Shogun Total War: Classic Range

Campaign play is divided into two portions--the strategic overview map where you manage your armies and provinces, and the tactical combat mode where battles are fought. The strategy portion isn't too deep. There aren't many buildings or unit types to build, and the diplomatic options are limited. It merely serves to provide a frame for the battle sequences, and that's where Shogun really shines. Battles are fought on beautiful 3-D landscapes, with forests to hide in, fortifications to storm, and rolling hills to climb. Weather effects like rain and snow aren't just there for looks--they have a dramatic impact on gameplay. Wet conditions will render the match-lit guns useless and also decrease the range of archers because their bowstrings get wet. Troops get bogged down by wet gear, and high winds push arrows aside. Even the seasons affect battles, as longer or shorter days in the summer and winter determine how long you have to defeat your foe (or how long you must fend off an assault).

But weather and time are the least of your worries. Effectively managing your troops is the key to victory and also the toughest aspect of the game. There are dozens of formations to choose from and hundreds of tactical tricks to exploit. Keeping your archers, cavalry units and various types of foot-samurai all pointing the right way and effectively supporting one another is half the battle. The game interface and keyboard shortcuts make things easier, but Shogun's manual is just terrible. A simulation this fast-paced and complex deserves thorough and accurate documentation, but you'll have to buy the separate strategy guide to get any worthwhile information. Fortunately, those with a little patience and an interest in the game should be able to figure things out, and they'll be rewarded with one of the most realistic and fun real-time war games available. --T Byrl Baker

Which of course you'll be wanting to do, cause it's certainly addictive! Of course I've only had the game for a few days but so far it's proven to be worth every penny.

The whole game oozes Japan, and everything looks like it should ( atleast in my european eyes..) The map of Japan is very nicely made, and the battles scenes are amazing!
Nothing like seeing hundreds of enemy soldiers fleeing the scene being chased by your loyal troops, and seeing your Generals gather more and more experience points! :-)

There are of course also nagging problems, for starters it seems somewhat unfair that the AI gets to respond to your move by moving in a couple of hundred troops from a neighbouring area when you have just moved in your troops to attack, thinking you'd have a slight advantage in numbers!

Also the Daimo room where you receive messages from representatives from the other tribes seems rather pointless, although very nice looking. The only thing you're able to actually do in it is click on 'accept' or 'decline' whenever a messenger arrives, or "ask" for advice from a samourai sitting in the room. As this advice is put in a "Sun Tze"-way it's not all that usefull for people who aren't all that familiar with this sort of thing.

More annoyingly it also appears the AI isn't averse to a little more cheating, as it seems to have a far less hard a time gather funds to buy troops etc then the human player. Also it's quite unclear how far into construction buildings are and how money is divived between the various construction sites if it comes in.
I just click on all the buildings I want in a particular queue and just wait till something finishes, which is not a very organized way of going about assett management obviously.

Also the Rebel forces seem to sometime show up out of Nowhere and in amazing numbers as well, which is somewhat odd.

Anyway, all in all, even though it's got it's flaws, for the money I paid for it it's certainly a great game, even to todays standards
So if you're into this kinda thing go out and buy it!