IGN SCORE : 9.0(AMAZING)
Breaking from the complexity of Empire: Total War, Creative Assembly trims things down for Shogun 2. It's not a revolutionary step, but a necessary one. It's a reaffirmation of Total War's core values. It's about armies charging forward waving spear and sword, clashing in the middle of vast battlefields to determine the fate of a nation. It's about navigating a land at war to negotiate trades, establish alliances and govern a growing collection of provinces to satisfy a need for conquest. Shogun 2 proves Creative Assembly's combination of turn-based strategy with sweeping real-time tactical combat is just as entertaining as ever. It features brilliant visuals and sound, thrilling clashes between massive armies, and an expertly designed interface to ease in newcomers without sacrificing the depth veterans expect. Issues with the game's artificial intelligence and stability are still present, but pale in comparison to the whole of Creative Assembly's accomplishment. Shogun 2 is a high water mark for the Total War series.
As established by the original Shogun back in 2000, the Total War formula is comprised of two parts. First there's the turn-based campaign map management, similar to Civilization. In Shogun 2 you have but one goal: seize control of Kyoto and establish yourself as shogun in 16th Century Japan. Starting conditions vary, with a short campaign starting in 1545 and lasting until 1575, while long and domination campaigns last until 1600. With four turns per year, one for each season, you'll need to spend time wisely to navigate Japan's hostile landscape packed with warring clans and swirling loyalties. Competition for territories and trade routes is fierce, making establishing dominance all the more rewarding.
One of nine clans is available to play from the beginning, each associated with a set of bonuses and level of difficulty. Some are positioned by the sea with easy access to harbors and trade routes and few borders to worry about. Others begin the game in Japan's center, locked in on all sides by potential enemies. Expansion and acquisition is always the goal, as you'll need to capture and hold a number of territories in addition to Kyoto to attain victory. Expand too fast and you'll draw the attention of the sitting shogun. Move too slowly and you'll fall way behind as rival clans maneuver and seize territory, eventually storming Kyoto before you've even had a chance to see it. Diplomacy can be crucial when extending your network of power, but this is ultimately a game for warmongers.
There's still a huge amount of room for varied styles of play. To stay on track alliances can be established with other nations, family members married off to strengthen ties and trade pacts formed to exchange resources. To enfeeble enemies ninjas can be sent out to assassinate targets and sabotage city gates, ports blockaded with ships and metsuke stationed in home cities to watch for enemy agents and help keep the population under control. Declare war on a powerful enemy alliance and expect to be swarmed from all sides as they assault your castles. Conquer a city and occupy it peacefully or turn it into a vassal state and benefit from regular payments. Upgrade farms and markets to bring in revenue and exempt provinces from tax if civil unrest grows to near-revolt levels. And be mindful of the seasons as armies in the field suffer attrition in the winter months. Though Shogun 2 is wrapped in a pretty new interface meant to lower the barrier to entry, it loses none of its depth.
Everything in the game is artfully presented – from the skill trees and personality readouts of individual generals to the unit cards of your infantry in battle. Though there's plenty of information to pore over, including individualized traits for notable clan members and detailed city status breakdowns, it never feels as though you're examining a spreadsheet, even as you're mousing over clans on the diplomacy screen and reading the tooltip that shows exactly why they do or don't like you. There's still a learning curve in Shogun 2 so don't expect to jump in and unify Japan a few minutes later if you're new to the series. This is still a game for those with patience and an appreciation for looking five moves ahead instead of only at the immediate. An exhaustive in-game encyclopedia and a wealth of tutorials are on offer to make the learning experience less daunting.
This leads to the second major aspect of Total War, the real-time combat. When two armies clash on the battlefield, there's the option to either auto-resolve the conflict or dive in and decide the fate of those involved by hand. You'll command thousands of units: archers and matchlock infantry for inflicting damage from range, spearmen to skewer charging cavalry, katana samurai to slice through spearmen, and cavalry to loop around behind the enemy, hide in a tree line, establish a wedge formation and thunder forward, breaking the back of the enemy force when they least expect it. Nobody does big battles as well as Creative Assembly. In Shogun 2 the studio delivers a masterful blend of visuals and satisfying gameplay, a result of years of experience refining the Total War formula.
The artificial intelligence of your enemies is also much improved. On the campaign map, if you make an alliance with a clan, there's no need to worry they'll suddenly turn and raid your empire with no warning. In battle, it will move cavalry away from spearmen to drive into the sides of your formation, surge katana infantry at archers, take to the high ground and hide in trees and wheel its front lines around to match your angle of approach. Though it is possible to pull in live players to your campaign battles if you want, you'll still find a formidable adversary in the AI, even if from time to time it forgets to move entire columns of spear infantry out from the range of archers.
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