If you've played any of the more recent Total War games, you're likely to feel right at home with Fall of the Samurai. Here you'll get the same Shogun experience that made the original so memorable, with more powerful weapons to change the pace up brilliantly. The game tells a fictionalized version of the story of the West's arrival to the shores of Japan - the battles that ensued and as a result, the modernization of the nation. The best way to describe Fall of the Samurai is to bridge the gap between the previous games in the Total War series, and the Shogun titles. '.more powerful weapons to change the pace up brilliantly.' It may not be the deepest game in the series (come on, it's really just an expansion) but it's still one hell of an experience. I'm not too proud to say that I've eaten my shoe and that I was wrong - Fall of the Samurai takes what's great about the series and adds just enough to make it seem new, but still retain what so many fans love about the series. Total War Shogun 2 was nearly perfect in every way, and though I trusted Creative Assembly to know what they're doing with their franchise, but it seemed to add too much that it was tough to believe it could stay focused on what it does best. So you may be surprised how I went into the game's first standalone expansion - Fall of the Shogun I was worried. Flash forward a few years to Total War: Shogun, which set a new standard for the series. After an almost non-stop ten hour session with the game, I gave Empire: Total War a nearly perfect score and had a new favorite series. It was within my first year as a full time reviewer, and I knew little about it. The first time I played a Total War game was right here at Cheat Happens. It may not be the biggest game in the series, but it's still one of the best. While it is just a standalone expansion, so it's not quite as large as the previous games in Creative Assembly's long running series, there's still a lot here to love, and a lot here to dig into.įall of the Samurai takes the established formula and adds in some great new features. There were plenty of reasons to worry about this first standalone to one of the best strategy games, but Creative Assembly has managed to deliver one of the most deep and memorable experiences in the series. Creative Assembly has also done a great job easing new players in with a slew of helpful tutorials.

While the graphics engine is showing its age a bit, it's still miles ahead of most other strategy games on the market.

Fall of the samurai gameplay