Planning, plotting your colonial ambitions. Even when you’re not playing, you’re thinking about it. Completing a campaign is one of those gaming exploits that you know will be with you for the rest of your life, simply because it will consume so much time.
Whatever you do, this game is a colossal undertaking. And when you’re done there, you’ll want to try a different nation, and its different victory conditions. If you’re playing as Britain, as we did, victory means controlling Egypt and a chunk of both India and North America. At the back of your mind, you’re always aware of that clock, ticking down toward victory or defeat. Assuming you’re going to play the gigantic Grand Campaign, you’ll start in 1700 and have a turn every six months until 1799. The field of conflict in Empire, most global of the Total War games, is the 18th century. It is both a vast turn-based historical escapade and a gritty real-time battlefield engine that delivers the most cogent picture of mass conflict we’ve yet seen.
Total War occupies its own territory between Civ, classic RTSes, and the hex-based wargames armchair generals get all excited about.
