Total Thief: Shogun 2 is a turn-based tactical strategy in the military genre, which was developed by the British team from The Creative Assembly, and the publishing company is the Japanese company Sega. The game is the seventh part of the eponymous series of Total War, continuing the rather popular line of PC exclusives.
Game release
Mostly reviews about Total War: Shogun 2 turned out to be very good. After its release, the game was able to gather a lot of praise from both critics and users. Sales of the seventh of the franchise in Europe and North America in just half a month reached a result of 600,000 copies. At the next Academy Award in the field of video games, the project received an award for the best strategy.
In the laudatory reviews of Total War: Shogun 2, they noted an interesting plot, historical authenticity and addictive gameplay. On the technical side, among the positive aspects were indicated: improved graphics and developers' attention to detail.
About gameplay and plot
The gameplay of the seventh part of Total War was not affected by any major changes. The game still combines several modes - turn-based strategy and tactics in real time. The player is given the opportunity to devote his time to various research, intelligence, economic relations, religion and other important aspects of any state. Step-by-step management is implemented through a strategic global map. As for tactics, it is used to control naval and land battles.
The gameplay of Total War: Shogun 2 takes players to the territory of the largest islands of the Japanese state, while telling about the end of the Sengoku Jidai period. The protagonist is the head of one of the warring groups. Together with him, the player will have to engage in military affairs, economics and diplomacy in order to achieve one single goal - to break the feudal system of Japan.
About Graphics and Global Map
We continue our review of Total War: Shogun 2. The graphic side of the seventh part of Total War is a pleasant surprise to all fans of the franchise. Due to the fact that the scene of the new game was transferred to the territory of a single country, the developers got more opportunities to create a local landscape. As a result, the global map has also changed - it has become more voluminous and beautiful.
The beauty and detail in Total War: Shogun 2 is complete. The territories are inhabited by active residents, each of whom is engaged in a certain business, whether it is farming or blacksmithing. Here and there you can see the outlines of high mountains, the provincial coast is washed from all sides by a beautiful three-dimensional ocean, and the same three-dimensional stormy streams of rivers and waterfalls complete this beautiful picture. In spring, sakura trees bloom, and in winter you can see how everything around is covered with snow.
Passage for the Tesokabe and Shimazu clans
At the beginning of the passage of Total War: Shogun 2, the player is invited to choose one of ten clans, each of which is part of the Japanese state. In the next few chapters, we will consider all the clans from the classic version of the game.
Many Total War: Shogun 2 reviews mark this clan as the best option for completing the entire game. Tesokabe have many advantages, one of which is their location on the island. Thanks to this, the clan gets the best conditions for defense and offensive. Of course, in order to start a full-fledged game, the user playing for Tesokabe will first have to deal with neighboring settlements and spread his influence over most of the island.
The clan also has a special bonus for a reduced hiring price and the maintenance of shooting units.
The main units of the next clan are samurai. Shimazu spend much less on them than on other units, while one should not forget that samurai fall into the elite category.
Geographically, the Shimazu clan is located on the island, which definitely gives it a defensive advantage.
Passage for the clans of Uesugi, Tokugawa and Oda
Uesugi warriors are Buddhists - it is both unusual and unique, compared to other clans. By choosing them, the user will have access to a special unit - the monk warriors. Uesugi's traditional bonus includes reduced maintenance costs and hiring their main unit.
This clan will certainly appeal to all fans of a complex game. Due to the unfavorable geographical location, the Tokugawa became neighbors of two dangerous clans at once: the Oda clan lies on one side of them, and the Imagawa clan on the other.
However, Tokugawa also has its advantages over opponents. For example, they are specialists in diplomatic issues - this is a very useful skill that will allow you to play the game without participating in military conflicts with neighboring clans. Tokugawa also has some good Kise ninja and Metsuki agents with him.
During the game for the Oda clan, the user receives increased morale for the infantry unit Asigaru. Thanks to this bonus, good and inexpensive fighters for this clan appear already at the start. In addition to this, do not forget about the cheap maintenance of infantry units, which allows you to put them at the heart of the entire army of Oda.
The disadvantage of the clan, as you might have guessed, is its geographical location. Its neighbors are opponents from several warring clans at once.
Passage for the Hattori, Mori, Date clans
A great choice to start the passage of "Total Thief: Shogun 2" is the Hattori clan. He managed to "select" the most popular unit in the game - the ninja. Accordingly, he receives bonuses to their hiring and maintenance.
Clan Mori, without a doubt, can be called the best sailors in the whole game. It is they who get the corresponding bonuses for lowering prices when buying ships and for their maintenance.
