Originally published by Eidos in 2005 this intense strategy game is now available from Mastertronic as one of their SOLD OUT range. The game attempts to recreate and put the player smack in the middle of Napoleonic warfare and includes not only some of the battles of that era but also some of the politics of the period.
The whole game is played out on a map of Europe stretching from Russia to the UK and from Tripoli to Sweden, on which you can play as one of five playable empires. These are Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria and of course France.
Each of these nations own a set number of territories on the map at the beginning of the game, but not all of the territories are owned, some are the property of non-playable states such as Spain etc. You need the territories you own in order to grow and produce the resources you need for your empire to survive. With these resources you will improve the infrastructure of your state plus raise new troops or negotiate trades etc Although of course warfare is the main part of the game there are loads and loads of considerations you have to think about and decisions about diplomacy you have to make before any conflict occurs. Sometimes you might even decide it is not worth fighting about at all and solve the dispute using the diplomacy options available. The number of protection treaties etc signed between all the different states is actually quite complex and only someone who really concentrates and wants to play this game is going to have the patience to get through them all. The main thing you have to learn is when to fight. You will lose very quickly if you rush into battle and only when you men are ready and your enemies are weak should you decide to attack. You also find out very quickly that different nations have different emphasis on the troops they have so you have to adapt your strategy to what is put in front of you. When the battles do finally take place it is perhaps only then that you begin to appreciate the time and effort that the developers have put into this game. All the figures on the map are very finely detailed from the brightly coloured cavalry uniforms to the cannons etc that your army possess. Also fine detail has been taken to show the effect of each attack right down to the dirt that is kicked up in to the air from wherever your cannon ball hits. A good use of the various tactics that were used in this era is also present. These include Column, line and square formation and the successful general/player is going to be the one that learns which troop type has been specifically designed to use which tactic the strongest and more effective. Graphically this game, especially considering it is four years old, is stunning. From the already mentioned troops to the battlegrounds themselves and it even includes naval battles which is something that the TOTAL WAR series, which this game is obviously based on, did not have until recently. (The navy battles are actually visually stunning but the weakest part of the game when it actually comes to gameplay) The land battlegrounds come complete with their own terrain, own weather and realistic background scenes. For example the Egyptian campaign has pyramids in the background whilst Scotland has rolling hills etc. Sound wise the sound effects are adequate but could be better but the music is super. It really helps to set the scene and drag you into the game. Overall this is a very impressive game especially when considering its age (and especially now it is available at a new budget price. It actually needs quite a substantial pc to run properly otherwise it has a large slowdown factor but providing you have the equipment to run it this is a dream. The campaign does take a bit to get going and casual players (what are you doing playing this anyway?) will be put off and turn it off before it even really gets started. However stick with it and you will find a game that rivals the older Total War games and certainly is a good alternative to the new one if you can either not afford that. I cannot recommend this game highly enough. You can purchase this game at: http://www.mastertronic.com/productSoldOut.asp?pid=297&productLabelID=1 | 
Windows 
