Shogun: Total War

by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004DITJ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 15, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,347 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #44 in Video Games > PC Games > Arcade
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Inspired by the war epics of director Akira Kurosawa, Shogun: Total War perfectly captures the chaos, conflict, and beauty of ancient warfare. Shogun thrusts you into the unstable politics of 16th-century feudal Japan. You command thousands of loyal samurai and other troops against six other factions in massive battles that will determine the fate of Japan itself. You can learn the basics of the art of war by playing the included tutorial missions, hone and test your skills by loading historical battles, or enter the campaign mode and go for the ultimate goal: becoming shogun.

Campaign play is divided into two portions--the strategic overview map where you manage your armies and provinces, and the tactical combat mode where battles are fought. The strategy portion isn't too deep. There aren't many buildings or unit types to build, and the diplomatic options are limited. It merely serves to provide a frame for the battle sequences, and that's where Shogun really shines.

Battles are fought on beautiful 3-D landscapes, with forests to hide in, fortifications to storm, and rolling hills to climb. Weather effects like rain and snow aren't just there for looks--they have a dramatic impact on gameplay. Wet conditions will render the match-lit guns useless and also decrease the range of archers because their bowstrings get wet. Troops get bogged down by wet gear, and high winds push arrows aside. Even the seasons affect battles, as longer or shorter days in the summer and winter determine how long you have to defeat your foe (or how long you must fend off an assault).

But weather and time are the least of your worries. Effectively managing your troops is the key to victory and also the toughest aspect of the game. There are dozens of formations to choose from and hundreds of tactical tricks to exploit. Keeping your archers, cavalry units, and various types of foot samurai all pointing the right way and effectively supporting one another is half the battle. The game interface and keyboard shortcuts make things easier, but Shogun's manual is just terrible. A simulation this fast paced and complex deserves thorough and accurate documentation, but you'll have to buy the separate strategy guide to get any worthwhile information. Fortunately, those with a little patience and an interest in the game should be able to figure things out, and they'll be rewarded with one of the most realistic and fun real-time war games available. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Realistic terrain and weather have an actual impact on gameplay
• Control thousands of troops at once using historical formations
• Strategy elements in the campaign mode complement the tactical battles and add to gameplay
• Includes footage from Kurosawa's classic Ran

Cons:

• Worthless manual
• Weak tutorial missions

Product Description

Thousands of loyal warriors stand before you, a nation lies ready to be conquered, in the shadows, ninja assassins await your orders. In Shogun: Total War you must display strength and cunning to conquer ancient Japan. In Mongol Invasion you lead the Mongol hordes on a bloody campaign to invade Japan and steal its riches.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shogun Total War, July 11, 2000

By 

M. Warren (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shogun: Total War (CD-ROM)

I have been playing Shogun for almost three weeks now. I've read most of the reviews and will comment on some of the common themes and add my own review.

Shogun is an RTS game, and it is done better than Gettysburg or the Close Combat Series. The battle segments are well done. I've read that some people had issues controlling there troops. First, the company promo states that the troops will act independently at times. Troop management in a battle is chaotic at best. Lose your general and your troops will certainly rout.

I have also read comments from people complaining about a lack of strategy guides. There isn't a lot in the manual, but the game DOES allow you to group troops and form them into one of 9 formations. Also, before you begin a battle as the attacker, right click on the leader icon for 7 different battle formations.

Shogun is a combination of Risk and an RTS. In the strategic overview segment of the game, you build your empire by occupying provinces, building castles and other buildings to produce better troops. This takes time, and while some people complain that the economic element of the game is rather simplistic, it is still a challenge to build a large empire and equip it with quality troops.

ECONOMIC STRATEGY

I am in the middle of a campaign and there are only myself and another daimyo left. I was totally caught off guard by the quantity of his troops. I doubt I can hold him off. I thought I had prepared well, but he outnumbers me by at least 5 to 1. It takes a lot of koku, and even more time, to build superior troops.

The great decisions you will face are to wait and build more troops, or to take that neighboring province since the enemy general is rated poorly.

And watch out for alliances. Yes, I have agreed to an alliance only to be betrayed the next turn. I have also had allies show up on the battle field and assist me in a battle. I also made the blunder of invading a province who was allied with a large army, who promptly attacked me. Be wary.

BATTLE TACTICS

It will take a few battles to get use to using 16th century troops, but you don't have to be a real general to figure it out. Attack enemy archers with heavy cavalry or sword bearing troops. Watch as 80 enemy archers disappear in a matter of minutes! IF you have good troops, don't be afraid of defending with less troops than the enemy. Archers can be dealt with severely.

PROS AND CONS

PROS

The game may be conceptually simple, but actually attempting to build a large empire with a great army is not easy. That simplicity makes the game easy to work with.

The choice to have the computer solve a battle for you can save time, especially if you know your troops will win.

The battles are fun, but battles with over 1,000 troops per side can be stressful to manage, use the pause button.

Ever attempt a bridge crossing using 16th century troops. What a mess!

CONS

Rebel troops will cause uprisings, but I haven't been able to create a rebellion in an enemy province, while my enemies have done so in my provinces.

