Hot new game alert: Shogun 2 scoring big reviews

March 14th, 2011

According to average review scores (91%), as cherry-picked by Metacritic:

• PC Gamer: It's a tighter, more focused experience than the continental sprawl of "Empire" and "Napoleon", sacrifices none of their intricacy, and brings improved AI to the battlefield. In the final count, it's consistently thrilling, grand in scope, surprisingly atmospheric, and bloody hard to put down.
• Game Informer: Less truly is more when it comes to Total War. Shogun 2, with a smaller scale and tighter focus, boasts the best gameplay and design of any entry in the franchise. I can't imagine a realistic way that The Creative Assembly could have made a better case to win back fans put off by Empire. 
• Meristation: Shogun 2 is like a melting pot for all the ideas, gameplay and concepts we've seen in the previous games of the Total War series. Its pillars are quite similar to Empire's, but this game has improvements in many areas, and the setting is so charming, that it feels like something unique.
• Strategy Informer: This is the most fully featured Total War to date, and a great homage to the game that launched the series.
• 3DJuegos: Shogun 2 isn't revolutionary, but it improves upon its previous Napoleon iteration. Its new focus helps give the game a little extra innovation, however the campaign feels limited.

Have you played Total War: Shogun 2? If so, what do you think of the game? [demo here]

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