NAPOLEON: TOTAL WAR (PC)
The Creative Assembly invite us to put ourselves in the shoes of one of the most brilliant strategists in the history of humanity: Napoleon Bonaparte. In the new installment of the Total War franchise, we relive the story of the French emperor in his struggle to conquer the world.
It has not been necessary to wait three years for a new chapter of the Total War franchise, since only months have passed since the release of Empire. You may want a short amount of time, but when there's a good idea it's a more than enough time to create a quality title. It is almost obvious that many lovers of the The Creative Assembly franchise, great strategists and lovers of history, have a historical figure that arouses their curiosity and admiration for their brilliant strategies for campaigns that seemed impossible. Napoleon Bonaparte is a name that has passed into the annals of the history of mankind for having become a figure capable of changing the world, even in defeat.
Over more than a decade of deliveries of Total War, we have visited different historical moments, embodied civilizations and very diverse cultures: feudal Japan, the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire, the colonial era ?? For the first time, The Creative Assembly have chosen to focus on a single figure and narrate the life of a man, a unique strategist that marked an era. It represents a new step forward in history, but also a new approach, a small change in the development of the game, which works very satisfactorily. Of course, the haste with which it leaves with respect to the previous delivery (Empire) causes the game to resemble a lot to this, even in spite of the improved aspects. Napoleon Total War is a title of great quality, but not as surprising as it should be.
The life of a strategist
If there is something that draws much attention to get to enjoy Napoleon Total War is the fact that the course of events is determined by the figure of the French leader. The main game mode is centered around his life, with abundant video sequences and particular nuances defined by the evolution of the Napoleonic campaigns. In fact, this is the name of the first game mode we are in, what we might call the Story mode of this title. We begin with a tutorial that tells us the beginnings of a young Napoleon, who leaves his native Corsica and begins to settle his leadership in the area of France. Small steps that are being narrated and that, as a result of the concrete missions that they ask us, reflect the real events.
Once this part is over, the following campaign encourages us to conquer Italy (1976-1979), going on to Egito (1798), and finally we will try the ambitious proposal to conquer Europe (1805-1812). Finally, as a final culmination, we will complete our work as emperor in the famous battle of Waterloo, on June 18, 1815, in what supposed the end of the Napoleonic dream; It is not a campaign, but only a battle, in which we will fight as we can. It is curious that the fidelity to history is such that, even in case of defeat in this battle, we will be rewarded with a video sequence that will put a historical end to the life of Napoleon. This development is original in the franchise, and the truth is that it works very well,
Another game option, if we do not want to go through the map and the strategic-political phase, is to enter directly into the Battles of Napoleon. These are important historical clashes such as Trafalgar, Dresden, Austerlitz, Borodino, Arcole, Lodi, Battle of the Nile, The Pyramids, Ligny and Waterloo. Despite the importance given to Napoleon, the possibility of enjoying the traditional game system of the franchise with the Campaigns of the Coalition, starring four different realms to the French: Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia. All of them must conquer twenty territories (some concrete) before the end of 1812, starting in 1805. Finally, you can dispute battles loose, by land, sea, or siege mode.
Known play style
Since Napoleon Total War drinks so much of Empire, we do not find big differences with respect to the predecessor, beyond the aesthetics and the updating of the database of troops, cities, buildings, and so on. The small changes enhance and dignify the production in general, but at the level of gameplay the changes are minimal, keeping the style already well known by lovers of strategy. As it has been for several installments, the gameplay is clearly divided into two different areas: the phases of the world map and the development of the battles. What stands out most of the first point is that there will be three different maps, according to the campaign in which we find ourselves: Italy, Egypt and Europe. This variety is very satisfactory, as it has to apply different tactics according to the territory.
The turn system returns, in which we can make our movements or actions in all the troops and cities that we have at our disposal. The mouse will be our faithful ally when transmitting our orders, accessing an extensive collection of menus of all kinds, focused on different areas of the life of our empire: government management, see statistics of our army, control the satisfaction of citizens, determine the taxes that our citizens will pay (which will depend on the happiness of them and the budget for our investments), control our ministers and the opposition, trade with other cities and empires, develop our buildings to enhance the culture or military strength of our territories, etcetera.
Comment that it will be of great importance that we are able to achieve a balance between all areas, since, for example, high taxes will cause riots and strikes in the cities, with casualties involved; but if they are too low, we will not have enough to create more troops, having to depend too much on a trade that, in times of war and conquest, is not always reliable. As always, diplomatic relations will be very important, being able to achieve commercial treaties, sign peace and alliances against a common enemy, or declare wars; We can even try to break an alliance between nations to ally ourselves with one of the parties. We can also, for example, resort to piracy and pillage,
Another important point of our empire, in which it will be vital to invest, will be the universities, because thanks to them we will train our population and we will be able to develop new more powerful technologies, as well as improve the infrastructures: roads, buildings of various kinds, armament, etc. The figures on the map will not be only the generals and the infantry troops, on horseback and ballistics, but there will also be spies and gentlemen. The spy can infiltrate and sabotage an enemy army, while the gentleman can encourage the population of an area, or go into enemy territory and cause chaos. And the longer a character of these is in a region, the more details will reveal the enemy: buildings, available army, generals, and even create a network of listeners.
