By: Jack Almond
Empire: Total War is a strategic turn-based video game in which you battle against AI opponents to conquer the world. One of Empire: Total War's key selling points is it focus on military tactics throughout battles that can be waged on land and in the sea and controlled in real time. You can strategically move your armies and navies around the world, trade with allied nations, conduct espionage on others, perform diplomacy, and take care of internal and external politics. Slightly similar to Sid Meier's Civilization VI, you must strategically plan each turn accordingly, maintain a strong economic status, increase military strength, utilize religion and education to your advantage, and so much more. This game is one of the most difficult I believe I've ever played, but with all the layers to it, the experience was extremely interesting.
When loading into the grand campaign, choosing a starting nation to control and bring to supreme power can be daunting. Each of the eleven playable factions have their own pros and cons to selecting them, such as their geographic location, economic wealth, population size, land and naval military strengths, allied nations, and so much more. These are details that I, unfortunately, overlooked in my first short playthrough. I chose Russia not realizing that I would have to face the strengths of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the Crimean Khanate which did not necessarily workout in my favor in the end.
Throughout my first half hour playing, I was extremely confused with the mechanics of the game and jumped right into hot water when I realized I could wage war. I chose the Ottoman Empire as my first target of attack as they were one of my enemies and quickly waged a naval battle in which I was extremely confused when controlling. I have never been much of a military junky, especially when it came to tactics... but a bit of knowledge could have been useful. I aimlessly sailed around, landing cannon shots when I could, until both of my ships were sank. I realized that he next time I got into a battle, I would need to have a plan in place. Unfortunately this is where my first little playthrough was cut short.
During our experiment in class, we were each given a nation to control and nations to declare war against in 1702. During this simulation, my group chose France as the nation to control, which meant we were at war with Great Britain. After declaring war, it became apparent that Great Britain was a force to be reckoned as they has allies in Austria, Hannover, United Provinces, and Portugal - we only had Spain. Immediately a naval battle sprung between two of France's strong ships and three weaker Austrian ships. With the help of Dr. Pitt and my group member Jackson Rose, the long and close battle was fought and resulted in the loss of France's two ships. Unfortunately, after the loss of these ships and construction of new, we were further attacked via naval military by a faction I do not remember the name of - this time though I opted to choose the automatic resolution as I clearly am a weak naval commander, but the result was once again a loss.
After experiencing multiple losses, I lost interest in the strategic campaign of the game but was still interested in the lore and design of the game. I spent time after the experiment described above on my home PC just exploring the maps and terrain. The focus on realistic design in Empire: Total War is unbelievable. The interactive, geographically accurate map is extremely intriguing and really gives this game a strong sense of historic realism. The stress and fear of unknown you have when enemy naval fleets position themselves on your coast is something I've never felt in any other game. It is an overall phenomenal historic experience as you must maintain every aspect of your nation, while also handling conflict based on your geographic locations. I believe that this stress is the similar to that felt by commanders and rulers during this time.
Every aspect of Empire: Total War is not totally accurate, but as it is ultimately a video game meant to entertain, I do not believe that this effects the game negatively. The land battles I watched on YouTube, as I never experienced one myself, are that of beauty. Having to manage man power, ammunition, positioning, and so much more really gives you the insight to struggles military commanders faced. Furthermore, the naval battles are extremely realistic with your sails being able to be slowly destroyed, limiting maneuverability, as well enemies being able to board your ship, resulting in hand to hand combat. Throughout further research, I also learned that people recreate historically accurate 18th century battles. All in all, Empire: Total War is not a substitute for books and stories recounting history, but rather a way to experience them from a strategic, real-time perspective.
In relation to my current major of marketing, Empire: Total War is similar in it's requirement of strategic planning. Like I described in my post about Assassin's Creed Odyssey, to be successful in any form of marketing, you must plan each and every step. This is a requirement for Empire: Total War, which I learned the hard way in my naval battles losses. If I were to understand my enemy (business competitor), lay out a positioning baseline (marketing positioning statements), and react to any issues I face in battle (repositioning), I would've definitely been more successful. I believe that if I were to go back to Empire: Total War in the future, I would definitely take a more marketing focused approach in strategically planning which would allow for a much more successful gameplay.