Comments on: Decade Feature – 2000: Shogun Total War

By: Shogun 2 Total War: The Good Idea?

Shogun 2 Total War: The Good Idea? — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:36:38 +0000

[...] why this game might be a bad idea. Until then, don’t miss Rob Zacny’s paean to the game in our decade series that we keep forgetting to [...]

By: The Napoleon Total War Conundrum | RobZacny.com

The Napoleon Total War Conundrum | RobZacny.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:22:00 +0000

[...] the saga of the up-and-down relationship between Creative Assembly and the die-hard fans it won in 2000 with Shogun is important to how I approach their games now. I don’t have a clean slate with any of their [...]

By: Kimchi(fakename)

Kimchi(fakename) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:36:04 +0000

Cool! I wonder if they still sell those games….

By: Three Moves Ahead Episode 42 – Epic Fails of Strategy Gaming

Three Moves Ahead Episode 42 – Epic Fails of Strategy Gaming — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:34:25 +0000

[...] Review of Squad Leader Tom’s review of Axis and Allies Troy’s Diplomacy Review Rob’s love of the old Total War games Troy’s review of SupCom for the 360 Chris Remo’s Top 5 PC Games of 2009 Jim Rossignol [...]

By: Marcin Tasz

Marcin Tasz — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:02:52 +0000

I sadly never played Shogun, though I’ve heard so many great things about it from Rob that it’s a shame I didn’t meet him until Medieval came out. Though I would agree that the move to a 3d everything was a diversion from the game, a jump too far for the development of the series. I know the “atmosphere” of the game in Medieval I found much more engaging than the later iterations of the gameplay, even in Medieval 2. The armies that were acutal “board pieces” as opposed to little men, the map that looked like a map not a topographical portrayal. I miss armies that could move from territory to territory, not some pre-determined “walking distance” that I don’t understand. I like the inclusion of navies in Empire, but I miss the ability to move my army along my entire coastline.

Making each iteration of the Total War series more complex is welcome of course, but I feel that each one could have been improved by makign the “leaps” smaller. The move to 3d is inevitable, but you don’t need the 3d map as well. As the games move forward, each one feels a little less charming and a little more formulaic, a little more gamey.

Just my 2 cents.

By: Rob Zacny

Rob Zacny — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:09:28 +0000

Fortunately, it’s still running on my ATI / Vista machine, although it’s a little unstable. But compatibility mode seems to do the trick. I’ve also heard you don’t want to run the patched version of Shogun, though I’m a little afraid to test that myself.

I think Medieval is hands-down the best of the series, which is where Troy and I part ways.

Among Total War fans, I think the switch from the 2D to the 3D map is probably the biggest division. I would actually argue Rome is the weakest game in the series, because it has all the problems of the 3D map with none of the benefits Creative Assembly conferred on it through later improvements. The strategic AI cannot play Rome, period. It’s slightly more capable in Medieval 2 and far more so in Empire.

I have never lost a Total War campaign since the switch to the 3D maps, because the AI is so spotty. Interestingly enough, I got wiped out in the game of Shogun I started in order to write this piece. The first game can still put up a fight, which caught me off guard.