Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Demo! Demo! Demo! Demo of a strategy game! Being a gentleman who tends towards robots and explosions in his real-time strategy games and turn-based in his historical strategy games, I remain a little unclear as to whether Napoleon: Total War is a brand new game, or a cleverly-marketed standalone expansion. Or both. All I know is that Quinns quite liked it. There’s a demo out now via Steam, which means you can ascertain for yourself whether it’s a new age or a repeat of Empire. The AI’s much better, I hear. And it’s important to always mention the AI in any discussion of recent Total War games, apparently. Oh- the demo contains a tutorial and the France vs Prussia Battle of Ligny scenario. Fight!

Since we’re probably not doing a Wot I Think, I thought it worthwhile to point everyone in the direction of Boy Wonder Quinns’ Eurogamer review of Napoleon: Total War. Wherein he starts like this…

So, Napoleon finally gave me the battle I wanted from Empire.

And continues in an agreeably histrionic historical vein.

We’ve barely mentioned that the Empire: Total War expandalone Napoleon is almost upon us – but it is! The new campaign will feature three theatres of war, as Mr Napoleon does war in Europe and Egypt as he attempts to expand the French empire. The footage explains that Napoleon is essential to your control of the battlefield, and as a general he boosts the effectiveness of troops on the field. There’s a;sp a look at the other factions – Prussia, Great Britain, and Austria – and some fancy glimpses of the game in motion. It’s looking pretty interesting, assuming you want more in the Empire vein. The game is due out on the 26th of February.
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Below is the first part of our intricate guide for PC gaming in 2010. There’s a horde of muscular-looking titles on the horizon, many of them likely to stop you and demand your money, like ludological bandits. Meanwhile, others that we expected to land, such The Old Republic, have already fled to 2011. Read on as the clouds in our crystal ball roll back…
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Sadly, there’s no room for a “Aren’t You A Little Short For A Dictator?” gag in the subject line. C’est la vie, as Napoleon might have said with a Gallic flourish. News breaks from the European Land-Mass Videogameisual Show that – as perhaps expected – Creative Assembly are adding using the tiny tyrant as their next step on from Empire: Total War. CA’s interview with IGN is about the only information in the public sphere which isn’t in the press release, their site gubbins or the trailer. You’ll find all of them, for your convenience, beneath the cut.
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