Total War: Shogun 2

Strategy games are interesting. On one hand, they make you feel like a god. The Total War series is especially good at this, allowing you to fly above massive battles that you control, at least one side of it. You are sending thousands of young, virtual men to their deaths and you feel all-powerful. However, this feeling only lasts as long as you are winning. The second you start losing, you realize just how bad you are at strategy and why it's a good thing that those virtual men dying because you just cannot forgive something the leader of the Yamanouchi clan said are not real men.

Total War: Shogun 2 is something of a homecoming for the series. It started in feudal Japan and is now back with pretty graphics. I'm going to come out and say that I am truly terrible at this game. I am about as good with strategy as Ambrose Burnside; repeatedly sending my troops forward to meet the enemy head-on. That being said, it's still really fun. The battles are so dynamic and engaging that one can't help but be entertained by the massive slaughter.

The game is set in the mid-1500's, which is really when any game about samurai should be set. There are a few clans to pick from who all specialize in something. For instance, the Hojo specialize in buildings and firebombing people, the Oda specialize in using peasants and the Tokugawa are master diplomats. The goal of the campaign is to take over Japan and...that's it. Really you just need to capture twenty-five provinces, with some specific provinces that are assigned to each clan that must be taken, and you're done. Of course, this is more difficult than it sounds. This is only the campaign however. There are also historical battles like the one at Sekigahara or Kawanakajima (the fourth and best Kawanakajima, to be specific) and multiplayer. I haven't gotten into the multiplayer yet as I expect it to be like playing Starcraft online; I will instantly have my ass handed to me.

The game play in the campaign is an interesting mixture of a real-time strategy game and a turn-based strategy game. The turn-based stuff is all empire building, with the player deciding which provinces to attack, building up their provinces and castles, building units for their armies, setting tax rates, going into diplomatic discussions and a million other little things that one would expect from a game such as this. They even allow the player to marry off members of their daimyo's family (the daimyo is the leader.) Then, when two armies clash the real-time strategy takes over. The battles were really hard for me to get the feel for, but I also just got my computer a few weeks ago. It may be totally intuitive for everyone whose carpal tunnel-ridden right hand was born for a mouse. Still, even with my inexperience, I was lining up my armies and marching them toward victory in no time. Of course, by victory I mean I seized the shogunate and immediately quit the second everyone clan in the game turned on me. I'd won, in my mind.

I don't really have a lot to say here because there really isn't a lot to say. If you dig the historical period that this game is emulating, you're going to love this game. If you are really into the strategic elements of games or warfare, give this one a shot. It's only thirty dollars on Steam, which is why I have it. That being said, there's no real story, the game play is simultaneously deep and simple and I have yet to go online, though I think I will do that and write about that separately in the next few days. All in all, it's a fun game and that's it. There's no meat for my wormy, psuedo-intellectual brain to feast on. If you like chess, the Japanese or the righteous high of sending men to their deaths, definitely give this game a shot.