Empire: Total War is a developers dream - and a players nightmare
Everything in it is almost there...but not quite getting to the finish. The most annoying parts are the campaign failure issues, where after ending a turn, the game just gets stuck in some AI characters movement, or some other related element. And then, your only hope is to have a save-game close enough, so you can play that particular scenario in a different way, hoping to get through this time.
Then, there is the real time battle, where weird things just keep showing up.
Artillery has a mind of its own, refusing during a heated battle to disengage and stop firing and move to a new location. It will unlimber then back again, keeping you busy for precious moments, that would be better spent directing that flanking move you started just moments ago.
Also the enemy cavalry is quite predictable, it has a clear movement pattern, always trying to attack your artillery units. After you catch on, its pretty easy to protect your guns with two infantry squares and be done with it (as cavalry has also a reluctance to attack infantry squares). A very good tactic is to create dedicated artillery support groups, with quick firing guns up front for protection, while your mortars and howitzers pummel the incoming enemy to small bloody bits. A few well placed exploding shots, with cannister to top it off for close combat, can turn overwhelming odds in your favour.
The enemy infantry is decent, but I fail to understand why it will not flank, or react so slowly to being outflanked. Most of the times it would just sit there, take volley after volley, while the AI fiddles its thumbs, trying to figure out what to do. Then suddenly, with only a few men left, it charges into my lines, instead of running for dear life.
Other than that (and the annoying STEAM issues) its a well balanced game, that needs a few patches to clear its campaign issues and some minor flaws with unit management. These issues, while not fatal, ruin what otherwise would be a blockbuster.
Also, as a sidenote, it is a very bad day for gaming, when the cracked / pirated version of a game proves to be more stable and playable then the beautiful legal version. In my case and in so many other gamers case, its exactly what happened. We kind of expect to get some quality for our money.
Clearly the developers hoped to release the game in whatever state, making the projected release date and the pre-orders on STEAM and others, cashing in on the buzz and hype, later releasing the necessary patches to make the game stable and playable.
Also, clearly the developers need to be reminder that gamers are customers and not beta-testers, and need to be treated as such.