Back to the actual game:

Fortunately, NTW seems to be stable on my system. It looks a bit nicer to the eye. Put in the long awaited MP. On that note I must say the possibility to get a live opponent in your campaign sounds good, haven’t checked that out, experience anyone??? And streamlined some diplomatic options.
Indeed, NTW looks like what ETW should have been but on the same note also a lot less.

To me it seems they cut out the parts they couldn’t fix(wich is still significant i’m afraid) from ETW, spit-shined the graphics, put in a new storyline(as the title suggests, napoleon’s story) and re-released it. It certainly doesn’t add much new things to the genre. Campaing AI wise it looks like its running a bit smoother but still a lot of small stacks and till now, I’ve not been invaded(playing GC as GB. So far BAI wise it isn’t smarter but I must say a bit smoother… can’t put my finger to that, it just feels like it. And with not smarter I mean… it still doesn’t surprise me. I haven’t tried out the fort battles so can’t comment on that either(developed the habbit of avoiding those in ETW ;) )
Technologywise it is cramped too, less to invent, some too much in the future(ships screws and ironclads, my god) while on the other hand others aren’t included(platoon fire, various ammo’s etc etc). Still no direct way to influence home politics.

This is certainly not all but just a tip of the iceberg. Am I overly harsh? Perhaps I am but on the other hand, CA also promissed a lot with ETW. Even in the sequel(wich didn’t take them longer than 1 year to develop while abandoning ETW) doesn’t make good to those promisses. Can one actually judge a game without taking its predecessor in account?

All in all, I would give this game a 7 based on where it came from. If ETW didn’t happen, I would give it a 8.5. But it did and that’s why I can’t judge it a step forward. But at least on my machine, it’s stable and thus playable.

http://www.gamingheaven.net/gamingreviews.php?reviewid=864
one game a strategy fan should not miss, it is shaping up to be one of the best games in 2010.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/napoleontotalwar/news.html?sid=6240618&mode=previews&page=2
Napoleon seems like it’ll have plenty to offer both new and veteran Total War fans in the form of improved AI, a totally new campaign style, and a highly unusual multiplayer feature.

http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/pc/games/159664/previews/134364.Napoleon-Total-War/
As a pre-Beta build, the game we played has its share of curiosities, missing assets and known issues – but that’s to be expected. What’s important is the superior gameplay and polish that Napoleon is exhibiting. Already, Napoleon looks set to be the game that Empire could have been.