Shogun 2 Total War - One Of The Greatest Real Time Strategy Video Games Ever

March 2011 was the month that the latest part of the Total War series was released. I am talking about Shogun 2 Total War, which is a real time strategy video game. The Total War series strategy games, have made a huge impact in the video game community and have set the foundation for the rest video games of the same genre.

10 years ago Creative Assembly, a new video game company, took a great risk by creating their first total war game : Shogun 1 Total War. Due to the way they made it, Shogun 1 became a great success right away and they decided to continue making similar games. They had one success after another until this year, 2011, where they decided to go back at the beginning and recreate their first success.

When they were asked “ Why now and why Shogun “ they answered “ Now we have the technology, knowledge and experience to make better the game that started everything”. Ok pretty fair to me. And actually I am glad they decided something like that because I really liked the first Shogun. And now they ve made it even better, wait what I am saying... they ve made it freaking awesome.

Total war means to use all the available weapons and devote all the nation's financially resources to war. Shogun 1 and 2 take place in the medieval feudal Japan where powerful clans were fighting for the title of the ultimate military leader....the Shogun. Officially the emperor had the power in all Japan but unofficially an emperor without an army is nothing, so Shoguns were the most powerful people in Japan.

A player in this game represents a Daimiyo, a clan leader, of one of the most powerful clans in Japan. Actually there were dozens and dozens of clans in all over Japan. Some historians say that there were more than 200 different clans but most of them had no actual power.

The Daimiyo's clan has control of several provinces. And it is a Daimiyo's right and obligation to take care of the clan, make it wealthier and prosperous and expand their territory.

So the player will get involved in continuous wars in order to expand the clan's territory or to protect their provinces. But in this game war is not the only way to reach your goals. Politics, religion, manipulation, trade, marriages, assassinations, revolts, sabotages are some of the multiple choices that are available to a player.

Diplomacy and religion play a huge role in this game and if a player would like to reach the end of the game and become a Shogun then he should be better master those arts. Although religion is not considered an art still it is a valuable tool and if it is used right it can show someone the short path to the final destination.

Real military historians gave their knowledge and advice to the game developers in order the final product be as much historically accurate and authentic as possible. That makes the Total War games even better than they already were. Furthermore real martial artists have been used with the technology of motion capture to present with a stunning accuracy all the fighting moves and animations of the tiny digital soldiers. The result is beautiful, no actually the result is magnificent.

There are a lot of clans in the game but a player will take control of one of the 10 most powerful clans at that period. None clan is more superior or weaker than the other clans. All of them have their weaknesses and their strengths . Every clan specializes in a specific art. For example, one clan can specialize in archery and another in sword mastery. The only that mattered to me when I had to choose my clan was their position on the map, for various tactical reasons. All the units of all the clans have the same chances to win or lose a battle and the only thing that matters is how YOU the commander use those soldiers.

The thing that made all the Total war games so special and a great success is the actual gameplay. These are not just strategy games but even better than that.

The game is separated in 2 different modes. In the campaign map the player takes the role of a leader. This is the place where he will decide everything, this is the place where he will plan his tactics and everything that goes with it. In the battle map he will have to deal with the consequences of his decisions that he made in the campaign map. The battles happen in real time so the player has to think fast and make decisions which will lead to victory. Every error is a costly one, soldiers will die under your command. So there is no room for errors.

The Shogun 2, and the rest of the Total War games, are turn based strategy games. Every player, real one or npc, plays during his turn. Turns represent 3 months of real time. Each turn is one season so 4 turns are 1 year. During this turn the player will do all the stuff I described above.

Naval Battles

The naval battles were introduced in the Empire Total War, so it is not something totally new. The Japanese way of naval battles is something totally new. Japanese naval battles had nothing to do with the European ones. They were totally unique. First of all there were many different ships. Each had a different job. For instance there were ships that belonged to the same type , marine carriers for boarding actions, but there were many different classes of those ships.

The goal of those battles was to burn the enemy ship with flaming arrows or to board and capture it.As an idea is simple enough but in practice is complicated.

I didn't fight as many naval battles as land battles, for various reasons. One of them is that they seemed a bit complicated to me. I do not know maybe it is just me because I have never fought at see in Japanese style before. So it was something totally new to me.

But from my experience the designers and developers have done such a great job. The battles are so exciting and most of the times like in land battles you have to make decisions fast really fast. Actually faster than the land battles because ships in order to turn and gain some speed they need a lot of time. Where time in a battle is a luxury.

The models of the ships are just amazing. The way they look, the way the move, the way they fight.

