Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai

Zach Goodier

Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is an add-on DLC to Shogun 2: Total War, and what an expansion it is.  Fall of the Samurai takes place during the Meiji era, when Britain, France, and the U.S. were all actively involved in opening Japan and modernizing it.  While you still have the traditional spear, sword, and bows, you now have the introduction of modern late-19^th century weapons.  These weapons include advanced field cannon, carbine cavalry, ironclad ships, and even Gatling guns.  With these weapons, you must declare loyalty to either the shogun or emperor, and proceed to expand your control over Japan.

This isn't always as one-sided as it looks, guns work better at a range, but once those swords close the gap they are deadly in the hands of experience samurai.

For starters, the mechanics are still the same, yet very different in the overall feel and dynamic.  Where Shogun 2 generally forced you to pick between vast peasant units, or smaller elite units, now there’s another element involved: modern or traditional.  That isn’t to say that shogun supporters HAVE to limit themselves to traditional units, they have modern weapons as well.  However, one of the key elements to using modern units is how your clan develops.  Tokugawa supporters are more geared towards traditional units, and their most efficient military consists of less-advanced units.  Clans that build a lot of military academies to train modern infantry advance their clan development, but this also angers the populace as you change local government and culture to a more Western-style, but it also opens up trade with these nations, and allows you to gain more income through trade, and use their agents to train your troops and advance your technology.

These aren't the little wooden rafts you used to control, and they have cannons.

Diplomacy was… Well almost a joke in the original game, with you barely needing to use it, and the realm divide making you wonder why you ever bothered in the first place.  This has been changed a great deal in Fall of the Samurai.  It is very difficult to get ahead by being a solely military power, and you’ll find enemies nipping at your heels all the while, and they will find ways to agitate you.  Enemies make more effective use of navies, even landing armies behind your borders and tearing up the countryside to damage your economy if they don’t take your territory altogether.  The realm divide has also been changed, with you becoming the “vanguard” of your respective side: shogun or emperor.  By doing this, all the other factions that share your loyalty will rally behind you, further solidifying their allegiance, generally.  However, you also have the option of going it alone, declaring both to be unworthy of ruling, and declaring your intention of conquering Japan for yourself.  While this might sound tempting, you will have all but your most loyal allies turn on you. 

Gatling guns take a while to build up to, and they might not be all that impressive at first, but once you level them up they can be devastating when properly positioned.

Naval battles are another major change, with the new Western-style ships.  You can take control of individual ships, in order to control their weapons manually, and helping you get more involved in the action.  You can also do this with cannons and Gatling guns in land battles, but you’ll find yourself having to leave them to give orders to your units more often than you would in naval battles, which have a much slower pace.  Naval units can also engage in night battles, raiding enemy fleets and ports.  However, the coolest thing is the ability to bombard enemy ground emplacements and cities with your fleets on the coast.  Fleets have a set range which is outlined when you select the unit, and if another clan’s city, port, or building is range, you can try to damage it without engaging in an actual battle.  You can also use them to support armies, being able to use 2 bombardments in per battle to support your army.  This can have a HUGE impact on a battle, allowing you to take of forces much bigger than your own by planning your naval bombardments to maximize enemy casualties and break their morale.  This element makes for some of the most exciting battles I’ve ever had in a strategy game.

Conquest has never been more entertaining.

If you know Shogun 2, then you should have a good idea what you’re in for after reading this review.  If you haven’t played the original game, then now’s as good a time as any to start.  I really loved this expansion in a way that makes it hard to go back to the original game.  The added elements of modern weapons and a more in-depth diplomacy system to make you feel like you have to play not only battlefield, but the political field as well.  If you are interested in the time period, strategy games, or you’re looking for a challenge, then this add-on should do it for you.  However, if you don’t like the genre, or the original game, then this probably won’t do much to impress you.

Good:

-Brilliant portrayal of an important time period in Japanese history.

-Expansive units that contain both traditional swords and bows, to modern muskets and Gatling guns.

-Navies are much more important, and can really make or break your clan.

-Diplomacy much more central to survival, and while you can avoid it you really want, you can benefit greatly from taking the time to use it.

Bad:

-Obviously strategy haters need not apply.

Scully Rating: 9.8 out of 10