Empire: Total War - Gameplay

Gameplay

Empire: Total War is focused on exploration, economics, politics, religion, the founding of colonies and, ultimately, conquest. The game is set in the early modern period, spanning from 1700 to the early 19th century allowing players to lead a variety of contemporary nations to dominate Europe, North Africa, the Americas and the Indies. The player will use both complex strategies on the campaign map as well as command military forces in battles on both land and sea. As with previous Total War games, Empire: Total War consists of two broad areas of gameplay: a turn-based geopolitical campaign that allows the user to move armies and navies across the globe, conduct diplomacy, trade, espionage, and the internal politics of their nation, and other tasks needed to run their nation, as well as a real-time battle mode that enables players to direct the course of any battles that take place.

Empire: Total War features approximately fifty 18th-century factions; however, only eleven of the most powerful and influential factions of the era are playable. In western Europe, the main factions are Great Britain, France, the United Provinces, Spain and Sweden, while central and eastern Europe are represented by Prussia, Austria, Russia and Poland–Lithuania. In the Balkans and Middle East, the Ottoman Empire is depicted as a dominating faction for Islam, while the Maratha Confederacy and Mughal Empire are the major powers on the Indian subcontinent. The New World colonies of the major powers are represented as protectorates of their respective home nations. The establishment of key nations during the era, such as Revolutionary France and the United States, and the fall of native states to the larger empires is reflected in the game, though given player involvement any of these major events may be averted. Smaller factions, including the less powerful German and Italian states, Native American tribes and North African countries are also represented. Each faction varies in territory, strengths and specialities.

A story-driven campaign mode entitled "Road to Independence" is also included in Empire: Total War, where the player guides the British colonisation of America in three structured chapters. The first chapter sees the player establish and develop the English colony of Jamestown, the second focuses on the British fighting both the French and their allied Native American nations in the French and Indian War, whilst the third portion has the player directing the American Continental Army against the British in the War of Independence. This campaign is goal-orientated and strictly historical in nature, and additionally functions as an active learning experience, where players may learn, in each chapter: firstly, to manage and defend regional economies, secondly, to form alliances and to capture and hold territories and exploit their resources on increasingly large scales, and finally, to use all of the player's acquired skills to survive and achieve victory in a total war against a superior opponent. Completion of "Road to Independence" unlocks the newly formed United States for use in a shorter, later version of the full campaign.bbc