A good game, though sometimes lacking the intensity of previous Total War titles.
The changes I have most issues with are inevitable in a way, it's the fact that ranged units have taken over, and melee combats scarcely happen. This brings are certain fell of lack of intensity as you will in certain battles just watch lines of units trading shots, which if it gives an increased importance to unit placement, does take some of the satisfaction off.
Another much more annoying issue is that the time the AI takes to make it's moves is ridiculously long sometimes (party due to the fact there's loads of minor factions), sometimes taking up to 2 minutes (my rig isn't all that new, but i'd expect it to be faster on a 8 months old comp).
Other changes again make some frustration, such as the fact that native indians in the American theater have longer range with bows ans muskets than your own units and can hide in any terrain, which makes them extremely frustrating foes, specially considering the fact that from the start of the game they have big armies.
And finally the pathfinding is often ridiculously bad, specifically when attacking a fort (I just saw a group on Line Infantry Regiments stack on the foot of the wall without climbing the ropes they had just thrown up, or go down the same rope as soon as they were up.)
The good points now, thankfully there's more of those. First, the additions of naval battles, which has been a request by the fans for years now, allow you to finally have a chance to hold your own on the seas without having to rely on auto resolve, which was strangely biased sometimes in previous titles.
Next is the graphics which have been upped quite a bit, you'll see a difference IF your computer can handle it, which is by no means certain, as a comp which could play M2TW at full settings will only be able to have this one at average.
There's also the additions of constructible villages and ports outside of town, which an enemy can attack. They can be upgraded in different way and will give different advantages, for instance Metalworkers will give you money, while coaching inns will make the people of the region where it is built happy and schools will allow you to research new technologies. This forces you to keep a certain balance, as constructing the same building everywhere will have you lacking elsewhere.
Which brings me to the technologies: in ETW, you can research technologies divided into 3 tech trees (Military , Economic, and Philosophy), these are essential for instance economic technologies will allow you to upgrade metal works, mines, farms, while military will gives you access to cannons, better units, unit formations (square, diamond, wedge) or tactics that for instance allow your infantry units to fire one rank after the other, instead of only having the front rank firing while the others watch.
The trade feature has also been given an interesting boost, as now you know which factions you trade with, which goods you're trading and how it is transported. Sea trade can also be cut off by placing a fleet on a trade lane, effectively cutting off all ennemy trade. The Diplomacy has also been somewhat improved, setting aside the fact you no longer know what whoever you're talking to will think of your proposition (Generous, Balanced, Demanding and so on). Now you can know what exactly is influencing your diplomatic relations with another nations with a form on numeric value (like +20 Same Religion, or -50 Historical grievances) although in the end they'll still hate you because they dislike it when a faction becomes too powerful.
The map has also been considerably expanded , with the american and indian theaters, which add an interesting variety, and the newt trade theaters, like the Coast of Brazil , or Southeast Asia which allow you, by placing a merchant ship on a specific location, to obtain considerable resources, though the danger of pirate ships is always lurking.
The AI has been redone, both in good and bad, you'll noticed in battles that the opponent is smarter (you'll see them placing skirmishers in trees to ambush your forces , or using their cavalry to flank your line of infrantry.) But on the campaign map it's more complex, you'll see factions engaging in suicidal wars, or just staying back and watching you destroy their allies without reacting even if they declared war on you.
Much of the tedious city management has been cut down, with a generalized tax rate, and a reduced number of buildings inside the cities themselves to build, a symbol will appear over the city to show when buildings can be built, which gives a clear and simple way of checking on your cities.
As a last word, I'll add that i've heard many claims of bugs, crashed and so on (I've had a few on the demo until I lowered the settings, and haven't had a single crash since then), and most importantly I've also heard people whining about the DRM, if you don't have steam by now, it might be slightly annoying to install and create a setup, but it isn't THAT annoying. Besides, though it is a DRM it isn't the kind that limits your installs or anything, it's one real downside is you can't sell games once you've activated them, unless you sell your entire steam account . I use it for Painkiller, Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Red Orchestra and I've never had any problems with it and it's useful for it's autopatching feature, if nothing else (also allows you to play the game without CD or install it withouth CD).