As said the familiar Total War interface remains mostly the same, however it now features some additional movement options for moving full armies of troops.  This small addition makes a world of difference to moving your force.  We all know the unit formula in the Total War games; light infantry and heavy infantry, skirmisher, ranged, light and heavy cavalry, artillery and the occasional elite unit here and there.  Perhaps the most radical change is moving from swords and bows to gunpowder and swords. With this new technology comes a new set of tactics and strategy that must be applied to the battlefield.

Instead of ordering your soldiers to hold the line while you wait for the enemy to move, you are now subjected to volleys of musket rounds as both sides attempt to hold the line.  The general game play remains the same, but adapting to colonials tactics will challenge return players at first.  Unfortunately, this familiarity to Total War players is welcomed, this very same perk may very well turn off the new Total War player.  The Total War series has always been a very strategic, thinking man’s RTS and it still remains this way, however it’s also a daunting task to learn in a quick manner, which automatically turns off a vast majority of potential players.

Perhaps the most significant new feature in this installment is the addition of real-time naval battles, and boy are they gorgeous.  Aside from being gorgeous they also play very well.  The controls and interface during the naval battles are the same as land battles, however it seems much smaller and more interactive.  Saying it plays a bit like Sid Meier’s: Pirates would be a fair analogy, mind you alot more hardcore, except you’re controlling multiple ships instead of one.  However, controlling this many ships can also feel daunting.  Perhaps some assists or probably more practice on the user side would remedy this, but alas it is a demo impression.

Sadly the demo also suffers from quiet a fair amount of issues and bugs.  The loading times when starting the game, changing video settings, and loading a map is completely unforgivable.  Not only is the time asinine, the loading bar races up to 90% complete and sets there for the remaining four minutes of loading.  Selecting multiple units in game and trying to issue a move order results in the order being given clear across the map from where you commanded.  Thankfully this is a pre-release demo and we’ll hopefully see these issues addressed before release.

Awesome

• Graphics – This is the first time the Total War series has utilized motion capturing in the unit animation process and it really shows.  More importantly who can deny the detail and the environments in a game of such scale.
• Total War Gameplay – If you’re a fan of the gameplay of the Total War series you’ll feel right at home here.
• Revolutionary War – The first Total War to take place in the era of guns. Who doesn’t want to play as the Americans and whoop a bit of red coat ass?

Bad

• Total War Gameplay – While many of us love Total War it is also a very daunting game that isn’t casual friendly.
• Performance and Bugs – While it may demo, it would be silly not to mention issues with the build and it’s engine.

The Empire: Total War demo is avaliable on Steam with the game set to launch on March 4th, 2009.