The most ambitious and flawed Total War has just received its first update in years
I was convinced Total War: Empire was going to be a game-changer. A Total War in the age of muskets, with naval battles and a map that would let us fight across the world—how could it be anything less than amazing? Unfortunately, it didn't live up to those admittedly big expectations when it launched in 2009. It was rough and buggy, the naval battles couldn't hold a candle to the ones on land, and the scale was just too much.
What it was, though, was incredibly ambitious, and unlike any of the Total Wars that had come before. Now that I've put some distance—14 years—between me and that initial disappointment, I find myself a lot less critical of the risks Creative Assembly took. And now that it's just received its first update in years(opens in new tab), which should improve performance on modern PCs while also fixing an issue that affected 12th gen Intel CPUs, maybe it's time to take it for another spin.
Worth noting, however, is the removal of the integrated chat system. «Due to difficulties supporting and moderating dated chat systems in the current online environment, we’ve taken steps to remove the integrated chat from Total War: Empire and other legacy titles in our catalogue,» the team explains. «We are, however, continuing to investigate ways to properly implement and support chat in our future projects and will keep you updated on any changes or developments we make.»
In the meantime, if you're dabbling in multiplayer Creative Assembly recommends using the official Total War Discord(opens in new tab).
These changes can also be seen in the standalone expansion Total War: Napoleon, a game I find it much easier to recommend. If big hats, smart uniforms and muskets are your thing, Napoleon is a much better way to
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