Rating: 
Summary: RTS At Its Best
Review: When I first bought this game I had my doubts but after playing I thank the gods on mighty Olympus for making me buy it. It is the most involving, fun, interesting game I have played in ages. After two days of playing Shogun Total War I wanted to become Japenese (but I did not). I am now of to buy "The Art Of War" by "Sun Tzu"(There are many quotes from him in the game about war and I will now learn his teachings and put it into practice on the battlefield). Also after playing the game you have always got a story to tell about your heroic battle and how about you survived four years in enemy lands and against all odds survived. This is a classic game just pick up any PC magazine and it will tell you so get off your chair and go out to buy Shogun Total War you will not be dissapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Most Realistic Battle Sequences To Date; Scant Negotiations
Review: Yes, the novel Shogun by James Clavell is one of the most interesting books ever written; yes, Seven Samauri etc. are effectively realized; and yes, much of that is translated into this game. But not all of it.Good Points: --Battle Sequences that are second to none with realism that has never been accomplished before in a computer game involving terrain and troop movements. Those little guys really put their all into slaughtering one another. --Excellent graphics, sound, and overall effect. "Hai, Anjin-san." --Powerful artificial intelligence that learns. Yes, learns. (Vis-a-vis: you use a brilliant tactic to get across a bridge and attack a defending army. Two turns later, the game uses that same tactic against you.) --Careful attention to historical detail, down to individual units on battlefields and troop formations/reactions. Bad Points: --Very little diplomacy, meaning that you can ally with enemy commanders and it ends there. And alliances mean next to nothing, as you may very well be attacked by an ally at any time. --Also, the European presence, while intriguing and terribly promising, means very little apart from providing new possibilities for building improvements and units; there is no involvement to speak of, of Europeans in Japanese affairs. Historically there was quite a bit--the Europeans should meddle more. --Online gaming is very limited. Don't expect to wage a campaign against someone online: the best you can do is play another person in a battle. You can't manage the real strategic aspects of the larger game online, as you should be able to. But, the AI almost makes up for this. --The rule book is incorrect and about as thick as a pamphlet on ear disease at a doctor's office. That said, Shogun: Total War is one of the best games to come along in quite some time and anyone with any brains should buy it and read James Clavell's Shogun. The miniseries is also quite good, but costs close to $ 250 on Amazon.com; rent it if you can. You will need a fast computer to run this game, be warned.
Rating:
Summary: A must have game!
Review: This is probally the best RTS right now, and probally will be for a while. Basiclly, the idea of the game is simple; try to take over Japan. But there's a little twist to the game. Instead of being non-stop action killing like the Command and Counquer series, Shogun:Total War puts you in control of the people who live under your control, the training and research of your soldiers, and most importantly, how to defeat the enemy. Defeating the enemy in this game gets rather difficult. Sometimes you are faced with hundreds more enemy units than your own. Either way...out numbered or equally as numbered...You need the terrain for tactical advantages. For instance; Spearmen move very slow thus making them excellent targets for your archers so you move the quicker archers back up onto high ground,and simply blow them away with hails and hails of arrows. Most of the units have greater advantages twords other units. Like the spearmen; the cavalry have no chance against them. Cavalry have their great advatage over the archers, archers over spearmen. You can also "Hide" your soldiers in the woods. If the enemy has a lot of spearmen, and you have a lot of cavalry, you'll want to hide some of the cacalry, making it look like they've run away. This is bascilly where an army wins or looses. When you've lured the enemy soldiers so they have their backs to your hiding troops, the ambush begins. Hundreds of cavalry come storming out of the trees, and WALLA!Victory is yours due to great planning and use of the terrain. This IS a must have game for all RTS fanatics...or even those just being introduced to the RTS games.
Rating:
Summary: Ran lives!!!
Review: Wow!!! This is the best game I have bought in a long time. If you are a fan of Ran, or you are just facinated by sweeping epic battles on grand scales this game is for you. The Japanese war music that comes with it is to die for and really sets the tone for the battles. The mood is furthur set by well read voice overs using the text of Tzun xu etc., to describe events. Building and controlling vast sweeping armies has never been so challanging as you are forced to consider actual tactics rather than just outnumbering your opponent. Many times you will find yourself outnumbered and forced to use shrewd tactics involving the lay of the land, weather, etc. In the end you are left with profound understanding for the endless warfare of 16th century Japan, tactically, strategically, and even emotionally. 5 stars!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent play, graphics make this game a true winner!
Review: Having played the board game of the same name for years, I had to get this game when I first heard it was coming out. True to reviews online and in Time magazine, the graphics and playability are outstanding. From the white haze of the morning fog to the patches of sunlight that filters in between intermittent rain, the tactical terrain graphics are excellent and should produce many copycat games in the near future. The strategic play in the campaign mode is also well made. Managing the ever scarce koku and deciding your kingdom's technological path are great attributes to the game. The diplomacy of the game, however, is unfortunately random, unstrategic, and becomes useless as the game progresses. Also, the spies and shinobis are useful only for counterspying and once the geisha is produced, it is only a matter of time before you are left with only the passive ronin to defeat--a cheap way to win! Also, the game is limited in replayability. Sure, multi-players can go forever with custom battles but the campaign game becomes repetitive once each daimyo is played out. They should have made it like the board game with an option to start the game with random provinces. The difficulty levels are useless. Beyond normal, it is almost impossible to win battles since your men, regardless of strategy and strength, flee at the slightest provocation. But beyond these limitations, the tactical real-time battles are the greatest draw and it is they that make the game a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Best RTS game in a looooooong time!
