Rating: 
Summary: too easy
Review: The AI in the new version has improved the computer controlled daimyo's tactical performance, but their strategic skills are weaker. First, tactics. The enemy does much less milling around in valley floors while your archers turn turn them into pincushions. Their cavalry units (usually) don't make unsupported attacks, and retreat in an intelligent way when challenged by heavier infantry types. I've even seen 'reverse slope' defense, where the enemy will stay just back from a ridgeline, waiting for your troops to come up the slope before moving up to attack. On the other hand, as other reviewers have noticed, the reinforcement system is now utterly frustrating, with units appearing (at seemingly random intervals) from every corner of the map, instead of from the backfield. River crossing battles are really harmed by this flaw, as the whole point of a river battle is that YOU are on one side, the ENEMY on the other. Not anymore! Now, some strategic gripes. In the original, set the game on expert and you're hanging on by your fingernails. Even the 'hard' setting was a decent challenge. Now, the 'expert' setting is unbelievably easy. Why? Because the daimyos seem to have been castrated. They don't build massive armies and snap up province after province. They just seem to sit back and wait until you are powerful enough to come destroy them. This makes the endgame practically a waste of time. I've shown up with well-developed troops (legendary armor and weapons, etc.) only to find my opponent with a largely ashigaru army, low in honor, with no improved equipment. Grrrr. Bottom line: the new edition is better in every way, but ruined by the absence of an adequate difficulty level. Stick to the old version if you really want a test of your abilities.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I cannot say enough good things about Shogun. The very best thing about it is that it is a real challenge. Expect to take some time exploring all of the facets of handling armies, diplomacy, and ecomomic planning. The result is that you will enjoy the game for a long time before you exhaust all of its possibilities.I would like to offer a few specific suggestions. Risk your Damiyo in battle rarely. If your clan has no direct heir when he is killed, your game is over. Group formations become vital when your armies become larger. It is nearly impossible to direct 16 different units separately. Be careful of painting yourself into corners with too many alliances. Improve your farm lands to keep your income high. Finally, archers on top of steep hills are very hard to beat in a defensive role. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: They ruined a great game
Review: "Ruined? How?" I hear you think.
Basically, the new system of reinforcements sucks so badly that it threatens to suck the entire game down with it. In the original Shogun, reinforcements were dealt with as follows: You're only allowed at most 960 men / 16 units on the field. You can, however, go to battle with many times this number, with the idea being that as old units get tired and depleted (or massacred) they can be withdrawn and replaced (after a short delay) by a stream of fresh units, appearing one at a time, and emerging from the direction of your own camp. This system works suprisingly well.
In both Mongol Invasion and Warlord Edition, it's the same except that a great flood of reinforcements arrives from all directions (even from behind the opponent's lines).
When the enemy is the one being reinforced, the player will have a minor brain haemorrage trying to rearrange his infantry to protect his archers. It can be done, but it's needlessly frustrating.
You could argue that the new system is better: If you have only one mapful of troops, and your opponent has several, then while your mapful is beating his first mapful, his second and third could be surrounding the battlefield, preparing to strike from all directions. This might be a neat idea, but for the following fatal flaws: (1) The enemy's reinforcements arrive in this way even if you also have a great many troops in reserve (troops who ought to have been able to prevent the battlefield being encircled). (2) On a river-map, where there is supposed to be only one crossing point, the enemy reinforcements can arrive en masse on your side of the river. It is unbelievably tragic, having just conducted a successful bridge defense against impossible odds, to have your lines of archers chewed up by a tide of enemy cavalry coming from behind (which you might not even see until the massacre begins) - it also removes the whole point of making bridges hard to attack. (3) When the reinforcements retreat, they always make for the direction of the enemy camp, no matter where they originally emerged on the battlefield. This is annoying on bridge maps (for obvious reasons), though it's not that big a deal (except that it just looks so stupid). If both sides have reinforcements, it always seems to be the computer who gets them first. If and when you do get your reinforcements, the nature of the control system makes them extremely difficult to co-ordinate, since they're widely dispersed and often hidden in hills or forests. Often, the first you will see of a reinforcement unit is a pathetic trickle of refugees stampeding down from the corner of the map (re: (3)). It's a great pity, considering that Shogun is such an excellent game, to have to labour this point - especially given all of the other changes and enhancements - most of which improve slightly on the original.
However, I find that the new system makes the game unplayably frustrating - I quickly uninstalled it and reinstalled the original.
Rating:
Summary: One amazing game
Review: This game is a must get. For many reasons. One, it's got so much to do that you'll be playing for weeks before you really finish the game completely. The storyline is also quite interesting as you make and break alliances with neighbouring clans. The graphics in this game are quite impressive as are the sound affects. I like the over map idea because it shows the way real battles and wars are fought. The battles are truly the best battles I have seen in a game of this type. The true scale of war is highly impressive as thousands of soldiers engage each other in combat. The one gripe that I have about this game is the system requirements. You have to have a pretty good computer to be able to play the game without the slow down. But besides that, the game is truly one not to be missed. Buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Grossly overrated
Review: Sorry guys, I know this will get me called names but I rushed out & bought the original Shogun the day it came out. I had high expectations. It was one of my "most wanted" games and the reviews were uniformly great... but... It's a _very_ poor strategy game. Risk style map with a little bit of (one) resource management Japan is also a pretty poor map for compelling strategy, (hold one front attack on the other until you get to one end of the map then move your forces to the other front & sweep up the rest of the map not much of a challenge) - but you're saying - the 3D battles... are pretty to look at but the control system is appalling. Try lining up two units of archers to present a united front 2 men deep to the enemy, tear you hair out with frustration. Then do the same thing in "Ground Control" in 2 seconds flat. The number of individually controllable units per battle is tiny (8 if I recall correctly) so you can't even outmanouever your opponent strategically to bring a huge army to bear & reduce casualties, nope, by half way through the game everyone is tooling about with full strength armies so it turns into a glorified game of scissors-paper-stone. In summary, great in theory, lousy in practice I played it (solidly) for about a week before I got disillusioned (it doesn't get better) - I gave my copy away to a charity. Be prepared for a disapointment if you listen to the other reviews. The emperor has no clothes on & it's about time it was said (and I know other people who have played the game & think the same about it too).
