14 DAY TRIAL // Creative Assembly has announced that it is working on a new strategy title, called Napoleon: Total War, which is set to offer players a chance to step into the well polished boots of the great general and fight their way to greatness just as he did, using the armies and the tactics of the beginning of the XIX century. The developer outfit has not said exactly when the game is out but sometime in 2010 is a good bet.
The company has long put together complex titles, which combine turn based strategic layers with real time tactical battles. Ever since Shogun: Total War, the games have managed to depict a variety of eras and styles of warfare, from Roman times to the Medieval era, which got two titles.
The latest release is Empire: Total War, launched earlier in the year and which has managed pretty good sales performances despite being a rather niche videogame.
Together with SEGA, which is set to publish the title, it is saying that the new Napoleon game will be offering three different campaigns. We can presume that one will depict the victories of Napoleon, while the other two will allow players to take on the role of Austria and, probably, British generals fighting against the French tactical genius.
Mike Simpson, who is the creative director at the studio, stated that “In Napoleon: Total War you get to actually be Napoleon - to face the problems he faced, to win the battles he won, and to build the Empire he built. Or better. However, the game allows you to step in the shoes of his opposing generals as well, allowing the player to rewrite history as they see fit.”
Players are probably hoping that Napoleon: Total War will also improve on the existing Empire engine, mainly by adding more tactical depth to the battles and by improving the capabilities of the Artificial Intelligence that the player faces.