Melee combat is fantastic. When engaged in close combat soldiers have a lot of new combat animation. They dodge, thrust, stab and choke one another as they desperately fight for their lives. I noticed that nearly all soldiers engage in personal tussles with the enemy so not all animation is death blows like in previous titles.
~ Graham Clifford from Boomtown.net (2009)
Total War games have always looked pretty, but never like this. Seeing individual crew members of a ship clambering across the ropes at sunset, or a cloud of smoke gently envelop your infantry as they let loose a volley of musket fire is hypnotising. And if they weren't encouragement to zoom in and view your battles at ground level, you'll love the fact individual combatants now really appear to be fighting 1v1, instead of just flailing around.
~ Luke Plunkett from Kotaku (2009)
After playing for a few months, it still amazes me watching the tiny little regiments engage in combat. If you ever get the chance, zoom in real close to the combat and watch your units duke it out hand to hand. You’ll notice your units and enemies actually fight with one another. Also, while watching the sea battles, you’ll notice your sailors trying to take over enemy vessels when order to do so. I love watching them throw lines from one ship to the other, pummel the enemy with rifles, stand toe to toe with swashbuckling pirates.
~ Curtis Takaichi from Gamer Limit (2009)
The advent of gunpowder also adds a new dimension to the battles, allowing players to use ranged combat and fire cannons to break enemy ranks, but with plenty of the visceral hand-to-hand scuffles that helped make the Total War series an evergreen favourite.
~ David McComb from Empire (2009)
The hand to hand combat is also a beauty to watch. You could swear you are watching a real battle from above, as they attempt to bayonet or beat their opponent to death.
~ Reviewstream.com from Reviewstream.com (2009)
Again, it's all in the details, as you zoom in and see each troop participating in frenetic ranged and hand-to-hand combat. Empathy is a sign of a truly immersive game, and The Creative Assembly have nailed it. You can't help but feel sorry for the poor souls they modelled these collections of pixels on.
~ Dan Cheer from Game Planet (2009)
Watching the little men duke it out is a lot of fun to watch with their wonderful animations. Long gone are the days of watching your medieval soldiers swing their sword only to have it hit enemy shields a million times, now its all about bayonet stabbing and dodges.
~ Vervous from Gameplay Monthly (2009)
I especially like the melee animations, all individually recorded by professional stuntmen. Men stab and hack at each other, pushing each other on the ground and kicking downed men in the face. It is even possible for knocked down soldiers to parry bayonet stabs or roll out of the way and get back up again.
~ LonePlacebo (2009)
The fighting is beautifully fluid.
~ Keith Stuart from Game (2009)
To say that Empire Total War looks good is an understatement, being able to watch each man fight and act independently is amazing, you'll find yourself just zooming right into the thick of things just to watch their desperate struggle to win.
~ Odion from ZT Game Domain (2009)
I love the level of animation in the game; it’s deep and cinematic quality. The combat is incredibly visceral and great fun to watch, zoom right in and see cavalry charge down a line of infantry or a cannon ball decimate a group of cavalry as they try to ride down your riflemen.
~ Straybolt from Games Xtream (2009)
Motion-captured cinematic actions have been applied to the units likely to get into hand-to-hand range, and generally units exist and clash much more naturally and believably than before.
~ Rob Purchese from Euro Gamer (2008)
The seamless precision in which the actors choreographed their moves was really impressive to watch.
~ Mark O’Connell from Total War.Com (2008)
It was impressive to watch two soldiers clanging their muskets together, stabbing and snarling while combat raged all around. Even more impressive was when a cavalry officer joined the fray, leaning to one side to slash down at opponents while they dodged his blows and tried to dismount him. The cavalry officer's head looked down and pivoted to follow his target as he circled his prey. The graphics really serve to bring the harshness of Napoleonic battles to life. We watched a British flag carrier lead a line of redcoated infantry into battle, boldly vaulting over a wall and into the thick of an enemy position. Surrounded by enemies, we saw that he was reaching for his sword when his foes brought him down. Mechanically, the loss of a flag carrier means that his unit takes a morale hit, but somehow the game mechanics seemed secondary to the drama unfolding on the battlefield.
~ Game Spy (2008)
