Shogun 2: Total War
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the second iteration of Shogun Total War on Earth is in development somewhere in the vaults of Creative Assemble. The game that started the Total War mania will kick ass again, together with its goodies. Ninjas, Japanese clans, samurais, sake, geishas and a short and glorious life of the troops on the battlefield. After two incursions in the 18th century Europe with Empire and Napoleon Total War, its time again for swords and the good old way of dying of cold hardened steel.
But now I will get into business and lets peruse some of the features of this new Shogun, as described by the producers. Quoting from Creative Assembly website:
Choose from 9 different clans and compete on and offline for the undisputed supremacy of Medieval Japan. Gain experience to level up your own character-warlord as well as your generals and agents.
Play through the Main Campaign in single player or invite a friend online to play competitively or cooperatively in Campaign Multiplayer mode. Join 8-player multiplayer battles with your own upgradable avatar and climb the online Leaderboard to show the world who reigns supreme. Also including exciting new modes of team play for clans, a first in the Total War series.
Land battles never felt so realistic with new multi-staged castle sieges and terrain features changing according to the weather and time of the day – turning each engagement into a tactical challenge. Set buildings on fire to force garrisoned troops out and use your units’ special abilities to turn the tide of the battle.
A streamlined User Interface makes management of your kingdom much easier. Build and govern cities, recruit and train troops, conduct diplomacy and manage your agents – each feature is now introduced with comprehensive tutorials, gradually revealing the depth of the Shogun 2 campaign map – the heart and soul of the Total War experience.
So, we will revisit the 16th Century medieval Japan, after the so-called Onin War and we will be impersonating one of the eight warlords who rule over the provinces. Of course, each clan/province will have different positions, different access to resources, different strengths and weaknesses.
Troops. Not so much diversity as in Medieval or Empire, but that can be a good thing as well. I never used more than 20 types of troops, some where just too specialized to use for the whole battle. Shogun will have around 40 basic units, which will upgrade in time. There will support for up to 56.000 units per battle, so the proportions of this game will be… biblical. And upgrades really needed for the hardware part. And our old friend, the night-time battle is back, so you can enjoy a good siege at the light of the moon, torches and the burning enemy castle.
Your generals will be far more important in this game than in the previous Total Wars, where they were just some faces with traits and some small upgrades. Now, the upgrades will be betters, they will hold specific battle speeches and you will be far more likely to get attached by your has-never-been-defeated general than before. So don’t charge into those five lines of spearmen with your general. Naval battles and sieges will be there as well, I hope in a perfected formula of what we have seen already in Empire and Napoleon Total War.
The multiplayer part comes with eight players battles and a bunch of new features. On the siege part, they say some castles will have up to five levels of walls, so imagine the tactics you can develop there to hold the enemy at bay. Ohhh… the slaughter!
One new feature that no other Total War game had before except the original Shogun is… hero units! Best at put to use to defend or conquer important battlefield spots or to Use wisely and only when needed, I guess we wont have many of them.
Already I’m starting to get nervous and my hands get sweaty. Rome: Total War and Medieval 2: Total War are constant guests on my computer, and I’ve been playing them for years. Fantastic games, real strategy and tactics games, not produce-gather-and-send-ahead like many the so allied RTS out there.
The game is now in a pre-alpha stage, so patience, patience. Those of you who can make it at E3 will see probably see this game in action. Enjoy the trailer!
Source of images: www.ign.com
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