Total War: Shogun 2

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Mar 15, 2011
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1448 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,144 out of 1448
  2. Mixed: 216 out of 1448
  3. Negative: 88 out of 1448
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  1. Dco326
    Feb 17, 2023
    7
    Bila je dobra ali nista wow i dalje je bilo izbagovano sa formacijama, neke stvari su dodate tipa porodicno stablo ali je presporo sve u svemu bilo je samo okej nista wooooooooooow nazalost, ne bi vise igrao :)
  2. Yabani
    Oct 19, 2022
    6
    Japonya'da iç savaş döneminde geçen bir oyun görmek güzel. Ama oyunda oyuncuları uyuz eden çok saçma şeyler oluyor. Bu yüzden verdiğim puan epey düştü. O şeyler olmasa 8 verirdim sanırım.
  3. dr-kenobi
    Sep 6, 2022
    7
    I do enjoy the esthetics of medieval Japan and the fact that they tried to make all the factions look real with advantages and disadvantages is nice as well, but it still feels a bit dull towards the end game when all of the folks declare war and diplomacy is practically useless, so you have to go warfare management non-stop. Still, it's one of their best so far
  4. Wrathzo
    Mar 21, 2022
    6
    Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is part of the Total War series and returns to the 16th-century Japan setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe and the Middle East. Shogun 2 is set in 16th-century feudal Japan, in the aftermath of the Ōnin War during theTotal War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is part of the Total War series and returns to the 16th-century Japan setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe and the Middle East. Shogun 2 is set in 16th-century feudal Japan, in the aftermath of the Ōnin War during the Ashikaga shogunate. The country is fractured into rival clans led by local warlords, each fighting for control. The player takes on the management of one of these clans, with the goal of dominating other factions and establishing rule over Japan. The standard edition of the game features a total of eight factions (plus a ninth faction for the tutorial), each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths. The limited edition includes an exclusive ninja clan, the Hattori, and a DLC unlocks a tenth clan, the Ikko-Ikki.… Expand
  5. esmailD
    Nov 20, 2021
    5
    The game has a wide range of features. The details are stunning and perhaps better than most previous games in the series. But the main point here is that due to the imbalanced difficulty, or better to say, the irrational difficulty, it is not possible to enjoy it. In fact, all these features have been somehow ruined.
  6. Bushido95
    Sep 27, 2021
    6
    Это был первый тревожный звоночек для меня для фаната серии Total War. Хоть в целом мне и понравилась игра всё таки Япония всегда очаровывает, но слишком много спорных нововведений и мне кажется разработчики пошли не в ту сторону.Это был первый тревожный звоночек для меня для фаната серии Total War. Хоть в целом мне и понравилась игра всё таки Япония всегда очаровывает, но слишком много спорных нововведений и мне кажется разработчики пошли не в ту сторону.
  7. watergazing
    Aug 14, 2021
    7
    One of the best in the total war franchise. Some of the best mechanics from previous total war games are enhanced, and the setting on feudal Japan? Awesome. Definitely one of the best games in the total war series.

    Though, some perhaps major, drawbacks: 1. Can only choose from 12 factions. For players of hardcore feudal japan-themed grand strategy games, this number is not that high,    One of the best in the total war franchise. Some of the best mechanics from previous total war games are enhanced, and the setting on feudal Japan? Awesome. Definitely one of the best games in the total war series.

    Though, some perhaps major, drawbacks:
    1. Can only choose from 12 factions. For players of hardcore feudal japan-themed grand strategy games, this number is not that high, since it means you can only choose between very prominent houses.. Often, there is very fun gameplay to be had in lesser, obscure households as well, so in this case the game can comparatively have less depth.

    2. Mostly fictional officers and vassals, with randomly generated Japanese names. Thus, it makes the game seem "shallower" than it actually is... It is fun and all building a family tree and looking back on your ever-growing household. But with fictional names? Although it seems simple it can definitely feel underwhelming.. and that is not a feeling you want after spending many many hours playing one game. This limitation does not exist in well-researched games, like in Nobunaga's Ambition series.

