In a land, with it’s civilization spanning back thousands of years, dictated by the honour and strength of both it’s people and it’s warriors in peace and war, how does one combat something so devastating and final as a firearm? In Shogun 2′s latest expansion Fall of the Samurai, you’ll soon find that the way of the Samurai quickly crumbles when guns get involved…
Taking place in the infamous Boshin War, FOTS sees players take on the role of either one of the three ruling Shogunate factions, stuck in the old ways and distrusting of the western powers, or instead embracing the west and it’s technologies as the three new Imperialist factions. You would expect the choice to be a no brainer really with the Imperials getting the newest in high tech rifles and cannons as well as being able to hire in foreign forces to help them shove Japan into a new age but it’s not that simple. Each of the six clans gets it’s own unique traits and playstyle, much like in Shogun 2, with the Imperials relying more on a show of force while the traditional Shogunate clans are forced to adopt both stealth and guerilla warfare to stay on top.
Interesting, and also quite disappointing too, is the new tech tree. The same for both factions, it incorporates a new mechanic called ‘Modernisation’ which, while granting you nice shiny new toys to play with also makes your people unhappy meaning that in order to thrive you’ve got to appease the people. While not a hard feat in itself it’s made harder for the Shogunate forces who don’t directly benefit from many of the tech choices. Since Shogunate forces tend to get a bonus to traditional troops such as bowman and straight up samurai from their clan bonuses, with your efforts to avoid modernisation giving them experience bonuses too, it’s hard not to follow the tech tree if you want to stay in league with the Imperials. Of course this gives the sense of Japan being rushed into the modern age, pushing aside the Samurai but it would have been nice to have some more tech that didn’t directly affect the modernisation and instead helped out the traditional units.
Which is where the use of the new troop types comes in. Instead of just a single infantry or cavalry producing building you’re now presented with two choices. Either embrace the western world and build a modern barracks, able to pump out riflemen and sharpshooters in droves or stick with the traditional dojo and overwhelm the enemy with leagues of banzi charging samurai and bowmen. It’s a hard choice to make, with the traditionalist and imperialist forces getting their own bonuses and playstyles to play with for each. As you can guess, playing the Shogunate forces isn’t for the faint hearted as it involves a lot of micromanaging in both the campaign map to keep your populace happy as well as on the battlefield to keep troop morale up in the face of enemy rifle squads. Another major addition is that of naval bombardments, taking place either on the campaign map to soften up towns or armies close to shore, or allowing you to call in an off map artillery strike in a battle itself. This in itself gives a whole new purpose to naval clans, actually giving clans a reason to maintain a sizeable navy compared to other Total War instalments where a faction could usually survive on a good army alone.
This is what makes FOTS so interesting. The last time firearms came into play in such force was in Empire Total War where all nations had similar troop types. With FOTS, you’ll need to adapt your tactics, whichever side you choose, in order to win. With these changes on the battlefield come even more on the campaign map. Being set in such a short period of time, each turn lasts only 2 weeks, meaning seasons only change every 6 turns. This can mean long winters, delaying attacks from both enemies and yourself as attrition kicks in. Another major change comes with the removal of the religion system, being replaced with a simpler Pro-Shogunate or Pro-Imperial system instead. It works in much the same way as religion, with the populace being opposed to your faction if they don’t think the same way.
Overall these changes in both setting and gameplay add masses of entertainment to an already great game. The change in tactics, the new unit types and the added challenges they impose feel like an entirely new game. If you loved Shogun 2 but want a new challenge to sink your hours into, Fall of the Samurai delivers where it counts and then some. Domo arigato, Mr Creative Assembly, delivering a fantastic expansion pack with all the polish and content of a full game. This is how expansion packs should be made…
