Empire still isn't finished. Buy Medieval 2. There are significant differences from the first Medieval, so you won't feel like your playing exactly the game.

Well if you want something familiar then Medieval 2 is a good choice as it's superior to Rome and vastly superior to the original Medieval. I'd recommend the Gold edition because not only is it cheap, but the expansion comes with four sizable campaigns.
Empire is very different and it's bloody huge. Both factors make it a bit more difficult to pick up. But equally they make it that much harder to put down. Now it's been patched up it's a very good, very smooth running and stable game. In other words, all the major flak it got on release has been addressed.
Ultimately, I'd recommend both.

Wow ok, having read all the comments, I think I'm going with Medieval 2. Unlike Empire, it doesn't require Steam right? I'll probably sniff around eBay and see if I can get a collectors ed or something.

:(
no love for Empire.

Go with Med 2 Gold. The collector's edition is pretty rare and I doubt you'd get a good deal on eBay. Plus it wouldn't include all those extras. No, it doesn't require Steam. Just a SecuROM disc check.

I like it. Well, now I like it. I couldn't be bothered with it when I first got it because it was a mess.

I love them both. Given the choice I would go for Empire not just because of the pretty engine (and it is very pretty when the cannon and muskets are firing) but the setting is new for the TW franchise. It also simplifies the grand strategy at lot and places more of an emphasis on technological research which is accurate for the time.

It's fun enough but I'm biased since I have no interest in the Industrial/Musket Era. Neither have I the interest in seeing Musketmen fire at each other and the enemy platoon just standing there and firing back.
I'm really interested in Medieval history on the hand.
Still remember me besieging an enemy city in Empire. My Line Infantry were all at the walls surrounding the enemy at the bottom. They just stood there while my Infantry shot them to death. But I guess the patches have made the game better.

Oh ya, forgot about research which was one of the best things added to Empire. Hope they add that in the future TWs.

Heh. I on other hand dislike medieval history and had never been interested in knights, kings...
great age of exploration on other hand, beginnings of modern science. that's my cake.
And shogun should show us at least a little of technological progress. not on the scale of empire tough.
if they do Orient: Total war. then we should see some wicked technological progress.

I suggest M2TW as its that last game free of SecuSteam. Also its a very good game and you can get the Gold pack pretty cheap now days that has the Kingdoms exp.

Some of the best mods for Med2 even include a no-cd... ;-)

Bonus! But yes, even without the noCD, the mods make Med2 even more of a must have.

Yes, fantastic song. Definitely in my "Best of Gaming" playlist.

I'd definitely go for Medieval 2 over Empire. I have both, and found Medieval 2 to be awesome, and Empire to be kind of dull.
Medieval 2 had much more going on with the battles, far more tactical choices, and much more unit variation which led to more opportunities to use different tactics.
I found in Empire that most battles consisted of watching a couple of lines of people shoot away without much in the way of movement. The Naval battles were pretty neat though.

Yup, exactly that's what I feel. Empire's mostly just using Line Infantry to fire at another Line Infantry. And alot of lines firing at alot of lines. Maybe that's why they're named Line Infantry. I don't even bother to use Calvary in Empire, other than to chase down routing troops. Grenadiers from the flanks kill more troops than Calvary ever can.
For me, the naval battles were cool at first, but I ended up auto-resolving most of them.
The many mods for M2TW and RTW makes Empire weak in comparison.