of money then we can talk (details of desired techs/quantity of money needed affected by presence of Rakes?)

-My nation could never be at peace with a country that allows slavery or which is allied to one that does (break alliance with country x and I'd be willing to do a deal)

Stuff like that is what I've been expecting/hoping for.

[ArtillerySmoke]

Best Strategy Game of All Time coming to us Wednesday.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

See, with ratings inflation saying something is "better than Starcraft" doesn't really mean anything.

As always, Total War veterans are the best (if most ornery) reviewers we have. The thin red line of pre-orderers must hold for long enough to give the grumblers a better look at things!

[Monk]

See, with ratings inflation saying something is "better than Starcraft" doesn't really mean anything.

As always, Total War veterans are the best (if most ornery) reviewers we have. The thin red line of pre-orderers must hold for long enough to give the grumblers a better look at things!

Looks like i'll be one of those who gives you more cautious gents a look before you decide. I just pre-ordered the normal version of ETW on Steam.

[ArtillerySmoke]

Looks like i'll be one of those who gives you more cautious gents a look before you decide. I just pre-ordered the normal version of ETW on Steam.

Collector's Edition = Picking it up on Wednesday.

LOL'ing at Failhammer 2 right now.

And LOL'ing at people who think the AI will shoot itself in the back. This is the game of the year.

What else would you vote for...Lich King? LOLZ