    Had these limitations overcome, this game could be close to perfection.    … Expand
  8. CountCristo
    Jul 19, 2019
    7
    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  9. Vanco
    Jun 4, 2019
    7
    One of the better Total War games. Realm divide keeps late game interesting,
  10. auditbadger
    Jul 30, 2017
    5
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  11. TenchuuKhan
    Aug 2, 2015
    6
    Unlike other Total War games this one is really well polished. Combat is fun and balanced, the campaign AI is reasonable (until...) but that's it with the positive aspects of the game.

    Once you hit a certain amount of territories the entire map declares war on you (no matter what good relationships you had with them before) and by that time you need to have a bunch of armies with which    Unlike other Total War games this one is really well polished. Combat is fun and balanced, the campaign AI is reasonable (until...) but that's it with the positive aspects of the game.

    Once you hit a certain amount of territories the entire map declares war on you (no matter what good relationships you had with them before) and by that time you need to have a bunch of armies with which you mow down your enemies from one end of the map to the other, that's the only way you can win at this game.

    The lack of turns also forces you to go fast with your conquering, otherwise you run out of time. So it really dumbs down to: Build armies, beat the crap out of everyone else.
    There's no other approach to the game through which you can become Shogun which makes it a slightly dull experience.    … Expand
  12. reviewobsession
    Jan 22, 2015
    7
    Shogun Total War 2 is first casual game in the Total War series. It offers great experience with limited content. Casual and fast paced battles, simple rock-paper-scissors strategy and small map may be good for next generation players but at the same time these are the weak points for hardcore fans. Feudal japan concept is successfully created with beautiful graphics and sound effects.Shogun Total War 2 is first casual game in the Total War series. It offers great experience with limited content. Casual and fast paced battles, simple rock-paper-scissors strategy and small map may be good for next generation players but at the same time these are the weak points for hardcore fans. Feudal japan concept is successfully created with beautiful graphics and sound effects. Game has less technical problems compared to first Rome and its followers.(except famous SEGA splash screen bug). Land battles are shorter than older games so can't be watched decently but they are very excited and brutal. Naval battles are playable and entertaining after Empire TW and Napoleon TW sea battle failures. There are too many good DLC's to increase unit and faction diversity by adding new clans and clan specific units. Like the other TW games, this game has a poor AI too. Thankfully, CA has an epic modding community and there are too many good mods to improve AI's ability. As a result Shogun Total War 2 is a good game with new casual gameplay elements for new players and price is reasonable for a AAA strategy game. But if you're hardcore TW fan and love samurai concept, I recommend to you Total War Shogun 2: Fall of Samurai.… Expand
  13. Lucelin
    Aug 22, 2014
    6
    Shogun 2. Not the best Total War but not the Worst. The game is a bit to fast paced turn wise and the troop options are non existent. Naval Combat is so so, i don't really enjoy it compared to Empire and you basically don't really need a navy.

    The Tech tree is back and I'm not really for or against. The upgrade options for generals are interesting but not really game changing. There are    Shogun 2. Not the best Total War but not the Worst. The game is a bit to fast paced turn wise and the troop options are non existent. Naval Combat is so so, i don't really enjoy it compared to Empire and you basically don't really need a navy.

    The Tech tree is back and I'm not really for or against. The upgrade options for generals are interesting but not really game changing. There are some improvements to diplomacy and the family tree is back, YAY!

    Load times are epic and graphics use massive resources as per normal for a total war game. The game play is important not the graphics. I want better controls, i don't care about individual blades of grass or reflection off water.

    Also "I DON'T SPEAK JAPANESE MR GENERAL" I have selected English for my language!!!