To conquer the enemy, the dynamic is also similar to that of other deliveries: we can form a large army (of thousands of soldiers this time, with cavalry, infantry, artillery ??) and attack the rival, or besiege the city to force their surrender. The combats we do not have why to play them if we do not want, being able to simulate the result of the fight; It emphasizes that we can see how sickness and desertion diminish our troops, although if they are in a friendly city, they can automatically recover their ranks, and if there is a general in the group, they will have an enlistment bonus on the battlefield. Obviously, this will be subject to proximity with respect to a friendly settlement.
Regarding the combats, these also follow the scheme of other deliveries, with options of advance of troops, attack or defense, being able to give orders to individual groups or to the whole army. Of course, it highlights especially the huge size of the maps, which clearly reflects the historical period in which we find ourselves; the large number of troops forces a far-off camera to be able to control all areas of combat. Apart from the battles by sea and land, especially highlight the sieges, where we must create distractions and try to disseminate enemy troops, to leave their safe areas. Direct attacks do not always work, especially with the possibility of our troops deserting leaving us in the box during battles.
Multiplayer
All this also applies to the multiplayer mode, which allows us to enjoy both battles and campaigns against other users, both online and in the local network. At Campaign level, you can play with the Napoleonic troops or with any of the members of the Coalition (in addition to the Ottoman Empire), in Italy, Egypt or Europe. The duration of the turns is determined, and the games can be saved. If we do not want the Campaign, we can jump directly to the battlefield, either on land (22 maps), sea (3 maps), siege mode (7 maps), or historical scenarios (15 maps). You can also use single player games, with substitution Battles, in which any player can enter the game, either from the list of friends or opening the game to any user online at that time.
Technical section
Visually, Napoleon Total War is correct, starting from the base of Empire and polishing some aspects. To begin with, the fact that we will no longer have an army in which all the soldiers are identical with each other, since a greater variety of troop models has been added, adding realism to the representations of the battles, stands out. In the same way, the aspect of lighting has also been greatly improved, although this is not a great advance with respect to the previous delivery, but better light effects are noticed in the surroundings, depending on the time of year or the prevailing climate. Still in the battles, the particle system has been greatly improved, making them look even better, with fog, clouds of dust, and so on.
The map of the Campaign also reflects some of these elements, especially the changes according to the time of the year, although the innovations are less perceived than during the battles themselves. While the battles have been revised to optimize performance, on the map we continue to enjoy a great representation of the seas, rivers, mountains and forests. The operation is perfect at all times, and not even the constant access to numerous menus of all kinds causes slowdown problems. The animations of the characters are also somewhat more polished, and the artificial intelligence of the machine has been improved, although at times it still shows signs of weakness, it will make us think twice before committing a suicide attack.
The video sequences that tell us the exploits and the story of Napoleon offer a fairly high quality, but sometimes show some other problem of understanding that blurs the overall finish of them. Regarding the sound section, the soundtrack is excellent, with high-quality sound effects, both during the map phases and in the combats; many repeat Empire, but it is logical considering that it is the base from which the rest of the game was built. The dubbing is very satisfactory, and it is quite a success that the French actor Stephane Cornicard was in charge of giving life to Napoleon in the French, English, German and Spanish versions. With his accent and his good work, it gives the feeling that we are facing the Emperor himself.
Regarding the gameplay, there is little news about Empire, which becomes the benchmark of this title, which broadly could be considered as an independent expansion. The small changes and improvements, both technical and playable, do nothing but complement what we saw a year ago. The variety of game modes is quite satisfactory, offering many hours of play, although they are not as deep and extensive as those of other deliveries, especially because it focuses primarily on the life of Napoleon. In spite of everything, we are facing a great game, with great decision options in campaign and battle, and thanks to the good work done with the mouse and the keyboard, we will have total control over the whole range of options, without renouncing at any moment to nothing or suffering problems of any kind.
conclusion
Napoleon Total War is a very worthy foray into the franchise of The Creative Assembly, which manages to leave a great taste in the mouth. The approach of focusing on a historical figure and narrating, with fidelity, its mark on the future of future times, works very well, certainly much better than in Rome Total War: Alexander. In part, the fact that it is not an expansion itself, but an independent title, caused a special emphasis on completing a product as complete as possible; and so it has been, with varied game modes and technical and playable improvements. However, it is noted that drinking too much of Empire Total War, its technical and playable base, and that it is not a completely new delivery of the franchise. In spite of everything, it offers abundant hours of game like to satisfy the lovers of the franchise and, mainly, those who would like to put themselves in the shoes of the French emperor. [image | nid = 1198008 | align = center | preset = inline] - The narrative of Napoleon's story.- Direct and simple gameplay, but as deep as the user wants. - Variety of game modes, with plenty of hours of fun.
The best
- Direct and simple gameplay, but as deep as the user wants.
- The narrative of Napoleon's history.
- Variety of game modes, with plenty of hours of fun.
Worst
- Although some aspects have been polished, they repeat quite a few defects of Empire.
- Playable evolution too limited with respect to Empire Total War.
- It seems a bit restricted by history, not being able to expand as much as other deliveries.
8.5
Game of remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good purchase, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.
