Imperial Glory shares many similarities with the Total War series, combining real time and turn based elements as you fight for control over all of Europe. Released in 2005 Imperial Glory is a real time tactical challenge that explores the unique period of time between 1789 and 1815 with the great empires of the era taking centre stage. With many strategic elements to master on your journey through Imperial Glory you’ll employ tactics such as higher ground, formations and cover for your units. Supporting these are the designs of each scenario map with 3D environments that bring your strategic decisions to life at a grand scale.
Set between the years of 1789 and 1815 you’ll be stepping into Napoleon’s era. All the great empires are there with Great Britain, Austria, France and Russia all being represented (and playable) during your conquest of Europe. With a tug of war style you’ll shift control of the lands and seas of Europe between these warring factions with one ultimately ruling over the others. In time your battles will also extend to the lands of North Africa and the Middle East that present their own unique battles and differing tactical mechanics.
Similar to the Total War games you’ll be commanding your troops in large scale on the world map and then dropping into the impressive 3D environments to command your troops to victory with strategic movements at a smaller although still grand scale. This level of depth and attention to detail is consistently applied across the land and sea battles with the naval battles of Imperial Glory standing above other games in the genre on this element alone. At the core this is explored through the campaign aspect of Imperial Glory which has you moving units across the large map with your commander unit controlling a growing number of units tied to their promotions for successful battles to date.
Regardless of your battle on land or sea you’ll find that the unit variety is fairly high in Imperial Glory with infantry, cavalry and artillery all playing their part in your winning strategy. To simplify each of the game countries and your associated learning curve each comes with a standard set of units at the basic level but more intermediate and advanced unique units quickly become unique to give each of the countries their own strategies and counters. Some of these are also tied to specific regions that encourage some strategy as you move across the ~50 game provinces to acquire specific units that help your advancement elsewhere.
Infantry is the backbone of every army though in Imperial Glory and primarily use the musket as their main weapon, reducing the amount of hand to hand combat in Imperial War in comparison to similar games in the genre given the prevalence of gunpowder units during the time era that the same is set. While you can push your units forward with charges these are rarely a sustainable strategy with your formation and macro level movements of army units a better contributor to your combat success instead.
It’s not all about fighting in Imperial Glory though and there is still room for diplomacy given the right buildings and research should you want to go down this path of creating long term alliances. Trade will underpin many of these alliances with the boost to wealth being able to sustain your war machine in other parts of your growing empire nation.
Summary:
- Combines real time strategy and turn based mechanics together for both tactical and engaging gameplay.
- Impressive naval battles that are some of the best in the genre and work alongside the core land battles across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
- Battle with infantry, cavalry and even artillery with different specialists within each unit archetype.
- Control all of Europe and the surrounding areas with one of the several empires on offer with their own advanced unit themes.
- Plenty of diplomacy, trade and research decisions to make in between your conquest.
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Review Platform: PC