Napoleon: Total War

Napoleon: Total War boasts three campaigns. The first has you slipping into the shiny shoes of Napoleon on his first major posting, commanding the French Armée d'Italie in Northern Italy. Though none of your superiors is expecting anything of you, your objective is Napoleon's own: to conquer a 'road' of provinces that will allow the French to invade straight into the heart of hated Austria.

The second campaign, which pulls the scale of the map back a bit, follows Napoleon's quest to conquer Egypt in 1798. Then finally you have The Mastery of Europe campaign, where as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte you get the chance to swing the massive resources of France around Europe like a ball and chain, or you can take the role of a smaller power trying to bring Napoleon down.

All this is in addition to 355 new Napoleonic-era units, new buildings and technologies, a selection of scenarios recreating the Emperor's most famous battles and an unspecified range of multiplayer modes but certainly including online campaigns.

The Italian campaign informs you about land battles and region management without overwhelming you, the Egyptian campaign introduces naval battles and blockades, and once you've mastered all of this you get the trade and complex politics of a full European theatre

Changes to the game itself are just as smart. Each turn now represents two weeks instead of the series' more traditional six months, which has a couple of nice repercussions. First, it brings the speed of technological advancement in line with previous Total War games, allowing you to get to grips with the era's warfare.

Second, it means scorching hot summers or frosty winters now drag on over many, many turns, which is important as Napoleon takes a keen interest in weather conditions. As well as the series' usual eye for the effects of hills, sand and snow, Napoleon models attrition. Armies crossing mountains or camping out in deserts or snow now steadily lose men, balanced by a second feature whereby armies will automatically receive reinforcements from home if stationed in a friendly province with a Supply Post.

Even more attention has been paid to the battles themselves. Generals now confer more of a morale bonus to troops close to them, and the range of this bonus is shown by a large circle around their regiment. This transforms your general into the busiest unit on the map, since you'll be sending him racing off to support big pushes or protect flanks which are about to crumble. As well as the top brass, smoke and mud are also receiving some love. The engine now causes clouds of gunsmoke or dirt kicked up by cavalry charges to hang around longer, turning them into genuine visibility-reducing factors.

The Total War games have always set the bar high and Napoleon looks to raise that bar several notches higher.