SHOGUN: Total War™ - Collection Reviews

Love it.

[h1]Let Total War Begin![/h1] [i]Shogun: Total War[/i] starts up with little fanfare – no cutscene, no company logo, no hint of the 25-year franchise that would follow. The main menu unfolds to the rattle and crash of [i]taiko[/i] drums as armed figures gather on the horizon. It’s minimalist and laser-focused on the coming carnage, a suitable introduction to very different kind of [i]Total War[/i]. The year is 1530 (or 1550 or 1580; the game offers multiple start dates and situations). Japan is in turmoil following the collapse of the shogunate, the military dictatorship that rules the land. Seven powerful clans are poised to clash for the title of shogun and claim rulership over all Japan in this [i]Sengoku Jidai[/i] – the Age of the Country at War. If you come to [i]Shogun[/i] as a [i]Total War[/i] veteran, as I suspect most of us do, then the gameplay should be well familiar. On the turn-based campaign map you oversee the military and economic development of your clan, manage diplomacy with your neighbours (read: sworn enemies), and assign missions to your agents, while in real-time battles you lead your forces across 3-dimensional battlefields where formation, terrain, weather, and the common humanity of your soldiers are the deciding factors. Naturally, the formula is stripped down for the debut – almost to the bone. Diplomacy is no more complicated than allies, neutrals, and enemies. You have your faction leader in the [i]daimyo[/i] as well as his family and other generals who serve him, but characters have no real character beyond their Honour, their command ability. The single biggest change is the campaign map itself, reduced from a living, breathing landscape to a 2-dimensional map, with armies and agents appearing and moving as playing tokens. Battles are likewise slimmed down, if to a lesser degree. Units can still adopt some tactical formations and form larger army groups but there are no innate unit abilities as in later games. Terrain and weather still play their parts; troops struggling to march and fight uphill vs. downhill, forests providing opportunities to ambush the enemy, and rainstorms dampen the effectiveness of archers or shut down firearms entirely. No politics, no role-playing, no monsters or magic – this is [i]Total War[/i] in its purest form. But that is not to say [i]Shogun[/i] is simplistic. It is a deceptively rich and potentially difficult experience even for series veterans, not so much for the depth of its mechanics (or even lack thereof) but for requiring a totally different strategic approach than its descendants. This primarily stems from the “tabletop” style of the campaign game. Rather than traversing terrain in detail and playing in turn, armies in [i]Shogun[/i] move province-to-province per turn and all moves are resolved simultaneously - requiring anticipation of the enemy’s moves which might interrupt your own plans. There is no trading land for time, and because the pace of movement so outpaces that of recruitment (everything takes at least two turns to train) any defeat in battle can lead to a swift and final death. And in [i]Shogun[/i], defeat in battle is always a possibility. The mechanics of battle may be comparatively thin, but they are undeniably ruthless, even the slightest gradient is enough to give troops the impetus to charge down enemies, or grant archers incredible range. The player can certainly harness these advantages too, but it does feel like your enemies consistently get that little extra [i]something[/i], whatever the circumstance. Battles are also saddled with a stiff camera view and aggravatingly outdated controls relying on left mouse button for move and attack orders – be prepared for mis-clicks galore. When I first played [i]Shogun[/i], I hated it. It was impossible to expand in any direction without other clans jumping all over me, and even early battles proved so challenging and bloody that even victory crippled my forces and simply delayed the inevitable. But with one last attempt and a fresh approach, everything suddenly clicked. [i]Shogun[/i] is not a game of throwing yourself into the attack from turn one – the high stakes battles vs. the pace of the campaign makes that too risky. It pays to play defensively: build up your strength, consolidate your territories, launch and call off attacks to buy time, steal territory wherever possible, fight only when necessary, and never leave yourself open. If you can get on its wavelength, you’ll find [i]Shogun[/i] is a rare case of a debut title that still has plenty to offer (read the manual – it’s genuinely impressive how much The Creative Assembly managed to pack in under the hood). The real-time graphics are undeniably dated but battles are also complemented by Jeff van Dyck’s excellent use of traditional Japanese [i]taiko[/i] and woodwinds, ratcheting the tension before unleashing percussion appropriately evocative of clashing swords. Throw in The [i]Mongol Invasion[/i] and historical battles, and there’s plenty of challenge for newcomers and [i]Total War[/i] veterans alike.