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Great addition to the original game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 33
Date: August 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm a huge fan of the original Shogun with its Risk-like turn-based strategy combined with real-time battles, so I rushed right out and bought a copy of the Warlord Edition (the expansion is also supposed to be available for download at a reduced price to those who own the original). The Warlord Edition is well worth the $..., however. There are several new troop types, including the Mongol hords -- the firebombers are nasty little dudes -- and the new Japanese troops include the mystical battlefield Ninjas and devistating sword saint, a one-person wreaking crew.

A couple of things I really like about the expansion: no more "landscape drift," your camera stays where you point it, and several new campaign scenarios. Under the old game, you basically had one starting point for a full campaign, with Japan basically divided equally between seven clans. Now, you have the option of four different starting points on a full campaign, including one with the Mongols invading Japan, and you also have four shorter "historical campaigns," in which you take over a clan during a period in Japan's history.

A couple of minor annoyances: The manual is still not very good. Get old Prima strategy guide if you're unfamiliar with Shogun. Also, in an apparent attempt to make the game historically accurate, not all troop types are available for all campaigns. For example, warrior monks and the rifle troops are not available when you're playing the Warlord Campaign vs. the Mongols.

But overall, this is a very worthy addition to my favorite game ever.

Been "wasting" a LOT of time with this game! ;-)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 27
Date: August 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I picked up the original version of Shogun and had been playing it almost every day. (Or at least on the weekends!) Still not bored with it! With the "Mongol Invasion" the developers really tweaked it well! The graphics are still excellent. The game play is even more fun. (And I really enjoy the new opening sequence!)

Ok, now some specifics. I've been playing mostly with the full campaign. I like the new units, the tweaking to the "overview" map so that you can see where your (and your opponent's) seaports are. You can send your ambassadors, spies, or ninja to your opponent's seaports, basically clear the way, and stage an amphibious assault by your army. The AI has gotten much better in the battlefield action. The new Kensai (Single man "sword saint") when fresh, can take out a unit of Monks and send the survivors fleeing! The Hojo clan "problem" (If you play as anyone other than Hojo clan, Hojo starts with some the best land and therefore the most money to buy troops. Soon overwhelms all other clans.) appears to have been solved. The new Naginata troops and cavalry are very effective units. The Naginta cavalry are almost as well protected as heavy cavalry, but faster and cheaper to buy.

However, there are a few bugs that appear to have gotten through. So far I haven't really seen the point of the "battlefield ninja." I may send them toward the opposing Daimyo during a battle, but they never seem to be able to get to him. The "Legendary Geisha" master assassin is the most powerful unit... if and when you can build the Geisha house. I've built all the required buildings (Citadel, the "best" available Ninja and Tea houses), but the option to build the Geisha house never appears when I start on "my" lands. The only time that option became available is when I took over the opponent's land that already had everything in place except the Geisha house itself.

If you are losing a battle AND you will be getting reinforcements.... "Esc" out of the battle and take the "so-called" higher losses. Your reinforcement troops will appear anywhere at all on the battlefield map, in loose groups, and from any compass point. Often you will not find them until they have already been wiped out and watching the few survivors disappearing over the horizon! However, that seems to happen to the opponent too, if you are the one winning!

But those are minor quibbles, all in all I really love the game.... And now if you'll excuse me, it's time to teach all those upstart pretenders who the real Shogun will be!

great original...good sequel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: September 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Total War is a great STRATEGY game. Why? Because you have to make lots of decisions that will affect your clan and decide your fate. A great strategy game challenges you to think and decide on what to do in the present or to think ahead in the future in order to succeed. You'll find yourself asking: 'should i have a huge but weak(lots of cheap ashigaru) army, or a small but high quality army(warrior monks)?', 'do i build up my military and conquer or do i eliminate my enemies with geishas?', 'do i use my koku to upgrade a military unit, or upgrade my lands?', 'should i buy one unit of soldiers to defend my land, or hope my enemy/ally doesn't attack me and build up my lands for the next harvest?'. Just a few things that will rack your brain when playing as great strategy games are capable of doing(on and off the battlefield). The only area that I think the original game lacked was in the diplomacy option. Very little interaction as far as diplomacy is concerned. Buy this game if you don't have it. At this price, it's very affordable and an excellent value for pure strategy gaming fun. For those wondering about the expansion, you already have the original probably so my 'review' will be a very specific comparison(plus some hints to newbies at the end). Here goes...