    Army formations, what where you thinking Creative Assembly. How am i supposed to tell the difference between a bear and a dragon formation. DUMB

    So a mediocre score for a mediocre game. Positive but not that positive.    … Expand
  14. JimCorbett
    Apr 8, 2014
    5
    Definitely my least favorite Total War game. I'll start off my saying i'm not a fan of the theme. Since Japan is such a small place, all of the factions ended up being pretty much homogeneous. You'll have the same units for almost every faction. The only exception are the "Warrior Monks" that are in 2-3 factions. Also, the most interesting and different faction, the Ikko-Ikki are lockedDefinitely my least favorite Total War game. I'll start off my saying i'm not a fan of the theme. Since Japan is such a small place, all of the factions ended up being pretty much homogeneous. You'll have the same units for almost every faction. The only exception are the "Warrior Monks" that are in 2-3 factions. Also, the most interesting and different faction, the Ikko-Ikki are locked out. You have to buy a DLC to play a faction that is already in the game and fully functional. Seriously?! Also, due to the size of Japan, you'll have the same looking battlefields and a total of like 4 different siege maps. This obviously makes battles incredibly repetitive. The graphics are good and the polish is there, but the optimization is not. Load screens take an absurd amount of time and the turn timer takes way too long. This is partially due to the fact that there are like 50 different factions each with like 1 region on the map (Only 9 are playable with the base game). Want to play as 3 addition factions? You have to pay $5 each! A complete and utter scam. The game is still somewhat fun, it is a total war game after all. I enjoyed the campaign most of the time as long as I was autoresolving the terrible battles. Then I got to realm divide. It's a good idea that was implemented terribly. Basically once you conquer enough regions, every other faction in the game will declare war on you even if you've been allies the entire time. Obviously, for someone who is unprepared for such an occurrence, they are totally screwed. In conclusion, repetitive clans and battles, as well as greedy DLC practices have lead Shogun 2 astray to the point where it really isn't worth picking up unless you're a big fan of the series.… Expand
  15. Magnethead
    Mar 18, 2014
    7
    This is a fairly difficult game to review. The vanilla version of the game falls short for silly reasons while the modded version (Darth Mod is a true hero of our times) is awesome - easily one of the best strategy games made recently. So, in order to give the game a thorough review I'm going to look at what they did well, what they did (horribly) wrong and how the mod fixes it.

    What    This is a fairly difficult game to review. The vanilla version of the game falls short for silly reasons while the modded version (Darth Mod is a true hero of our times) is awesome - easily one of the best strategy games made recently. So, in order to give the game a thorough review I'm going to look at what they did well, what they did (horribly) wrong and how the mod fixes it.

    What they did well: The AI is vastly improved especially on a strategy level. The AI now forms lasting alliances and looks to expand in a sensible way. It also builds armies quite well and tries to retain a useful balance of its forces (unlike previous TW-games where you could easily meet a full stack of archers because the AI thought it was a great unit and hey... you can't get enough of a good thing, right?). The economic system is much harder now and you can support fewer full stack armies which is great as it forces you to think more on how best to deploy your resources. It also means that you can't abuse the blitz-krieg concept which just won the game in previous TW games. You don't have enough armies to simply overwhelm any enemy in a year anymore and once you do, he has enough to defend against it. You have to build good armies, keep them alive and choose your battles carefully. Winning large battles quite literally determines the fate of empires.

    What they did wrong: Unfortunately, none of the good things mentioned above matter because of what they did wrong. On hard level and above, the computer cheats violently. It respawns full stack armies and earns bundles of money from nothing. Of course, that makes the game fairly difficult (and annoying) but more importantly, it removes all of those strategic elements the game got right. Winning on the filed means nothing now, no strategic value because he just spawns a new army. Only taking cities matters now. Blockading ports or otherwise hurting the AI through economy means nothing, he gets money for free. Diplomacy is useless because everyone automatically hates you now and they all have endless armies. Basically, this ruins the game. In the pure vanilla version this is no more than a 4/10 game.

