I’m having a huge amount of fun in Empire: Total War at the moment. The Road to Independence campaign gives a small-scale introduction to the new elements of gameplay, and after winning that I’ve plunged into a nice big Grand Campaign as the British. The campaign mode is fantastically rich now, as well as all the good stuff from the previous games, enhancements in Empire include a technology tree to research your way through (I do like a good technology tree) and individual government ministers, allowing for many fun cabinet reshuffles. I’m starting to get to grips with the real-time combat too, especially now I’ve managed to overcome my obsession with cannon to build more balanced armies than the somewhat experimental Loads Of Cannons (And Some Howitzers) Regiment, which was terrifyingly powerful at a distance but a bit vulnerable to being charged. Naval battles are great fun when you have two or three ships and can pay close attention to them, I’ve been chasing some pirates (around the Caribbean, no less), but massed fleet battles get very confusing in a hurry. All in all, though, a more than worthy latest instalment in the series. Highly recommended!