14 DAY TRIAL // The Creative Assembly, as the developer, and SEGA, as the publisher, are confirming that the multiplayer play element will be available for all three campaigns in the upcoming Napoleon: Total War set to be released for the PC on February 23. The number of players who will be able to cooperate or fight against each other will be limited to two for the three single player experiences delivered in the new game.
Napoleon: Total War is a more focused experience than last year's Empire, allowing players to actually better the achievements of Napoleon or to work against the great tactician in three theaters of war: Italy, Egypt and the whole Europe. The multiplayer campaign has been in beta since December 2009 and more than 15,000 players have been taking part in so far. The feature was initially promised for Empire: Total War but its implementation proved more complicated than The Creative Assembly thought.
Napoleon: Total War is also set to allow so-called drop-in battles. In an effort to add more of a challenge to the tactical battles in the single player mode, gamers can tick an option permitting adversaries to take control of the enemy side via an Internet connection.
Mike Simpson, who is the creative director at The Creative Assembly and one of the people who have worked on Total War since the beginning, said that “Following all the great feedback we've had from our fans for the Empire Multiplayer Campaign Beta, we're proud to announce that all three campaigns in Napoleon: Total War will be multiplayer enabled. We'd like to thank our fans for all their support.”
Napoleon: Total War promises to be a more polished experience than Empire, with a bigger focus on diplomatic relations, more detailed graphics, a more precise campaign map and a new roster filled with units drawn directly from the history of the era.