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Napoleon Total War CD cover

Napoleon: Total War box-art

Napoleon: Total War (abbreviated as NTW) is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics|real-time strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly (CA) and published by Sega for the PC. Napoleon was released in North America on February 23, 2010, and in Europe on February 26. The game is the sixth stand-alone installment in the Total War series. The game is set in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Players assume the role of Napoleon Bonaparte, or one of his major rivals, on a turn-based campaign map and engage in the subsequent battles in real-time. As with its predecessor, Empire: Total War, which included a special United States storyline, Napoleon features two special campaigns that follow the general's early career.

Napoleon received generally favorable reviews from video game critics. Reviews praised the game's stunning visuals, story driven campaigns, and new gameplay features. Some reviewers were critical of the game's weak AI, high system requirements, and its limited scope - while others considered Napoleon overly similar to Empire, its immediate predecessor in the series.

French actor Stephane Cornicard provided voice-acting for Napoleon Bonaparte in the original English, German, French, and Spanish language editions.

Gameplay[]

As with all other games in the Total War series, Napoleon consists of two gameplay types: a turn based geopolitical campaign - which requires players to build structures in a faction's territories to produce units and create a source of income, research new technologies, deal with other in-game factions through diplomacy, trade and war, sending agents on missions, creating and commanding armies, and eventually become the world's dominant faction - and real time tactical battles where players command huge armies to direct the course of any battles that take place.

Napoleon contains four campaigns, two of which follow Napoleon's early military career. The first career event is the Italian campaign of 1796, while the second is the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. Both feature smaller, optional missions that help drive the story forward. The major French campaign, however, is the so called "The Mastery of Europe," which resembles the holistic modes of previous Total War games. Conversely, the "Campaigns of the Coalition" allows players to govern Great Britain, Russia, Prussia or the Austrian Empire and attempt to defeat Napoleonic France in Europe. Each major campaign requires players to obtain a certain number of territories, although the latter also demands that the French are defeated. Many of Napoleon's major battles such as Austerlitz, Trafalgar, and Waterloo are available as historical scenarios, separate from the campaign.

A new physics system had been implemented for the real-time battles, so that when cannon balls hit the ground, for instance, they leave impact craters. Gunpowder smoke lingers and reduces visibility in protracted engagements. Mike Simpson, CA's studio director, reported that there are a number of environmental factors that affect battlefield tactics: gunpowder backfires when it rains, and the elevation of landscape affects the range of munitions. Individuals within a unit now vary to a greater degree, and are no longer as generic as in previous titles in the series. The campaign map is narrower in focus, but more detailed than Empire's campaign map. Turns in Napoleon: Total War represent two weeks, while previous titles sported turns that were the equivalent of at least six months. Additionally the game's artificial intelligence system had been modified.

In addition, Napoleon: Total War contains several new multiplayer features and a voice command utility to speak to other players via Steam. Unlike previous Total War titles, there is now the option for a "drop-in" multiplayer campaign mode: when playing a campaign against the computer, it is possible to allow another user to join via a lobby and take control.

Factions[]

Napoleon-_Total_War_-_All_Faction_Intros

Napoleon- Total War - All Faction Intros

All faction intros for the Europe Campaign

Napoleon: Total War includes approximately thirty factions throughout the game, though only the following are playable in campaigns:

  • Austria - Campaigns of the Coalition and multiplayer (Europe and Italy)
  • France - Story mode and multiplayer (Europe, Egypt, and Italy)
  • Great Britain - Campaigns of the Coalition and multiplayer (Europe and Egypt)
  • Prussia - Campaigns of the Coalition and multiplayer (Europe only)
  • Russia - Campaigns of the Coalition and multiplayer (Europe only)
  • Ottoman Empire - Multiplayer (Egypt only)
  • Spain - Expansion Pack and Multiplayer (The Peninsula Campaign only)

Some non-playable factions available in the campaign include:

Multiplayer[]

The game also included the following features:

  • Multiplayer Campaign Mode
  • Multiplayer drop-in battles, where you can face human opponents in your single player campaign battles
  • Steam achievements, game play bonuses and voice communications.

Historical battles[]

Like previous Total War games, Napoleon features a selection of famous, historical battles to play. These battles feature pre-set army compositions to represent the factions fighting in the battle. The battles are as follows:

