Really? I feel that the smaller scope of the campaign map leads to less replayability. I played at least 5 different campaigns on Empire, but I got a bit bored on my second Shogun playthrough. Co-op might make it last longer, but I feel there is little danger on me getting to me 130 hour Empire total. Bare in mind I focus on campaign not battles

I think Empire made things too big, and it became cumbersome. Shogun is streamlined just the right amount.

Possibly... Certainly in terms of like unit variety and stuff it felt just right, but the map is too small. And with the Realm Divided event, I spend the entirety of the 2nd half of the game just building military units, it takes away the diplomatic and civc side of the game

Personally I think it might be time for a fictional Total War where we can have a global scale AND arrows and swords, which make for much better RTS games (only CoH has really worked with guns, but that was small scale)

I can see how you feel that way. Shogun 2 for me is the perfect balance. I have used displomacy effectively, though I agree it's different from how it functions in Empire. I guess it's like how some people hate Civ V for streamlining while others find it better.   

PS: Also naval combat actually works now!

Well you can't use diplomacy for most of the game, as you will have Japan against you

I have never actually done any serious naval battles, the only ones I played in Empire were just so I could admire how great the ships look

But there are little things that really make the difference, such as the way your campaign battles are fought in the same locations as where they are on the campaign map

Ok guys thats alot of recommendations for Total War, and you all seem to have differnt favourites, as ive never played any of them before which one would you recommend for someone new to the series?

Empire is the most complex, so even for the people who find it fun, most would recommend you start with something else, and in my opinion that would be Shogun 2.

You should probably pick the one that seems the most interesting. However, if they all seem equally interesting or you don't really care, it comes down to your budget. Rome is still a great game but so is the recently released Shogun 2. In any case, I don't think you can go wrong with Rome and it should be quite cheap now so that's what I'd recommend unless you don't care about price and want nicer graphics (and that's not to say that Rome is ugly, either).

Some great games have already been mentioned. As you like Oblivion I would re-recommend Mount & Blade. I'd also suggest checking out TES: Nexus for mods for Oblivion as they can vastly tailor the experience to your own preferences (in some cases completely improving and give a massive range of new quests. I'd definately recommend The Witcher, especially with the sequel comming out soon.

And everyone that mentioned Deus Ex is right.... check it out!