Dear Creative Assembly:

I want to start by saying that the Total War series is the best strategy series that I'm aware exists. Shogun 2 and S2: Fall of the Samurai are really, really impressive. I'm especially happy with S2: FotS. The improvements are so that it ALMOST feels like a whole new game. I just have one request -not a complaint mind you, but a request: please stop re-releasing newer, better versions of old games. I absolutely loved Rome Total War, but please do not release a newer better version of it. Please keep it moving forward. Please make your next game about the fall of the old empires, i.e. World War 1. You could even set the technology to be turn-of-the-last-century at the beginning of a campaign mode, then have it developable (is that a word?) into WW1 tech, then maxing out at technology equal to what would've been available circa 1950. From bolt action rifles and bi-planes to early fighter jets and the atomic bomb.

That. Would. Be. Awesome. And I can't imagine a scenario where I WOULDN'T be playing that game, job and wife be damned.

I'm probably just kidding about that last bit.… Expand

An excellent expansion.Diplomacy and Naval elements are much improved.The new,modern era is a good setting.The campaign map,though more realistic,is a major downfall for me. I really,really prefer the original.However,if you loved the original,you'll love this as much as I do.

I'll get out of the way the fact that I have no interest at all in this late, industrialized period of Japanese history, and move on to how much I still absolutely love this game. The technological advances not only add more units and building options, but actually create a wonderfully immersing backdrop for an already heady, atmospheric campaign. Choose to side with the Emperor or Shogun in a time of political and martial upheaval, and decide to try and maintain the traditional approach to warfare or embrace the new. The added units make ranged combat the order of the day, and with the addition of powerful artillery and naval support create a very engrossing battlefield experience. The campaign map is much bigger than Shogun 2, and looks more detailed with the railroads and surging industry of towns as they grow. The AI is good (although still able to be outwitted fairly easily) and for the most part it runs well without errors. Ignoring Sega's absolutely criminal approach to DLC (which does not affect the quality of the game in itself), I recommend it highly to strategy fans, irregardless of previous Total War experience.… Expand

One of the greatest expansions of the Total War series, in my opinion. It fixes a lot of the 'faults' of Shogun 2 with the two different unit-compositions (modern vs traditional), which makes the armies feel diverse and interesting. Also brings up a lot of new tactics if you want to be successful (especially with the modern armies). The navy aspect has gotten a new and improved aspect with the bombardment. This is great as it makes navies important as never before. The navy battles are also improved compared to Shogun 2, but that might just be the guns.. There are now multiple ways to win the game, as everybody does not turn on you in the end (if you choose to support the common cause), but you can also go the total war-style (war with everyone) if you like. The expansion supports (multiplayer)battles with the original Shogun 2 armies and that is also great fun. I think they have balanced the games pretty well against each other. The only complaint I have is the tendency of the modern units to bug when they shuffle into lines after getting shot. This makes the unit unable to fire in the meantime and while under fire, even more troops will die which equals to even more shuffling.. Oh well, still love this expansion and you should go buy and game it!… Expand

More annual shovelware from Creative Assembly. Full of bugs, low level of support from the appalling developers and no mod tools. No mod tools means no longevity. You will be bored of this game after 2 months but that is part of the plan so you buy their next dumbed down piece of crap which releases in about a years time. The only Total War games you need are Rome and Medieval 2. The rest are **** and the developers are morons. I hope and pray for the day when someone brings a decent Total War competitor. Either that or when Creative Assembly crashes and burns.… Expand

Definitely enjoyable, a very good expansion to the original game. I personally enjoy the setting of a civil war situation in the campaign, and the choice between modernising and traditionalism, the latter, ironically being the more challenging play style. I did think, however, that because of the setting, unlike any other total war game i've played, you often get squeezed for choice of enemies since everyone fights either for the shogunate or for the emperor, narrowing your choice of enemies, conquests and your prospects of success. It doesn't quite seem like the domination-style gameplay of other total war campaigns, rather it feels co-operative and coalition-style. Particularly true in this instance is the idea that having more allies (which you inevitably will have) will not actually improve the game's progress, rather it seems that it hinders your progress and interest since you have less to fight and take over.
I did, however, particularly like the modernisation system. I like the choice between becoming an advanced, europe-esque clan, and fighting against modernism across your campaign in an effort to remain traditional; I love the feel of the old japanese order colliding with the new.
Then there's battles; Graphics don't have to be on highest settings to thoroughly enjoy this aspect. My fairly low-Spec PC runs Shogun 2 on low settings with an excellent performance and it doesn't look at all bad; i found this runs better than Napoleon TW on my PC
Definitely worth the money , i'd say, i mark this highly for its in-depth coverage of the boshin war period and the conflict between old and new, and would mark this down purely because of the restriction of the number of opponents faced in campaign. Ultimately, excellent game.… Expand

