"While Napoleon: Total War may not be the best Total War game, it is an excellent game in its own right, and I would love to see the developers return to it in some fashion."
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
PvP Multiplayer.
Napoleon: Total War perfected many of the mechanics introduced with Empire: Total War, just in time for the developers to abandon them almost entirely and return to the formula which made he series what it is, abiet with additional quality of life changes, some of which where at least in part inspired by mechanics introduced by Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War, with recruitment in particular benefitting greatly buy the more user friendly systems introduced and integrated upon in the same.
This is unfortunate, as while Napoleon: Total War is not perfect, it is one of the most unique Total War titles and would have done well if it had been the start of a new sub-series.
While I like many of the mechanics introduced with Empire: Total War and later refined in Napoleon: Total War, neither game feels like a true Total War game.
Almost every aspect of both games, from economy to recruitment, has been overhauled to the point that they feel more like games inspired by the Total War franchise than actual Total War games.
While many of the changes introduced by Empire: Total War and Empire: Total War were not bad in themselves, they were rather drastic, and the effect it has on how Empire: Total War felt to play reminded me of the Ship of Theseus, as well-known thought experiment in which the Ship of Theseus, is repaired by replacing one plank at a time until every single plank has been replaced, leading to the question of whether the ship is the actual Ship of Theseus at all, with none of its original parts remaining.
While the experiment goes a little deeper than that, such as questioning what would happen if the original parts were reassembled as a separate ship, that does not apply in this case, due to The Creative Assembly having opted to base future games on a modified version of the oiriginal formula instead of continuing to itterate on the “new forumla” introduced with Empire: Total War.
As a result, no other developer arose to make a spiritual sequel to the older Total War games, as there is no reason to do so, due to modern Total War titles having so much in common with the beloved earlier releases.
With so much of what made Total War games unique having been replaced, it was difficult for me, as a longtime franchise fan, to see Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War as true successors to earlier titles in the series. Knowing what I do now (how almost every new mechanic introduced was rolled back or removed entirely from future releases), it’s clear that The Creative Assembly themselves were aware that they had gone too far.
Although neither Empire: Total War nor Napoleon: Total War felt like real total War games, they were excellent in their way, and could have been the start of a separate series of Ttoal war games, in a similar fashion to how the Total War saga series was created to give the developers a little more breathing room when it came to new releases.
While Empire: Total War has terrible performance issues in 2025 when running on modern hardware, Napoleon: Total War is still incredibly fun to play, looks fantastic, and performs well on most modern hardware, and I would have loved to see the series continue as a companion series to the mainline games, and while I doubt I would play them over a mainline game, I would certainly play them a fair deal, as despite my issues with how alien they feel to a longtime fan of the series, they are as I said, excellent games in their own right.
Napoleon: Total War is a 4x strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by SEGA, it was released on 23 February 2010 and retails for $24.99.
Napoleon: Total War is available exclusively on PC.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Napoleon: Total War is rated PEGI 16+ and contains:
In short, Napoleon: Total War is a fantastic game, with great visuals, loads of content, and some of the best campaigns in the franchise’s 25-year history.
While I feel that Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War should have been the start of a new series instead of a short-lived deviation from core Total War mechanics, ultimately, Napoleon: Total War is a very well-made game that is sure to appeal to history buffs and strategy fans alike, and I heartily recommend it.
We found Napoleon: Total War to be a great game, meaning it delivers a memorable experience with only minor imperfections that don't detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
