Whilst Empire: Total War is quite a re-shuffle of the tried and tested formula that's made the Total War franchise so well loved, all the important game elements are still there to make this the best war strategy game you've ever played.  
 
For Total War veterans, you may be a bit disorientated initia  lly by the re-organisation of the campaign map and the introduction of 'regions'. Stick with it however, as this only serves to help keep on top of all the action when you're in to the depths of the 'Grand Campaign' mode and are fighting enemies on several continents.  
 
In short - whilst there's a bit of an additional learning curve for Total War enthusiasts (and and even steeper curve for new comers to the series which is thankfully tackled in the excellent tutorial campaigns) the rewards for sticking with it are a well polished and incredibly deep war sim that you can lose yourself in for hours on end.  
 
Highly recommended if you're looking for something to get your teeth stuck in to.     
 
Note : Whilst this product was very buggy upon release, I've been playing this via Steam on a Windows 7 pc for the past few weeks and have had zero technical faults.