I recommend you buy this game at half price at the very most. I do recommned the game, it's fun, has a very large and extensive campaign with many factions to play as. However, the game has been stripped of some features previous in older Total War games such as the family tree. The game in general moves far too fast to get attached to your commanders, like in previous games, and they die a lot without any real notice.

The buildings and campaign planning is now at an absolute minimum, with a new provincial system that works well when you are a large nation, but suffers from a lack of depth when you are a small nation. The politcs screen does nothing, and can be ignored completely, providing nothing in terms of gameplay to the world.

Seasons have been re-introduced because the community cried out for it, however the game moves at one turn per year, so seasons don't fit the timescale and don't play much effect.

The graphics are top notch. Both on campaign and on battles, however my PC is very capable at running on Ultra, but only around an average of 30fps. Optimization is extremly poor for entry level PCs and the graphical fidelity falls extremely quick when you lower the settings.

Battles are fun to play, they look impressive and work well in general. It's taken 12 major updates to get to the stage where I am comfortable at recommending this to someone, but as with most TotalWar games, the AI is terrible. On the campaign it's fairly smart, however diplomacy is almost non existant. You can't trade money effectivley, you can't gift regions or demand them you cannot bribe armies or settlements, you cannot co-ordinate with any certainty your nation and another to attack a particualr spot or nation.

On land, battles work pretty well. The AI behaves appropriately and in some cases smartly. This is where the game is best. Open terrain battles with large armies clashing in the fields. In large towns, it's more cumbersome as the enemy try to navigate streets quite poorly. In full on walled cities, the game falls flat on it's face. The AI pathfinding is terrible and they will pretty much throw armies at one spot until they break through, which they never will.

The multiplayer scene is dead. For a game that's sold over 1m copies, you'd be lucky to find 20 active games.

Co-op campaigns are brilliant. This is because AI isn't an issue and you can play against someone for the entire game. You just need someone willing to play with you for a full campaign.

That's all. Like I said, half price at best. The game's DLC packs offer nothing great, more factions and more of the same. this is probably the worst Total War game to date. But it's still a Total War game, if you need to play battles where 1000's of troops clash together, this is your game. If you need good strategy, in depth campaigns or history, I'd look to Civilization V, Crusader Kings II, Total War: Shogun II or Europa Universalis IV

If you're a hardcore Total War fan who wants to boycott the series, no point, they've sold 1m+ games. It's by far their most successful game to date. Just don't pre-order the next one.

I recommend you buy this game at half price at the very most. I do recommned the game, it's fun, has a very large and extensive campaign with many factions to play as. However, the game has been stripped of some features previous in older Total War games such as the family tree. The game in general moves far too fast to get attached to your commanders, like in previous games, and they die a lot without any real notice. The buildings and campaign planning is now at an absolute minimum, with a new provincial system that works well when you are a large nation, but suffers from a lack of depth when you are a small nation. The politcs screen does nothing, and can be ignored completely, providing nothing in terms of gameplay to the world. Seasons have been re-introduced because the community cried out for it, however the game moves at one turn per year, so seasons don't fit the timescale and don't play much effect. The graphics are top notch. Both on campaign and on battles, however my PC is very capable at running on Ultra, but only around an average of 30fps. Optimization is extremly poor for entry level PCs and the graphical fidelity falls extremely quick when you lower the settings. Battles are fun to play, they look impressive and work well in general. It's taken 12 major updates to get to the stage where I am comfortable at recommending this to someone, but as with most TotalWar games, the AI is terrible. On the campaign it's fairly smart, however diplomacy is almost non existant. You can't trade money effectivley, you can't gift regions or demand them you cannot bribe armies or settlements, you cannot co-ordinate with any certainty your nation and another to attack a particualr spot or nation. On land, battles work pretty well. The AI behaves appropriately and in some cases smartly. This is where the game is best. Open terrain battles with large armies clashing in the fields. In large towns, it's more cumbersome as the enemy try to navigate streets quite poorly. In full on walled cities, the game falls flat on it's face. The AI pathfinding is terrible and they will pretty much throw armies at one spot until they break through, which they never will. The multiplayer scene is dead. For a game that's sold over 1m copies, you'd be lucky to find 20 active games. Co-op campaigns are brilliant. This is because AI isn't an issue and you can play against someone for the entire game. You just need someone willing to play with you for a full campaign. That's all. Like I said, half price at best. The game's DLC packs offer nothing great, more factions and more of the same. this is probably the worst Total War game to date. But it's still a Total War game, if you need to play battles where 1000's of troops clash together, this is your game. If you need good strategy, in depth campaigns or history, I'd look to Civilization V, Crusader Kings II, Total War: Shogun II or Europa Universalis IV If you're a hardcore Total War fan who wants to boycott the series, no point, they've sold 1m+ games. It's by far their most successful game to date. Just don't pre-order the next one.