Imperial Glory

The French emperor Napoleon used his military and diplomatic skills to subdue half of Europe. You can try to do better while controlling one of the five major powers of the era. In the turn-based management mode, strategize by making treaties, building armies, and improving your nation's infrastruct

65%Game Brain Score

graphics, gameplay

story, stability

75% User Score Based on 988 reviews

Critic Score 73%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

"Imperial Glory" is a real-time strategy game set in the Napoleonic era. Players can choose to lead one of five European powers, competing in diplomacy, trade, and war to become the dominant force in Europe and the world. The game features a detailed campaign mode, intense battles, and historical accuracy.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 992 reviews

graphics40 positive mentions

stability8 negative mentions

The game offers a deep and engaging strategy experience, combining elements of diplomacy, resource management, and tactical battles.
The naval battles are well-executed and provide a unique gameplay experience compared to other strategy games.
Despite its age, the game still holds up well and provides hours of fun, especially for fans of the Total War series.

The game frequently crashes, especially after battles, which can be frustrating and disrupt gameplay.
Limited playable factions and a lack of variety in unit types can make the game feel repetitive over time.
The AI can be inconsistent, often leading to unbalanced battles and frustrating diplomatic interactions.

graphics
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
54%
9%
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated, with many reviewers noting that while they were decent for their time, they now appear simplistic and lack modern features like widescreen support. Despite this, the visuals are often described as adequate for lower-end systems, allowing for enjoyable gameplay, especially for fans of historical turn-based games. Overall, while the graphics may not impress by today's standards, they do not detract significantly from the game's overall enjoyment.
- “Despite its age, the graphics and animations are actually simple but good. For the time this game was made, it was a challenge to do what they did in it, and they did it quite decently!”
- “Very lovely visuals for the time it was, and it runs very smoothly (besides an occasional crash bug that is easily fixable).”
- “Graphics were surprisingly good for 2005, and they run smoothly.”
- “Graphics are rather old and the game unfortunately in all this time still doesn't have wide screen support at least.”
- “Maps are awful, graphics are too, even for a 2005 game.”
- “It's an old game now though, so don't expect much graphics-wise.”
gameplay
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The gameplay is generally praised for its fun and engaging mechanics, offering a simpler alternative to Total War games while still providing strategic depth and enjoyable combat. However, players have noted issues with optimization, clunky controls, and occasional crashes, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, many find the unique gameplay elements and immersive campaign features to be compelling, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
- “Amazing gameplay without overly intricate mechanisms like Total War.”
- “The gameplay is where this game really shines in my eyes.”
- “The overall gameplay of this game is fantastic, a mix of strategy/politics with warfare.”
- “Though the campaign can be interesting with the mechanics shown, the battles had such clunky controls regarding troop and camera movement (controls which cannot be changed, mind you) that it just made it rather unenjoyable.”
- “The battle mechanics are also very... paper-rock-scissors-like; cavalry reigns supreme, and an infantry regiment, while having a lot of firepower, can realistically (in the sense of the game) be used for two to five battles at the most (since you can only restore your casualties starting with the third era, which is at the very end of the game, when you can build military hospitals). Up until then, if your regiment has one man left, that's what you get in your next battle - one man.”
- “And the mechanics are a ridiculous chore: improving 'sympathy' (relations) with other countries is done by trading, but is not automatable.”
story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
57%
21%
The game lacks a cohesive narrative, with players noting that the experience feels more like a series of missions rather than a traditional story. While it offers engaging gameplay through battles, quests, and a tech tree, the absence of a compelling storyline is a significant drawback. Overall, the focus is on gameplay mechanics rather than storytelling.
- “Imperial Glory brings to the table many things that I have yet to see in a game of this style before, such as population-based recruiting and missions that can give you many bonuses, such as buildings being built instantly or elite units.”
- “The quests and the tech tree feature make things interesting.”
- “Has campaign, quick game (create your own mission/battles), historic events (ex: Waterloo), and even multiplayer.”
- “There is really no story.”
