A hit or a stew?

The pros:
Superb both land and naval battles.
Different strategies of previous games of the series (due to the use of firearms and guns).
A management simplest diplomacy (no need to send diplomats ballad).

The -:
Mandatory use of steam. One likes or does not like steam. As for me I am indifferent steam (I play in online mode or not does not matter to me). What I did not like however is having to necessarily go through Steam to activate a game. If I chose to buy the DVD-ROM version of a game is to be able to install and play or I want; even if I do not have internet.
I would therefore hoped that the obligation to use Steam games included in the description.
In addition the installation is so damn bad that even when you have the DVD-ROM version of the game, steam trying to download the full game via internet! One wonders what is the dvd ???

Another big problem: bugs!
Initially Empire total war was moderately buggy, but remained playable (there was some time to crash to time but nothing too nasty). Patch "fixes" came out quickly; but instead to solve problems they have made it worse (that is to wonder if CA has tested the patches in question). To this day you can choose between a game that does not start at all or plant as soon as you select a fleet or an army, or whose backups are lost or corrupted therefore unnecessary. He sometimes has big display and sound problems problems. Clearly it is almost impossible to play.
If there was no steam, the "solution" to play pending "real patches" would be to reinstall the game and do not install the patches; unfortunately with steam that is not possible. When you reinstall the game reinstalls the steam buggy patches !! Those who are least bothered are those who have a pirated version of the game, allowing them to avoid having to connect to Steam! It's still a shame!

So my advice: Before you buy this game wait and monitor the forums to see if the situation is evolving favorably. If nothing changes drop.