Every single warrior on the battlefield is as detailed as any character in a game with less ambition, and there are naval, as well as land skirmishes, too. The atmospheric night time battles are only one of the many ways its technology has improved over the last decade. Up to 50,000 soldiers can be on screen at any one time, but this isn’t about micromanagement: you issue orders to formations, rather than individual units, of men.
When two armies clash, however, the action moves to a 3D battlefield on which you manipulate vast forces of samurai, archers and ashiguru. From the same screen, you can deploy special units like ninjas and undercover geisha spies to disrupt your rivals’ progress. You begin looking at a campaign map, from which you must oversee the dynastical ebb and flow of your empire by building cities, recruiting armies and keeping an eye on your heirs. Like its predecessor, this is essentially two games in one.
The game, Shogun: Total War, put you in control of one of the families of Sengoku Japan, fighting to rule the country by winning control of one territory at a time from your rivals.Įleven years and five sequels later, Creative Assembly is returning to its original source of inspiration for Shogun 2. It’s a typical pre-battle sequence from the latest PC game in the Total War series, Shogun 2.Ĭommanding the battle in Total War Shogun 2Įleven years ago, Horsham-based software developer Creative Assembly took the emerging genre of strategy gaming and redefined it on an epic scale with campaigns that spanned centuries and battles in which you controlled thousands of men. This isn’t the opening of a new Ang Lee film about love and combat during the Warring States period – or Sengoku Jidai (1467-1573) – of Japan. Visible in their glow are tens of thousands of soldiers in lacquered leather battlegear, their highly polished dou reflecting back the flames. The only lights are flickering pools of yellow thrown from oil lamps which illuminate the courtyard of the 15th Century Japanese palace.
It’s a warm spring night, and the darkness has stripped the clouds of soft pink cherry blossom of their colour. Samurai grab your swords: the Total War game franchise is heading back to Japan for it’s next strategy sequel.
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