head to head

Empire: Total War cover artvsStar Trek Fleet Command cover art

Empire: Total WarvsStar Trek Fleet Command

Empire: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Star Trek Fleet Command leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION2 /10READS3 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Empire: Total WarStar Trek Fleet Command

Axis by axis

Execution2 vs 1

Empire: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro is modest

Reads3 vs 3

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 3

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization8 vs 7

Empire: Total War leans harder on optimization: Campaign economy and line-infantry tactics are mappable

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Empire: Total War

full breakdown

Star Trek Fleet Command