Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition screenshot 1Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition screenshot 2
StrategyHistoricalMilitaryGrand StrategyTurn-Based StrategyWar

1,352 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 2,903

Peak in the last 7 days: 3,589

Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition Steam store

Game description

Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe.

Basic info

DeveloperCREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)
PublisherSEGA, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateMar 4, 2009
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

Processor2.4 GHz Intel® Pentium® or greater or AMD® Athlon® equivalent CPU
Memory1 GB
Graphics100% DirectX 9.0c compatible hardware accelerated video card with shader version 2.0 supp…
Storage15 GB
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Review Analysis Score

Based on 424 reviews from the past 1 year

81.5/ 100
Top 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (91%)

Metacritic: 90 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

Global empire building across the eighteenth century gives this strategy game its pull, and it scores 81.5 from 424 analyzed reviews. Players love the scale but warn about crashes and an old, unpredictable AI.

👍 Strengths

179 reviews say they enjoy it, and some call it the high point of the series or keep replaying it after hundreds of hours. 42 praise its strategic depth, and some describe economy, diplomacy, trade and warfare feeding into each other. 39 enjoy its historical setting and atmosphere, and several mention the ship battles or childhood memories. Content Volume ranks 131st of 1351, and Story & World ranks 319th of 1096.

👎 Where it falls short

Tech & Support ranks 1189th of 1399 and appears in 31% of analyzed reviews. 62 reports cover crashes and bugs, and some describe save files corrupting late in a campaign or crashes tied to specific events. 37 criticize the balance and battle AI, and a few say artillery is overpowered or that mods are needed to fix it. 21 describe poor performance, and some mention frame drops during sieges. Visuals & Sound ranks 1018th of 1249, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 945th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“best Total War game hands down” · 179 reviews
“deep interconnected mechanics with economic, political, and military systems” · 42 reviews
“brings back plentiful childhood memories” · 39 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 45% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +2.55 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “deep interconnected mechanics with economic, political, and military systems” · 42 reviews
Negative “military system strange and revolutionary sometimes bad due to lacking diversity” · 10 reviews

Progression 3% · Difficulty 6% · Onboarding 7% · Freedom 13% · Controls & feel 8%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.34 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “brings back plentiful childhood memories” · 39 reviews

Story 2% · Characters 0%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 25% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +3.63 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “hundreds of hours with Empire 2 mod, massive content” · 19 reviews
Negative “not as comprehensive as Napoleon Total War” · 2 reviews

Variety 9% · Replayability 7%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +1.33 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “graphics are good up close” · 20 reviews
Negative “old and shows during battles” · 12 reviews

Audio 4%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +2.86 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 4% · Servers & Connection 1%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 19% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.38 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “Indian melee units inexplicably defeat twice-sized Russian musketeers and artillery” · 37 reviews
Positive “excellent AI in battle both naval and land” · 2 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 3% · Matchmaking 1%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 31% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.56 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “game crashes if America gains independence with specific commander” · 62 reviews
Positive “most issues fixed over years, mods enhance experience” · 1 review

Performance 11% · Developer support 9%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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