Rating: 
Summary: GREAT GAME!
Review: This game is awesome. I read sumone saying this is the best RTS this year. I agree,but it much more than just an RTS. From the world map it looks and feel like you are playing the old comp. game,"Risk". But iits nothing like risk when you get into it. You can follow pre-set campaigns such as the 100 year war or just make your own. What I like about this game is you can jump into the battles almost instantly and as their happening. The major great idea about this game is that the battles can consist of tens upon thousands of units. The other cool thing is when a unit dies,the body stays on the battle feild until the battle is completly over. That add alot of reality to it. I love this game,and ANYONE even slightly interested in kings,castles,knights will love this real time strategy twist!
Rating:
Summary: Great game and expansion!
Review: I will keep this a short as I can. This game can be described in 3 words: Really really good. It has everything you can expect in an RTS game. It has a nice mix of real time and turn based action. While the graphics may not be the best, they are good for a game of this scale. The single player is great (especialy with the addition of the mongols.) But don't count out multi-player, infact it's even better than before (thanks again to the mongols.) This game is a must get for anyone who likes any of the following things in a game:1. Turn based action
2. Real time action
3. Japan's history
4. MONGOLS
Rating: 
Summary: 900 men ready to frag another 900 men
Review: Okay, i know that most of you that are going to buy this game know that you can control like 900 units at once. If you have played Age of Empires, then you know that only 40 units in that game can be selected at a time and the population limit is usually 200. Shogun's combat system is much more complex, thus making the learning curve steeper. Shogun has 2 different main interfaces when you are playing the game. though i am quite new to this game, the "strategy map" section, which shows all of the provinces under your control and lets you build units and buildings in that province, is very simple to understand. it is regular turn-based strategy where every 4 turns, you get the report of your yearly harvest, which is your income. Now the unit system is not as complex as AOE (age of empires), but the battle system makes up for that. when you send an army, shown on your strategy map, into a province that is not ruled by you, the next turn the game will ask you if you want to commence the battle by yourself, let the computer decide, or just run away becuase you do not want to fight. usually, you want to do the battle by yourself so then you are taken into the "battle mode". battle mode is not turn based. instead it is Real Time, just like AOE. the "tutorial" gives you a first hand look in battle mode, but tutorial has a problem where they tell you to click on a flag, you click on the flag, and the program calls you a fool for not following directions. so thus, tutorial is basically useless. anyways, the battles in Shogun are HUGE. you may find youself running away, just to come back with a bigger army. or you may find yourself fraggin the computer cause your army is 2x the size of his. Shogun comes with some bugs, thus reducing my rating of it to 4 stars. the first is the one that i mentioned about the tutorial. the next is about the Geisha house. i can never find the option to build it, even though i have all of the requirements. also, patching the game is confusing. i downloaded the most recent patch, and installed it. what i got was a menu that was so messed up that i couldn't even exit the game from it. Overall, buy Shogun: Total War Warlord edition. it will get you ready for Medieval: Total War the next game coming from the same developers!
Rating:
Summary: The best looking RTS game this year...
Review: Boy, what can I say? From what I have experienced in the demo, I can hardly wait for the actual game's release. The graphics are tremendous, considering the massive amounts of units that flood the game. And unlike most other RTS games, where the people soon just disappear like they sunk into the ground or something, this game has every fallen man stay were he was killed. Every battlefield is 3D, with realistic buildings, trees, shrubs, you name it. And this game takes castle sieging to a whole new level. With the walls crumbling under the heavy barrage of your mutiple types of siege weaponry, it is truly a wonderful sight. The shots of your siege weapons bounce off the ground, gouging holes in the earth and decimating any troops that get in the way. Blow holes through the lines of enemy troops before you assault with your own. There are so many options in this game, with so many tactical elements, it is mind-boggling. And keep in mind that I am only referring to what I have experienced in the demo. And if I am this astounded by the demo, then when the game comes out, call 911 because I've had a heart attack. The game goes beyond just battlefield carnage and in the single player campaign you must build your empire not only through might, but through diplomacy, trade, and your economy. There are also multiple objectives for each campaign, and many different kingdoms and cultures that you can play. I have a 900Mhz AMD Athlon, 256MB RAM, and a GeForce2 Ti, and this game runs like a dream. While some smaller computers might have to turn the graphics down a tad, it is amazing how they kept the framerates stable even with all of that action. This game is a must buy. Way to go, Creative Assembly!
Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough of it!
Review: This game is my type of game. I control an army of thousands and I get to decide who is in my army (Archers, Samarai, Heavy Cavalry, Monks, etc.), who I will be attacking, and how I will be attacking. Sounds simple...Sort of. If you like strategy games, here you go. This game takes some thought, but not too much too rack your brain. I have been looking for my type of game since I got my computer last year and this is it. I have been bored with the RPG games, which are basically the same over and over and take hours upon hours just walking around, wasting MY time. I get bored with the sports games because they just get so monotinous after awhile. Play one, you play 'em all. This is different. You command your land and your people. You increase your peoples way of life and in turn you will slowly take over the world. Build an army, with some sword dojos and legendary armory, and you got it made. At least you do if you play on the Easy and Normal levels. Play difficult and this game just gets more fun. Making you think harder and making every decision on where you are attacking next a crucial one. It's so hard to explain why I like it, I could, but I do not have the time to do so. Take my word for it, this is a game worth the money. I stayed up all night playing this game already, just me and my buddy. I haven't done that since High School.