*the expansion makes the game too easy, try it on expert, and you'll still do well. The 'Hojo clan run amok' problem has been rectified. All STW gamers know what I'm talking about:)
*new scenarios(certain points in time...one scenario doesn't have the Mori Clan or arquebusiers for instance) and campaigns(just historical battles strung together unfortunately) make things more interesting, plus you get the Mongols vs Hojo clan scenario.
*camera system is fixed, you need to use your mouse to 'click' on an angle. this prevents the annoying camera drift when some units are retreating and the camera follows them instead of the ones that are still fighting, but prevents you from really 'dragging' the camera right into the thick of battle to get up close and personal with your troops like in the orig.
*4 new Japanese units, 6 new in the Mongol scenario. No real standouts though. only a couple of new techs too, nothing great:(
*definite graphical difference(but better or worse depends on your taste), sound is slightly better but voices take a backseat. gameplay is essentially the same, but you also get to use your emissary to bribe armies to join you for a fixed amount of koku, alliances are slightly stronger, etc

newbie hints....
*send out ashigaru to cross bridges first as bait, as enemy approaches have your archers fire. no big loss if you lose ashigaru, send your 'good' troops across the bridge when your archers run out of arrows or you've reduced your opponent to a more reasonable amount. storm their archers first if you can.
*give up low income provinces...concentrate on conquering, maintaining, defending, high income/output provinces(especially one with river crossings, like Owari).
*build up 2 or 3 provinces and 'max' it out. make one your 'revenue' province(upgrade land, max out its income potential, don't waste $ upgrading provinces that won't give you a high return). make another your 'military' province(max out its military capabilities as to the units and its morale, swordsmanship, armour, etc), and have one be your 'geisha' province(build techs to reach the geishas who can single-handedly wipe-out clans, also, you can order emissaries and shinobi here without having to waste 'ordering' them in your 'military' province).
*attack a high-income neighboring province as soon as possible, this gives you the income and reduces your opponents income in the next harvest.
*if you attack a province in the summer, maintain it in autumn, you will get revenue in winter(whereas if you attack in autumn, you won't get the 'xtra' income in winter)
*if it takes two seasons to order a unit, buy it in the autumn. therefore, you'll only have to pay the cost amount but you won't have to pay their expenses in the winter harvest(cause they won't be ready till spring).
*newbies, play on easier levels first to avoid frustration and keep an eye out for Hojo(type .matteosartori. for full map view)! And yes, the rebels are playable, with a code....

I'm sure I made some mistakes or forgot something along the way, but this is just a rough overview of a game that I think is a must buy for strategy fans.

Might and deception

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 19
Date: September 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game does a fantastic job of re-creating the look and feel of the fight for control of Japan in the 'middle-ages'. You control one of the great clans of Japan (or, the invading mongol hordes in the Mongol campaign) and must plan, structure, deceive and fight your way to gain overall control. It is also quite historically accurate - even your generals and heirs have the names of their real-life counterparts.

The game operates at two levels: turn-based strategy level across the whole of Japan, and real-time strategy on an individual battlefield. There is great diversity in the units you can employ and the way you can build them up to gain an advantage over your adversaries.

At the strategic level you can also send out spies, ninjas to assassinate enemy generals or envoys and make and break alliances with the other clans.

There is also a multiplayer game, which is fun for a while but lacks depth. The single player game is much better.

Shogun:Total War looks impressive and is fun to play. Be warned though - it's very absorbing so may take up a lot of your life if you get hooked.

