Total War: Shogun 2 Demo Impressions - Is This The Best Total War?

With Total War returning to its roots, will it be a glorious return to form? Or a clear indication of problems with the series? Is Creative Assembly in danger of following EA’s constant retreads of the FIFA franchise, or Activision’s ‘exploitation’ of the Guitar Hero franchise(basically killing it)? They’ve released a demo which for once, has a slice of the campaign(tutorial bits). I tried it and here’s what I thought about it.


I’ve been quite a loyal Total War fan. Bought each iteration ever since Shogun Total War was release way back in 2000. The series might have had a technical hiccup with Empire: Total War but I thought they recovered quite well with Napoleon(which in my opinion is a much better game than Empire). So out comes the Total War: Shogun 2 demo and of course as a fan, I was excited because they were going back to the first tile which is the most memorable one to me.

This screen might look familiar to you. Oh yes, because it's the same screen you saw in Napoleon

The Total War: Shogun 2 demo makes a good first impression upon booting it up. The menus are beautifully designed with a dash of Japanese styling. Their artists have done a marvelous job of encapsulating Japanese theme into the game. The demo has two parts. One, a tutorial campaign that is called the Chosokabe campaign. Here, you will guide the fledgling Chosokabe clan and make them a contender for the title of Shogun in the mainland of Japan.

The research tree is back but the emphasis is not on technology but on some zen like concept. Which make less sense to most people.

You’ll find that the campaign map now rotates and things look quite spiffy but it’s relatively the same as with previous Total War games. Despite the visuals, the grand campaign game mostly stays the same from Napoleon Total War. There is attrition during winter(if you march you army in mountainous during winter they will take losses), units auto replenish in friendly territory, your farms sit outside your cities, there are still trade nodes on the map that if you place a trade ship, you gain income.

What they have added are family trees and agent upgrade trees. Creative Assembly are really emphasing on the role playing elements with your agents and daimyos family. As your heirs become men, you can now chose to make them generals or even give them some administrative portfolio to increase their loyalty. Bribes are back now, and you can use agents to bribe enemy armies to your side. How much you have to spend to bribe them depends on the general loyalty rating, hence you need to take care of your own so that they do not dishonour you.

You can now specialise your agents as they gain experience

All your agents; your monks, ninjas, metsukes(secret police) have their own upgrade tree. As they gain experience from conducting specific actions, you get to pick an upgrade path to further specialise them. A metsuke who is better at policing your own regions or spying on your enemies region. A ninja who is a master assassin or an expert at sabotaging enemy structures. The campaign tutorial is just way too short to come to any conclusion on the campaign AI or just how well all these features will work together.

Yes, this is without a doubt the best looking Total War game. In fact it is the best looking strategy game ever made

Battles are even more of a mixed bag. Creative Assembly has reduced the number of units to make for a more streamlined game. The battles have a faster pace to them compared to Napoleon. I think it’s mostly to do with the melee battles instead of the ‘keep your distance’ ranged combat in Napoleon. They’ve also added some hero units. Units that are very powerful but are very vulnerable(glass canons), like the hero crossbow units in the tutorial campaign(in the siege battle).

There are now special places on the battle map that give you some sort of bonus(in multiplayer). Like this shrine gives your army a small morale bonus

I’m still not sure how I feel about these units. I’m sure they cost a lot but Total War for me has always been about your army. Not any one single unit. And then there is the idea they flipped from King Arthur. There are now points on the battle map that impart some bonus to your army. This apparently is mostly available in multiplayer only(but they decided to add it in the second battle in the tutorial campaign).

Sekigahara is a chaotic battle. Odd choice for a demo but very scripted

The only historical battle in the demo is the Battle of Sekigahara(no naval battles in the demo). Like previous Total War games, the historical battles have always been scripted and this one is no different. Every time I played it, the enemy sent their cavalry first then some infantry then all their forces. Your allies will betray you and one of them will attack you. Making this a battle stacked against you. A LOT! You mostly have Yari Ashigaru(peasant spearmen) for melee units and some katana cavalry. Really odd choice to put such a one sided, unfair battle in your demo.

The demo isn't enough to give answers to the burning question most fans have. Is the AI any good? You won't find out how good the campaign AI is after a few hours into the campaign)the tutorial campaign was just way too short) and the battle AI was partly scripted in the battles. Overall, I was not impressed at all. It is the same formula with a new theme. This is the third year in a row we've had a Total War game. Perhaps the guys should take a year off to make a truly revolutionary game. Maybe I'm just fatigued of Total War games.