We got a chance to have a sneak peek at the new title at an intimate screening in Edinburgh recently and as you would expect it is building up to be another special title. Sadly there was no hands-on time at this point but they did have an extensive demo of how the battles are shaping up.
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| A host stands in defence of the fortress at Kawagoe |
Shogun 2 is built on an evolution of the Empire engine, reworked to take into account the different battle mechanics of medieval Japan. This includes the return of night fighting with the addition of extra light sources to give the battlefields a more realistic feel. The weather effects have also been improved and they will have more of an impact on the battle than ever before.
The battle that they chose to show off some of the new mechanics was a modified take on the Battle of Kawagoe where an army of around 8000 defeated a superior force of 13,000 men at night. Creative Assembly took control of the smaller assaulting force to demonstrate the new game in action.
With a quick scan over the battlefield we can see the difference that the modifications to the engine have made to the look and feel of the real-time combat theatres. There are several fires burning over the field and the fortress behind the defending army is lit up with a separate light from each window. Even though it's raining a farmhouse burns fiercely behind the attacking army demonstrating the trail of destruction that they have left in their wake.
Before the battle begins we are treated to the return of the pre-battle speech. This time it was a rousing call to arms entirely in Japanese although, disappointingly the subtitles were cut off at the bottom of the screen by the projector. Still, it was good to see that one of the most entertaining parts of the game that was dropped for Empire and Napoleon has made its return in style.
At the front a regiment of foot mounted samurai make an initial charge, testing the defender's lines. After some tough fighting the attackers are routed and flee back to the safety of their own lines. It's not just the lighting and weather effects that have been updated here. The short skirmish shows that the AI is better than ever before with more and more soldiers behaving uniquely making the hand-to-hand fighting even more realistic than in Medieval 2.
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| The first skirmish - up close and personal |
The next move is to reposition the rest of the army for the main assault. Archers are moved to the front with the main bulk of the spear-armed infantry just behind them ready to receive the enemy's charge. As the archers move forward and ready their arrows, the enemy begins to move and their archers fire off a few volleys of flaming arrows. While the flaming arrows are not a new feature in themselves they are part of a new system of unit upgrades allowing you to improve the combat effectiveness of your units.
While the main army is moving and shooting one of the cavalry units is being moved around the left flank to get behind a regiment of archers to charge them from the rear. This proves to be a turning point in the battle. The enemy's mainline charges and the attackers are retreating behind the spear infantry who stand their ground impressively in the face of what could have been an overwhelming charge.
With the cavalry in position they hit the back of the archers on the enemy's flank at full gallop and rout them. The rest of the cavalry now join them in a position to hit the enemy's mainline from behind. The full force of cavalry move into position and come charging down the slope into the back of the enemy currently engaged with our infantry. The cavalry charge crashes into the enemy line and they are severely rattled. As they retreat the game ends in victory.
That wasn't the end of what they had to show us. In a last-minute addition to the screening the guys at Creative Assembly decided to show a brief snippet of what the naval battles will look like. For the first time in the Total War series, naval battles will be fought along the coastline, bringing land into the equation for sea battles. The other big change from the naval battles of Empire and Napoleon is that due to the lack of cannon, naval battles of the time played out much more like land battles with ships more like floating fortresses carrying different troop types like archers or infantry for boarding parties. They just showed a small part of a naval battle setup without any actual combat but it was enough to show that this will be a major change from the biggest-ship-wins combat in Empire.
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| Naval battles will be fully re-worked on Shogun 2 |
The other thing that the quick showing of the naval battles demonstrates is just how impressive the battlefield landscapes are in daylight. Shogun 2 will reflect the seasons as they are very important in Japanese culture. The coastline was dotted with cherry blossoms in full bloom. The petals fall like snow in a breathtaking display of just how far the graphical prowess of the series has come since Shogun: Total War arrived back in 2000.
This was a tight and impressive showing from Creative Assembly proving that after ten years of working on the same franchise their creativity and enthusiasm for making the best strategy games around has not dulled one bit. Shogun 2: Total War is sure to be yet another hit when it arrives on the PC in 2011.
Most Anticipated Feature: Shogun 2: Total War is more than just a pretty update. Look forward especially to an all-new more tactical style of naval battle.
