Shogun Total War Review

Shogun Total War is one of those games that allows you dream of how to gloriously command thousands (or, at least, dozens) of screaming samurai. By allowing devious flanking tactics, or encouraging heroic frontal assaults, STW was the first game to depict the frantic action of real time strategy with mainstream success.



Which, when you consider that the game was originally intended as a 2D strategy game, makes this game a definitive milestone of the RTS genre.

The strength of game is its simplified unit interaction: like paper (spears), scissors (cavalry) and stone (archers) every unit counters another unit. Unlike the expansive RTS units of SupComm or SCII, mastery of unit types should be expected in hours rather than weeks. There's no seeking for the 'overbalanced' unit combination or the perfect build-order in this game; only blood and thunder battlefield fighting.

Ten years after first release, the gameplay still holds up surprisingly well. The kill rate of units is low (perhaps too low!) but this places a greater emphasis on the paper-scissor-stone principles by which the game runs. Add into this the significant effect of hills (archers will beat infantry with a height advantage in melee) and flanking (even now tying an enemy head-on with infantry and flanking with cavalry is the RTS staple tactic) and you have warfare that is satisfyingly expansive. By expansive I mean there is a real feeling that a smaller army can defeat much larger numbers with superior tactics.

Such victories exploit the game's excellent morale model. You don't need to kill every soldier to win a battle. Even now I can remember battles a decade imprinted on my memory - the enemy ushered through a valley to attack my weakened archers; the hidden charge from woods; and the routing of one flank that rolls down the rest of the enemy until a fresh force flees from my emergent (and no doubt grinning) general.

The campaign mode itself was pleasingly simplified. I always played as Shimazu (the green ones) not least because they were tucked away in the corner. As always in such strategy games, no-one has yet devised a way to counteract strategic AI. In the end game, I always faced off the Hojo clan who had horded dozens of armies into a few spaces. While something that I accepted at the time, these days such a gameplay facet would (rightly) demand a patch, or simply recognise that the campaign is won when 50% of map is yours.

The expansion pack (part of this game) goes some way to addressing these problems but it still lets slip with the overpowered brutality of the mongol heavy cavalry. Having spent 100s of battles watching body counters drop a man at a time, the shock at seeing multiple people die at once is enough to make the mongol expansion feel like the challenge of countering a truly warmonging race with what are essentially a civilised people.

So should you own and play this game because it defined a genre? The graphics are, admittedly, pixilated with a 680 resolution. The campaign can drag on. Heavy cavalry aren't my first choice when I have infinite money. And the bridge battles are immensely arduous tests of attrition.

But the immersion is still there. The sound is evocative of the Sengoku period and the battlefield principles are still refreshingly straightforward and effective. If you win a battlefield, you really feel a sense of control. Even more so than a ctrl + A then right click on their general. I've owned three copies of this game - you should grace your collection with one.

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Max Payne Review

Nearly ten years ago the snowy rain fell on Hull like all the angels in heaven had decided to colloquially urinate at the same time. And so opened this innovative action adventure for me: I had a weekend to kill, it was snowing outside, and I had no heating. I didn't want the intellectually intensity of a strategy game, nor did I want to frenetic multitasking of an RTS. With a blanket on my legs, I sat down and completed this game in 10 hours without even a toilet break. And the first thing I did? Began again. After a toilet break.



Max Payne pitches its progressive difficulty perfectly. Action games shouldn't - in my busy world - kill you more than three times at the same point (well, at least not more than three times in a gaming session.) You shouldn't be slugging through a game with a face as pained as Payne's permanently constipated expression. Instead you should be smiling appreciatively at just how awesome it feels to burst horizontally through a door (in slow motion) while expertly twisting through your hips as you innerringly shoot three baddies with your John Woo pistols before time jolts back into the present and all three baddies fall down at the same time. Whump.

This is not a serious game, but it is seriously evocative. The weapons, even now, feel powerful. I can remember a scene where a baddie hiding behind an apartment door unfortunately proclaims that he intends to shoot you as you dare to enter. He doesn't expect you to leap towards him while simultaneously opening said door before unleashing a full shotgun blast to his chest that lifts him several feet in the air. You can almost hear Chuck N..., I mean Max, saying, "not today bozo."

These scenes reoccur tirelessly throughout the game. Face an impossible situation. Engage bullet time (copied from the Matrix). Shoot all enemies. Read film noir comics. Laugh. Repeat.

While the game itself is not so serious, what should be a serious consideration is the known (and ongoing) compatibility issues with steam. Unfortunately the download seems to fail to name a weapons file correctly which can result in the game simply crashing on the first load. While I have managed to get it work (on occasion, PM if you have this problem) you cannot expect Steam to help you out on this one. Much better to buy on amazon.

Fortunately the game gleefully leads you on a deeply humorous (if judiciously silly) adventure once you have got the damn thing working. The dialogue between the baddies is priceless. Not to mention the subplot of the Lords and Ladies TV series - "My Lord! My Lady! My Lord!" - which can continue for about twenty minutes if you care to halt your carnage to watch the many analogue TV sets scattered throughout the game.

Take this game for what it is - a romping film-noir - and you'll find an outstandingly crafted adventure that is also a piece of gaming history.