    GO MOD! But luckily, the modding community comes to our aid. Darth Mod fixes all of those annoying points and even improves on the good ones (it's also easy to install). The AI is better on the field (you can actually lose now if you do something silly) and the world seems coherent and punishing. If you choose the wrong allies, you'll be in trouble, if you leave yourself exposed against a non-friendly neighbor, you'll be attacked, but at the same time you need to check the most rapidly expanding AIs or you'll find yourself in the world of Rob Stark: defeated without ever losing a battle. To win effectively on Hard level you have to use all aspects of the game; economy, diplomacy and tactics. Then it suddenly becomes a 10/10 game. However, since I can't give the game a top grade for work they didn't do themselves, I'll leave the rating on 7.    … Expand
  16. gietek
    Feb 19, 2014
    6
    I don't know if I like the game or not. It is good and complex but at the same time frustrating. It's a Civ combined with an RTS and I find it quite hard.

    You can't see the unit's type on the battlefield so you have to select a unit to see what it is. Archers? Pikemen? Not so obvious when you look at them from the top. So it can be really easy to loose battle when you don't really know    I don't know if I like the game or not. It is good and complex but at the same time frustrating. It's a Civ combined with an RTS and I find it quite hard.

    You can't see the unit's type on the battlefield so you have to select a unit to see what it is. Archers? Pikemen? Not so obvious when you look at them from the top. So it can be really easy to loose battle when you don't really know what you're playing with. Also the map units - spies, monks, etc seem to be invincible and keep sabotaging my city while I try to send yet another ninja squad to assassinate them. Unsuccessfully most of the time.
    And there is the Japanese theme which I'm totally no familiar with. The names of the units and buildings tell me nothing. It's totally not appealing to me.
    The AI can also be a pain. My whole army gets slaughtered by archers because katana warriors can't get through the gates as they're fighting a few defending soldiers. Ninjas get killed really quickly, everybody else gets killed by the archers and watchtowers and charging unit decided to go all the way around exposing itself to arrows. It's just frustrating to play.    … Expand
  17. Harumpel
    Dec 22, 2013
    7
    I played TW titles since the original Shogun Total War 1 published in 2000. While it has been something very new and exciting back then, today I feel like every new title is barely adding fun to the game: its just updated graphics, more menues, more choices.

    But overloading the game doesn't make it better. Game mechanics can be OK like here with Shogun-2 or can be really bad like    I played TW titles since the original Shogun Total War 1 published in 2000. While it has been something very new and exciting back then, today I feel like every new title is barely adding fun to the game: its just updated graphics, more menues, more choices.

    But overloading the game doesn't make it better.

    Game mechanics can be OK like here with Shogun-2 or can be really bad like with Empire TW. Opponent AI feels like the same as 13 years ago and thats really poor.

    Still, you won't notice instantly and this game could be good for some 10-20 hours of Japan conquest.

    I give it 7 out of 10, because it is still a "good" game, but by far not as good as it could be.    … Expand
  18. jamesphillip198
    Sep 14, 2013
    7
    I love this game. It has good new features, a good skill tree, good polish, good balancing, specially with mods, but it has its own problems too though. In vanilla game, AI spawns stacks of archers with almost no melee, battles are way too fast, and AI spawns armies out of nothing, but mods fix almost everything. Would play this over Rome 2.
  19. njsfc
    Sep 5, 2013
    5
    This is not a TOTAL WAR GAME
    this is a crap arcade console game released in the PC market just to make profit
    from people expectations. After this release any company could sell poison on refresh bottles and simple say "this is our vision of a proper refresh" drink and die. "Man's greed know no limits" PS. I don't bother to proper analise the game read the other user posts    This is not a TOTAL WAR GAME
    this is a crap arcade console game released in the PC market just to make profit
    from people expectations.

    After this release any company could sell poison on refresh bottles and simple say
    "this is our vision of a proper refresh" drink and die.

