Napoleon: Total War Preview

by Charles Onyett - IGN.com | 01 February 2010 12:00
 
Rallying troops and marching on Cairo.
 
The follow-up to last year's Empire, The Creative Assembly's Napoleon: Total War promises to build in a few refinements to the gameplay formula as well as provide a number of story-based missions that follow along with Napoleon as he charges through Italy, Egypt, and the rest of Europe. In addition to gameplay tweaks, the visuals have also been given an upgrade over the already gorgeous Empire: Total War, making for what appears to be the most graphically impressive game in the franchise yet, provided you've got the hardware to support it.
 
To step back for a little bit, The Creative Assembly's Total War series is known for deftly mixing Civilization-style overworld map management with real-time, large scale tactical combat. You develop your nation's infrastructure, raise armies and navies, and expand your territory through military force or by diplomatic negotiations. When the time to fight arrives, you can then dive into incredibly detailed and fully controllable battlefields where you'll need to carefully maneuver your groups of soldiers, taking into account terrain height and cover if you want to emerge victorious. Over the years we've seen the series' graphics improve, notably with Rome: Total War, and the addition of fully controllable naval battles in Empire along with an emphasis on ranged combat over melee. With Napoleon, more attention is being focused on changing how the AI adjusts to changing battle conditions as well as the effects a general can have on troops in the battlefield.
 
Previously we've covered the Italian campaign portion of Empire, so this time around The Creative Assembly gave us a look at how the Egyptian campaign might play out as well as an overview of the grand campaign where you're free to choose from a number of playable nations. Once Napoleon lands in Egypt at the campaign's outset, his forces are more or less cut off from all support. He's taken control of Alexandria, but further north is British-controlled Cyprus, and to the south are numerous cities bunched together across the Nile delta area that will resist the French invasion. Further south still are the forces of the Ottoman Empire, with whom Napoleon's army will eventually tangle once the northern sections, including the city of Cairo, are controlled. In this sense, French forces are sandwiched between hostiles and will need to rely heavily on hiring local support to fill in the ranks, giving the campaign a unique kind of flavor.
 

The Creative Assembly says the AI has been improved since Empire.

The visuals for the area on the campaign map were pretty neat at this point, as summertime across the Nile delta was represented by green land above the southern desert. The Creative Assembly is building in distinct graphical representations of each environment around Europe for four seasons, which is especially applicable here since each turn covers two weeks. As you move across Egypt you'll receive a number of primary missions that you'll need to complete, but can also participate in optional missions for extra rewards like detachments of elite soldiers.
 
Once on the field of battle you'll find the general has a significant, or at least more obvious, effect on the battlefield. By clicking on your leader you'll see the circle of influence on the terrain so you can identify which units are actually getting a bonus to their combat for being close to him. These beneficial effects can stack with a general's triggered abilities, which include rally and inspire. These act like magic skills in a role-playing game. Once rally is triggered, for instance, all units within the general's circle will be given a boost to restore morale and prevent them, at least temporarily, from fleeing if the battle isn't going well. Once triggered, the rally ability will then enter a cooldown period, and the number of times it can be used will be determined by the general's veterancy. The inspire ability works a little differently, as it requires you to specify who to give a combat bonus to. It's also tied to a cooldown timer and, like rally, can only be used a certain amount of times per battle.
 
Management of these abilities will also be affected by unit veterancy on the field, since a good idea during a fight would be to give your strongest and most experienced units additional bonuses to more effectively blast away at an enemy's morale. Instead of seeing how a unit has developed and progressed on the results page once a battle is finished, you'll see units gain veterancy levels while the battle is going on, giving you an idea of which soldiers are the most skilled, which may affect how you position them in a fight.
 
This type of thing will be important to keep track of, since it sounds like players will be in for more of a challenge with Napoleon. The Creative Assembly says it has listened to fan feedback following the release of Empire and adjusted its artificial intelligence to more effectively multitask and make decisions. From what we're told, this means computer controlled opponents will appear to be more committed to decisions on the battlefield. They'll still react to changing conditions, such as diverting forces to protect their general, but if the decision is made at the outset to capture the high ground, then that's what they'll stick with, and will divert only portions of their forces as other priorities become urgent.
 
Aside from the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, there, there's the Campaign of the Coalitions mode. This is basically the grand campaign where you can choose to play as nations other than France such as Britain, Russia, and Prussia. As Total War fans have come to expect at this point, each will have their own distinct starting conditions, including territory controlled, diplomatic standing with other European powers, economic development, and tech trees. The types of upgrades and soldiers that can be trained have also been tweaked in Napoleon, allowing for more statistical diversity across nations for comparable units to give each army more of a feel. Many more aspects of the game have been adjusted in Napoleon, including diplomatic options that allow for more direct methods for requesting assistance while at war, and it'll be interesting to try them all out when the final game is made available.
 

Your commander on the field of battle plays a more active role.

Those interested in the multiplayer component will be happy to know that any of the campaigns can be played by multiple players. That means that if you want to try out the Egyptian campaign with one player directing French forces and the other controlling the armies of the Ottoman Empire, you can.
 
If you've never played a Total War game before, it looks like this might be a good title to consider. Each campaign is bookended by cinematics to emphasize the narrative context, and the more limited scope of some of the campaigns might make for a more digestible experience if you don't feel like being overwhelmed. It's also looks like the prettiest Total War game yet, with effects like dust clouds that kick up as regiments move across desert terrain while fog funnels down from surrounding mountains, frequently lit up by the flash of gunfire. Animations are as impressive as the scale of the conflicts, particularly when cannonballs rip through ranks of soldiers, sending them sprawling helplessly to the ground while others continue to reload and fire as your cavalry sprints from cover to flank an entrenched enemy position. And as usual, expect another standout soundtrack to enhance the drama of battle.
 
Napoleon: Total War is currently scheduled to be released on February 23, 2010 in the US. Expect to see more coverage on IGN in the coming weeks.
 
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