Keeping things manageable, you can set groups, and choose just how much of your fleet you want to micromanage. Loose a broadside as the ship rolls and you can easily send your shots skyward or into the water. This adds another factor to combat – not only do you have to outmanoeuvre your opponents and factor in cannon reload times as you plot your courses, but if you're in heaving seas your timing has to be on point. You can even track each individual piece of metal as it arcs across the water, with each modelled in 3D and doing accurate damage based on collision detection. You can zoom right in to the deck (and the levels below) and see the crewmen manning their stations, and you can really feel the power of the armouries as your ships loose off broadsides. Part of the reason, of course, is that you're controlling everything from skiffs up to ships of the line - some of these ships are massive. Not to be confused with navel warfare, for which the casualties are smaller, but the fighting no less savage. The latter clashes show a little more restraint than the several thousand men doozies on land, restricting themselves to merely dozens of ships at a time, but thankfully the confrontations - while being nice and manageable, still retain an epic feel. As you can imagine, this adds a whole new dimension to both your turn-based empire building tactics and the real-time battles. Empire: Total War lets you build and maintain fleets of ships and go duke it out on the water. "Ooh, look at us, we're fighting on the land! Weeee!" Whatever, man. Seamen Everywhere Poor, pathetic Total War games up until now. Why wait for the industrial revolution to come to you? Why wait for the awesome power of steam? More technologically-minded players will also be pleased to hear that it's possible to get out in front of the historical technology curve and develop things earlier. Countless nations were vying for prominence at this time, so in addition to the game's 11 main factions (12 including America), there are a huge number of other nations that could potentially make a big impact on the world stage given the right conditions and decisions. It's also no surprise to find naval battles such a big component of the game, given that empires were there to be forged and fortunes made by travelling the globe, trading and conquering. As a century it's rich pickings, so it's no surprise this is when Empire: Total War is set. Peter the Great was immodestly founding St Petersburg and Napoleon was trotting about the place waiting for Bill and Ted to arrive and take him to San Dimas. ('Bickering' here being defined as 'incessant warfare'.) There were great men doing great things. There was America's fight for independence, the French revolution, the Enlightenment and the beginning of the industrial revolution, not to mention a great deal of bickering between countless countries. Party Like It's 1799 According to Wikipedia, the 18th century was a pretty turbulent one. This is very much the studio's specialty, so whether it's feudal Japan, medieval Europe or the time of the Roman empire, you know you can rely on The Creative Assembly to accurately depict what it would look like having thousands of soldiers hacking each other apart on the field of battle. Thankfully, the same cannot be said for The Creative Assembly, which has spent much of its time in existence dedicated to exploring the rich tapestry of history and turning said "heavy cloth woven with rich, often varicoloured designs or scenes" (thanks Free Dictionary) into interactive video games, or games "that can be played by using an electronic control to move symbols on the screen of a visual display unit". Did dolphins wear powdered wigs? Were houses built from marshmallows? We don't sodding know. We're vaguely aware that there was a time before we came into being, but generally speaking we're not that interested in that time and what went on. Full disclosure: the IGN AU editorial staff are not historians.
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