Many reviews of Total War: Shogun 2 notice that this clan, unlike the others, has a pronounced attacking orientation. Perhaps the matter is precisely in the units that are given to the player when choosing Date. We are talking about samurai with two-handed swords, or, in another way, samurai-nodati.
In addition, all other units of the Date clan receive factional attack bonuses.
Walkthrough for the Hojo and Takeda Clans
If the Mori clan is mostly assigned the role of seafarers, then the Hojo clan is assigned the role of the best builders and engineers. Special bonuses allow them to build up their territories with strong siege weapons and strong castles.
During the construction process, Hojo spend less than other clans. As for the engineering units involved in siege devices, the cost of hiring and maintaining them has also been reduced.
The last clan from our list has the largest cavalry. At the same time, hiring and maintaining the appropriate units costs Takeda much cheaper.
During the battle, the cavalry actively uses increased morale. This perk allows Takeda to build his army, relying on cavalry units.
Fall of the Samurai Supplement
"Sunset Samurai" for Total War: Shogun 2 is an addition to the main game, continuing the Japanese theme. The developers tried to tell a story about the opposition of progress and those who honor cultural traditions. In Fall of the Samurai, two types of gameplay were immediately reflected: the first type of gameplay is familiar to all fans of the original parts of the franchise and the early Shogun 2, and the second appeared in the Empire and Napoleon games of the same series.
As a result, “Sunset Samurai” took the form of a kind of hybrid “Total Thief”, the time frame of which moved forward for three hundred years. Many changes took place in Japan: medieval mountain villages and castle cities gave way to industrial settlements, factories, factories and various manufactories. Changes also affected the Japanese map - in the neighborhood of three large islands, several more islands appeared, among which you can now see northern Hokkaido and smaller southern territories.
The plot events of the Fall of the Samurai expansion have the following alignment: one part of the clans supports the emperor, and the other sided with the shogun. Somewhere closer to the middle of passing “Samurai Sunset”, after conquering most of the Japanese territories and spreading the influence of the chosen side, the player will be offered a plot choice. Depending on the decision made, the player will be able to take on the role of the flagship or take the path of independence and declare war on each participant in the conflict.
Popular mods: 1575 and Radious Units
1575 is a mod for Total War: Shogun 2, which adds an extended 25-year campaign. The player has moves in the amount of 300 pieces, 12 for each year. Detachments of commanders and agents survive until the end of the campaign, which means that the player can engage in their maximum pumping.
Mod Radius Units provides access to all the "hidden" units. We remind you that in the "vanilla" version of the game, the user can use only a limited amount of these units.
Expanded Japan and FOTS Unit Pack
Mod Expanded Japan makes certain changes in the ratio of Japanese provinces: from now on, the player has access to 176 provinces and 163 fractions. In addition, the number of permissible moves per year varies to 12.
The FOTS Unit Pack is a modification to complement the Samurai Sunset. In the main game, new units appear (their number reaches 60), among which there are squads of shooters, line infantry, melee infantry, various cavalry and even grenade launchers. All new units are suitable for absolutely any fraction.
Cheats for "Total War: Shogun 2" - how does it work?
Activation of codes in the game "Total Thief: Shogun 2" is possible through a special trainer, which can be found on any available Internet resource. Installation is carried out according to the following instructions:
- Unpacking the archive and transferring all files to the folder with the main game.
- Trainer launch.
- Starting the main game.
The following is a list of the available cheats for Total War: Shogun 2.
- F1 - launch the trainer.
- F2 - disable the trainer.
- F3 - invulnerability mode activation.
- F4 - infinite movement mode.
- F5 - access to infinite ammo.
- F6 - access to infinite gold.
- F7 - quick research mode.
- F8 - access to quick recruitment.
- F9 - fast building mode.
System Requirements Total War: Shogun 2
Recommended Requirements:
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or equivalent AMD equivalent.
- Required memory: 2 GB on WindowsXP, 4 GB on Windows Vista or Windows 7.
- Video card: AMD Radeon HD 5000/6000 series or a suitable analogue that has support for DirectX 11.
- Free disk space: 20 GB.
- Internet connection.
If Total War: Shogun 2 does not start, you can try the following minimum system requirements:
- Processor: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Single. An analog from AMD is also suitable.
- Required memory: 1 GB on Windows XP, 2 GB on Windows Vista or Windows 7.
- Video card: 256 MB with support for DirectX 9.0c and compatibility with support for shader 3.0.
- Free disk space: 20 GB.
- Internet connection.