    "Man's greed know no limits"

    PS. I don't bother to proper analise the game read the other user posts
    For the first time in my life i only register in this site to post this desperate cry of indignation

    Big software companies are just like finantial institutions, no rules just rob people and live on    … Expand
  20. Muan142
    Jul 4, 2013
    6
    Honestly I enjoyed Empire a lot more. The combat doesn't exactly feel very tactical. A lot of times, even with the Darth Mod, the AI just charges across the map and slams into you. The AI hasn't got the first clue how to put together a naval fleet or command it in battle. The only thing you have to worry about is a glitch that causes them to scatter to the edges of the map making you spendHonestly I enjoyed Empire a lot more. The combat doesn't exactly feel very tactical. A lot of times, even with the Darth Mod, the AI just charges across the map and slams into you. The AI hasn't got the first clue how to put together a naval fleet or command it in battle. The only thing you have to worry about is a glitch that causes them to scatter to the edges of the map making you spend the next several minutes cruising around the map's edge picking them off. As far as unit balance, the sea units are better off and all have clear roles, though the AI is so stupid at sea that this doesn't really matter. Wining a sea battle in Shogun 2 is like tying your shoes, anybody can do it,so all that matters getting it over with as quickly as possible. On land, cavalry is superfluous. The value of ranged infantry is questionable. I kind of feel like I could make a big swarm of no-dichi samurai and they'd pretty much beat anything. Katana and spear infantry are all that really matters because more often than not the AI will charge in and it will just turn into a big melee fight. On the grand strategy map, the AI is just stupidly aggressive. They flood the sea with fleets of cheap boats that you have to engage in long stupid battle with. Unless you outnumber the enemy by about 4 to 1, the auto-resolve almost always causes you to take ridiculous losses, especially at sea. Enemies wage war constantly and for no reason. Creating vassals is just stupid as they always turn on you. Then there is the Realm Divide event which happens as you'rr about halfway to beating the game and causes everyone to wage war on you with no hope of peace, essentially making diplomacy entirely pointless for about half of every game's duration. I have yet to build most of the buildings or research all of the techs because every game ends so quickly as everyone insists on waging war and being killed. The graphics look nice up close, but once you zoom out it actually looks a lot worse than Empire. Probably intended to improve performance. The soundtrack is forgettable. I would say the game is a little better than Civilization 5.… Expand
  21. Garland
    Jun 9, 2013
    6
    they did silly things with high grade difficulties. they removed features that were pretty vital to the game. Legendary mode, the shinobi unit "scouting" for the army no longer even factors into movement range. it was a pretty important perk that it still says it does. main 3 weapons were the sword, Naginata spear and yari spear. sword being anti-infantry to yari being anti-cavalry andthey did silly things with high grade difficulties. they removed features that were pretty vital to the game. Legendary mode, the shinobi unit "scouting" for the army no longer even factors into movement range. it was a pretty important perk that it still says it does. main 3 weapons were the sword, Naginata spear and yari spear. sword being anti-infantry to yari being anti-cavalry and Naginata being the even medium between the blades. Match making was very unfair to new players on multiplier. a new player with nothing but Ashiguri low morale units forced to fight artillery of a high leveled veteran player defending up a hill. a couple of recent patch and upgrades has killed solo player alot. the fact relations between two "alliances" don't even matter. a very friendly unit with over 400 points with, declared war on me for no reason. good relations with the entire map.… Expand
  22. Entypo
    Mar 31, 2013
    5
    I have been a Total War fan since the original Medieval. I seriously feel that this game is not as immersive as all the other Total War titles.

    In my opinion, the graphics are mediocre compared to Empire: Total War, the sense of excitement is somewhat lost and the whole user interface is rubbish. The game is barely ''OK'' but surely a let down. I sincerely hope that Rome 2 will bring    I have been a Total War fan since the original Medieval. I seriously feel that this game is not as immersive as all the other Total War titles.

    In my opinion, the graphics are mediocre compared to Empire: Total War, the sense of excitement is somewhat lost and the whole user interface is rubbish. The game is barely ''OK'' but surely a let down. I sincerely hope that Rome 2 will bring the same experience as the previous titles.    … Expand
  23. Bongo_clive
    Mar 13, 2013
    5
    I've played through all the Total War games in the last 6 months in preparation for Rome 2, and I have to say Shogun 2 compares really badly with Rome and Medieval (let's not talk about Empire). I'm afraid to say it's just boring. I've sleep walked into victory, hardly having to engage my brain.

