Empire: Total War. A step in the Modern direction.

Damn, it's 2 in the morning, and my nerves are shot, fried and burnt-out. All this from the earlier game of L4D with a couple friends; it's almost become a regular indulgence among us. Mix intense survivor vs. infected fighting with a smattering of playable special infected. Sprinkle a bit of freezing air-conditioning, and put to bake in a room full of panicked players. What do you get? Voila, an experience that gives you a better high than cocaine, without the side effects (but with the addiction). I can remember suddenly snapping at one of my friends after he asked me to give him the LAN money. That's WAY out of my character.



Back on topic, Creative Assembly, the developers behind the venerable Total War series of games are working on their addition to the franchise. First came Shogun: Total War, then Medieval, and following that, Rome. Now, it all changes to something closer to our time: Empire. This RTS pits your skill at managing an empire in the 17th to 18th century, the post-modern to modern era, when colonization and exploration are all the rage. For those who have been playing one or more games within the series, you should have no trouble at all adapting to it.

Several key differences from the previous titles are present:

-More emphasis will be placed on naval combat. Instead of following the past games where ship-to-ship combat was never fought in real time or never existed at all, Empire Total War will allow naval battles to be player-controlled. You can board, capture, and sink ships, as well as target certain parts of an opponent's ship for a desired effect.

-The battlefield will pretty much be dominated by gunpowder units, instead of the backseat role gunpowder has had in the previous titles. Cannons and musketmen rule the field. Sweet.

The title is coming out somewhere around March 2009. Can't wait.