IGN Review: 8.9

IGN has their review up:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/107/1070234p1.html

In terms of AI, the tactical battles are challenging but still exhibit a few of the pathfinding and judgment problems seen in Empire. Trying to lead large groups of units in a coherent formation is still sometimes a bit awkward. Units still try to cross from one flank to the other if you try to resize or reface the line. It's only a minor frustration in single player, where you can pause the game to get things repositioned, but it can be very aggravating in multiplayer. On the plus side, units don't seem to go into melee mode on their own as often anymore.

Napoleon is an enjoyable addition to the Total War franchise but it's not as a big a game changer as previous sequels. While Napoleon and his armies were probably every bit as terrifying as Mongols, Vikings or Barbarians, the scope of this sequel is a bit more limited. On the plus side, it allows gamers to experience a historically inspired version of one of history's greatest military careers. On the downside, there's not quite as much variety here. Campaign multiplayer is a welcome addition that neatly sidesteps the sometimes passive AI and works to reduce, if not exactly eliminate, the potential downtime inherent in the format.

Not a particularly detailed review, unfortunately, and I question how thoroughly he was able to test multiplayer. Nonetheless, it's good to see a positive review.

Despite the great score, it says the CAI is still passive.

Why am I not surprised?

I think this game will be the best MP TW game so far, and probably about as good as MTW2 in terms of SP!

Well, we'll just wait til we play it ourselves!

Originally Posted by Marshal Beale

I think this game will be the best MP TW game so far, and probably about as good as MTW2 in terms of SP!

Well, we'll just wait til we play it ourselves!

MTW2 was GOOD in terms of SP???

Originally Posted by Marshal Beale

I think this game will be the best MP TW game so far, and probably about as good as MTW2 in terms of SP!

Well, we'll just wait til we play it ourselves!

Seriously? I guess your SEGA/CA paycheck cleared...

Last line is perhaps the most important.

Also, the part about the economy and logistics being more of a problem then enemy armies...wow, this is going to be ETW on downers when we were promised ETW on roids.

Originally Posted by Thoragoros

Also, the part about the economy and logistics being more of a problem then enemy armies...wow, this is going to be ETW on downers when we were promised ETW on roids.

agreed, the unrest factor in all total war games i detested. if you have a full stack in alot of regions its still red and stays yellow for like 50 years half the time. darthmod uc does not address this at all. Aproper Empire on the other hand fixed it splendidly, first few turns theres unrest than you can forget about it. A proper empire also has the best cannons mod better accuracy than darthmods 4x accuracy + faster reload. but DMUC is sweet at everything else.

Originally Posted by vrgadin

agreed, the unrest factor in all total war games i detested. if you have a full stack in alot of regions its still red and stays yellow for like 50 years half the time. darthmod uc does not address this at all. Aproper Empire on the other hand fixed it splendidly, first few turns theres unrest than you can forget about it. A proper empire also has the best cannons mod better accuracy than darthmods 4x accuracy + faster reload. but DMUC is sweet at everything else.

So do you want to rape and pillage a country and just have them forget about it in a few months? I am sure most historical conquerors would like that but it usually doesn't work out like that. The unrest provides a good reason to only make vassals/protectorates instead of painting the map your color; which is rediculous.

Originally Posted by vrgadin

agreed, the unrest factor in all total war games i detested. if you have a full stack in alot of regions its still red and stays yellow for like 50 years half the time. darthmod uc does not address this at all. Aproper Empire on the other hand fixed it splendidly, first few turns theres unrest than you can forget about it. A proper empire also has the best cannons mod better accuracy than darthmods 4x accuracy + faster reload. but DMUC is sweet at everything else.

I tried playin A proper Empire but I was losing like 5k of money every turn when I had just my starting armies and hadn't built any, that put me off the mod.

Thanks for posting. The review was rather short and didn't really say much about the game. Even so, if this review is anything to go by, Napoleon sounds a lot to me like Empire with shakos instead of tricorns. The reviewer doesn't seem to mention anything about the game having 300+ unit types or any of the other stuff that was supposed to be in the game.

Ah yes, IGN. The ones who gave ETW a 9.5. Thanks for the review but i'll take this one with a grain of salt

Hmm, my friend is buying it and first thing he will try to do is join MP campaign and try to ruin some games by dozens of dozens of 1-unit militia armies, camping etc. Judjing by his words that'll be a grief-test for CA))

Originally Posted by Lockhard

Hmm, my friend is buying it and first thing he will try to do is join MP campaign and try to ruin some games by dozens of dozens of 1-unit militia armies, camping etc.

What a hero.

"There's more variety in the environments than the unit rosters."

Whats alarming is when IGN feels a need to point out the passive AI and BAI formation issues. IGN is one of the biggest bootlicking review sites when it concerns games.

This review is about what I expected.

I think we should all remember IGN gave ETW a 9.5


just sayin....

Originally Posted by Soveriegn

I think we should all remember IGN gave ETW a 9.5


just sayin....

a well deserving score, why do people hate ETW so much?

Originally Posted by Jaketh

a well deserving score, why do people hate ETW so much?

It was buggy as hell at release. But some people's hate has become so all-consuming that they can't even admit that it's a good, fun TW game now that it's mostly cleaned up.