    Poor effort
  24. MrStaggerLee69
    Nov 4, 2012
    6
    I am caught between loving this game and hating it.. it has all the elements of a great game.. graphics are amazing, battles are realistic and challenging, and the multiplayer is a breath of fresh air compared to previous total war games... however the single player campaign is frustrating and impossible to win without playing every single battle in person.. auto-resolves almost always endI am caught between loving this game and hating it.. it has all the elements of a great game.. graphics are amazing, battles are realistic and challenging, and the multiplayer is a breath of fresh air compared to previous total war games... however the single player campaign is frustrating and impossible to win without playing every single battle in person.. auto-resolves almost always end in a phyrric victory with you losing almost all of your army, even when versing an obviously inferior opponent. combine this with the realm divide, when you amass a sizeable kingdom, which in turn forces all remaining factions to declare war on you, even allies and vassal states, and all of my campaigns eventually grind to a highly annoying halt.. i have never been able to complete a campaign, nevertheless i will keep trying however stressful it may be.… Expand
  25. Voukras
    Sep 5, 2012
    6
    I've played all of the Total War games with the exception of the first medieval. I've seen people critically acclaim game after game when there is actually no improvement from Rome Total War to this day. I don't understand what merit the new Total War games can have when they only shuffle around a few features, lose some of the most important aspects of the first Total War game - ShogunI've played all of the Total War games with the exception of the first medieval. I've seen people critically acclaim game after game when there is actually no improvement from Rome Total War to this day. I don't understand what merit the new Total War games can have when they only shuffle around a few features, lose some of the most important aspects of the first Total War game - Shogun and add new annoying things that lower overall quality. In this review I am going to systematically point out the flaws that Shogun 2 has in comparison the older games in the series, so please bear with me, I'm not just here to whine and go all nostalgia about the first Shogun, there are actually important distinctions to be observed.

    Anyways, let's get into the thick of things.

    One thing that the entire total war series lost from the first Shogun game up till now is the IMPORTANCE OF TERRAIN. You occasionally see a few hills in Rome, fight 80% of the time on plains in Medieval 2 and in Shogun 2 there is a return of frequent elevation but its effect is very reduced. Hills and mountains no longer offer the gigantic advantage they offered in the first Shogun, where a single archer unit could defeat a yari ashigaru unit before they even reached the archer unit. In some cases, it could even defeat two, but only if it had elevation on its side. This is no longer so in Shogun 2, where elevation does confer some bonuses but altogether not game changing. Furthermore forests no longer offer protection from arrows which, again, reduces the importance of terrain. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? That you lessen the importance of a strategic factor and thus reduce overall amount of strategy that you can use. Literally now the only thing that matters is countering their units a rock-paper-scissors (except some units count as both rock and paper) fashion and surrounding their army. While there is still a hefty amount of strategy involved in fights, I can't help but weep while I witness the diminishing of terrain importance while almost nobody even notices it.

    On towards the campaign map. The problem with how economy is implemented in Shogun 2 is how it forces you to move slowly and build up your economy. Why is this a bad thing? Because it's boring. Literally the only thing you do is click on a farm, market, sake den or mine to be build, then you WAIT a few turns so that you actually have the necessary income to support your army. You cannot individually tax cities so you cannot gain additional income from happy cities who will not rebel when high taxes are imposed. This is in contrast to Rome where building your economy was a much quicker deal and taxes could be set individually. The other problem that impedes rapid conquest is that almost every city you conquer will be very aggressive towards you which effectively means that you have to keep your army there and WAIT. I'm not really that impatient, but this is an unnecessary wait time imposed on the player out of a bad game design choice. What did Shogun 2 again lose in comparison to Rome? The capacity to pacify the population by slaughtering a large portion of it. This was an effective gameplay mechanism to allow players who want to go for fast conquest to be able to do it while still imposing a punishment on it. Your cities would have very reduced income after the slaughter but they would not rebel for a long while. This was an excellent trade-off that no longer exists. Another part where you have to WAAAAIT is an upcoming realm divide. At a certain point the shogun will order all existing clans to destroy you and all of them will obey even if some are at war with the shogun and actually hate him. This is simply how the thing is programmed. If you attract the ire of the shogun by expanding too early and becoming famous enough before being able to take on the entirety of Japan, you WILL die. What is the problem with this mechanic? The problem is that it forces you, again, to WAIT until you have sufficient forces and economy. So you clicking on buildings and units and pressing the next turn. I hope you can see a pattern here so that I can stop putting wait in caps lock like an **** Overall trend with the Shogun 2 campaign map is having a lot less options than you had in Rome.