Enjoy.

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: September 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game! I've had two nights so far where I could not pull myself away and ended staying up all night playing the game - and I know I've got more in the future.

I love the game strategically. The turn-based system adds a new twist to things. In Age of Empires II, there's a feeling of near-immediate gratification when you're building things; throw enough peasants at it and it'll get built quickly. Total War is not this way - units and buildings take a set time to build and there's no getting around it. At first, this was a little awkward, but I really like the challenge it presents - you've got to be thinking ahead or you'll find you don't have enough forces to stave off a massive attack. Or maybe they're too far behind the front lines!

The real-time battles are fun too. There is a definite thrill to watching hordes of your forces stampede over the terrain, cutting down any enemies in their way. I'm still figuring out all the intricacies of this part of the game. So far, what works best for me is just sticking everyone in the woods and waiting to engage the enemy, but there's got to be some more strategy to it.

Difficulty levels are serious as well. I tried the game out on Easy and found it moderately challenging. I moved on up to Normal, and I've had to reevaluate my entire strategy of playing the game, from the ground up. Another factor which does affect things is choosing your clan - I was surprised by the subtle but profound ways this affects my gameplay. In some clans I've got to be building forces right away; in others, there's more of a challenge of building up my internal setup. I'm loving it!

My only complaint is that the multiplayer doesn't involve the turn-based aspect of the game. I'm more interested in this than the real-time battles and I'd like to be able to take on other people in the battle for Japan. I confess, I haven't yet played online, but the inability to do a full strategic campaign was why I haven't yet tried it.

Bottom line - this is a ... game. I'll probably have to go to an addiction-treatment center in order to cope. I heartily recommend it.

Strategy at its best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: September 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the best war game I've ever played. It teaches as well a deep knowledge of feudal Japan, so people who love the game may be interested in how Japan developed after the Sengoku Jidai to instaurate the Tokugawa shogunate and the moving of the capital from Kioto to Eddo, to end in the Meiji era.
The expansion doesn't add much to the already existing warfare, save the new scenarios, which may begin in 1530, before the single scenario of the former game, and which excludes the Mori clan. It's also remarkable that the most powerful clans, Hojo and Uesugi, can be defeated, and the Takeda and Shimazu clans, who used to be poor, can win the war and unify Japan. I know this because I've achieved it in the hard and expert levels. However, the Takeda and Oda clans still are the most vulnerable at the beginning because they have borders with almost the other clans, while Uesugi and Shimazu, who are in the extremes, the West and the East of Japan, are better to defend, but can collapse if they don't expand quickly. The rebels are also now more intelligent than in the former game, and can attack you using the surprise factor when you less expect it. So be aware of them. They dominate Japan in the 1530 scenario.
From my point of view, here are the strategies to follow:
a) The generals' ranks are absolutely decissive, because a three-star general with a modest Army can defeat a none-star or negative rank general whose Army doubles the former.
b) The buildings are more important than the number of troops, specially the swordsmith and the armoury, because the higher protection of the troops save men.
c) the wealth of the lands( cultivated lands and mines) are more important than the buildings, because they will provide you a great amount of koku to recruit troops.
d) The infamous ninja house is essential to protect your daimyo and his heirs from the assassination plots of the enemy, and the sooner you have geishas, the better, because the geisha can make you win the war by eliminating the rest of daimyos without losing your troops in the combat. On the other hand, if an enemy clan has got geishas and you haven't, you are lost, because it's almost impossible for a ninja to kill a geisha whose rank is more than one, whatever rank the ninja has; and geishas with a four to six rank are indestructible. Once you have murdered the daimyos, defeating the rebels is easier, as they don't act very cunningly. So get geishas instead of large armies, and you'll also save the amount of koku to maintain the big armies, which may strangle and collapse your economy with a negative profit every year. The geishas play the role of the spec ops corps nowadays, which are many times more effective and lethal.
e) Be sure that your daimyo has enough heirs to keep the war year after year; otherwise, even though your clan is the most powerful, if your daimyo is very old and has also old heirs or no heirs at all, you may lose the war because nobody will seat on the throne of your clan.

