NTW my experiences v ETW

reposted, put into wrong forum previously.

hi, I have every Total War game since the beginning and I estimate I have played literally 1000's of hours on the series in total. I have been playing NTW now for around 8 hours and IMHO its is the best version to date. I absolutely love it. Here is a list of what I have found new that I love so much.

A word of note; I am not playing as the French. I am playing as the British. I have every single setting set to Ultra at 19x10 res and play with NVIDIA 3D Vision.

1, Naval battles. In ETW I skipped these every time because they were just not fun to play and they were very hard to win. In NTW they ROCK! Its hard to pin exactly what they did but they are just more playable. I also had one of my best game play moments in 10 years when I hit the rear of a French 2nd rate and it blew up in the biggest and most fun freakin explosion ever. I actually laughed out loud.

2, Gun smoke and muzzle flash. These are not only exceptionally cool looking they also add a ton to the gameplay. Fog of war is much more of a factor as often you cant see troop movements behind it. Nice job, and it looks spectacular playing with NVIDIA 3D Vision too.

3, Terrain deformation and physics effects. I was delighted when I saw that cannon balls started ploughing big holes in the earth where they hit AND the cannon balls spin off as a result. I am astonished that CA has managed to enable this level of detail, very cool indeed.

4, Building destruction. I was distraught when I sent a set of troops into a building only for it to then get hit by enemy cannon which blew up the building and killed everyone of my soldiers. But it was another dramatic moment, brilliantly done.

5, The Generals motivation effect. This is also really cool. A great addition too, sending your general to a particular part of the battle field really can save the day since he can motivate and give hope to a particular set of troops. Another great touch.

Thats it for now, more later but CA- well done, this game is just brilliant.

So the naval battles are more arcade-like and the graphics are sweet? Wow.

So the naval battles are more arcade-like and the... Wait. Never mind, Xxax beat me to it.

Meh always loved naval battles anyway, something abou yelling YArgh me harties at the top of my vice then grape shotting crews in the water...

Building destruction? This was in ETW aswell, eh. Gun smoke muzzleflash? Too bad the pulse-rifles with over 9000's powerlasers ruin the immersion gained from them Try the mod that removes the lazers!

The thing with naval battles I don't like is that a large ship can go AGAINST THE WIND really fast and pwn everything. It's been dumbed down to much

I agree with everything else.

the reason there are tracers is so you can see were your guys are shooting. IMO it helps. Gameplay>Realism

Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little of X to gain more of Y.

In this case; X is historical accuracy & Y is actual gameplay.
If you invest too much in X, then Y will be significantly reduced.

If you invest too much in Y, then X will be significantly reduced.
It's pretty common to aim for a perfect balance where the two variables have the same value, but that is extremely difficult to accomplish.

Oh, you can't see what the men are shooting at without having large lazerbeams? Silly you! Maybe a button to line up the infantry would be nice aswell? Maybe another to do different tactical setups?

Now I am being to negative. But I really hate the lazers.. fine enough you can mod them out though.

Gameplay ain't an excuse not to ...L*P

Lasers? What lasers? What the heck are you guys talking about? I havent seen any lasers! Sheesh.

Originally Posted by Tommy8kins

Lasers? What lasers? What the heck are you guys talking about? I havent seen any lasers! Sheesh.

Ah, but you didn't buy the Collectors Super Extreme Awesomeness I Got More Units Than You! edition, now did you? Everyone knows that the bonus units come with rapid fire laser muskets, and horse driven plasma cannon. Seriously mate, try to keep up with the rest of us!

Originally Posted by Nordmann

Ah, but you didn't buy the Collectors Super Extreme Awesomeness I Got More Units Than You! edition, now did you? Everyone knows that the bonus units come with rapid fire laser muskets, and horse driven plasma cannon. Seriously mate, try to keep up with the rest of us!

It looks like I havent missed a bit by having the standard version

Moved to NTW Reviews.