Graphics

One of the biggest pluses of Shogun 2 Total War is the graphics. The development team did their best to make the game as shiny as possible. The detail of the buildings, the environment, the soldiers is absolutely amazing. Especially the soldiers. The Japanese armor was really complex and elaborate and the designers achieved to print all this complexity on the models of the soldiers. If you have a really good gaming machine then there is no possible way not to be satisfied.

Multiplayer

The online multiplayer feature is something really new in the Total War series and Creative Assembly worked really hard and they are really proud about it. The player has his online avatar which is totally customizable (armor and colors). He takes control of huge armies and he fights battles against other human players and he earns experience points. Now I can't tell you anything more about it because I haven't tried that feature.

Artificial Intelligence

The AI of the game is much, much more improved. Someone can see that mostly during the battles. The enemy will try everything to win the battle and he will use all the tricks he knows. He will try to flank you and he will take advantage of every little or big mistake the player will make. This is not a forgiving game.

Unique Battlefields

Every battle the player fights is unique. There are many similar battles but never the same. And that's because the same battlefield can be much more different in a different season. A battlefield on summer can be solid and dry but in winter it can be muddy and difficult to move on it. Snow can make a huge difference and it can affect the outcome of the battle. When armies are marching during winter time on an enemy territory the soldiers will die due to clod and frostbites. So a leader must think first which time of the year he will move his armies and attack.

Main Menu

Some of you may wonder why the main menu is important? Well it is important because it gives to the player a small idea of what is coming up next when he pushes the play button. The graphic artists have done such an awesome job with it. From the way it is organized to the colors and the traditional Japanese artistic style. I remember the first time I saw the main menu saying “wow” !!!

Tutorials

Creative Assembly included so many tutorials in case a new player who has never seen a Total War game before would start playing Shogun 2. And they did an exceptional job. Because even me that I am a total war veteran went through all the tutorials. Although I knew most of the stuff still I had to check them. So if you are new in this gaming style have no worries you will not be disappointed.

Plus a detailed encyclopedia is also included covering every little detail of the game. And to tell you the truth I used it excessively. A really, really helpful resource.

All that was just a fraction of what you can find in the game. Like it or not you will have to use your brain in order to reach the end and complete all of your strategic goals. And exactly that is what I like in this game.

Nothing in this life is too good. And most of you already know that. So like everything else there are some flaws in this game.

Game Crashes

In the code of the game there are some errors that cause the game to crash every now and then. There is no clue how often this will happen. It can be really annoying. I do not enjoy doing the same stuff again and again. They only thing that you can do is keep playing but always save manually before a battle or every 2 or five turns. Of course you should have enabled the autosave option, this will save you in case you ll forget to save manually but do not depend too much on this option.

For me this is the worst negative part of the game...I mean the most negative.

Dead Bodies Disappear

After every battle the whole place is full with dead bodies and dead horses. It is really a gruesome sight and it gives you an idea of how a battlefield looks like after everything is over.

I do not know about you but I like watching all those dead bodies (in the game). It adds a lot of realism in a game, and realism is what I am looking for.

The problem in all this is, the bodies disappear after a while. Just like that ...puff !! The one moment there is a huge pile of dead people and a few minutes later the whole field looks like nothing happened there.

I mean they have tried so much to add realism in the game and then they do something like that.

Online Activation Code Is Needed

The online activation code procedure is a way the companies have discovered to fight piracy. But they have never thought just a bit the people who actually pay for their products. They do not care if their customers have an internet connection or not they do not care if it is difficult or inconvenient for them to activate online the game they have just paid for. They do not care if the way they treat their customers is inappropriate and if their customers get offended by assuming they are thieves.

That's a good way to support piracy and not fight it.

Unreasonable Enemy Daimiyos

This actually is one of the most annoying things in the game. Like I ve said, diplomacy plays a major part in Shogun 2. Many times you will approach other Daimiyos or they will approach you to close a deal that will interest both of you (most of the times). There are times that you will offer him something he cannot refuse and he will still turn you down. And there are times that his offer will be so demanding that you will think he is crazy. I do not know I think they should work more on that part of the game. Arrogance and pride was part of the powerful Japanese men but they over did it.

Shogun 2 Total War is one of the greatest real time strategy video games ever created. It has some flaws but the pros can easily outrank the cons. As an overall experience whether you are dedicated hardcore gamers or casual gamers or even non gamers...people  just try it ... you wont be disappointed. Creative Assembly has done such an exceptional job. You will enjoy it without a doubt.

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