Shogun 2: Total War Announced, Features AI Based on Sun Tzu's “Art of War”

Posted 06/03/2010 at 2:54am | by Nathan Grayson

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Those of you with heaping doses of nostalgia for the Total War series' humble beginnings will be happy to hear that it's finally time to dust off your big, impractically ornate helmets and ride back out to battle. Napoleon? Who's that? Isolationism and civil war are where it's at.

In fact, Shogun 2: Total War aims to be a trip down memory lane in more than name alone. The nitpicky complexity of recent series entries has been scaled back, so as to keep the focus on quick-witted strategy and tactics. Gone are the bloated unit lists of Empire, and in their places are about 40 basic units that each perform unique functions.

Also of note: the game's AI is apparently cribbing notes from the one and only Sun Tzu. So if you've ever wanted to test your militaristic mettle against the man who wrote “The Art of War,” this is probably the closest you're ever gonna get.

And lest all this talk of “strategy” and “tactics” turn your red manly man blood down from a furious boil to a lukewarm simmer, keep in mind that we're not talking about glorified virtual chess here. Up to 56,000 units can duke it out at once in Shogun 2 – resulting in the biggest, messiest melees this side of Peter Jackson's take on “The Lord of The Rings.” Minus the tree people, of course. 

So far, no release date's been given. Creative Assembly's not leaving you completely empty-handed, however. Click through the link for a quick teaser trailer, which is hopefully meant to serve as a lead-up to next week's rumored E3 showing.