Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires

"What a dissapointment."

Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires

Intro-I'm a pretty big strategy fan, so when I first heard that a RTS game was coming out for the Nintendo DS, I was ecstatic. Better yet, it was about samurai. Could you get any better than that? The game was shaping up to look like a remake of Shogun: Total War for the PC, and I knew that was a great game so I really wanted to check this game out. Well, I finally got it and….it wasn't quite as good as I expected. The concept of feudal Japan is great for a strategy game, but the graphics, gameplay, and difficulty were under par of the usual Namco game. In fact, they were bordering on failure. While it had some good aspects, this game could have been way better.

Graphics-5 Graphics in this day and age make or break a game even more than gameplay does. When I saw the beta screen shots for this game in gaming magazines, I was really impressed. There were fully 3-D samurai warriors walking in ranks, killing people. Unfortunately, the graphics in the actual game seem to be a step down from some of the early screens. The samurai are pretty simple polygon figures shown in a top-down/isometric view that could have almost been done on the GBA. There animation is truly awful; you can hardly even see whether or not your troops are attacking or not. The landscape and terraforming are pretty bland, with the most interesting feature usually being a tree. Of course, this is just in combat mode. Shogun is divided into two main portions; overworld map movement and combat. But I'll get to that later. The graphics in the castle siege, horse chase, ship battle, and assassination are a little better. This is mostly because the characters are seen closer up and are seen from a side angle rather than top-down. However, this doesn't remedy the graphic mishaps of the rest of combat mode. Overworld map graphics are pretty bland. But of course, that's to be expected from a strategy game anyway, so that shouldn't faze you. It's the combat graphics that kill.

Story-3 There's a good reason that I gave such a bad rating to this game's story; mostly because it doesn't have one. OK, maybe that's a little harsh, but it's almost true. The shogun of Japan is dying, and he wants his two sons two unite the kingdom one last time before he passes on. The one who unites the empire first will be given the location of a powerful, demon slaying sword that can produce miracles. That's it. The story doesn't get any deeper, characters aren't revealed, there's not plot twist, nothing. Of course, a strategy game doesn't necessarily have to have a story; a backdrop is all it needs. But the game might actually have been better if there were no story and just a backdrop. The story sets you up for a long and involving game, and that just doesn't happen. Still, the story (or lack thereof) isn't really what kills Shogun.

Gameplay-2 This is where Shogun really kills itself. RTS games have, almost entirely, been solely effective on the PC. This is because of the fact that the mouse on the computer helps to involve characters more and helps them easily highlight and command troops. With the arrival of the DS however, that had the potential to change. Because of the DS's touch screen, and microphone, RTS games could be created that would fully involve players in the game, with voice control and easy highlighting for troops. Shogun takes advantage of both of these features, and this is probably where they failed the least. The highlighting control works pretty dang well, and it gives you the idea that RTS really has a place on the DS. The microphone on the other hand, doesn't work quite as well, and can cause slow down, but isn't that bad when you consider the rest of the gameplay. Gameplay is divided into two main sections; overworld map movement, and real-time combat. The overworld map movement is shown as a giant map of Japan, divided into territories, either yours, your enemies, bandits, or ronin. The players take turns moving chips that stand for armies in a Risk-like fashion. On your turn, you may choose to move one of your armies and invade enemy territory. You will then have one of several options, including Attack, Diplomacy, and Castle Siege among others. If you choose to attack, the second game mode will enact real time combat. If you choose, diplomacy, there is a chance you can take over a territory without losing your army. Castle siege will send you into a humiliating mini-game in which you try to shoot archers off the wall. Thankfully, you can choose to simply simulate combat and let chance decide whether you win or loose. It is certainly less painful to do so (for your brain that is). If you actually want to control your troops in battle, you're in for a huge bore. Your troops move with the speed of a slug, and there is almost no strategy involved in fighting. Also, you always have the same number and type of troops every time you go into battle. You cannot even bring more than one army onto the same territory. If you win a battle in real time combat, chances are you will have to chase the enemy general in a mini-game where you have to shoot arrows at him until he's dead. While the graphics aren't bad, the controls are sluggish, and it's nearly impossible to aim your bow. While we're on the mini-game topic, there is also castle siege, boat battle, and assassination. Castle siege and boat battle are basically the same. You have ballista and the enemy is firing arrows at you. You must use the touch screen to aim your ballista at the archers. This could have been moderately fun except that you can't really tell when you're hitting the enemy and when you're not. Assassination isn't that bad. An enemy ninja attacks, trying to kill your leader, and you have to try to fight him off. You use the touch screen to block fight and dodge. Another flaw in Shogun's gameplay is the difficulty level. There are only two levels, played from both of the brothers, the warrior and the diplomat. They are both easy to beat, so you would expect something more. But there's not. In conclusion, the gameplay in general really stinks, even though the overworld map isn't bad.

Sound-8 Sound is actually the thing that Shogun did best. The music fits the theme and sounds very oriental. It makes you feel like you're trekking thru a bamboo grove or something. The sound effects aren't bad either. The yells of your men tend to make you feel that even though your men are running like turtles, they're really running into battle. The only negative is, ironically, when you skip the battle animations and leave it to chance who wins. The sounds of men's innards being ripped out continuously is heard as the numbers stack up to see who wins. It just doesn't fit with the relatively non-violent action of the rest of the game.

Replay Value-2 While there is theoretic endless replay value in a RTS, this game doesn't have it. Since it's already a bad game, with pathetic action, and only two levels; you probably won't want to play it any more than you have too. However, if you think it's not a bad game, the replay value is endless. It could have been made better if there were difficulty settings.

Bottom Line-4 Unless you are obsessed with samurai, oriental music, crappy games, you don't want to get this game. Of course, that's just my opinion, and you're entitled to your own, but more than likely, you won't like this game.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/06