Review: This game is the best! Aside from the regular RTS/strategy style, building castles and gaining money to build and upgrade your troops, the best I love the most about this game is using your ninjas to assasinate the enemy and friendly generals of other clans. By completing a successful assasination, your ninja goes up in rank and he can kill more higher grade generals and eventually the other clan's warlord! If anyone has played Warcraft and the like, then they will find all that building resources and upgrading troops a breeze; it is the same principle. But in this game, there are some clans that are specialized in certains that will be cheaper to produce and have a higher grade quality than the same type of troops of the other clan's. This you will have to find out for yourself. I think the controlling your own troops in battle is fun especially when you can set them up into positions and then have them crash the opposing forces. The graphic are very fun to watch during the battle scene and also in the throne room when the other clan's comes to you for alliances and traders come to trade with your clan.
Rating:
Summary: Shogun the full review
Review: This game as you should know is taking place in feudal japan. here are good things and bad things GOOD 1.ninjas 2.geishas 3.a reaistic truth that alliances were made betwen daimyos and broken the next day 4.graphics 5.fun 6.realistic battle happenings BAD 1.unrealistic soldiers each clan really had its own helmets armor swords and decorations 2.no ashigaru
Rating:
Summary: First, think Multi-player
Review: I really enjoy Shogun. The gameplay is, to say the least, challenging. However, it is not a game for everyone. First, the cons. The campaign version of the game is LONG. Anyone who wants to actually controll their troops in the real-time battles that will take place will have to have patience. There have been times during the game where I just let the computer determine the outcome of a battle rather than take the time to fight it myself. Another difficulty that I have had with the game is that the computer AI seems to be unstoppable if you don't go out of your way to keep ALL of the daimyos off guard and a little weak. I have played the full campaign version of the game (on Normal difficulty setting) three times now, and I've only won once. The other two times I lost because one of the opposing armies got so huge that there was no way I could have won (I would have to estimate that he had about 10-12,000 troops in just two of his provinces-admitidly this was the bulk of his force-while I had only about 1,000-2,000). Nedless to say, I lost. Finally, some of the clans themselves are at a disadvantage. One of the clans I have been playing as has their starting provinces (you start out with 6) split up. What I mean by that is that 3 of my provinces are connected to each other (in that I can walk troops from one province to the next, to the next), and the other 3 are connected all the way on the other side of the map. This, obviously, presents a challenge for this particular clan. Although you DO have a port linking two of the seperated provinces together, you still have the problem that if you want to expand you have to worry about more enemies taking advantage of you while you attack. Now for the pros. The game has excellent terrain graphics. Also, I do understand people's problems with controlling the huge forces that become arrayed towards the mid- and end-game periods (where the computer seems to get a huge advantage since it can keep track of exactly what is going on and where it wants the AI troops to go-pause a LOT during these battles). Another great thing about the game is the nasty things you can do. Nothing says I love you like a geisha. I love them-even though they take until the end-game to get. Ninjas are also a lot of fun to use. But I have to say that archers are a must. The only way I have been able to get out of some of the really ugly situations that I have found myself in (being attacked by twice my force)is by having archers on hand to rain arrows down on the attackers. These units are a must have in the begining since they can cut the smaller, beggining-game armies to pieces. The game play is great too. One of the things that I like about the game is that the attacker has only a certain amount of time to seize the province. If they haven't routed or destroyed the defenders in that time, they lose (although they do not lose their troops for this). Furthermore, the snow, fog, rain, and wind add a good deal to the game. Your archers have a harder time shooting accurately in the rain and wind. Conversely, they are bettere when on higher ground. Europeans and Christianity also play an important role in the game. Eventually, you will have to decide whether or not to become Christian. If you do, there is a downside. First, you are likely to experience what the game calls a "Religious Revolt", and what I call getting stabbed in the back (unless, of course, you planned for this and you built a bunch of churches at the same time). This ugly little event can come as a nasty surprise-especially since it usually happens behind your main defensive lines. Nothing is worse than having to move some of your front-line troops to a different province in order to put down a revolt while your neighboor is expressing some aggressive tendancies. Then again, you do get guns ;). Finally, the real reason I got this game: Multiplay. Forget all of this stuff about the AI. The AI is great for strategic play: it builds HUGE armies as fast as it can in order to overwhelm an opponent (i.e. YOU). The real trick is outsmarting the person next door. This is where I think this game will shine for everyone. You can have LAN games, internet, direct connect, you name it. Forget Starcraft and Brood War, Shogun is the game I am going to enjoy the most against my friends.
Rating:
Summary: What every wargame SHOULD be...
Review: I fell in love with Shogun: Total War the minute I started playing. I found it's interface fairly intuitive and within 15 minutes I was in complete command of the game, which is a good thing as teh manual was a little skimpy. The atmosphere that this game creates is outstanding! You really get the feel of feudal Japan. The graphics are beautifully done. It's nice to see a battlefield covered in snow, or with a fog cover. And the music is well done, and unlike most game music I have not turned it off tired of the repetition after a couple hours. This is definitely one I'll recommend to all my wargamer friends.
Rating:
Summary: Shogun Total War
Review: 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.
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