    The A.I. on the campaign map is also worse than in Shogun 1, if you believe me. It's not that it's in any way dumber, it isn't. The problem is that many times the A.I. plays as if its only purpose is to be a roadblock for the player. They will often attack your faction even though they have zero chance of winning the war and zero chance of escaping your faction's wrath. But they will still do it if they can hurt you in anyway even it results in the total destruction of their clan. This ends up as a very frustrating experience for the player.    … Expand
  26. kane148
    Aug 1, 2012
    7
    Having played and thoroughly enjoyed the last few Total War games (Rome, Medieval, Empire), I expected to similarly love this game. Sadly, this was not the case. The game looks good: the graphics are improved and the Asian theme is well integrated into the general artwork. But it seems that this desire to create a distinctive ambiance went a little too far and subtracted from the gameplay.Having played and thoroughly enjoyed the last few Total War games (Rome, Medieval, Empire), I expected to similarly love this game. Sadly, this was not the case. The game looks good: the graphics are improved and the Asian theme is well integrated into the general artwork. But it seems that this desire to create a distinctive ambiance went a little too far and subtracted from the gameplay. For example, unit formations are now identified by an animal (crane, snake, etc.)--gone are the days of choosing between line, wedge, etc.--forcing you by trial and error to learn which does what. Would it be too hard to make it clear what the formation is? I'm trying to wage a war, not reenact Kung Fu Panda! The campaign in general was rather bland: I started on an island where I quickly overwhelmed my neighbors, then spent turn after turn building up my forces to invade a neighboring island, only to face a half dozen enemy armies full of highly experienced soldiers, ready to squash the feeble armies that I could support with my limited resources. To be fair, there were several interesting innovations in this title, such as talent trees for agents, but many others were just annoying (limited food supplies which can only be expanded through conquest) or simplistic (research is now strictly turn-dependent, with no way to really gain an advantage). I'm sure many people enjoyed this game, and maybe one day I'll try it again and like it more, but until then I'm just going to wait for Rome II.… Expand
  27. dumle
    Jul 26, 2012
    6
    If you are new to the Total war franchise you will surely have a good time with Shogun 2 total war. If not you will probably find the game quite sub-par. They havent bothered to fix the problems that were in the previous games and they even added some more. The AI is awful and diplomacy seldom makes any sense. In battle the enemy behaves moronically on hard difficulty not to mention theIf you are new to the Total war franchise you will surely have a good time with Shogun 2 total war. If not you will probably find the game quite sub-par. They havent bothered to fix the problems that were in the previous games and they even added some more. The AI is awful and diplomacy seldom makes any sense. In battle the enemy behaves moronically on hard difficulty not to mention the siege battles that is plain broken. The building cap in your cities makes building a chore not to mention taking away the interactivity from you the player. The unit variation is also quite slim making most battles feel the same no matter who you are fighting against. Furthermore you will find yourself fighting over and over again at the same battlemap. Shogun 2 Total war is still a decent game but the gameplay is just too much alike the previous games to ignore that shogun 2 seems like a downgrade. The research three, the ability to exchange hostages and arrange marriages, the honousystem and the visuals is a welcome change but sadly the core of the game is lacking.… Expand
  28. MalcomGTX
    May 17, 2012
    6
    Serious technical flaws mar this otherwise fun game. I really enjoy the complexity and flavor of the Civilization-esque over-map, though the battle map could use much more work. While it is impressive to see so many units on the field, the combat is dull an uninteresting with little tactical significance.

