Empire: Total War preview at Eurogamer…

…and if half of it is true, it'll be RTS heaven.

Originally Posted by Eurogamer
The broadest is the AI, which has become one entity rather than be split into a campaign-brain and a battle-brain. The effect is opposing battle generals acting according to an overarching campaign goal, which can be as subtle as not wasting effort on a strategically unimportant area, or as drastic as drawing players into dummy battles; distracting them from the real threat or forcing them to divide their attention. The battle AI itself has also been completely rewritten, and now reacts in a plan-based rather than state-based way, which prevents predicting that the computer will do A if attacked with B. Plus, these decisions adapt to suit the overall battle plan, which in turn is bossed by the overarching campaign plan. Even the generals have unique personalities that set them apart. The combined result is an AI that feels eerily human, and one that sparks battles with the element of surprise and unpredictability.

Linky: [ http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php…=242108&page=2 ]

I can't see them mentioning anywhere where they got the information from. That bit about the AI, for example, would require some extensive playing to really verify. All in all, I thought it read more like something a PR person would write (or like a fanboy parroting his favorite company's PR manager) than an independent journalist's take on the current state of the game during this stage of its development.

Yes, that made me slightly suspicious too. Then again, it's not that far from release, so it's at least possible that it's based on more than PR material. The normal Total War strategic AI is so braindead that it wouldn't take all that much to create a *comparatively* human-like one. If they have invested a serious amount of effort into it, it ought to be a huge improvement -- even if it doesn't measure up to this level of hype.

Either way, they've got my interest.