Shogun: Total War

aka: Shogun, Taisho: Total War
Moby ID: 1692

Description official descriptions

Shogun: Total War is a real-time strategy game in which you play as a Daimyo, one of the warlords battling for the right to be called Shogun, ruler of a united Japan. The game is roughly split into two sections: a map-based planning stage and a 3D battle stage.

The map stage is where you build buildings in the territories that you own, organize forces, plan campaigns and generally deal with the running of your conquests. You can also research new technologies and train troops here, so it is very important.

When a conflict arises, you turn to the battle stage. Unlike almost all other real-time strategy games, Shogun's battles take place on a 3D battlefield with realistic terrain. Hills roll gently into the distance, scattered trees break up the horizon and your troops lie dead in a pile on the floor. Because in Shogun your men don't just disappear when they die, they lie there, bleeding. Up to 6 armies, each containing thousands of troops, can be displayed on screen at the same time. You can zoom in to individual companies of 100 (the smallest unit) or zoom out to view the battlefield as a whole.

Spellings

  • 幕府将军:全面战争 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

142 People (135 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

Audio Director
Studio Marketing Manager
Web Marketing Manager
PR
Legal Affairs
Business Affairs Assistant
Directors
Historical Consultant
Writing and Additional Content
Studio General Manager
Executive Producer
Associate Producer
Marketing
Public Relations
Product Manager
Localisation Project Managers
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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 29 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 43 ratings with 7 reviews)

A fine 3D tactical simulation with strategic gameplay.

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.

Windows · by Rick Jones (96) · 2001

Classic warfare in feudal Japan.

The Good
It captures the feel of the board game "Shogun" by Hasbro (currently renamed Samurai Swords) very well. The visuals are stunning and the mood is decent. I loved the look of the strategic map, which looked like a rice paper map of Japan with the provinces outlined and army markers deployed.

The Bad
After playing three games, I've come to the conclusion that you always start the campaign mode with exactly the same setup. This just KILLS! replay value. It's virtually the same game every time. If they put out a patch to fix this it will truly be a great game. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but it looked like from reading the manual that there is no strategic game, just one tactical battle, but i could be wrong.

The Bottom Line
If you played the similiar board-game by Hasbro and enjoyed it this game is worth picking up. It's only $20 bucks now too.

Windows · by Jeff Watts (18) · 2001

Take Risk, add some RTS, a dash of AOE, and stir. Enjoy!

The Good
Shogun combines it's strategic and tactical elements almost perfectly. Compared to another similar-in-concept game such as Star Wars: Rebellion, Shogun is infinitely better in both.

The tactical battles are fun, and the fact that they're 3D makes it even better. Rebellion let you scroll around in 3D, but the graphics in Shogun are far superior. When Rebellion came out, it's graphics were dated, but Shogun gives us beautiful landscapes and weather effects that are the best I've seen in any game.

The music is excellent, and the Japanese-accented voice acting is perfect. The strategic board reminds me so much of that board game Risk, and the sounds of the pieces really sound like some old game/chess board.

I also like that even though you can be hopelessly outnumbered, you can still win battles if your forces are superior to the enemy. I think that the way they make it so that battle-hardened veterans are better than green soldiers (through the honor system) is so rewarding. Some other games, like AOE2, don't feature this.

The variety of units is perfect. Because each unit has certain strengths and weaknesses, tactical battles become almost a chess match (or rock-paper-scissors): Ashigaru/Samurai beat Cavalry, No-Dachi samurai and Warrior Monks beat Ashigaru/Samurai, Cavalry beat No-Dachi and Archers, etc. (Of course, these are generalizations and not necessarily always true) :)

The Ninjas/Geisha are fun to use. It's always exciting to watch the animations to see if your ninjas will succeed, and to hope that your generals will be able to sense enemy ninjas when they come for them.

I learned more about medieval Japan from this game than from any other place.

The Bad
They need to add on to the diplomatic part of the game. Alliances are basically useless unless your ally dies and you get some of his land.

The amount of buildings and upgrades you can make to provinces and other buildings are impressive, but it can get a little unmanageable when you conquer about 10-15 provinces. You should be able to queue up more units and buildings. Why did they limit it to only 6?

There's really not much to complain about.

The Bottom Line
Shogun is a great game. The excellent graphics and sound are backed-up by great gameplay and exciting battles. It's definitely worth the price!

Windows · by Raphael (1245) · 2001

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

The issue of flimsy hardcopy documentation for Shogun was further compounded by the fact that the European english release is an 88-page manual that contains more information and a poster technology tree chart, while the North American release weighs in at only 55 pages with no additional material.

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Related Sites +

  • Official Shogun: Total War Site
    A neat Shockwave animation introduces you to the world of Shogun. The site is pretty, but bare boned.
  • The Samurai Archives
    The definitive site on samurai and the Sengoku period, during which Shogun takes place.
  • Total War Wiki
    Shogun: Total War at the official Wiki.
  • TotalWar.Org
    One of the oldest, and the best run of Shogun Fan Sites. Has updates, modifications to the demo, discussion boards, helpful information, and links to many of the clans.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1692
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Matthew Bailey.

Additional contributors: Ray Soderlund, Unrealist, Zovni, Unicorn Lynx, Sasu.

Game added June 21, 2000. Last modified March 3, 2024.