    The game is buggy, and can have issues loading. I haven't ever experience a crash in    Serious technical flaws mar this otherwise fun game. I really enjoy the complexity and flavor of the Civilization-esque over-map, though the battle map could use much more work. While it is impressive to see so many units on the field, the combat is dull an uninteresting with little tactical significance.

    The game is buggy, and can have issues loading. I haven't ever experience a crash in game, but loading the game up I have many times.

    Overall I am happy I bought the game while on sale, but would not pay full price due to the technical issues.    … Expand
  29. Sparhawk42
    Apr 29, 2012
    6
    In all my multiple games the AI never lived up to the challenge of the old total war games.
    Battles do not need much planning. It is just holding your position. I have never encountered any surprise attacks by the AI.
  30. jimplunder
    Feb 5, 2012
    6
    Total War: Shogun 2 is a good game. Of course, I always have a bone to pick with games. The feeling of it is exactly like that of Empire/Napoleon: Total War. You have a city, you have a port (if the province is on the coast), you have farms, and you have support buildings. You have to manage your economy through trade and production within your own territory. You also have to decideTotal War: Shogun 2 is a good game. Of course, I always have a bone to pick with games. The feeling of it is exactly like that of Empire/Napoleon: Total War. You have a city, you have a port (if the province is on the coast), you have farms, and you have support buildings. You have to manage your economy through trade and production within your own territory. You also have to decide whether or not you want to stick with with traditional religion of Shinto-Buddhism, or convert to Christianity when you trade with the nanban (Europeans). The combat is very similar to all of the other games (except they give you pre-made formations you can use) and the game keeps the tradition of solid combat alive.
    While the graphics are a HUGE improvement (they are absolutely gorgeous), the gameplay is something that is still likable and enjoyable, the creators made the game a little too difficult for my liking. I'm a person who likes to develop provinces up, get a ton of gold in reserve, build huge armies, and send them out to conquer the territory peacemeal while leaving token garrisons behind. It's a sound strategy and it works, but the game doesn't give you enough time to really flesh the game out. It feels like to me that the game's over right when it's beginning. You either have to settle with groups of small armies going after each other and picking off small provinces one by one, leaving little development in the process, or fail. I'd like the game more if they lengthened the time span of the campaign (possibly doubling it). I'm sure there's a mod for that, but I'm not going to poke around to look for one. Why can't they make sliders for game length? That way if you want to give yourself more of a challenge, you can do the short or long campaigns in more or less time. Make the game more customizable.
    Also the diplomacy screens are ridiculous. Even on easy, the AI doesn't like to negotiate... at all. I'm crushing these two clans in a war and when I offer a peace treaty because I want to go pound on my ever-growing neighbor, they won't bother to make peace. I even try to throw away money and marriage offers and still nothing. Then 5 turns later, another person declares war on me. For casual gamers like me, this is frustrating. I've tried a couple of different campaigns and even when I wasn't shogun, it felt like everyone was ganging up on me for the sake of it. It feels like the game doesn't want me to win. I know that's part of the challenge and a lot of people like it, but when a game becomes oppressive, it takes the fun out of it.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PC Game of 2011
21
#21 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
10
#10 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 62 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 62
  3. Negative: 0 out of 62
  1. Game Over Online
    Jul 14, 2011
    89
    There is a je ne sais quoi elegance on how the game is presented and how well put together the game as an entire corpus is. Although it's still mired by some version 1.0 bugs, Shogun is highly playable and deserves a place on any Total War fan's hard drive.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    May 22, 2011
    90
    Beautiful, complex and varied historical strategy which offers hours of fun in single player and multiplayer modes. [Issue#203]
  3. Computer Games Online RO
    May 1, 2011
    93
    The mix of turn based strategy (with economical, political and diplomatic ramifications) and real time battles is still wonderful, but the need to balance timing and aggression is more important than ever. Aggressive players will feel a little cheated, while diplomats will hate Realm Divide stage. Still, Total War was always about realism and the AI's scripted actions make logical and historical sense.
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