As a result, the units are massively diverse. The campaign depicts a culture clash and pits modernity against tradition. Not only are gun units actively more deadly than in Napoleon or Empire, but their functioning diversity allows you to build up a much more complex strategy around how you position and use different gun units. Yet given the amount of work that goes into playing the game, from converting to Christianity and being hated by everyone, to expending a disgusting amount of time conducting research, the bugs are easily ignored.īut the standalone Fall of Samurai expansion is another matter.
The bugs were endless.Īnd to be fair, that pretty much held true for the guns in Shogun 2’s main campaign. I would lose count of the number of battles where immaculate lines of high-quality riflemen would just decide against firing their guns for reasons beyond mortal comprehension. I love Napoleon: Total War, Empire: Total War and the rest of the modern history entrants as much as the next guy, but they never properly functioned. While some future Total War games would go onto overcomplicate things again, Shogun 2 struck a fine and enjoyable balance. There’s a limited number of ways to play, but even within that there’s lots of room for various approaches and strategies.
Unlike series like Europa or Crusader Kings, there weren’t millions of potential cogs playing out at once. Its economy, too, involves enough complexity to remain interesting but strips away the more superfluous parts of the previous games. It added a patchwork diplomacy system, where you find yourself making agreements with countless minor factions in a more transparent and understandable way than in either Empire or Napoleon: Total War. On the strategic level, Shogun 2 was a huge leap from its predecessors.
Streamlined yet complex strategyīut Total War games are about more than just grand battles. Put simply, it perfectly captures a somewhat romantic ideal of what it was like in feudal Japan. More than just making the combat better though, these fluid duels embody the ideal of Japanese samurai and bushidō. In a series used to brutal warfare, capturing that fluidity of classic samurai combat is a massive test which the developers passed admirably. It means the clashing of two units amounts to thousands of engrossing one vs one duels that are amazing to watch. Without delving too much into the technicality of it all, the game came with an improved Warscape engine that made for almost beautiful combat between warriors. To somewhat justify that sad fact, then: just what is it about this game that keeps it so fresh, even a decade after its first release in 2011? Fluid samurai battles Given my easily distracted nature, this could be the single individual past-time I’ve dedicated the most of my time to over the last decade. A perfect mixture of fascinating mechanics, beautiful combat and engrossing historical realism makes it a game I literally cannot stop playing. But in my mind Shogun 2: Total War is unrivalled. An ungodly amount of time to dedicate to any one game, especially one that is a decade old and has countless follow-ups. Total War: Shogun 2 is a real-time strategy and tactics title set in 16th century Feudal Japan, a world worn down by warring clans and the bitter struggle for power between 10 of the country's most powerful warlords.1,830 hours. A limited number of editions available in Europe and Australia will also be wrapped in packaging inspired by wajima nuri, Japanese lacquered wood. The European edition will also include ten additional content packs: the Dragon War Battle Pack, Saints and Heroes Elite Unit Pack, Sengoku Jidai Elite Unit Pack and seven clan packs including Hattori (Ninja), Ikko Ikki (Warrior Monk), Otomo (Gunpowder), Saga, Obama, Tsu and Sendai packs. Fall details the Samurai's struggle against modern weaponry and firepower, and the fall of the last shogunate in the 19th century. The second add-on, Fall of the Samurai, was released last year as a standalone expansion and takes place 400 years after Shogun 2. Rise of the Samurai, released in 2011, is set 400 years prior to Shogun 2 and is based on the events surrounding the institution of the first shogunate and the rise of Samurai as a ruling class.
Sega will bundle 2011 PC strategy title Total War: Shogun 2 with its two expansions for the Total War: Shogun 2 Gold Edition, set to release in North America on March 5 and Europe on March 8 at select retailers, the company announced today.īoth versions of the Gold Edition will include all content from the original Shogun 2 and the expansions.