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Total War

I haven't posted for a long time - almost two months - but I have been playing games. I managed to fill my 1tb hard-drive with games, and in doing so, organised them today. It took a fair portion of the day.

The first time I played total war was with Shogun. I remember getting it over Christmas 2000. The first few battles were tough affairs - 3 units against 4 and fighting on a hill. I remember as a game, I managed to immerse myself in its culture. My dreams were of hundreds of Samurai maneuvering across a field.

But this writing isn't what the game is about. In my imaginative life, to command men to live or die is enthralling. I love it! To hold the strategy of a battle plan, and to enact its tactics is stimulating. Relaxing, at times.

I remember, too, the graphics being superb.

Looking at the game now, I can see that the graphics cannot compete. There is no zoom. The moving is slow.

And so what other Total War games do I play? Currently, Medieval Total War 2. Strangely, though, I am playing most of it seems to be a bit of a slog. Armies are striking me on all sides, and I have lost several outlying cities. But hey. Is this part of the game?

I should also say that I am happily playing through PES 2009 too. I play Master League, win, and then play Become a Legend. Amazingly, I'm in the UEFA cup final. My performance in the league is not as good. A few games a week over a few months have meant that I'm almost at the end of my (second?) third season. I am tempted, as ever, to move to a better team. But as long as I play for England, I am happy for the next few seasons at least. How will my love for Wolves last me?

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Playing games this week...

Has seen me enjoy the experience of Operation Flashpoint. I am on the last level, and in doing that I am attacking the final base. While I have died several times, I have enjoyed, somehow, playing through this last part.

In addition, I have really got into PES2009. I am enjoying winning the games, and doing well. I do not enjoy winning 2-1 with Porto on the more difficult level.

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Three times

I have played a good number of games the past few weeks. The focus of this shall be PES 2009.

The become a legend mode has always held some interest. The issue is, of course, that the vertical camera used often does not aid my skills and experience in using the wide camera. As such, I was utterly unable to score, or even play, in the vertical mode.

Interestingly enough, I had a housemate who persevered with this mode for something like three seasons. When you bear in mind this can be 40 games or more, at ten minutes each, this is a substantial amount of time. Add to this the fact that he scored something like 2-3 goals in an entire season, and those goals were always tackling a defend, or hitting in a rebound.

So why play it? Why suffer this frankly atrocious gameplay? Because the idea is good enough. And since the idea is good enough, everything else is secondary.

So what difference has the normal camera made? I have given it a good few hours this week, and feel happy to pick it up every so often. It is quite brilliant. At times frustrating, yes. But the Master League is more frustrating in the sense that my team is too good for the mid level now. And the top level is simply too hard with the rubbish team given at the start. Perhaps starting on the hardest difficulty with Wolves is an apt balance?

In all of this is something that I read in PC gamer: that some games are best played on the easiest difficulty setting. So many games are about that this is, in some ways, the best (only) option for a busy teacher like myself. This time saving option has led to one new consideration: I play until I die three times at the same point. At the moment in Operation Flashpoint (which I do enjoy) I am dying at a similar point whilst assaulting a village in what must be the final mission of the campaign. With this in mind, I play until I die three times.

There are some games, too, that I want to give time to. This Christmas shall see to that...

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Gaming

I would like to make some points on gaming as they stand now. They only link in the sense that they are in my mind, and on my mind. There is not much else.

a) I recently stopped playing games, perhaps even for 3-4 weeks. When I logged onto steam, I simply saw a list of game names. For some reason, this did not make me want to play them. Having put my games into a new list, I have begun playing many old and new games. So, firstly, it seems clear to me that I need to reorganise my games. In fact, I am waiting with anticipation for when Steam allows organisation by tags, rather than by just category.

I also spoke with someone who spoke negatively of gaming. The arguments are clear: why should play stop when you hit 18? Why do I need to passively imbibe relaxation through a film/book/TV when I can play a game? Is there a media that is quite as immersive? And, the clearest point, does this matter to the person? Perhaps so, if they are potentially important. But, hey.

b) I purchased a new mouse today. I played CoD 4, and found that I completed a level on hardened without dying once. Normally I die dozens of times, inching my way through each one. Now I am able to headshot with much more accuracy. It lies next to me now flashing colours. How quite enjoyable!

c) Empire Total War requires much playing for not much reward. However, undoubtedly MUCH playing will give MUCH reward. The question to ask, though, is do I have the time to give much playing? Which brings me to my main thought at this time.

Do I have time to give to games? During the summer, I did not want to play games. I was too busy working. Is that a way to be? Are there times to play games, and times to not play games? This Xmas, for example, will be a time. Will it?

d) COD 7 is broken. It crashes, misses frames, has a cheesy story. It was full-price, and purchase on the recommendation of a friend. I did pop-culture, got burnt. I purchased it to purchase it. On the other hand, Company of Heroes is fantastic.

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FPS

FPS games have caught my attention over the past few months. Mostly because I don't have much time, and in doing so have found can offer an easy way to immerse myself in.

Have played - New Zealand Story, Amiga. Iconic game, classic music, just bloody weird.

Playing - Black Ops. Broken game, reasonable for a blockbuster, not worth the money.

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