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
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PR
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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)

Truly a wonderfull surprise!

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.

Windows · by William Shawn McDonie (1131) · 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

Miniatures wargaming nirvana! A work of art

The Good
This is the game that every droopy-eyed grognard has spent years of his life slaving over basement battlefields trying to create. Shogun: Total War is, to put it bluntly, miniatures wargaming heaven. If you like pushing toy soldiers around miniature battlefields but could do without the pushing part, this is the game for you. Plus, if you happen to like full-blown campaigns and strategy on a grander scale, Shogun comes with an exceptionally fine Risk-like wrapper as well, guaranteed to suck you into the world of 16th century Japan and its clan-based conflicts like never before.

Beyond that, the game is beautiful (in an authentically Japanese way--the birds flying around the battlefield are origami birds!), and the music and other audio within it are excellent as well. In fact, everything about this game breathes quality and attention to detail--even the official web site, which is an impressive creation in and of itself. If you want to see a game done right, you must check out Shogun.

The Bad
I don't like the fact that you can't play the campaign game multiplayer--it's single player only. You can, of course, play any of the individual battles against other people, but the sense of continuity and roleplaying goes out the window in that case. Other than that, there's just not much to dislike about Shogun. Sure, the diplomacy's a little weak, and some units seem too limited in their abilities (shinobi, ninja), but that's not nearly enough to sink this game.

The Bottom Line
If you are even slightly interested in realistic battlefield tactics, particularly formation warfare, this is the game to get. There is no other. Overall, it is, in my opinion, the second best computer strategy game ever made (after Imperialism II), but that's only because I tend to favor strategic-level games over those that emphasize tactical-level conflict. In reality, if anyone wanted to claim that Shogun is, in fact, the best computer strategy-cum-wargame game ever, all I could really do is shrug and say, "Yep, you may be right!"

Windows · by Jim Newland (56) · 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.