- “Trying to do anything feels like a mission and a half and the game crashes randomly at times; only buy if every other game on Steam suddenly leaves and only this is left.”
- “But if we forget about those minus and look at good looking battles (5-6 units of infantry shooting on charging cavalry and cannons destroying whole armies on bridges) and a lot of technologies to discover (and quests to complete), we can spend hours on fighting against whole Europe (North Africa and Turkey) in singleplayer campaign, historical battles or against real players.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
17%
33%
The game's optimization is generally criticized, with many players needing to adjust settings or use older operating systems like Windows XP to avoid crashes and improve performance. Despite these challenges, some users noted that the graphics are surprisingly good for a game from 2005 and can run smoothly on certain setups. Overall, while the gameplay is praised, the optimization remains a significant issue for many players.
- “Graphics were surprisingly good for 2005, and they run smoothly.”
- “Optimization is great as well.”
- “My only complaint is that I had Windows 8, which kept shutting me out at first, so I had to set it up like I had XP to run smoothly.”
- “Empire is so poorly optimized that even new rigs often can't run it well.”
- “This game's optimization is not that good, requiring you to do a small bucket list of things to run it, but the gameplay is still incredible.”
- “As this game is very old, you should know that if you want to play this game without crashes, you should change its optimization to Windows XP.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The game offers good replayability, largely due to challenging AI that keeps players engaged, though some users express a desire for more playable nations to enhance the experience. While the game is enjoyable, occasional crashes and aggressive AI interactions can detract from the overall experience. Overall, it appeals to fans of military strategy games, particularly those who enjoy titles like Tropico.
- “Good replay value.”
- “The AI will generally do its best to rip you a new one, which maximizes replayability from the very beginning.”
- “The only problem with it is it sometimes crashes, but one thing that sucks is that everyone around me tries to go to war with me. I invade a country that has no alliances or anything, then two other countries are at war with me. Other than that, it's an awesome game if you like Tropico. This game is more military and takes place in a completely different time and place (Europe and North Africa and some of the Middle East). The only thing that could make this better, aside from fixing the crashing, is adding more playable empires/countries, especially some North African places because they have special units.”
- “But still, it's got replayability and I got it on sale for 49 cents.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The music in the game is frequently highlighted as a standout feature, with many players returning for its captivating quality and emotional resonance. While some feel the music can be out of place at times, it is generally regarded as superior to that of similar titles, enhancing the overall experience.
- “Even though improvements have been made in the genre, I often find myself coming back to this little game for its music, its setting, its feeling, and to play around with all the ways there are to victory, whether that be diplomatic or militaristic.”
- “I prefer 'Imperial Glory' to 'Empire: Total War' due to the superior tutorial, the overall feel, the shorter waiting time between turns (mainly thanks to the omission of visual gimmickry), and the nicer interface design, voice-overs, and music.”
- “But the best thing about this game is still the music.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, crashes, and freezes during battles and at startup, which can severely impact gameplay. Many users describe it as a "half finished, bug-ridden mess," indicating that these stability problems detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Every time the game ends, a battle freezes.”
- “Cutting my old review down to just the negatives to match, this is a half-finished, bug-ridden mess of a game even for the time it was made.”
- “Freezes on startup and then puts a heavy burden on my hardware until I force stop the program from running.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game's atmosphere is generally well-received, with players appreciating its immersive quality and original soundtrack. However, some feel that certain elements can become overly lengthy, potentially detracting from the overall experience.
- “I just love the general atmosphere of the game as well as the OST.”
- “The atmosphere is okay, but it can get a little bit lengthy at times.”
- “The atmosphere is decent, but it tends to drag on.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that grinding in the game often involves utilizing inexpensive melee units, which can feel repetitive as they charge into enemy fire with minimal strategy. This aspect may lead to a sense of monotony in gameplay, as the reliance on basic units can detract from the overall experience.