Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 57
  3. Negative: 4 out of 57
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  1. ErikS.
    Aug 1, 2002
    8
    Really good, sh..loads of fun.
  2. BobD.
    Jan 8, 2002
    10
    Yeeeeeeeeeeeees! Cool Game.
  3. EugeneG.
    Jun 28, 2002
    10
    This is a perfect example of what what a grade"a" expansion pack should be like. A huge variety of new units was added, and unlike other expansion packs you actually have a use for them. Ma editor is perfect, very simplistic yet you can do wonders with it. The Mongol Invasion Is a beautiful addition to the original game. Also the A.I. was made more skillfull (as if the original was not This is a perfect example of what what a grade"a" expansion pack should be like. A huge variety of new units was added, and unlike other expansion packs you actually have a use for them. Ma editor is perfect, very simplistic yet you can do wonders with it. The Mongol Invasion Is a beautiful addition to the original game. Also the A.I. was made more skillfull (as if the original was not smart enough). The only problemn I encountered was the fact that when two armies are going at each other on full scale, the flags soldiers are carrying block most of the view. Other than that hats off to this game. … Expand
  4. BerndR.
    Sep 30, 2002
    10
    Perfect?!
  5. BobJ.
    Sep 18, 2002
    10
    It's amazing.
  6. JohnS.
    Sep 18, 2002
    9
    Fun fun fun - i wish i had a faster computer to really experience this games potential (my computer is old).
  7. ArekusuS.
    Jul 24, 2004
    10
    Wow. This game r0x. The onbly problem = Bad multiplayer settings. I can't seem to get it to work.... oh well, this still is one of the best made games I have ever played! :D -----------------------Teh Kekkers has made teh vote.
  8. thequillguy
    Apr 12, 2011
    9
    Shogun Total War is one of those games that allows you dream of how to gloriously command thousands (or, at least, dozens) of screaming samurai. By allowing devious flanking tactics, or encouraging heroic frontal assaults, STW was the first game to depict the frantic action of real time strategy with mainstream success.

    Which, when you consider that the game was originally intended as a    Shogun Total War is one of those games that allows you dream of how to gloriously command thousands (or, at least, dozens) of screaming samurai. By allowing devious flanking tactics, or encouraging heroic frontal assaults, STW was the first game to depict the frantic action of real time strategy with mainstream success.

    Which, when you consider that the game was originally intended as a 2D strategy game, makes this game a definitive milestone of the RTS genre. The strength of game is its simplified unit interaction: like paper (spears), scissors (cavalry) and stone (archers) ever unit beats and counters an other unit. Unlike the expansive RTS units of SupComm or SCII, mastery of unit types should be expected in hours rather than weeks. There's no seeking for the 'overbalanced' unit combination or the perfect build-order in this game; only blood and thunder battlefield fighting.

    Ten years after first release, the gameplay still holds up surprisingly well. The kill rate of units is low (perhaps too low!) but this places a greater emphasis on the paper-scissor-stone principles by which the game runs. Add into this the significant effect of hills (archers will beat infantry with a height advantage in melee) and flanking (even now tying an enemy head-on with infantry and flanking with cavalry is the RTS staple tactic) and you have warfare that is satisfyingly expansive. By expansive I mean there is a real feeling that a smaller army can defeat much larger numbers with superior tactics. Such victories exploit the game's excellent morale model. You don't need to kill every soldier to win a battle. Even now I can remember battles a decade imprinted on my memory - the enemy ushered through a valley to attack my weakened archers; the hidden charge from woods; and the routing of one flank that rolls down the rest of the enemy until a fresh force flees from my emergent (and no doubt grinning) general. The campaign mode itself was pleasingly simplified. I always played as Shimazu (the green ones) not least because they were tucked away in the corner. As always in such strategy games, no-one has yet devised a way to counteract strategic AI. In the end game, I always faced off the Hojo clan who had horded dozens of armies into a few spaces. While something that I accepted at the time, these days such a gameplay facet would (rightly) demand a patch, or simply recognise that the campaign is won when 50% of map is yours.

    The expansion pack (part of this game) goes some way to addressing these problems but it still lets slip with the overpowered brutality of the mongol heavy cavalry. Having spent 100s of battles watching body counters drop a man at a time, the shock at seeing multiple people die at once is enough to make the mongol expansion feel like the challenge of countering a truly warmonging race with what are essentially a civilised people. So should you own and play this game because it defined a genre? The graphics are, admittedly, pixilated with a 680 resolution. The campaign can drag on. Heavy cavalry aren't my first choice when I have infinite money. And the bridge battles are immensely arduous tests of attrition.

    But the immersion is still there. The sound is evocative of the Sengoku period and the battlefield principles are still refreshingly straightforward and effective. If you win a battlefield, you really feel a sense of control. Even more so than a ctrl + A then right click on their general. I've owned three copies of this game - you should grace your collection with one.    … Expand
  9. Deadfirefly
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    Near perfect! One of the best strategy games available!
    Graphics are still good for a game of its time.
    Captures the intense strategic decisions on the battlefield in feudal japan very well.
  10. shatarah
    Dec 2, 2020
    8
    greattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
  11. aaron_
    Sep 9, 2017
    9
    In spite of the fact this "new trailer" doesn't hold a candle to inspiring any kind of mood deserved of this classic and revolutionary computer strategy wargame -- in great contrast to the original dreamtime interactive intro movie which featured a clip from the very fitting, critically acclaimed 1985 Akira Kurosawa film "RAN" overlaid with music by BAFTA award winning game industryIn spite of the fact this "new trailer" doesn't hold a candle to inspiring any kind of mood deserved of this classic and revolutionary computer strategy wargame -- in great contrast to the original dreamtime interactive intro movie which featured a clip from the very fitting, critically acclaimed 1985 Akira Kurosawa film "RAN" overlaid with music by BAFTA award winning game industry instrumentalist Jeff van Dyck, this title will always maintain a prominent place on my shelf.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best PC Game of 2001
56
#56 Most Discussed PC Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. GameSpy
    86
    A great expansion pack. It makes Shogun better, adds new units, modes, and campaigns, and yet doesn't disrupt the sweaty-palmed fun of the original.
    Read full review
  2. Computer Games Magazine
    90
    Adds so much additional meat to the original design that going back to the old game seems unthinkable.
    Read full review
  3. Gamezilla!
    81
    Graphics don't make a game, but when they are outdated enough to cause a distraction, you know it is a time for an upgrade.
    Read full review
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