Cheap Shogun Total War (Jewel Case) (Software) (Windows Me, Windows 95, Windows 98) Price
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Campaign play is divided into two portions--the strategic overview map where you manage your armies and provinces, and the tactical combat mode where battles are fought. The strategy portion isn't too deep. There aren't many buildings or unit types to build, and the diplomatic options are limited. It merely serves to provide a frame for the battle sequences, and that's where Shogun really shines.
Battles are fought on beautiful 3-D landscapes, with forests to hide in, fortifications to storm, and rolling hills to climb. Weather effects like rain and snow aren't just there for looks--they have a dramatic impact on gameplay. Wet conditions will render the match-lit guns useless and also decrease the range of archers because their bowstrings get wet. Troops get bogged down by wet gear, and high winds push arrows aside. Even the seasons affect battles, as longer or shorter days in the summer and winter determine how long you have to defeat your foe (or how long you must fend off an assault).
But weather and time are the least of your worries. Effectively managing your troops is the key to victory and also the toughest aspect of the game. There are dozens of formations to choose from and hundreds of tactical tricks to exploit. Keeping your archers, cavalry units, and various types of foot samurai all pointing the right way and effectively supporting one another is half the battle. The game interface and keyboard shortcuts make things easier, but Shogun's manual is just terrible. A simulation this fast paced and complex deserves thorough and accurate documentation, but you'll have to buy the separate strategy guide to get any worthwhile information. Fortunately, those with a little patience and an interest in the game should be able to figure things out, and they'll be rewarded with one of the most realistic and fun real-time war games available. --T. Byrl Baker
Pros:
- Realistic terrain and weather have an actual impact on gameplay
- Control thousands of troops at once using historical formations
- Strategy elements in the campaign mode complement the tactical battles and add to gameplay
- Includes footage from Kurosawa's classic Ran
- Worthless manual
- Weak tutorial missions
| PLATFORM: | Windows Me, Windows 95, Windows 98 |
| CATEGORY: | Software |
| MANUFACTURER: | Electronic Arts |
| TYPE: | Computer Games, Strategy (Strategic), Historical (historic) Recreation (Recreations), Military (Wargames |
| MEDIA: | CD-ROM |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 014633124255 |
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Customer Reviews of Shogun Total War (Jewel Case)
Finally, a game reminiscent of Lords of the Realm II For those of you waiting for Lords of the Realm III, your wait is over! Medieval: Total War has the same turn-based strategy game intermixed with a real-time warfare simulator that made the LotR series so popular, only with improvements.
The strategy portion of the game involves managing your regions to produce income, train troops, improve trade, etc. There is also ample room for negotiations and alliances with other rulers throughout the game. Each turn you are allowed to build troops and buildings on each region you control. If you happen to move troops into a conflict situation, the conflict can be resolved by the computer, or you can take the field and personally see to the attack or defense. If this is the case the game moves into the real-time combat simulator mode.
The best feature of the battle simulator is troop command. No longer are you required to drag the cursor over the field to select each individual man. My experience with this method is either not selecting all of the troops you want, thus leaving some behind the rest of the group, or inadvertently selecting troops you don't want, thus having some archers charging in with your cavalry. In Medieval: Total War your troops are grouped into units with anywhere from 50 to 200 soldiers per unit. You can select and command each unit, thus making orchestrating battle maneuvers much simpler than ever before. The formation, spacing, and even the attitude of each unit can be set simply and quickly. Units can also be grouped to allow for easier movement of exceptionally large number of troops. Terrain position, high ground, visibility, weather, cover, lighting, and more all play a part in aiding or hindering your movements and combat effectiveness. This seems to have a "Sid Meier's: Gettysburg" feel to it.
After the battle surviving units are awarded valor points for their involvement in the fight; therefore, seasoned veterans are better soldiers than the green troops with little or no combat experience.
The graphics of Medieval: Total War are very good. When watching rocks hurled through the air by your catapults at the enemy stronghold you can see chips and dust fly into the air. You can actually see individual arrows fired from archers sailing through the air, and birds circling the sky over the fallen. And with the graphics is superb 3D sound to immerse you in the heat of battle. It almost feels like you're surrounded by the fighting soldiers!
All in all, this is a must for any fan of medieval strategy games or medieval war games. If you happen to like both genres, you cannot hope to improve upon this game. I highly recommend it.
Tiny Troop Graphics Make Tactical Battle Less Satisfying
(First, a patch was released months ago (in 2001) that fixed the problems that N. Ferguson referred to, especially the one involving reinforcements. Find the patch at Totalwar.com)
This is a game that in complexity is more difficult than most RTS games but less complex than most wargames. The gameplay combines a turn-based strategy phase in which the player using a RISK-style map of Japan makes long-term decisions as to which province to invade, what buildings to construct, and where to deploy his armies. The real-time phase occurs when a battle is fought and the player attempts to defeat his rival. The battles are tactical and success depends on many different factors: troop numbers, experience, weapons, formations, weather, battlefield maneuvering, and terrain.
Although the graphics are usually highly-praised by most people (and in truth, there is much to praise), I was VERY disappointed with the troop graphics. Despite having a high-end machine, and the latest graphic card, the 2D troop sprites are too tiny, and difficult to distinguish (even before combat). When cavalry aren't easily differentiated from archers, and archers can be mistaken for spearmen, and a gamer with 20/20 vision like myself has to move to within 2-3 inches of the computer screen to fight a battle, something is wrong. I don't care how beautiful the terrain is, or how interesting the cut scenes,other non-game graphics may be equally stunning but it doesn't matter.
The troop graphics are extremely tiny. Many reviewers defend this with sarcasm: Well, so what if you can't see the trooper's faces? If you want Age of Empires, go play that! Hey, how else can you get 5000 men on the screen?
I say, "So what! Why bother with troop graphics in that case? Why bother trying to make them look like anything then?"
I don't care about making out tiny details. I do care about spotting my archers easily from my arquebusers. I do care when my spearmen look much too much like my cavalrymen.
You may not care about the graphics and enjoy the game regardless. You should be aware however that it is an issue that have put off many other players.