Rating:
Summary: Highly addictive
Review: Shogun - Total War is a highly addictive game, but i do not praise it for its battle simulations, which i thought would be a lot better. Although some of the formations are cool, what it comes down to in the end is utter chaos with brutal sound effects. A good point about the battle simulations, is the fatigue setting that, although slightly annoying, makes the game realistic. It is also realistic becasue despite the fact that a formation of men was tired, if they were winning, they have the "impetus" to keep going. Really, however, the strong point of this game is the board game part of it, which involves moving armies, spies, ninjas... around the board, very similarly to Risk. This is the most addictive part because it is also where you can build castles and weapons factories of all sorts, which can be upgraded. Although slightly tedious, upgrading can be a lot of fun. Another nice option that this game has is that the cpu can simulate any battle desired, which is useful becasue the battles are very long. Also, it is sometimes more fun just toplay the strategy part of the game, instead of simualating battles. As for this being the jewel case version, you do not miss the handbook at all, since it is very easy to start up.
Rating:
Summary: Dirty and gritty warfare never looked so good!
Review: Imagine 10,000 troops coming over the nearest hill. Archers, Footman, and many siege engines start flooding to your walls. Just as your army is assembling, your foes catapults deal a fatal blow to a nearby arrow tower, causing it to collapse upon a large gathering of your troops...and that's just the tutorial. This game is nothing short of incredible. If you are sick of the rock, paper, scissors RTS games, that don't take any strategical thought into account, then this is your game. You have the high ground, well then your archers can fire further and your troops will fatigue less, as they are walking down hill. Badly outnumber by an invading Germanic army? Set up an ambush in so trees and ride your calvary hard to flank your enemy's ranks. Then after the battle, you can view the battlefield full of carnage because all the pathetic soldiers that fell to your army remain where they fell...all 3000 of them. Seriously, with 200 different units, this is the game that actually takes knowledge of warfare into account, as well as more than a little bit of planning in the deployment of your troops. Though the game is not due until later this year, pick it up when it becomes available.
Rating:
Summary: absolutely amazing
Review: ok wheh i first played shogun toatal war i didnt think there would ever be a game that could out-do it but i was very wrong and apart from deus ex 2 this is was my most eagerly awaited game, i have only had it for a few days but im already finding out the depth of the game, it has great dimplomatic effects, like if u r england sooner or later the French demand to be allowed to pass through your land to defeat the scots who have insulted them, also seiging a castle doesn't involve a small building with a few men, it mean a full castle with many walls and eveything you would expect a castle to have, it also makes the combat alot more realistic, in shogun heavy cavalry sometimes beat pikemen(yari samurai) but in this it shows realistically as you can see when ur regiments of nights are demolished by pikemen, also when u hold your cursor over the units it tells you what they would like, such as '100 archers morale :steady, happy that flanks are protected. a great gamne a must buy for all rts buyers,
Rating:
Summary: Age of Empires, move over!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Tiny Troop Graphics Make Tactical Battle Less Satisfying
Review: (First, a patch was released months ago (in 2001) that fixed the problems that N. Ferguson referred to, especially the one involving reinforcements. Find the patch at Totalwar.com) This is a game that in complexity is more difficult than most RTS games but less complex than most wargames. The gameplay combines a turn-based strategy phase in which the player using a RISK-style map of Japan makes long-term decisions as to which province to invade, what buildings to construct, and where to deploy his armies. The real-time phase occurs when a battle is fought and the player attempts to defeat his rival. The battles are tactical and success depends on many different factors: troop numbers, experience, weapons, formations, weather, battlefield maneuvering, and terrain. Although the graphics are usually highly-praised by most people (and in truth, there is much to praise), I was VERY disappointed with the troop graphics. Despite having a high-end machine, and the latest graphic card, the 2D troop sprites are too tiny, and difficult to distinguish (even before combat). When cavalry aren't easily differentiated from archers, and archers can be mistaken for spearmen, and a gamer with 20/20 vision like myself has to move to within 2-3 inches of the computer screen to fight a battle, something is wrong. I don't care how beautiful the terrain is, or how interesting the cut scenes,other non-game graphics may be equally stunning but it doesn't matter. The troop graphics are extremely tiny. Many reviewers defend this with sarcasm: Well, so what if you can't see the trooper's faces? If you want Age of Empires, go play that! Hey, how else can you get 5000 men on the screen? I say, "So what! Why bother with troop graphics in that case? Why bother trying to make them look like anything then?" I don't care about making out tiny details. I do care about spotting my archers easily from my arquebusers. I do care when my spearmen look much too much like my cavalrymen. You may not care about the graphics and enjoy the game regardless. You should be aware however that it is an issue that have put off many other players.
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