Empire: Total War

Empire: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The fifth instalment in the Total War series, the game was released in 2009. The game, which focuses on the early modern period of the 18th century, was announced at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2007. Feral Interactive released the game for OS X and Linux in 2014, and for Android and iOS in 2024.

Players choose an 18th-century faction and set out to achieve domination over the known world through military force, diplomacy, espionage and economics. The interface and play are similar to earlier Total War titles. Although the campaign element of the game is turn-based, players can direct battles in real time. Empire: Total War is the first game in the series to allow naval battles to be conducted in real-time. In addition to the standard campaign mode, a special campaign follows the development of the United States from the settlement of Jamestown to the American War of Independence. The game includes five playable historical battles: the Battle of Fontenoy, Battle of Rossbach, Battle of Pondicherry (called Battle of Porto Novo in game), Battle of Brandywine Creek and Battle of Lagos.

Empire: Total War was met with universal acclaim; several critics commended it as one of the foremost strategy titles of recent times. Praise was bestowed upon the extensive strategic breadth, accurate historical challenges and visual effects. The real-time land battles, with a far greater focus on gunpowder weaponry than earlier Total War titles, were considered successful. Criticisms focused on shortcomings with the game's artificial intelligence and on the real-time naval battles being difficult to control and coordinate. The game was a commercial success, topping sales charts within a week of release; nevertheless, several Creative Assembly employees later commented on various issues caused by a perceived early release.

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 from 1700 until the end of the 18th century, allowing players to lead various nations and attempt to dominate Europe, the Middle East, India, North America and the Caribbean, along with the maritime trade theatres of the South American coast, Gulf of Guinea, Mozambique Channel and the East Indies. As with previous Total War games, Empire: Total War consists of two separate areas of gameplay: a turn-based geopolitical campaign that allows the user to deploy complex strategies by moving armies and navies across the globe, conducting diplomacy, trade, espionage, and managing the internal politics of their nation, as well as a real-time battle mode that enables players to command military forces in battle both on land and at sea.^{[citation needed]}

The game features over fifty 18th-century factions; however, only eleven of the most powerful and influential are playable. In western Europe, these are Great Britain, France, the United Provinces, Spain and Sweden, and in central and eastern Europe, Prussia, Austria, Russia and Poland–Lithuania. In the Balkans and the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire is the principal faction. On the Indian subcontinent, the Maratha Confederacy and the Mughal Empire are the major powers, the latter being non-playable. The New World colonies of the major powers are represented as protectorates of their home nation. The establishment of new nations during the era, such as Revolutionary France and the United States is reflected in the game, although these major events may be averted by player actions. Smaller factions, such as the German and Italian states, Native American tribes, and North African countries such as Morocco, are represented.

A story-driven campaign entitled "Road to Independence" is included, allowing the player to guide the foundation of the United States of America in three structured chapters. The first sees the player establish and develop the English colony of Jamestown, the second focuses on George Washington seeking to expel the French from the Ohio Valley in the French and Indian War, whilst the third has the player directing the American Continental Army against the British in the War of Independence. This campaign is goal-oriented and strictly historical and also functions as a tutorial for the gameplay, both military, economic and political. Completion of "Road to Independence" unlocks the newly formed United States to use in a shorter, later version of the full campaign.

In the main campaign of Empire: Total War, the player selects a faction and aims to forge a global empire during the 18th century. Factions controls various historical provinces and have a regional capital, and a number of other settlements ranging from minor villages to prosperous sea ports. Players can recruit armies and navies to take and defend provinces by military means, or adopt diplomacy and politics to make advances in the game. Players can use economics and religion to their advantage, as well as clandestine means such as espionage and assassination. The campaign mode is turn-based, with each turn representing six months starting in summer or winter, allowing the player to attend to all needs of their faction before ending their turn and allowing the artificial intelligence to make all other factions' moves.

The campaign mode is similar to those in Rome: Total War and Medieval II: Total War, but with several enhancements. It features three main theatres of play: Europe (which includes North Africa and the Middle East), the Americas, and the Indian subcontinent, and four minor trade theatres: the East Indies, the Ivory Coast, the Straits of Madagascar and Brazil. The way provinces work has been decentralised: although a central settlement is still used, other locations within a province can generate trade and technology, allowing factions to disrupt a province's productivity without assaulting the main settlement.