Napoleon: Total War Review

Napoleon is one of the greatest generals in history. His conquest led the French to far away lands such as Egypt and Russia. The French empire, at its peak, controlled most of continental Europe. Napoleon: Total War chronicles the journeys of this French national hero and his armies. My history of this period is a bit sketchy, but Napoleon: Total War definitely helped pique my interest in the Napoleonic Wars.

The single-player is broken up into several different game modes. The bulk of the game is in the campaign, a Risk-like map of various spans of Europe and North Africa. It is a lot more involved than Risk in that you can build up your cities, form alliances, trade with these countries and tax your citizens. When you go on the offensive, you can choose to “liberate” them as protectorates, loot the city or simply put them under your direct control.

Controlling territory is a huge part of Napoleon: Total War. It isn’t as easy as it seems. You will not win simply by having the biggest army. For one reason, it costs a considerable amount of money to maintain a large force. Another reason, though, is that you have to be keenly aware of the political climate in each region. Some regions are more resistant to foreign occupation than others, differences such as religion can foster distrust and others are more concerned about economics (i.e. taxes). If you are not mindful of these conditions, rebel armies will pop up and quickly swallow your empire.

When you click on an enemy force with your army, as long as you have enough moves within that turn, you will attack. A bar pops up telling you your likelihood of victory, giving you the option to retreat if you are not confident of your chances. The battles themselves can either be fought or automated. If you choose to have the computer decide the outcome, it’s simply a numbers game based on the units of each respective army. If you have a superior strategy at play, numbers mean less. Thus, it is more likely that you will win a battle by actually fighting it.

I came away incredibly impressed by the technology behind Napoleon: Total War. Gone are the days of dozens of men in armies. This was a pretty big limitation for war games, since most battles featured sprawling lines of infantry going at it with muskets. It’s the way war was fought. In 2010, we have thousands of men in our virtual armies and each of them are highly detailed. Artillery fire reins down upon unsuspecting units, drummers play their nation’s tune and a flag carrier marches them into battle formation. It’s exciting to watch it all in action.

The battles take place on the plot of land that you attack. There are probably upwards of 100 different massive battlefields in Napoleon: Total War. Some of them are flat plains, while others have rivers separating the two armies. Others might include urban warfare and even fortress battles where your men may have to scale the walls. Again, the scale of Napoleon: Total War is incredibly impressive compared to other games in the genre.

Aside from the single player campaign, there are a number of other game modes to choose from. Napoleon’s Battles include both land and sea warfare. It starts in France, Italy, Egypt and make its way across Napoleon’s entire career as a general. As the name implies, these are simply battles, not the Risk-like strategy maps. The Campaigns of the Coalition are fought between the different rival nations in the game. And then of course there is online play. You can even join in someone’s single-player campaign by playing as an opposing force.

Fans of real-time strategy games, especially of the historical kind, will love Napoleon: Total War. It is a challenging, technologically advanced and historically accurate rendition of the Napoleonic campaigns across Europe and North Africa. The Risk-like strategy element mixes well with battlefield combat that pits thousands of enemies against one another. The game modes are varied enough to keep you occupied for literally several weeks or months, depending on your level of interest.