It can get tedious to fight the same battle on the same ground four turns in a row. But I've seen that happen in other games.

The manual has errors, but who actually READS a manual? Trial and error is the only way. If you have a good grasp of tactics and strategy, you can win.

You'll need a ton of memory and a fast processor to play fast.

OVERALL Sure, there are some areas where the game could be improved, but that's the nature of all games. What you DO get is a game that gives you a large challenge, try to dominate Japan. YOU control your expansion as you expand into other provinces, YOU control what troops to build; archers, cavalry, swordsmen, YOU control the quality of your troops and YOU control the battles. What more can a gamer want?

Shogun, despite some minor flaws, does deliver a complete concept of a game which actually works. I've played a lot of games and I doubt you'll find a game that will keep you at the keyboard as long as Shogun will.

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feudal Japan is the perfect strategic arena, June 26, 2000

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shogun: Total War (CD-ROM)

I love feudal Japan. I've been editor for a magazine on feudal Japan for over ten years, have made kimono, and love watching Japanese movies for hours and hours. I have the Shogun board game, and play that quite a bit. Since I review strategy games for BellaOnline.Com, it was a natural for me to buy Shogun: Total War as soon as it was out.

While the box makes it seem that the game is much like the board game, where you move groups of units from province to province (a la Risk), the computer game is actually far more comprehensive and intense. To start with, there are actual graphics for each member of a unit - it's more like having a set of forces in Age of Empires II than block-units. While you don't direct the individuals, they still fight on a one-by-one basis, which leads to stunning combat sequences when you're in full attack.

Back to the basics, though. The game's graphics are awesome. If this game doesn't incite you to go buy that P3-750 with a top end sound and graphic card, nothing will. The rolling hills, wisps of fog floating over the individual trees, clouds reflected in the smooth stream before you, each unit with his own armor and banners and colors ... it's stunning. The music is gorgeous as well. The narrator ... well, he sounds like a Russian citizen trying to wander around Tokyo. You can't have everything.

The tutorials are great. They do them in standard tutorial fashion, too: give the objectives you'll learn, step through those lessons, and then recap what you've learned. They are very helpful, and get you used to unit movements and formations.

You can choose the formation within a unit and of all your units in your attack force. There are of course different kinds of units - ground troops with swords, archers, horsemen with spears, and many other combinations. As you build your fortress you can create buildings for new and interesting troops as well.

Each unit has its own strengths, and its own morale. They work well on different terrain, and in different weather. Yes, weather affects troops too! Rain dampens the musketeers, while snow hinders other troops. Going up or downhill affects troops, and you can hide in the trees. This is about as close as you can get to some of the historical battles of the 1600s.

Speaking of which, in addition to the fully customizable battle systems, you can fight historical battles as well! Interested in how you would have fared against some of the great Shogun of Japan? Load up the battle and find out. Want to kill off a few close friends? You have that option as well.

Even if I weren't a huge fan of Japanese warfare, I'd recommend this game highly to any strategy fan. The combination of stellar graphics, great sound and quality gaming experience add up to a fun time for anyone!

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best i've ever seen from EA or anyone else!, May 4, 2000

By 

daniel j collins (Palo Alto CA/Stanford University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shogun: Total War (CD-ROM)

I've been a student of japanese martial- and cultural-history for over 20 years, and have seen many attempts to make a game like this, and bought most of them. the only other real 'success' i've seen was 'Shingen' for the old 8-bit nintendo system. 'Shingen' was a VERY nice piece of work for a turn-based game, but THIS? This is truly an amazing piece of work! Like everyone else, i've only played the demo, but the demo prompted me to do something i've never done before:pre-order the game! the 'playfields' are devastatingly beautiful, the troops are beautifully detailed and animated, and the donjon (castles) are downright gorgeous! Also, all the pre-set troop formations look like the programmers read the same ancient battle-texts that i have. each and every formation i've viewed on the game is exactly like what i had read about and seen diagrammed in the martial history texts. even the organization of soldier-movement during formation-changes is top-rate: every soldier knows exatly where he belongs at all times, and he moves accordingly. this looks like the kind of game that makes you want to dig out a bottle of properly warmed sake, proudly display your katana and wakizashi over your monitor, lace on your o-yoroi or do-maru, and start screaming war-cries like the generals in any of Akira Kurosawa's great samurai epics! I DO have some recommended reading before playing, however. Obviously, they're not REQUIRED, but if you want to win, they'll help immeasurably. the programmers seem to have used these books(at least 2 of them, maybe more) to program the AI: 'The Complete Art Of War' translated by Ralph D. Sawyer/published by Westview(ISBN 0-8133-3085-8) 'The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China', same trans./pub. (ISBN 0-8133-1228-0) 'The Six Secret Teachings On The Way Of Strategy', same trans./published by Shambhala (ISBN 1-57062-247-7) and of course any translation of Miyamoto Musashi's Book Of Five Rings. Remember: 'Being unconquerable lies with yourself. Being conquerable lies with the enemy.' -Sun Tzu