Development studio Creative Assembly is best known for their excellent Total War series - Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War and so on. They've recently had a crack at the 3rd person action adventure genre with the not-so-entertaining-as-it-could've-been console title, Viking: Battle for Asgard. They are currently involved with two projects. One of them is a real-time strategy called Stormrise and the other is Empire: Total War.

These guys really know how to party.

Shiver me timbers, I ain't gonna board that!

With Empire: Total War Creative Assembly means to stick to what they're best at - making good strategy games. Thing is, they've also decided to take things a bit further this time around. The game is set in the 17th and 18th centuries and certain discoveries made by man will make things very different on the battlefield. Gunpowder is now an important segment of warfare, hence a lot of the fighting and clashes are going to be centered on rifles and long-ranged artillery. Tactics are crucial, as always. If you want to win a battle, it's important to consider each move carefully. Seeing as most of the battle is now fought at a distance, you must make sure your riflemen are properly placed. Formations are more important than ever in that sense. Although it's best to keep your distance from enemy ranks, you can always mix it up and fight the opposing army at close range. In that case, it's crucial to make sure your troops placed their bayonets onto their rifles. While this gives them an effective melee weapon, they won't be able to fire their rifles.

Creative Assembly promised significant AI perk ups. The AI-controlled enemy takes a different and more cautious approach. When real-time battles take place, the enemy considers how each move is going to influence the turn-based portion of the campaign. For example, enemy forces may surrender cities and certain strongholds if they see any strategic benefit in the long run. This wasn't possible in any of the previous Total War games, so, yeah, it is a great improvement indeed. What's more, instead of just running away when they're outnumbered, they may take shelter in garrisons and buildings near by, if they see it as the best option.

Another new gameplay ingredient that affects the performance of your army in battle is the dynamic weather system. Heavy rain drastically influences the accuracy of riflemen, since they can misfire more frequently. The infantry will move slower too. Cavalry units will have problems, as their horses can get stuck in the mud.

The presentation focused on land battles, though the game is going to feature naval combat. Creative Assembly created action-packed naval battles, where fleets of ships exchange cannon fire. Empire: Total War sports a variety of ships from sloops, huge commands ships, etc. Ship crews will wait for the right time to set planks and throw ropes in order to board enemy vessels. When a ship is boarded, a clash of troops ensues, with each soldier matching up to an enemy counterpart.

With all these innovative elements, Creative Assembly is still determined to create an epic atmosphere. Everything in the game looked great, from the massive waves and dynamic weather displayed in intense naval battles, to the detailed soldier models in land skirmishes. From what we were told, a real-time battle in Empire: Total War could show 10,000 troops on the screen.

The game is being developed exclusively for the PC and is targeted for a release on February 6, 2009 release.