New Empire: Total War Gameplay Vid

As you may already know, I think pretty highly of the Total War Series. So imagine my excitement when Empire: Total War was announced. The game looks to be another solid addition to the series so far, but what really peaks my interest is the concepts show in this all-new gameplay video, the first in a bunch of 5 gameplay videos.

While Rome: Total War was an excellent game, it was by no means perfect. Of all it's flaws, naval battles were probably the top of my list. While land battles were epic, movie-quality battles-of-titans, the naval skirmishes had to be decided by the automatic button. Hence, when two fleets clashed, the whole encounter was summed up in a click of a mouse. This made developing a fleet the least immersive activity in the game. Admirals had no photos or traits, so naval fights amounted to just stacking a bunch of ships together to overpower anyone in your path.

That Empire: Total War is finally bringing the sea into play is a much-needed addition. Not to mention the fact that the gameplay looks as polished as always, and the graphics are probably the greatest I've ever seen of ships at sea. Yo-ho!

Empire: Total War is going to set sail on February 3rd, 2009 according to the splash site. You can find the embedded video here.