  • Battle of Arcole: This battle was fought over 2 days in 1796 between Napoleon and an Austrian army during the War of the First Coalition. The Austrians planned to relieve the siege of Mantua, but Napoleon outflanked and cut off their supply lines, defeating the Austrians in a crushing defeat.
  • Battle of Austerlitz: Described as Napoleons greatest ever victory, in this battle fought in December 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon won a great victory by defeating a combined Austrian and Russian army on the Pratzen Heights.
  • Battle of Borodino: Fought during the French Invasion of Russia, Napoleon fought a bloody battle in 1812 against Russian forces. While it was a victory for Napoleon, and resulted in the capture of Moscow, the French lost a lot of men which resulted in the French starting their withdrawal from Russia.
  • Battle of Dresden: This battle took place in 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition, French forces of Napoleon fought and defeated the Coalition army of Russia, Prussia and Austria. Despite his victory here against the numerically superior army, it was the final major victory for Napoleon during this war, as a string of defeats forced him to abdicate and flee France.
  • Battle of Friedland: Only available with the purchase of the Coalition Battle Pack DLC, the battle took place in 1807 during the War of the Fourth Coalition. The final battle of the war, Napoleon won a great victory against the Russians, taking them out of the war and ending all land operations against Napoleon for the rest of the war, which ended soon after.
  • Battle of Ligny: The penultimate battle of the entire Napoleonic Wars and fought in 1815 during the War of the Seventh Coalition, the battle was the final victory of Napoleon's career, winning a tactical victory against the Prussian army, but they ultimately survived in good order, spelling disaster for Napoleon when they assisted the British during the Battle of Waterloo.
  • Battle of Lodi: Fought during the War of the First Coalition in 1796, Napoleon first made a name for himself here when he defeated an Austrian army in Italy. His victory here made him convinced that he was superior to other generals and first inspired him to eventually try and take over Europe.
  • Battle of the Nile: One of the two naval historical battles in the game, this famous battle took place during the War of the Second Coalition in 1798 when the Royal Navy commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a French fleet in the Nile and remains of the Royal Navy's greatest victories, cutting off any French reinforcements and supplies, ultimately resulting in Napoleon retreating back to France after failing to successfully siege Acre.
  • Battle of the Pyramids: Also fought during the War of the Second Coalition, the battle took place not two weeks before the Battle of the Nile, when French forces defeated an Ottoman-Mamluk force thanks to the French infantry squares holding and defeating the famed and feared Mamluk cavalry.
  • Battle of Trafalgar: Arguably the most famous naval battle to ever occur, the Battle of Trafalgar was famous for many reasons. Fought in 1805 towards the end of the War of the Third Coalition, Horatio Nelson won a famous victory against a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The battle has many famous points and feats attached to it, including the British capture of the Santissima Trinidad, the Spanish flagship and largest warship ever built in the Age of Sail, the death of Nelson and his famous pre-battle signal of 'England expects that every man will do his duty' as well as the foundation and confirmation of British naval superiority during the 19th century.
  • Battle of Waterloo: The final battle of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815 during the War of the Seventh Coalition, the British Duke of Wellington defeated the French army of Napoleon with help from the Prussians. It was a great victory for the British and resulted in Napoleon's final defeat, abdicating as the French Emperor for good and ushering in decades of relative peace in Europe. This historical battle is the only one to have 3 different versions to play, 2 from the French perspective and one from the British.

Marketing and release[]

On March 10, 2010, a demo was released via Steam featuring a playable version of the Battle of Ligny.

Retail versions[]

Napoleon was released in four different retail versions: Standard edition, Limited edition, Imperial edition, and the Emperor's edition. All boxed versions include the "Elite Regiment" pack, a collection of five extra units; any edition bought on Steam does not include this unit pack.

  • Standard - comes with only the game disc and manual in a standard plastic case like most other retail game editions.
  • Limited - offers the full game and manual, as well as ten exclusive units in the "Heroes of the Napoleonic Wars" pack.
  • Imperial - includes all the contents of the Limited Edition, but has special premium packaging and an illustrated wallchart timeline of the important events in Napoleon's life.
  • Emperor's - includes all contents of the Imperial Edition, and is the only edition to include a 200mm statuette of Napoleon and a field journal. This edition was released only in Australia and New Zealand.

Pre-orders made via the Steam content delivery system included another special unit: the Royal Scots Greys. Orders made via certain retailers likewise included various special units: HMS Elephant, Towarczys, and the Grand Battery of the Convention.

Downloadable Content[]

  • Napoleon was going to have a uniform editor upon release. CA announced that the uniform editor would be delayed. Almost eight months after the game's release, Mike Simpson stated that the original uniform editor was never meant for public use, and that CA is making a unit editor capable of both editing and creating new units. This new unit editor is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2011.

Achievements[]

Starting with Empire: Total War, each subsequent Total War has had achievements. Napoleon has 71 achievements spread out over historical battles, each campaign and multiplayer.

Trivia[]

  • If the government button (G) is being pressed many times, the UI button images will change to a bicorne wearing kitten.

Gallery[]

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The Total War series
Shogun (The Mongol Invasion) Medieval (Viking Invasion) Rome (Barbarian Invasion Alexander Remastered) Spartan Medieval II (Kingdoms) Empire Napoleon Total War: Shogun 2 (Fall of the Samurai) Total War: Rome II Total War: Attila Total War: Warhammer Total War: Arena Total War: Warhammer II Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia Total War: Three Kingdoms Total War Saga: Troy Total War: Warhammer III Total War: Pharaoh
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