Oh man, I remember watching my dad play this when I was like 5. Brings back so many memories, and now I get to play it again!

The game is very different than moder TW games. You really have to get used to the comands and camera control. E.g. you don't move units by right clicking but by left clicking (in the battle), and that feels really wierd. The campaign is also completely different, but nothing you can't figure out with a couple of hours of gameplay.

The graphics: what can I say, don't expect much. For a game released in 2000 it is revolutionary. And they made a good job optimizing it. It maybe is pixelated, but it runs and looks smooth, and I personaly love the retro look, it gives a totaly different feeling to the game. It runs in fullscreen on 1920x1080, but only in the campaign and the battles. The main menu doesn't cover the whole screen, which is kind of dissapointing and strange, but not a super big deal.

The music, the sounds, the atmosphere, the graphics. This game, together with Medieval, takes you back in time, when it all started. And to have that oportunity is simply amazing.

If you never played this game but you have played modern TW games, I cannot recommend it enough, get it now !!

Yep CA did the impossible and released Shogun originial onto steam .. Can we get 1000 rate ups for a steam workshop for this anicent masterpiece .. i know everyone wants to see a remastered graphics mod :)

I almost bought this game from Gamersgate, but I had heard it was impossible to play on newer systems. I borrowed a copy from a friend and, sure enough, it would not start. After developer credits it would crash to desktop every single time. I tried all sorts of fixes, but nothing made the game work. I had no choice but to accept the upsetting fact that it was just completely incompatible with modern software. I was very sad about this because, being a fan of other Total War games, I really wanted to play this one and experience first-hand the evolution of the series.

Can you believe my luck? A week later Creative Assembly/Sega release this game on Steam, updated to run on my OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit, and it works perfectly! Not only that, but they also release Medieval: Total War; which also works! That's not all. The main menu screen is fixed to default resolution, but the in-game resolution can be maxed out to 1920 x 1080, and it looks stunning. Game is still simple-looking, but highly detailed and addicting.

This was a very nice surprise that caught me totally off guard. They've made me one of the happiest gamers today!

Shogun: Total War is a game set in medieval Japan, where the aim is to unite the country under your banner. It has the dated charm of the 00's and lacks the impressive graphics of later Total War games, but it is my contention that this game is a great one in its own right.

One might think that the only reason to get the game is for nostagia's sake. And there is no denying that a significant percentage of the purchases will probably come from old players. One advantage of this copy compared to the old one that you might still own is that it is now compatible mith modern operating systems. I am personnally using windows 7 and have had no problems playing a few turns in the campaign and winning a custom battle. Moreover, the price tag is quite reasonable.

The game is 15 years old and the graphics are no longer up to today's standards. They still have a certain charm to them and it does not prevent having fun at all. In addition, the game offers several campaigns - including one about a hypothetical mongol invasion of Japan.

However, the game is much more than just a means to satiate your nostalgia. The game is different from all Total War games that would follow (barring its successor Medieval), mainly regarding the campaign map. It uses a Risk-like campaign map, which means that movement is much more restrained. This allows for totally different campaign dynamics and really gives a fresh feel to the campaign, at least for Total War veterans who are not used to this campaign-style. One of the main advantages of this system is that it is much simpler and the AI can therefore cope with it significantly better than with the totally open campaign of later iterations. This makes the campaign both fun and challenging, as defeat becomes a very real possibility.

Regarding battles, the principles applied in later iterations were already present in Shogun and the most interesting feature is that there are lots of historical battles, grouped in different historical campaigns (Nobunaga, Ieyasu, Hideyosi and a mongol one). Playing those historical campaigns gives a nice sense of progression and is quite rare in later iterations.

After explaining the pros and cons of the game, I hope that I could convey the particular feel of this game, and I can only commend this game to those who want a different Total War experience!

Adding forced updates to old games for no purpose but updating spyware and data harvesting capabilities should literally be against the law.

This was a ground breaking game when it first came out. And in many ways it holds its own against the newer revisions. But like most games, the AI is both good, but also full of holes. AI is just plain hard to write and the devs did a good job on it. But you see the holes after you have played a lot and thus start to pay attention to certain details. Eventually you figure out the game loopholes and rediculous exploits and the game looses its luster. You can currently get a Steam Key for the Gold Edition from Humble for a buck which is quite a deal. The Gold edition has a few bugs in it but nothing that inhibits gameplay.

To show what I mean about how the AI is limited, consider that it is possible to win a game while never attacking. You achieve this by:

1. teching up to Geisha and assassinating mercilessly
2. improving your lands for greater KOKU production so you can afford the upgrade path
3. adding units prudently when affordable to not look too weak
4. bribing Ronin armies for cheap units
5. allying with other clans to delay them from attacking you for as long as possible
6. inciting revolts in other clans' provinces around yours to further keep their armies tied up

Note how with this strategy you never have to initiate battle. You can eliminate all rival clans by 1560 this way. Give it a try. It makes for a different kind of game.