Rating:
Summary: Great Graphics Familiar Concept
Review: Japan in the 16thCentury is the stage for this combination turn style board game and real time battle simulation. Anyone familiar with RISK will need no explanation on how to play this game. Certainly, shuffling pieces around a gameboard gets tedious but the real time battles in which you command up to several thousand troops is where the game shines. My major problem with the game is that resources (KOKU or gold to us non-japanese) can take a long time to accumulate in sufficient quantity to develop a serious fighting force. This gets quite tedious. Starting resources and technical development should be higher at the outset to avoid the boring aspect of playing amateur economist. You only get your KOKU once a year and generally you spend it within a season which leaves you quite vulnerable till the next harvest. Japan is divided between several CLANS and you get to chose which one you will become the DAIMYO (clan leader) of. The idea is to amass wealth, develop technically and recruit fighting units so that you can invade neighbouring territoties. Your opponents will be doing the same thing with you in mind. As mentioned, shuffling pieces around a gameboard is not where the fun is at. Combat is resolved one of three ways: retreating, personally commanding the troops or allowing the computer AI to resolve it automatically. The latter is not a good idea as the AI rarely does as good a job as yourself whereas the former is why you bought the game in the first place. Troops are placed in units of 60-100 strength and they fight as one (Age of Empire fans will appreciate being free from commanding each soldier personally). The landscapes are very well done (at least from a distance). Weather effects lend a realism which adds a random chance aspect to a successful foray. The rules of combat are based on Sun Tsu's teachings for good generalship. Topography and weather will assist or hinder certain units as well as the normal advantages given to one type of unit over another. It does require one to think about how one deploys units and against which type of unit you will wish to engage. Unfortunately the rules do seem to bend at times. I have lost encounters which according to these guidelines I aught to have won handily. This flaw in programming becomes more apparent when playing the game at HARD. All this means is that the rules of combat are at the whim of the computer AI. No matter how great your advantage, if the AI determines it is your turn lose it will happen. I don't appreciate having the rules applied on a random basis (cheating)and once you are aware it is going on it makes one question every subsequent engagement. My level of enjoyment diminished at that point. Also, at any one time only 16 units can take the field at once. All your remaining forces will be held in reserve. You do not have the ability to summon them as you need them which is a real drag, but what is more bothersome is that when they do appear they arrive from behind enemy lines where they are apt to be quickly butchered if the enemy has sufficient strength. I don't know why they designed it this way but I tend to avoid large armies for this very reason. Surprisingly, the most deathly unit is the Geisha who is invulnerable to attack but has the capability to eliminate all your heirs and Daimyo thus knocking you out of the game. It's a (...) way to win or lose, most bought this game to play samurai not Mata Hari. Where's the fun in that? Speaking of lousy, I have lost games because my Daimyo died of an illness without leaving any heirs. At what point the developers decided this was an attractive feature I can't fathom. All in all the combat saves the game but obviously there is much room for improvement.
Rating:
Summary: The realistic simulation of Japanese Middle Age Warfare
Review: Shôgun - Total War is a tremendously realistic game. As I am studying Japanese Studies and so speak a little Japanese, I can say that the original Japanese are fantastic. The whole gameplay as improved to the original game. The only weak point I have seen so far is the look of the kensai on the battlefield. They are simply too big and so do not fit with the rest of the armies. But that is rather an aesthetic point. The game is still quite difficult to win but that is o.k. for me because one can play longer this way by trying different strategies. Finally, I think it is just a great game for anyone who has an interest in Japanese history and the time of the country at war. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Great, but
Review: If you get this game, you must be committed to having a system that can handle it. Check out your video card and make sure it is compatible. Amazing game when you are in the real time battle mode. The newer version of the Warlord Edition is worth the upgrade.
Rating:
Summary: Best Strategy Game of All Time!!!
Review: I am a big fan of Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ran). I have also read Shogun by Clavell as well as Musashi and Taiko by Yoshikawa. I even play the board game by Avalon Hill - Samurai Sword, previously known as Shogun (check it out on this site). Of course, this is one of the period that the PC game Shogun: Total War Warlord Ed. is dealing with - 16th Century Japan. It also deals with the Mongol Invasions of Kublai Khan. I have been playing it for several nights now and I can honestly say that my wife is getting just a bit ticked off with me because this is all I want to do when I get home - play this game! It's highly addictice if you get around all the game controls, but not in a Diabo II (mindless RPG) sort of way. It is addictive because it really sets up the atmosphere of 16th century Japan beautifully - from the basic military units, the special units (emissary, ninja, geisha, priest), to the music - kodo drums and all!
Rating:
Summary: the best strategy game ever!!
Review: Shogun warlord edition is the most fun game in the world.If your looking for action,this is the game for you.Better gaphics,newer units and more maps.This is one game you don't want to miss!
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