Shogun: Total War

The Good
"Shogun: Total War" is a beautiful game. Visually, it's a feast for the eyes from the menu screens to the blood-soaked fields of battle. The Japaneseness of the game is pretty and immersive. The battles themselves are a feast for the eyes - soldiers march, fight, and die on remarkably well-rendered battlefields. Arrows fly through the air and horses balk in fear. The voice acting is excellent.

The tactical battles are simply outstanding; you can play them for hours. They're substantially better than the tactical battles in any other historical game of this type. The game is much helped by a pretty decent set of tutorial missions.

The Bad
Despite the fine tactical simulator, the game is very shallow. Strategic play is boring and largely devoid of depth; to be honest, a linear set of battles to play wouldn't have been any worse. That's unfortunate, because with a really good strategic system like "Europa Universalis" or the old Koei games, "Shogun" might have been a true masterpeice.

The Bottom Line
Pretty good, but not much long-term interest.

The Good
I remember the days of KOEI games and highs of PTO and the lows of Operation Europe. KOEI also make several horrible asian games that would try your patience. So when I first saw this title in stores I overlooked it. When I saw it in the used game section with a hint book for 15$ I gave it a chance. (only because there was nothing else to choose from) When I got home and first saw the intro I was totaly hooked. Just the campain alone was enough for me but then I tried to command the soldiers directly. WOW!! I loved the background and the easy controls. I took me a while but when I became the undesputed shogun WOW!! again. The ending movie was great. Now time to take my armies ON-LINE.

The Bad
Overall the problems of this game in no way detract from the game. They are only just possible ways the game could have been even better.
1.better use of diplomacy 2.more options on throne room 3.A way to elimate poor talent generals

The Bottom Line
This is a great stratigy game. If you loved the age of empires series then give this a try.

The Good
Being interested in this particular genre, I literally ran to the mall to buy this game. After the first few minutes of game play however I realized I was expecting something a little different, instead of jumping straight into a Samurai style battle, I found myself staring at a map of Japan, reminiscent of table top games such as Risk. However, within five minutes of game play I was hooked. Collecting provinces and fortifying my cities, by the end of my first campaign was opting for the computer to resolve battles, simply so I could continue with the strategic portion of the game, that being said, for those of you out there who just wanna fight, there are options for skirmishes (single player battles without the strategy component). And the whole process is well covered and the manual. For those of you who just can’t wait to challenge other players, Shogun comes complete with an online component. Though I and a few other people I know had a little trouble getting our accounts started.

The Bad
On the downside however, signing up online took quite a few tries. But this in no way subtracts from the games wonderful game play.

The Bottom Line
In short, this game has something for everybody, wether your looking for a strategy game to while away the hours, or just a quick fight against the forces of an apposing Daimyo. With multiple clans to select from, the game offers virtually unlimited replay value. My advice to you, buy this game ( through Moby Games of course:) and install it right away, you won’t regret it.