Archive for September, 2011

As I’m sure you’re all undoubtedly aware (else we’re clearly not doing our jobs properly!), Rise of the Samurai is out TODAY on Steam. Keep checking your games list – it’ll be going live later this afternoon UK time.

In the run-up to this exciting day, we invited a very select group of some of the biggest TW fans we could find and let them go hands-on with Rise of the Samurai for a whole day. So rather than have us talk about the features in Rise of the Samurai any more, we thought we’d hand over the reigns to some of the chaps who attended.

First up, LionheartX10, who many of you will know from his excellent YouTube channel (and that spoof video of the Napoleon intro). He regularly posts on Total War Center, too.

We also had the inimitable Jackie Fish in the house. Both got to check out our brand new, swanky meeting rooms in the newly-fitted out downstairs floor here at CA towers. We’ll be posting a full tour of that jazzy floor in the coming weeks (except the top-secret bits), but in the meantime, enjoy Jackie’s video, below:

I promise myself and Will aren’t paid by the appearance for these things. If you’re keen to familiarise yourself with Rise of the Samurai, you could do a lot worse than checking out our trailer, below.

And if you’re quick, you might be able to bag yourself a Rise of the Samurai key on our official forums (sign up required).

We’ve announced a release date for Rise of the Samurai, so take out your calligraphy set, open your calendar and mark the date…  27th September!

Set 400 years before the Sengoku period depicted in Shogun 2, Rise of the Samurai pits you as the leader of one of six playable clans from the Taira, Minamoto and Fujiwara families. This conflict, the Gempei War, culminated in the first Shogun’s rise to power, and the consolidation of the Samurai as the ruling class.

The downloadable content brings with it a new campaign, which can be played in single and multiplayer modes. The six new clans bring with them their own unique traits, and between them will have sixteen new land units and ten new naval units.

On top of that, there are four new hero units, including the Tetsubo Warrior Monk Hero, armed with brutal studded clubs, and the deadly female Onna Bushi Heroine. There are also four new agent types, each with their own skill trees. From the seductress Shirabyoshi to the shrewd and zealous Junsatsushi Inspectors, each offers a new campaign experience.

What’s more, at the same time Rise of the Samurai is released, we’re also deploying a new patch. This will contain a huge number of fixes and feature upgrades, covering single and multiplayer gameplay. We’re already talking about some of these in our weekly update thread. Stay tuned to that for more as and when it’s confirmed.

So, in September you’ll be able to get your hands on:

Rise of the Samurai – downloadable campaign

• New campaign (The Gempei War)
• 6 new clans from 3 legendary families
• 16 new land units
• 10 new naval units
• 4 new hero units
• 4 new agent types
• 10 new mons, 10 new retainers

If you’re keen to see how Rise of the Samurai looks and plays, check out our trailer below, see the artistic changes to the new campaign map in our comparison video, or click through to see or part one of our Rise of the Samurai campaign diary (part two following today!).

 Rise of the Samurai is now available for pre-purchase on Steam.

Keen-eyed followers of upcoming DLC “Rise of the Samurai” may have noticed a few differences to the main Shogun 2 campaign map.

Our artists have been beavering away at crafting a different experience for the new campaign, which is set some 400 years before the main game. As well as tweaking elements of the terrain detail, they’ve also added a new skybox (effectively overhauling how the sky looks in the campaign).

They’ve also tweaked the sea, adjusting its appearance and tweaking the waves so they’re more visually-pleasing.

What’s more, there’s a lot more variety in the campaign map flora now, particularly when you see the seasonal changes. It’s atmospheric to say the least.

There are also tweaks to the shoreline, rivers, borders and particle effects.  UI elements on the campaign have also been tidied, so distant settlement names are now ‘fogged out’. That leads to a less cluttered appearance to the map.

Minimum-spec machines will also receive a nice visual boost. Fog has been optimised and enabled for lower-end machines.  That will be the case for the core Shogun 2 game, also. Lighting has also been tweaked, and tree rendering improved.

As lovely as all of this sounds, there are gameplay reasons for it too. Impassable forests are now much easier to discern from forests you can hide in, and there’s a clearer delineation between various strategic elements of the map.

But don’t take our word for it – check out the lovingly-crafted comparison video above, which demonstrates the changes between the standard map and the new Rise of the Samurai campaign map.

The screens, however beautiful, still don’t do the new campaign map justice. In motion, as you’re flying over the terrain, it looks even lovelier – you’ll be able to find out for yourself sometime this month when it’s released (watch this space for the release date).

Until then, enjoy the video (which you can see half-way up this page). Let us know what you think of the changes in the comments below!

Rise of the Samurai is out in September. You can pre-purchase today by visiting: http://store.steampowered.com/app/34344/