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ShogunTotal War is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Electronic Arts, and released in 2000 for Windows. It is both a single-player and multiplayer game.

Shogun Total war is the first game of the Total War series. This series offers a history-based grand strategy game that combines turn-based provincial development with real-time battles. This game had an expansion pack in which a Mongol campaign was added (Called Mongol Invasion).

The game takes place in feudal Japan (16th century), at the time of the Sengoku period . You will play as one of the seven daimyo, and you will try to unite the realm and to become shogun.

As a daimyo your strategies and the precepts you have to follow are based on The art of War. Throughout the game you would be helped by advices from this book.

Shogun Total War was extremely well-received despite some minor defaults. You will be seduced by its 3D battlefields graphics. The sounds are also very realistic.
The gameplay is captivating and the environments are very nice (for its time). It takes a little time to learn the controls but you will not regret it.

This game has a long lifespan which is a very important point. The storyline is really interesting and you will learn a lot about feudal Japan thanks to it.

In the game you will have to deal with religious unrest, treacherous allies, spies and murderers, some taxation issues, loyalty problems, an unpredictable economy, natural disasters and succession issues.

STW offers several possibilities you can lead your army to conquer new territories and unite Japan, but you also have to prepare for this.

That is to say that you have to collect money to feed your army and organize your campaign, in other words you will have to organize your provincial affaires while not fighting, to ensure your supplies.

You will have to improve farmlands, make ports and trading posts, anything in fact to consolidate the economy.

In Shogun Total war you will to develop good tactics and learn how to use your battlefields units. They are composed of foot troops (samurai, warrior-monks); mounted troops including archer, heavy cavalry; gunpowder unit, musketeers (using a kind of old-fashioned gun) and arquebusier, but these units are only available after you start trading with Dutch or Portuguese in ports.

In that game there is no naval warfare, but your armies can jump across straits without restriction; but if you aim at invading another territory help by another (in the multiplayer mode) you will be obliged to have a spy in that province to attack it.

Some external factors influence the battles, for example the terrain and weather; if you range your units on a high ground you will get a greater range and accuracy; if you use your cavalry inside a forest you will lose some of its effectiveness, etc.

Shogun : Total War reviews