This is one of those classic games that improved the PC gaming industry! It was a truly groundbreaking game at the time and even today (with the new found love for pixel art) it has a decent gameplay and still offers some decent strategic challenge, well balanced and is just simply very enjoyable. I remember the first time I experienced the Total War battle system, I immediately fell in love with it and played every Total War game since. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=678430360 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=678416916

The original large scale real time battle simulator. This game made the name of the Creative Assembly and started off a massively successful franchise. For any game that made a splash back in 1999 it is increasingly difficult to describe just how mind blowing titles like Shogun: Total War were in their time. Getting beyond the rose tint of nostalgia I hope to encourage you that while not without its significant flaws, and notwithstanding its relative crudeness regarding more modern titles, Shogun: Total War really deserves the accolades it got. It remains one of very few games I ever bought on release day after playing a demo for a month, back in a time when games came only on CDs. *emotional sighs

Overall: 7.5/10
In terms of the real time battle engine all the important parts are there, in my humble opinion it gets as much just right in so many ways that have been subsequently lost in later titles as it missed out or got wrong by being the first. Medieval II is probably the best entry for new players, but if you like the Sengoku period representation and/or your laptop won't even run Medieval II, then this game is well worth it.

+Atmosphere & overall presentation: 8/10
All elements balanced to perfection, like a good samurai. Music and SFX are excellent, the quality shows its age a little but the choice and direction is gritty, brutal, and tending to realism. Attention to detail shows a real historical respect and care for the subject.

+RTS gameplay: 9/10
AI has less complexity to deal with than modern games, and so do you. Battles are very fluid and a lot of fun. This is where the original Shogun really shines, and is the real spark of the entire franchise.

+Low requirements
runs comfortably with half decent Intel onboard laptop graphics, doeesn't need modern amounts of ram. It's an old game so to be expected, but you don't need a gaming laptop to run it.

+/-GFX: 7.5/10
Weren't all that special even for their time, but again the direction was understated, realistically subtle, and captured the Japanese seasons with all their weather extremely well. The sprites hold up well for an old git like me, better than the first 3D entries in the series IMHO your mileage may vary.

-Controls: 7/10
Pre-standard controls, selecting specific multiple units is very slow, no number groups or drag boxes. Awkward camera, elevation and pitching are very limited, this is a neccessary compromise due to the use of sprites. Difficult to get a good view on some terrain.

-Strategy layer & early / late game balance: 6/10
It provides context for the battles, but little besides. Diplomacy and espionage are as basic as they could be, the map and army tokens play out more like Chess than grand strategy which is what they were going for and I dig it but it's clear the focus was on the tactical battle layer, with elements like the throne room feeling empty and unfinished due to its lack of significant uses.
The major problem with the campaign is that due to the way the economy scales with territories, the most difficult part of the game by far is very early on, even on normal difficulty it's a real struggle. Right up until you reach an inevitable tipping point, beyond which even expert difficulty doesn't make up for it. If you don't reach that tipping point first, one of the AI opponents will. It's a problem with later titles as well but it's barely mitigated here at all beyond the significant random and vicious nature of the AI opponents who will as often gang up and 4 v 1 you, as fight each other to the death ignoring all else as their undefended lands splinter under rebellions/invasions.

-Lack of variety
What you don't like the purity of spears, bows and cavalry? Katana not sharp enough for you? Go back to bed you RTS peasant. If you aren't fascinated by the romantic idea and history of the Warlords and their samurai in the slightest, their martial prowess and brutality, then you aren't going to really 'get' this game. I understand. For me, Rome Total War just didn't and still doesn't register.

-Shogun 2 does everything better
Yes it actually does, from gameplay to history, it only loses slightly in the over saturated overly romantic atmosphere and environment, arrow trails etc. and other gamey aspects of the modern engines. There's something very visceral about hearing the painful screams echoing through the trees in the fog across the valley as your archer commanders shout 'uTE!' to the answer of 800 bows loosing another volley, that seems entirely absent in later titles. The decades of refinements and additions can't be argued against however. If you've got a comp that can run it, there's just a lot more game there for the same period representation and a similar if not quite so authentic atmosphere.

I didn't own a computer back in 2000 but a friend of mine did and he had new games on it every time I visited. One of those games was SHOGUN: Total War and although I remember very little of it I do remember loving the assassination cutscenes, watching in suspense to see if it failed or succeeded. In 2013 I was just starting to get into gaming properly and I decided to buy Rome 2 and I couldn't figure it out at all. Which is why I decided to go back to the beginning and work my way up.

It took me about 6 hours of playing before I started to understand how to deploy my troops in order to win and I've been absolutely loving it since then. It's a great game which makes you feel accomplished when beating the odds and defeating your enemy and I can't wait to continue playing the later games.

Shogun: Total War was the very first Total War title and already featured many of the most beloved features of the entire franchise like the unique blend of turn based tactical empire building and real-time battles. From today's viewpoint it might look crude but it does still hold superb balancing and replayability even after all those 17 years. Especially the expansion pack Mongol Invasion is probably one of the best bonus campaigns any Total War has had seen so far and can probably only be toppled by Fall of The Samurai for Shogun's descendant Total War: Shogun 2.

Stability with recent systems is an existing issue, but it didn't keep me from playing this all over the place once more again. Still remains a great RTS title within a series of some of the best RTS titles ever developed.