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. orctown-troll
    Sep 28, 2013
    8
    This is a very good game, and I love it.

    However it does game design a disservice to pretend that this is a 10/10 game. It isn't. Much as it pains me to say, this game has a number of serious design flaws that leave it a long way from perfection. First and worst is the design of the single player campaign. It seems the crew in CA are unable to grasp the key point that a factional civil    This is a very good game, and I love it.

    However it does game design a disservice to pretend that this is a 10/10 game. It isn't. Much as it pains me to say, this game has a number of serious design flaws that leave it a long way from perfection. First and worst is the design of the single player campaign. It seems the crew in CA are unable to grasp the key point that a factional civil war requires a POLITICAL game. Personalities, loyalties, betrayals, economic considerations, deals and diplomacy SHOULD be at the heart of the experience. But NONE of that is there. CA has a very simple political model based on linear expansion of an empire. There is nothing that approaches wheeling or dealing or THINKING requires in the campaign EVER. Nor can we take any deal or alliance seriously, since the AI always breaks its deals and alliances on a whim. Over-all this is the tragedy of the creative Assembly. They have failed to grasp what was good about Rome (1). And they have failed to develop any kind of political-diplomatic engine or gameplay. A big fail.

    Beyond that all the actual war mechanics: The UI, the graphic art. unit balancing, music, voice work, in-game movies are all BRILLIANT! magnificent! Multiplayer is fantastic with the avatar system. All the nuts and bolts of a brilliant franchise are polished and chromed and gleaming. There is definitely too much time lost in loading screens. Other than that, its a fantastically built game.

    But at its heart, a true heart is missing.

    We can appreciate that in Rome 2, there is the beginning of CA trying to expand the victory conditions: they have the idea of an 'economic' or 'cultural' victory. But nowhere near enough. They probably need to hire a team to rebuild the core of gameplay, but a lot of energy and resources into getting the HEART of the game right. When they append their own great visual assets to an enhanced, politically-focused engine they will finally pull their franchise out of the swamp of perennial 'could have been great' titles and achieve an honestly great game. Nothing else would be a just reward for all the great things CA has given gaming over the years than to see them reach Nirvana, turn the corner, and hit a home run.

    Shogun 2 was a great effort, but caught in the outfield.

    orctowngrot    … Expand
  2. Zafeer
    Jul 7, 2015
    8
    Amazing detail in everything that happens on the battlefield. The game is paced a little too realistically though. Just when my lords are getting really great they get too old to fight and need to be replaced. In fact the real annoyance with this game is it follows the historical timeline too closely. The combat is solid and strategies usually pan out if you plan them well.
  3. tsakiym
    May 12, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything more. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it............................… Expand
  4. Axilley
    Jul 22, 2021
    8
    good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good goodgood good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good… Expand
  5. rezo_21
    Sep 19, 2021
    8
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 84 IIIIIIIIII====================
  6. Lazyyybone
    Feb 14, 2021
    8
    토탈워가 보여준 고증이나 적절한 랜덤 닌자와 게이샤 등의 게임요소는 역시 고전이다라고 말할 수 있었다. 오랜 시간 동안 붙잡게 되고 짜증나는데 계속해서 하면 이기는 그 희열감. 좀 아쉬운 건 해전쪽 그거 외에는 트레일러와 컷씬 등 다양한 게임요소에 전국시대를 더 알고싶게 만들었다
  7. EagleStandart
    May 1, 2020
    8
    One of the revolutionary games of the Total War series. Graphic quality and strategic depth are very good. The atmosphere is at the masterpiece level.
  8. NorseEinherjar
    Jul 26, 2020
    8
    It's 2020 and I can still go back to this game. And is one of the few Total War games I keep going back to play time to time. Not many games have that replay value and still feels fun each time you play it.

    Shogun 2 have, in my opinion, the smoothest gameplay of all the Total War games. Which makes it a more fun experience to play.
  9. Gorbunov2004
    May 30, 2021
    8
    Клёвая игра тематика самураев прикольная. Мне нравиться что каждое убийство это анимация и это круто! Но тупо что когда сёгун тебя замечает то почти все твои союзники тебя предают и у тебя просто не хватает войск чтобы их победить.Клёвая игра тематика самураев прикольная. Мне нравиться что каждое убийство это анимация и это круто! Но тупо что когда сёгун тебя замечает то почти все твои союзники тебя предают и у тебя просто не хватает войск чтобы их победить.
  10. MPGSpotter
    Dec 12, 2020
    8
    The last good Total War game. Simple gameplay even the series' infamously braindead AI can grasp, great authentic music, and graphics that look stunning 9 years after release.
  11. Hyperfailure
    Nov 27, 2022
    8
    (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
    ┻━┻ ︵ ヽ(°□°ヽ)

    ┻━┻ ︵ ＼( °□° )／ ︵ ┻━┻

    ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

    (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

    ┬──┬ ¯_(ツ)

    ┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

    ┻━┻ ︵ ¯(ツ)/¯ ︵ ┻━┻

    (╯°Д°）╯︵ /(.□ . )