I hope these comments may help others and make the strategy planning easier. By the way, geishas can be recruited everywhere. The geisha house goes after you have the citadel, the infamous ninja house, the tranquil garden and the legendary tea house. The most formidable and lethal unit of the whole game, and with difference.

What's the Problem

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 22
Date: July 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ship the damn Game. I want it, shogun rocks, ship the damn game. No more excuses, i don't care if we never hear from you again, just ship the damn game.

Age of Empires, move over!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: June 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Somewhere in the course of the video game industry, strategy games lost the strategy involved. The games became races to retrieve materials and build massive armies. Lost was the skill in commanding troops, stratigically placing men on the battlefield, overthrowing your openent not by your physical superiotity but by tactics.

This tactical aspect of strategy games returns in full force in Shogun Total War, which pits you as the Shogun of Japan, the ultimate military rular, bent on ravaging the other shoguns and uniting Japan as a single force.

In your quest of doing so, Total War combines the battles of Age of Empires with the tactical and stratigic fun of Risk. When defending in a battle you have time to stratigically place your troops, place them within trees and your opponents can't find you, place them atop a hill and you have better bow and arrow range, place a brigade behind and a brigade in front and trap them between two giant forces. Sign treaties, assasinate with your ninjas, but you must continually watch your rescorces.

The game is not simply stratigally superior to its counterparts, however, it is also graphically superior. You don't train one horceman at a time, or a single bowman, now its sixty at a time. Zoom in to watch individual conflicts as your foces colide with your opponent's or watch the battle as a whole as over 1000 troops go head to head in battle.

If you happened across this game I imagine you are searching for a strategy game, if that is the case, I can guarentee you, Shogun Total War shall not disappoint!

Shogun - The Total War ,,, Lives Up To Its Name!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have been looking for a game that can be played from all levels: (a) Strategy pure ... Plans & Operations (b) Third Person View ...Company/ Platoon and (c) First Person.

Most games combine options a & b ... I have yet to see one that includes all three. However, Shogun - Total War ...comes close to making me forget that it does not have that feature.

Although it takes a while to get used to all the various commands, the tutorial gets you into the game quickly ... and once you get into the game ...time absolutely flies!! I started playing the game at 2 O'clock in the afternoon ...and what seemed liked a half an hour ...turned into 01:30 AM.

The game takes you into Feudal Japan, just before the arrival of the "foreign devils". It includes the arrival of the Mongols & The Christians. The game also includes the various intrigues and behind-the-scenes politics that were so common back then ...to include bribes by the emmisaries and assasination by the Ninjas!!

By carefully using your allies - through bribes and assasinating key personnel at the right moment ...you slowly try to bring your clan to power ...by getting you declared ...Shogun - by the politically weakened Emperor. But you must have heirs to the throne ...for if you die before being named Shogun ...your clan loses all its hereditary lands and is scattered to the winds.

You can play the real historical battles ...allowing you to match your wits with true life historical situations.

SHOGUN IS THE BEST!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: November 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is simply the most realistic strategy game ever. It requires real strategy that includes makeing up for morale or using it to your advantage. The gameplay is awsome, fighting with samurai, ninjas, kensai and a whole lot of other stuff. The "risk style" strategy map is actually interesting and you may spend hours trying to get a ninja to a high honour to kill the enemy daimyo while battleing off his forces. One of the most awsome times in this game is when you are in a massive battle with many troops and multiple enemys! The sound and music are awsome and the music actually gets you in the mood of the game. The sounds of charging troops is also very awsome. The graphics are very good, especially the movie (NINJA ASSASINATION!!!) graphics. the many commands for your troops such as fast movements and good formation are also good. All in all this is one of the very best strategy games ever and ranks in the definate top ten, if not the top three (might even be #1).

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