First there was Shogun and soon Medieval followed. Then Rome came about and it changed the not only the series but also the world of video games by setting the new standards for strategy games. Medieval II was the next game to be released and it took graphics and strategy to yet another level.

And now, the fifth game of the Total War series has finally been released. Empire - Total War will almost certainly take strategy where strategy has never gone before, and if it stays true to the rest of the series, it will probably be one of the best games to be released in 2009. Although I have the game on my desk and it is still sealed up, I did however play the game for roughly two to three minutes (the demo) but I soon abandoned the whole idea when I realized that my video card was just not powerful enough to handle even the demo of Empire - Total War. So you can almost say that this game cost me around 220 dollars: $70 for the Empire - Total War Special Forces Edition and $150 for my new XFX GeForce 9600 video card. Did I go overboard with my purchase? Maybe so when it comes to the game, as for the video card, it really flies. But I do have high hopes for the game so I'm going to cut this introduction short, tear open the package and pray that Steam is not down so I can install and play some Empire - Total War. But first thing is first, I must go get me some coffee.