This review was provided by Jon Brown.
NOTE: Fall of the Samurai is standalone and does not require the original Shogun 2 to play.

Since the release of Shogun: Total War in June 2000 the award winning Total War series, loved for its mix of turn based strategy and real time battles, has expanded to include a number of periods in history, from the rise of Rome to the intrigue of Medieval Europe. The latest release in the series, Fall of the Samurai, is a standalone expansion pack to Shogun 2 which takes the series to its most modern setting yet, and introduces a number of changes and innovations.

I’ll start with talking about the single player version of the game having already spent 28 hours on one hard campaign and several hours on others. The campaign map again looks gorgeous, with the fog of war being shown by a European 19th century map of Japan, gradually revealing itself to show a meticulously crafted landscape. The campaign map has been expanded from the original Shogun 2 to include the island of Ezo, in Northern Japan, which until this era had never been seen as a real part of the nation. As well as this, place names and territorial extents have been changed to reflect the period on the original three islands.

[drop2]The campaign takes place during the Boshin War and subsequent Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, when the Emperor was trying to overthrow the existing Shogunate. Unlike depicted in the film, The Last Samurai, many Samurai were corrupt and not paragons of chivalry, leading to popular discontent. This was fueled by Western interest in the theatre after Commodore Perry had opened Japan to Western influence in 1853-54 leading a squadron of gunboats. The major powers of the time had given assistance in modernising Japan between then and the start of the campaign in 1865. The campaign ends in 1876, and a turn, which portrayed months or years in other games, only lasts half a month here.

All factions take one of two sides of influence: Pro-Shogunate (Samurai), or Pro-Imperial (Emperor). This mechanic replaces the religion mechanic from Shogun 2 and if you control a territory with the opposite influence to those you support, then it will be very hard to keep control of it without leaving a large garrison. Support for a faction is gradually changed by keeping control of the territory, using the police station chain of buildings or leaving characters like Generals/Ishin Shishi in the territory. Each influence has 3 playable factions at the start, each with different benefits (for example, the Satsuma start with 2 territories instead of one) and a unique unit or two. Factions from either side can modernise and gain unique units from foreign powers like British Royal Marines so it will not be a one sided affair.

Modernisation is achieved by both research and deploying that research to build newer buildings like railways, dry docks, deep seam gold mines, etc. Each have their benefits: building more modern resource facilities will increase your income massively, troop production facilities will allow you to produce more modern, effective troops and railways will allow you to move troops from one area to another extremely quickly. However, it is a balancing act as modernisation causes unrest. So, unless you can afford to keep a large garrison in each territory, you need to carefully advance up the tech tree and use buildings like the aforementioned police stations and gambling houses to keep the populace happy. Keeping characters like Geisha or Ishin Shishi is also very effective at managing the populace’s happiness.

Several characters are present in the game, with some new additions along with the old roster. Generals lead armies and fleets, Ninja (Shinobi) are assassins and spies, Geisha are used to enchant generals (join your faction) or for distracting garrisons, Ishin Shishi (Imperial)/Shinsengumi(Shogunate) are used to the spread the influence of your faction, and Foreign Veterans are used to harass enemy armies and cause casualties or to embed in a force/city to rank up your troops. All can rank up, gain traits & retainers (followers) to make them more effective and can be embedded in a land force for various benefits.

Land battles are more akin to Empire: Total War than Shogun 2, as instead of being melee based where gunpowder units are the support, this time riflemen will be the main bulk of your army. They are also a lot more accurate and faster firing than they were in Empire/Shogun 2, due to the technological advances of cheap, mass produced, breech loaded (instead of muzzle loaded muskets) rifled weapons and artillery made in the era, which have not been present in the previous games. Typically, fire and advance tactics work well backed up by artillery, which really is the king of the battlefield and can inflict hundred of casualties before the enemy is even in range.

[drop]Cavalry is not as dominant as it once was but used well they can be a thorn in the side of an opponent. Melee based samurai are also extremely powerful if you can get them into combat but they will take heavy casualties if not used properly as they have no answer to being struck down at range by a hail of lead. Bow units are present and, although they outrange some rifle units, generally they are now useful only in a skirmishing role rather than making up the main battle line or just behind it as in previous games.

