ETW will require the internets

[Burning Bridges]

According to this news, ETW will run on steam, require an internet connection to play:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/42...ine-Activation

Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War will fully utilise Steamworks, Valve's suite of publishing and development tools. For gamers, that means friend lists, achievements, and online activation:

Steamworks will support both the retail and electronic versions of the Empire: Total War game giving players game updates, downloadable content, friend-list support and achievements. To play single-player Empire: Total War, players need only to connect to the internet once via the Steam client after installing the game. Steamworks will serve as Empire: Total War's multiplayer backend, providing server browsing and match-making functionality, bolstering Total War's new level of commitment to multiplayer game modes and features. Further details on multiplayer will be announced soon.
“We are delighted to be working with an infrastructure as effective as Steam” said Mike Simpson, Studio Director at the Creative Assembly. “Having their matchmaking and support systems on board for Empire; Total War makes a huge difference both for players and for the development team. It not only helps make multiplayer slick and sizzling, it also frees up a huge chunk of the team's time which helps make the whole game better.”

Bla bla bla. I'm not interested in friend lists, achievements, and online activation. I only want to play the fucking game, not put my computer under CA's control from now on.

Well, I guess for me that means one thing less to worry about. I didn't like the trend in their latest games anyway. TW was amazing in the beginning (STW), RTW was still fun, MTW2 was meh, this is just not my level any more.

Everything must end. I'm glad I just found Take Command 2nd Manassas, which is much better battlefield sim anyway (long, realistic battles plus accurate, linked scenarios).

 

[Korgan]

Just get a pirate rip for singleplayer.