A year after the release of Empire: Total War, the boys at Creative Assembly have jumped a hundred years or so to Napoleonic era. However, this feels more like an expansion pack than a new game. Indeed, there isn't much new in the way of content here, arguably just Empire with new skins. At an RRP of £29.99, one might be understandably wary of having to fork out such cash.
The game has been sitting unplayed on my hard drive for several months now and I have only recently got round to giving it a whirl. The amount of space it takes up is ridiculous; some 18GBs. It is a total resource hog, but you can forgive it for this when you first jump in and are left gob-smacked by its graphical splendour. Napoleon is stunning in every way, from the water effects and the little men running around on the ship decks during naval engagements, to the plumes of smoke and sound of drummer boys as you zoom in on your line infantry as they take to the battlefield.
The main issue with Napoleon is its Campaign mode, which tends to make the experience more linear than its predecessor, Empire, as the game tries to replicate the exact conditions of the age. As Napoleon commanding France, the game structures your campaign in three steps; Northern Italy, Egypt and the Middle East, and a more general set-up across Europe. You can choose to be one of the major nations of the Grand Coalition, which adds a bit more freedom of action, but the scope for diplomacy is very limited. A way around this is to partake in online multiplayer where you have no such restrictions and set alliances, however the time taken to wait for an opponent to finish their turn can be off-putting. Otherwise single player doesn't offer many alternative styles of play or unexpected developments.
Napoleon scores on the tactical brilliance of its battle system and the satisfaction of leading your troops to victory. It is an engaging game but doesn't really bring anything new to the Total War series. On the plus side, if you're a bit of a history buff like me then living through the times and tribulations of the period is a highly enjoyable experience.
I was interested to see where Creative Assemblies would go with the series after this, given the linear chronology of the franchise. For me, I was hoping for maybe the First World War and the prospect of trench warfare. Alas, they have gone back in time and announced a sequel to 'Shogun: Total War', a period I'm not all too interested in. Regardless, it should still be good.
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