Creative Assembly details Empire: Total War

Creative Assembly, creators of the Total War series, leaped centuries from Medieval: Total War to enter the world in the where swords and melee combat were replaced by muskets and firing lines. Empire: Total Earth, most likely to remain a PC-exclusive RTS, was formerly announced to take fans of the series into the age of fighting sails and gunpowder.

CVG sat down with Creative Assembly’s James Russell (lead designer) and Mike Simpson (studio director) to unravel their latest offering to the Total War franchise.

Introducing the new title, James Russell said, “Empire: Total War‘s set in the 18th century and the time of the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution and the French Revolution.” He claimed that fans of the series will be able to experience the employment of combat tactics, strategic formations, and the training of unique units within the era.

Like former Total War video games, the Empire: Total War will grant players access to authentic battle formations and strategies, such as lethal firing lines and the cavalry-stopping square formation. The use of cannon will provide budding strategists with the opportunity to rain death from above. Buildings can also be occupied by infantry and torn down with cannon fire.

No longer limiting itself to a single continent, Empire: Total War will allow Total War strategists to enter theaters in the Caribbean, in North America, Central America, and India to add to the already-visited theaters of the European peninsula and the Middle East.

But perhaps the biggest feature in Empire: Total War is the inclusion of real-time sea combat, a feature lacking in previous Total War titles, despite the integration of naval combat units. James Russell said the visit into the 18th century prompted the dive into naval warfare, since it was the age that naval warfare really advanced to a grand scale.

This avenue, and most features mentioned above, were already explored before by Eidos Interactive‘s Imperial Glory, however, and the video games’ mediocre welcoming left the gunpowder warfare concept with a slightly less invigorating appeal. Will Empire: Total War break open the hatches and blow away skepticism? We’ll find out when it delivers broadsides some time next year.

Creative Assembly, creators of the Total War series, leaped centuries from Medieval: Total War to enter the world in the where swords and melee combat were replaced by muskets and firing lines. Empire: Total Earth, most likely to remain a PC-exclusive RTS, was formerly announced to take fans of the series into the age of fighting sails and gunpowder.

CVG sat down with Creative Assembly’s James Russell (lead designer) and Mike Simpson (studio director) to unravel their latest offering to the Total War franchise.

Introducing the new title, James Russell said, “Empire: Total War‘s set in the 18th century and the time of the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution and the French Revolution.” He claimed that fans of the series will be able to experience the employment of combat tactics, strategic formations, and the training of unique units within the era.

Like former Total War video games, the Empire: Total War will grant players access to authentic battle formations and strategies, such as lethal firing lines and the cavalry-stopping square formation. The use of cannon will provide budding strategists with the opportunity to rain death from above. Buildings can also be occupied by infantry and torn down with cannon fire.

No longer limiting itself to a single continent, Empire: Total War will allow Total War strategists to enter theaters in the Caribbean, in North America, Central America, and India to add to the already-visited theaters of the European peninsula and the Middle East.

But perhaps the biggest feature in Empire: Total War is the inclusion of real-time sea combat, a feature lacking in previous Total War titles, despite the integration of naval combat units. James Russell said the visit into the 18th century prompted the dive into naval warfare, since it was the age that naval warfare really advanced to a grand scale.

This avenue, and most features mentioned above, were already explored before by Eidos Interactive‘s Imperial Glory, however, and the video games’ mediocre welcoming left the gunpowder warfare concept with a slightly less invigorating appeal. Will Empire: Total War break open the hatches and blow away skepticism? We’ll find out when it delivers broadsides some time next year.