It is difficult to overstate how pleased I am with this expansion. The shogun/emperor divide even at the start adds some much needed diversity in units. Bombardment from navies is a great addition. The only complaint I could have is the scope still only encompasses Japan, albeit with some new territories. If you've ever enjoyed a total war game, this will undoubtedly provide you with many hours of entertainment,… Expand

This is what an expansion should be like. Fall of the Samurai is set in the middle of the 19th century, and has new and interesting tech trees, building chains, and units. Even the map has been remade and feels much larger. One of the new features is the ability to call in off-map artillery support from nearby ships - they're finally good for something besides protecting your trade lanes. The conflict between new ideas and traditional values, briefly touched upon in the previous games, is genuinely interesting and is central to the game. The only complaint I can really acknowledge is that if you found the line combat of Empire or Napoleon sort of boring, you might feel the same way about FotS... though you have the option of using samurai to chop up the foreign devils.… Expand

After having played nearly all of the Total war titles I got to say I don't care for these kind of total war games. I just don't like having guns in Total War at all Empire/Napoleon/FoTS. The Campaign is decent especially compared to the original Shogun 2 campaign. Also I noticed someone else said something about a Total War title of WW1 or WW2 which in my opinion is something I wouldn't buy for more than $10. (I would rate this lower, but this is more of my opinion of guns and the Total War series) I am also highly unsure whether the traditional style of playing Total War games (aka Troop Grouping/movement) would work well at all for anything passed the 1800s.… Expand

GREAT GAME a few amal bugs but over all deef worth the money aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

For some unknown reason i got this early 1-day-early, but as a DLC for SHOGUN 2. Classic Total War pure win game - 10/10. Absoutely worth its' price, i got it for 15$ in Russia.

You Like Shogun 2 ? You Thought Empire/Napoleon sucked? Try Fall of the Samurai!
Total War at it's Best! 10/10! Great Work Total war team!

Awesome game, best of the total war series. I didn't like the setting in the samurai era, but the game is still great. Only bad thing i've found is that now years are dived in many turns (due to the setting) and because of this it's difficult to have a long "dinasty" like in other total war games. The last bad thing is that on a high end pc WITHOUT a SSD the loadings screen takes long (better than Shogun 2 anyway)… Expand

Creative Assembly pulls it off a again with an awesome expansion. Yes there are some bugs and gattling guns are kinda of overpowered but with all the new units and the new way's to attack and move make this excellent. This also the most beautiful Strategy Game I have ever played from the unit details to the city battles. The railroad system is very nice as it's very expensive to make but almost invaluable once it is complete. offshore naval bombardment makes your navy extremely dangerous during sieges and can also pester troops. there are a lot of changes to many to list (like 80 unit battles). This is a must have for any total war fan scratch that any strategy fan.… Expand

Singleplayer is unrivaled. Multiplayer is a prototype that probably won't be good enough until the next completely new TW game.
The potential of the multiplayer is huge, though. The developers have some neat ideas and they are willing to experiment. Sadly that potential is lost in The Creative Assembly's inability to effectively patch and balance the experience. Replay's have been broken for almost 6 months, and nothing is done about it. The problem was apparently even carried over to this "stand alone expansion".
Since I play this series for nothing but the multiplayer, I guess I should rate this very, very low. It has nothing like the balance from NTW or ETW, and lacks the cultural variety from RTW and MTW. In those games every faction felt unique and fun to play. Picking the Ottomans required a different play style altogether compared to when one controlled a French army. But all the Japanese factions are the same, sadly.
So, no. This game is not for me. Give me RTW2 or ETW2 and I will be more than interested. But Japan is just to small and culturally monotonous to feel interesting after some hours have been spent with it.
However, since I do have to acknowledge that the single player is extremely immersive and well made, I won't claim that Fall of the Samurai is pure and utter garbage. It is bi-polar. Half is really, really good. Brilliant, almost. But the other half is in its current state garbage.… Expand

Although released with some bugs, just like every other game in the series, it's still a lot of fun. The visuals are stunning and the game-play is improved once again. Total War seems to be a series that constantly improves.