    ʕノ•ᴥ•ʔノ ︵ ┻━┻
  12. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 25, 2023
    8
    Good game, solid mechanics, well planed tactical battles... Lack of innovation for the TW series, one more, almost the same, game
  13. Arquitte
    Apr 5, 2011
    7
    awsome game my only complaints are not being able to get all my friends in game at same time and the ai gets insane at times. you tell the archers to take to the wall, for instance and they stand there ignoring the command or you click a spot for a unit then go on to something else come back and there off in nowhere land and too few trade spots on the map. If you dont get to them quicklyawsome game my only complaints are not being able to get all my friends in game at same time and the ai gets insane at times. you tell the archers to take to the wall, for instance and they stand there ignoring the command or you click a spot for a unit then go on to something else come back and there off in nowhere land and too few trade spots on the map. If you dont get to them quickly you wont get them without fighting unwinable sea battles. I call them unwinable because it never fails. ill have the ai outnumbered and they take my ships and sink others over and over. love the graphics and the number of extra commands available to units compared to previous versions.… Expand
  14. ScareCrow
    May 4, 2011
    7
    As someone who has never played a previous "total war" title, but HAS played every iteration of Civilization - I have to say everything except the combat in this game is a cheap knock off of CiV5. The voiceover accents, while authentic, are unintentionally comical. Which brings me back to the combat, personally I felt like every engagement became a huge clusterfark and those with the mostAs someone who has never played a previous "total war" title, but HAS played every iteration of Civilization - I have to say everything except the combat in this game is a cheap knock off of CiV5. The voiceover accents, while authentic, are unintentionally comical. Which brings me back to the combat, personally I felt like every engagement became a huge clusterfark and those with the most numbers would win and there didn't seem to be much strategy to it beyond "melee up front, archers stand back and shoot". Perhaps I am oversimplifying it, but even the castle sieges which look like they'll be epic - just turn into complete clusterfarks where greater number of troops win and skill be damned. With all that said, it seems like the developers put a lot of work into the game and i'm sure fans of the franchise can see it as being a step forward but from my roughly 25 hours of play I can't say i've become a fan.… 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. Comanglia
    Dec 11, 2011
    7
    I originally rated this at 9/10, but that was before I started to play online semi-seriously. Everything now revolves around spam, or some loop hole. It's basically a revolving door of spam.
    Naginata Monks
    Cavalry Matchlocks Vet Loan Swords Naginata Samurai Naginata Monks + Naginata Monk Cavalry currently I have not the slightest clue what's the "new" spam also that 1/6 players black out    I originally rated this at 9/10, but that was before I started to play online semi-seriously. Everything now revolves around spam, or some loop hole. It's basically a revolving door of spam.
    Naginata Monks
    Cavalry
    Matchlocks
    Vet Loan Swords
    Naginata Samurai
    Naginata Monks + Naginata Monk Cavalry
    currently I have not the slightest clue what's the "new" spam

    also that 1/6 players black out their banner, and rename all of their units to another weaker unit

    As for the campaign well it's still pretty mediocre for the same reasons as before. The new DLC campaign though is pretty fun itself.    … Expand
  17. scottslod
    Jul 31, 2011
    7
    reasonable good game play good graphics and the need of tactics and you can make your own avatar to use as general in multi player the only disappointment is the lack of different troops between the playable clans. but this is a very good recovery after Napoleon TW
  18. ZengxDoWx
    Nov 16, 2011
    7
    I've been playing the limited edition of this game ever since this came out, and also purchased every single add-ons for this game. My only concern with this game is that there's a lot of spammers, and recently, the replay files are all corrupted so I can't actually look at the replays. So I won't really be playing this game until CA fixes these problems.
  19. kabbi
    Dec 12, 2011
    7
    I'd have to say when push comes to shove and the **** hits the fan all in an honest days work...this game sincerely and objectively yet truthfully flat out just needed more ninjas. Period. I said. Ninjas.
  20. Erelyes
    Jan 6, 2012
    7
    Very fun game. The learning curve is a little patchy and the tutorial for the game could have been much better (I have played no previous Total War games). It needs to explain things like friendly fire from archers, charge bonuses, attacking from two directions, campaign strategy, and so on. I also found the graphics to be a little disappointing for a 2011 game - grass sprites will popVery fun game. The learning curve is a little patchy and the tutorial for the game could have been much better (I have played no previous Total War games). It needs to explain things like friendly fire from archers, charge bonuses, attacking from two directions, campaign strategy, and so on. I also found the graphics to be a little disappointing for a 2011 game - grass sprites will pop into and out of view, etc. However once you get into the game it's rewarding, engrossing and balanced.… Expand
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. 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.
  25. 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 :)
  26. Vanco
    Jun 4, 2019
    7
    One of the better Total War games. Realm divide keeps late game interesting,
  27. CountCristo
    Jul 19, 2019
    7
    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. Fireside
    Mar 21, 2011
    6
    Having played every single TW game, I have grown tired with the formula and there's nothing here that is really that different from the previous games, just small incremental improvements like always. It's fun in small spurts, but no longer engrossing, like sex after years of marriage. They need to release the dx11 patch soon cause the lack of anti-aliasing is driving me crazy.
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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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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