Empire: Total War (Preview)
In a few titles and nearly ten years of presence, developers Creative Assembly have managed to forge an excellent reputation among fans of real wargames. With the Total War series and while the video game reflexes often favors the strategy, they managed to find their audience and to convince publishers that there was room for a little tactical! After Shogun, Medieval, Rome and Medieval II, the British studio is therefore preparing to push further the nail focusing this time on the clashes of the eighteenth century ... Empire Total War could obviously not miss the rendezvous of Los Angeles and we could not fail to visit Sega, the publisher.
The little boats that go on the water ...
So be clear for entry, this presentation is far too brief to our taste, however, during a good slap. Creative Assembly has spared no efforts to convince us and even if the developer has insisted that the naval aspect of things, we have now more than an idea in mind: to get their hands on a playable version of the beast! It must be said that developers seem to have shot down a job simply enormously. The presentation has been made of the game which was therefore limited to a confrontation between the U.S. and British fleets. Twenty ship was so represented, but the final version of the game should allow battles much larger scale.
At first glance, one is struck by two elements. First rendering water very acceptable, is not to "tap the butt on earth" ... an activity that we engage more willingly once our guest has played roulette for us to show the level of detail at the boats. Superbly reproduced, ships of the time actually have a full crew that can activate throughout the battle! One can even go have a look on the lower decks to observe the gunners! This stunning level of detail is not just there to impress the gallery: it actually gives vital information to the player, but we will come back.
After introducing the historical context of Empire Total War, developers have first of all we talk about basic principles. Thus, each of the vessels in our fleet has particular indicator to get an idea of wind direction to position things correctly. The wind management is a key element in the game because the vessels had at the time was a huge inertia which made it extremely with tactical battles: the slightest mistake placement was immediately sanctioned. The training was very important and this aspect will be delivered in Empire Total War with the possibility of creating its own models or be confined to predefined postions.
In the example that was presented to us, the American fleet, consisting of vessels "lightweight" as schooners and three bridges to ship heavier, first sent the first on his opponent to break his training. These smaller boats are not big enough to face the powerful English vessel, but by harassing their opponent, they disrupt completely and allow their compatriots three bridges to the best place to start formidable lined. These are lined course of three types according to choose the target hull, sails, crew. Targeting the wing is a very effective technique for small vessels that can be hoped freeze, at least partially, a more imposing opponent.
This allows detention and then focus on other ships of the enemy fleet or, as appropriate and objectives, an end, and this in different ways. It can either decide to send the enemy on the merits, which is an attempt to capture collision. More risky, this second option is also the most interesting insofar as it inflicts a serious blow to the morale of the opponent. If in addition, the vessel in question housed an officer, the effect may simply be devastating! The risk is real, however, insofar as the collision monopolizes much of the crew leaving our own ship very vulnerable. During the presentation, artificial intelligence (rather aggressive) has indeed benefited.
Another vessel English has actually sent a projectile fired on the American construction. The fire quickly spread across the main deck and the wing before spreading to the ship approached. In just a few minutes, the two vessels were completely taken by the flames and finally sank. This episode has enabled our hosts insist the level of detail of Thursday Thus, when the main deck of a ship is overwhelmed by the flames, you can see men jumping overboard while the crew bridges below is trapped. We also stop on the management of physics may seem optional in conflicts at sea, but actually enhances the realism of fighting.
A shot on goal, has actually damaging the hull quite amazing while men touched on the merits are balanced with such vulgar straw. Better, managing high degree of ballistic forced to extreme caution. We have thus been able to see a fire in the wing of an opponent may be sufficiently powerful to reach a ship behind ... whether or not enemy! In the same way, the damage is completely localized and a coup in the reserve powder can obviously be very very bad! This rapid presentation fighting naval Empire Total War ended with a return on solid earth.
The lack of time to our host, but he wished to clarify some other improvements to the game, it is question of a new system of coverage in order to take advantage of buildings on some cards. The developers have also included the management of the weather but not indicate whether it will also influence the naval battles. On land in any case, it should adjust the speed, morale and effectiveness of our forces ... When it rains, the wet powder muskets would actually completely ineffective! These are details that should make fighting more realistic than ever and proving that Creative Assembly is not resting on its laurels. The developers have finished telling us that we should very soon speak with them again ... Deeply the Leipzig Games Convention then!
Empire: Total War Delay of some months
Already in progress since a moment in the premises of Creative Assembly, Empire: Total War is a long-term project that developers obviously do not end in punch as evidenced by the announcement just made by Sega. The publisher of the game actually indicates that instead of an exit 3 / 6 February in North America / Europe, Empire: Total War released during the month of March.
Neither Creative Assembly, or Sega do more accurately the new release date of the wargame. Note simply that the official site was recently updated to provide some details on one of the factions of the game (Russia) and a new unit (THE MAMELUKE). Unfortunately, as often, this update is for now available only in the language of Shakespeare.
Re: Empire: Total War (Preview)
Patience is the mother of virtue ... In any case it is a pleasure to see that there are still publishers who do not rush the release of a video game, then exit 10 patch in 1 week to finalize history.