Gatling guns make an appearance and although extremely deadly, they only really make a huge difference in certain situations. A recent patch, which also affects Shogun 2, means the limit has been upped to 40 Vs 40 unit battles – where if two armies are close to each other, instead of one army being reinforcements brought in when losses are taken, all are present on the battlefield at once. This does makes for some amazingly large battles but it will kill your PC! Finally, and completely new to the series, artillery (both land and ship based) can be controlled in a third person view, which is fun for a few times but is ultimately a gimmick as you will lose awareness of how the battle is going.

The sound on the game is top notch, thanks once again to the creative input of Jeff Van Dyck, who has worked on the soundtrack of several previous games in the series. The music itself sounds brilliant, especially for the Imperial factions, but the real star of the show are the sound effects: from horses charging an infantry line, to cannons firing, to just leaving the camera panned over a battle to hear the sounds of a struggle: it all sounds amazing and crafts a memorable experience.

However, during my time on the game I did notice some problems with the game on the AI, especially on the ‘Battle’ side. Things such as leaving artillery units idle, throwing units against my army one by one, or charging units into melee despite them being ranged was very noticeable. Contrary to this, on the ‘Campaign’ map side of things the AI holds up very well, with it being very clever and making good use of naval landings behind the main front of war, blocking trade routes to stop my income and being very strategic with the deployment of forces.

[videoyoutube]Diplomacy is now also extremely useful, with many options such as military alliances or trade agreements being present just as they have been in previous games but the AI will actually accept them and not request half your territory for it to do so. Some of this brilliance is wasted, however, due to the Battle AI: it is just too easy to win against it as they will charge against you without using tactics. They will break against your line, start routing, and then you can just mop them up very easily. I regularly won against armies 2 or 3 times my size due to this and it is something that needs to be dealt with in future patches.

Sea battles are now completely different to the boarding based ships of Shogun 2 and again more similar to Empire. Whereas the name of the game was to try and board your enemy’s ships after using bowmen to inflict casualties on the crew in the previous game, now the best way is to bombard the enemy ships with cannon and either blow the ship up, cause it to retreat, or better still, force a surrender.

Ironclads make their first appearance in the franchise with them being absolutely massive and dominating the seas. It takes many ships to sink one of them if you have neglected to spend time and resources on your navy. All ships also have the option to be copper or iron-plated, increasing their survivability. There is also a new type of sea battle: Port Assault. In this, you have to sail the gauntlet of enemy coastal defences with your ships and capture the port. The battles are fun, however, they are a rare occurrence in the campaign as the AI never leaves troops to guard the ports so you can never actually assault them. If they are in range of a land force engaging in a land battle or a city, fleets can conduct Naval Bombardments which are very effective at demoralising an enemy force and inflicting heavy casualties. Be aware, there is a small time-frame (12-14 seconds) between calling the bombardment and when it actually hits.

Not the main focus of the game but essential nonetheless, the multiplayer component deserves our attention. All original Shogun 2 players can play against Fall of the Samurai players and, at the time of writing, the game appears quite well balanced, although there is the potential for imbalance due to the overpowered artillery. It is worth noting, however, that I was able to beat new armies with my old Shogun 2 force.

Additionally, you get a new avatar and generals’ bodyguard, and the revamped campaign map has been expanded to include the new territories present in the single player but has been locked off for original Shogun 2 players.

Pros

• Standalone game at a very good price for a full new campaign.
• Land battles look amazing and the campaign map is as detailed as ever.
• Single player and multiplayer armies are relatively well balanced with a mix of old and new units.
• Music and sound effects are simply amazing.
• The scale, especially with the addition of 40 Vs 40 unit battles, feels huge.
• Sea battles feel a lot better than the original Shogun 2.
• New innovations and additions to the campaign are very welcome.

Cons

• Battle AI is disappointing and needs a lot of work.
• Some of the new features miss the mark a little bit and don’t quite reach their full potential (ie. port battles, railways, gatling guns).

Overall, Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is an excellent addition to the series and is a must-have title for Total War fans. New people to the series would find it daunting at first but it’s a very forgiving game, notably when compared to its predecessor. I heartily recommend it to any fans of strategy games, especially at the price of £17.99 for the Limited Edition (if you shop around online) compared to £24.99 on Steam.

Score: 8/10