Empire: Total War multiplayer beta begins

Sega and Creative Assembly have today announced the launch of a new open beta for multiplayer content in historical strategy epic Empire: Total War on the PC.

The beta is completely open to anyone who owns the game - all you have to do is head on over to the official website and sign up to get access to the beta client, which runs through Steam.

The aim of all this is naturally to gather as many bug reports and impressions as possible before Sega officially launches the new Campaign Multiplayer mode in Empire: Total War, which launched earlier this year.

"Information and user feedback gathered from this Open Beta should help us getting the Campaign Multiplayer mode ready to be a regular feature in upcoming titles in the Total War series," creative director Mike Simpson said.

The feature list for the beta can be found below, in case you want to know what you're letting yourself in for.

• Play on the entire Empire campaign map (All 3 theatres) against another player.
  
• Fight against far improved AI nations, overhauled by update 1.5.
  
• Work together or in competition to dominate the entire Empire campaign map.
  
• Play via LAN or the Internet through Steam.
  
• Engage in diplomacy with AI factions and another player.
  
• Betray or cooperate with a friend or enemy, the choice is yours.
  
• Fight real-time battles against the AI together, or have a friend take the AI's place in battle for the ultimate tactical challenge!

We quite liked Empire: Total War when it first launched in March and it still seems to be selling well judging from UK PC games sales charts. You can check our Empire: Total War review for more information, or just let us know your thoughts in the forums.