AMAZING!

This is a perfect Expansion for shogun 2 and it does so many things so much better!
Many that i knew thought it would be like empire Total war but in E:TW the line infantry was very very boring and the fights were not fun to watch because of the mega slow reload time and boring melee...
But this is so much more fast paced the shoot way faster and can really cut down the enemy if you handle them right! But i just have to tell you that it's not like i first thought it would be... i thought it would be Samurai VS "the modern era armies" (with guns and stuff) but no, you choose a clan that either supports the shogun or the emperor and both sides have the modern technology but i guess that makes it more fair.
I really have nothing to complain about.… Expand

The original one was awesome, this one is the best. It adds so much to the original game. I've played the original but this is an entirely new experience. Absolutely recommended. Go get it!!

If you enjoyed Shogun 2 you can't go wrong with this one. The improvements are awesome: naval battles are much more fun and much faster, infantry combat has been tweaked and the ability to call in off-map artillery NEVER gets old + you can take direct control of your on-map artillery. New research tree is great as well as the new agents. Religion has been replaced by loyalty of the people either to the Shogun of to the Emperor. Overall it is a great game for veterans and novices alike !… Expand

Fantastic game. Excellent value for money. Proper pc game. Lots of depth, amazing graphics. Excellent multiplayer. Buy this and not some crappy console ported game. This is a proper pc game.

Apart from some stability issues (especially on HD 7xxx cards) and the bugged AA, it's a great add-on and definitely worth the money. For the low price it's a highly recommended buy.

Nice game but it seems very much like the 1st one but with some flashy weapons/units.
It really should have been an DLC pack.
Sadly I'm already bored of Japan (No offence to the country), Total War needs a fresh feel, maybe WW1 or 2.
Game play is fun, graphics are great, but overall it's "more of the same".

Mannnn dis' da **** you got yo flashy graphics and yo crazy gameplay mechanics this game will always satisfy a brotha the story line is cool to! you got your **** shoguns and **** then the rebels who have the europeans! its like Hunger games all again! execpt this be better because hunger games copied the history books yo

This is an expansion, but yet it is like a whole new game. Everything is remade, the one thing that remains the same is in the interface, some of the maps and the graphics. I have enjoyed the game ever since the beta started, but it is first now that I have felt that I have enough knowledge of the game, to actually write a review. The campaign is really fun, and while the map stays the same and the mechanics haven't change completely from shogun 2, it is still very solid game play, and having already completed one campaign I haven't had any problems yet. It was fun, the AI was good, and the new time the game was set in made it feel brand new for me to play. It had no problems that I found, and was absolutely stellar. If you enjoy the campaign in Shogun 2 you should definitely try this one as well. I don't know if the sinc bug is in this one as well, but I hope they fixed it so you can play more than 100 turns with friends ^^.

The multiplayer is the aspect of the game that I have looked forward to the most. With a rank… Expand

This is by far the best Total War title to date. Multi-player runs perfect and the additional units add so much to the Shogun 2 title that it's made me want to start playing it again. The graphics and smoothness of the game are great. Fall of the Samurai is worth every penny.

Total War: Shogun 2 best strategy. DLC Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai very interested and new story me love. I play in Total War: Shogun 2 for 80 hours and i going play in Total War: Shogun 2 many many hours.

TW just gets better and better. If you've played the earlier titles like Rome and Empire, you will be shocked by how far this series has come. The new units and mechanics comepletely change the feeling of the game. Infantry is so fragile now that you really need to change your tactics - if you don't like wasting soldiers that is.
With a game this complex you normally have to wait for a couple of patches, but I had a smooth ride so far. Only the download took forever.
My only real complaint is that morally I feel inclined to prevent the western culture and technology from spreading through Japan, while those new influences are actually the most fun and powerful part of the game. I'm playing the battles thinking "I order to defeat it, I need to become it first". Anyone else feel like that?… Expand

Another fantastic addition to the series with every little bit changing the gameplay dramatically. Still offers many different effective strategies for every play style.