With a solid campaign and fantastic multiplayer, Shogun 2 is one of the best in the Total War series.

User Rating: 9 | Total War: Shogun 2 PC
By Tokugawa77 | Review Date:
Few game designers ever get it right when they try to streamline their games, but Creative Assembly can now claim the title. Everything about the game is much more user-friendly and easier to jump straight into than any previous total war, and not dumbed down too much for veterans of the series. Firstly, the campaign is solid with a dozen different clans to choose from, each one having some historical significance, such as the Takeda, the Oda, and the Tokugawa. Fear not that there will only be 12 factions competing for the Shogunate, though, as there are a myriad of other smaller clans that will have to be dealt with. In fact, it is often these smaller clans that become "superpowes" in the late game. Diplomacy is also very intricate, as there are new and intruiging options such as exchanging hostages to ensure that a deal is honored. Ninja and Mestuke (secret police) also spice up the gameplay by adding various other diplomatic options; settlements and armies can now be bribed to defect, asuming you have the funds. The only con in the campaign would be the annoying habbit of other clans to often declare war on your vassals, ignoring the fact that it would incite war with you as well. You have to make a choice here- side with your vassal and declare war on a powerful clan, or break your alliance and watch as your de facto ownership of the land is usurped. Most people will probably get bored with the campaign after a few gos, though.
Where Shogun 2 really shines, though, is in multiplayer. While as before your victories and defeats mattered little towards your overall progress, in Shogun 2, each battle counts towards your leveling up and player statistics. You start with very little units available to you, then as you conqure more land on the "avatar map" ( a muliplayer campaign map of Japan) you gain access to more units, retainers, and armor for your general's avatar. In many ways, mulitplayer has become much more like call of duty, in a good way of course. It is also now much easier to join online clans, which creates a sense of compettion and belonging to a team.
The path that CA has taken in terms of faction variation is interesting- they have cut back the hundreds of different units from games like Medieval 2 and slimmed the unit roster down to only about 20 units, all universally available to all factions. While in the campiagn this has had a slight negative effect in my opinion (there is little variation between factions), it has enhanced the multiplayer experience immensly. And one last thing- that which has plagued Total War games since their inception, that has enraged an entire gaming community- is now fixed. The battle AI. While it may not come anywhere close to matching a human player, most of its eccentricities have been addressed, and it will no longer use inherently terrible tactics such as forming and reforming their lines all while being peppered by your missile units (as it did in Empire), or milling around uselessly outside a castle until the timer runs out. All in all, a huge win for Creative Assembly.

Bottom Line:

Graphics: 9/10 great, really nothing to say here

Sound: 8/10 authentic Japanese soundtrack, units and generals actually speak Japanese! However, the advisors are really annoying with their terrible Japanese accents (they speak english)

Singleplayer: 8/10

Multiplayer: 10/10

Replay Value: 10/10

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