First it was Dawn Of War 2, and now it is Empire Total War. War is out in the open, but the battle it seems is against piracy.
ETW is the second game I have reviewed this month that also needs a Steam log-in, and therefore Internet access, to activate and play the game, even if you are just up against the computer AI.
This is a big problem for users who do not have regular broadband access as it can take several hours just to update the first round of patches, and that’s on my 100 Mbps line. After you activate the game for the first time via Steam, you can choose to run the game in “offline” mode which then lets you run the game without Net access but you will still need to have the game updated to the latest patch for this to run. In other words, you cannot quite play a Steam-enabled game without Net access.
The good thing about Steam is that it handles all your game patches automatically so your game is always updated to the latest patches. Steam is also a form of anti-piracy tool since you always have to log-in before you start the game. The really cool thing about Steam however is that you all the games you have purchased, whether as a direct download or from retail shops, can be downloaded into any other PC although you can only play on one at a time.
I payed, I have no internet, I’m not a pirate. Why is this not on the box?: INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED!!!!!!!!!!! Back to the store.
I bought ETW, hoping for a game that I can play whenever. The manual repeatedly (and ominously) keeps telling me that I will NOT need the internet to play in the future. I get to school, and then it tells me I need the internet to play. WTF!!! any solutions from anyone??
Haha…stumbled upon your blog while searching for Total War community Singapore. I personally think that Steam has more positives than negative. More games will be online focused in terms of content distribution and DLC etc.
I think it is unavoidable in the future. Yeah it sucks for those that don’t have an internet connection but people have to move with the times. I think in a way it is a natural evolution to compete with torrents/online piracy.
I agree that the offline mode in Steam could be made to work a bit better and currently is still a bit too difficult to configure. Why do we have to be online to turn on offline mode. And having games only updated to current version etc.
It is still early days for digital distribution platforms…so expect improvements. Plus competition too. Impulse is another great alternative. Unfortunately doesn’t have the game catalogue of Steam.