Total War: Shogun 2
The seven thousand samurai
Review Apart from porn and the Total War series, why would anyone own a PC? Shogun 2 coming out, best get down to Akihabara’s Yodobashi Camera and spend some hard earned cash on a graphics card update – couldn't resist the ATI PowerColor 6950 2GB – time to watch my frame rate soar.
Marshing on
Real time strategy now seems to be the only bastion of PC gaming that hasn’t been slowly undermined by the brash maladroite console wars. The Total War franchise, which started in 2000 with the release of the original Shogun, has made the bold move of going back to basics of mêlée combat in a feudal insular Japan.
The last two instalments of Total War – the hugely buggy Empire and Napoleon, which removed fire by line – lost me to the competition and I found myself quickly distracted by Men of War. With this release, developers Creative Assembly have caught my attention like a Pikachu yakitori. Armed with my special edition that includes a pretty hat, my very own ninja clan and a bank of 150xp for the avatar campaign, I am ready to put in some serious hours.
You can't embark on Shogun 2 without a feeling of reverence for the sumptuous graphics that are the essence of this game. As a Japanophile, it can’t get much better than woodcut style print quality images of stalks and chrysanthemums adorning the UI. Want to feel like you're in the Japanese collection at the V&A? Well, you do now.
I am playing on ultra settings with my PowerColour card but, alas, without any anti-aliasing until the next big patch. Hopefully, things will go smoother than with the first patch that solved some MP crash issues but locked the player base out of the game overnight.
Ming of the hill
The cinematic intro to the game looks very Akira Kurosawa mixed with Kuniyoshi and made me all nostalgic for the battle scenes of Ran. Thrown into a siege about to happen we get a look at the facial expressions and attention to detail that make this game outstanding. A painting of the Buddha on a breastplate and the falling cherry blossom transport us to 1600s feudal Japan. Arrow in the back? This must be total war. Banzai!
Next page: Defend your positions
COMMENTS
Well well..
This review is really impressive and a colossal improvement over your Rift review. Plenty of useful info and helped to give me a broad overview of the game despite having never played Total War before. Might even have to snag myself a copy from my local Game....
me likey
mostly liked. Biggest dislike is realm divide. urghh. A mod sorts this out "kind of" so at least my vassals and trusted allies (from the first turns) dont stab me in the back (I mean turning from very friendly with a clan marriages to hostile because i'm now the shogun?). Unit card colours helps too.
Needs a little polishing but it is mighty good fun.
Legendary
Shame you didn't mention the Legendary mode, which is pretty frickin' hard:
- Autosave only, and it autosaves every time an opponent takes a turn or your troops are engaged
- No radar
- No enemy moral indicators
I've just reached the Realm Divide, which means that every clan is now at war with me. They're launching amphibious invasions way behind my lines. They have ridiculous economic boosts, so they have all-samurai armies, and I have mostly ashigaru. And I've got 100 turns left and only hold 25 out of 60 provinces.
This is a bitch.
Black Ships
Although "Black Ship/s" historically refers to the American ships that bullied the Japanese into opening trade ports, that was 200 years after the game is set. The Europeans (Portugese and Dutch originally I believe) were around during this period, so I guess CA decided to use a bit of artistic license.
