Sid Meier's Civilization IV vs Total War: Shogun 2
Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is the fourth installment of the incredibly-successful grand strategy franchise, Civilization. In addition to the many features that had made the previous games great, this iteration brings the series to greater heights by adding in multiple improvements and new features, including new ways to play and win, tools to manage and expand your civilization, easy-to-use and more extensive mod capabilities as well as much more exciting and intense multiplayer modes. The graphics are so much better than Civ 3 though, there are still some flaws in this version, namely the relationship between nations (AI-played nations seem to get angry at you pretty easily) and the happiness level in the regions you control. That aside, Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a pretty awesome and older game to play, especially if you enjoy a deeper gameplay. Give it a try!Total War: Shogun 2
Total War: Shogun 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the groundbreaking original game, Shogun: Total War. Set in the darkest age of Feudal Japan right after the collapse of a unified government (in 16th century to be exact), many warring clans have risen through the chaos and out of them, 10 legendary warlords, or Daimyos, have their eyes set on the coveted position of shogun, but only one of them will be able to reunite a warring island.The gameplay is pretty similar to the original game. The campaign map features a turn-based, Risk-style gameplay while the actual battles themselves (rendered in glorious 3D) are played out in real-time. However, this time around, the game is filled with a ton of new units, including massive warships, as well as a more in-depth strategic gameplay based on the ancient texts in Sun Tzu's Art of War. There are multi-stage sieges, unique hero units who can be improved through standard RPG methods, and that the campaign map is now in 3D as well and can be rotated whichever way you like.
The campaign in Total War: Shogun 2 can also be played cooperatively (2 players), but if you truly want to test your skills, you can engage in epic online battles with up to 8 other players.
This game does the very first Total War game justice and is the sort of game that fans of the series would greatly enjoy. Also, considering that the game came out more than 5 years ago, the graphics in the game is still pretty relevant today... so I guess, that's another bonus.