Age of Empires II vs Shogun: Total War
Age of Empires II
Age of Empires II is, despite being a sequel, a classic real-time strategy game from the crtically-accalaimed game franchise, Age of Empires. The graphics in the game has been reworked to pull it up to level with modern graphics, but the content of the game is essentially the game. Choose one of 18 unique civilizations to play with and dominate the map by eliminating your enemies or by other means, depending on the goals of the match. You can even play the game with other players from all around the world on Steam via the game's multiplayer mode.If you enjoy classic real-time strategy, Age of Empires II is a game you wouldn't want to miss. It may not be the original "first" game, but since the revamped Age of Empires 1 has yet to arrive (1 more month to go), you might as well brush up on your skills by playing the sequel first!
Shogun: Total War
Shogun: Total War is the first original title in a legendary, 15-year (and counting), award-winning, real-time strategy game series that currently spanned across multiple themes and settings. However, this game is set in ancient Japan - 1542 to be exact - when the last shogunate collapsed and the entire nation is thrown into conflict as multiple daimyo (faction leaders) vie for the most powerful seat. To make things worst, Europeans have also ventured to island at this point, bringing guns, religion and disease - factors that you'll eventually have to deal with if you are to attain the people's support and conquer the whole of Japan.The gameplay in Shogun: Total War is akin to Rise of Nations in the sense that each battle is carried out in real-time, but moving your troops on the world map is pretty much turn-based (Risk-style). However, unlike the latter, the battle itself is purely consisted of the actual fighting rather than having you build a base and amassing resources and an army. Instead, Shogun lets you view the entire battlefield from any view you like and send commands to your troops as the battle unfolds. This is basically something that's unheard of until this game came along.
Shogun: Total War may be an old game by modern standards, and due to this, many players might simply opt for its sequel in order to have a taste of that this game has to offer. However, if you truly want to experience the very first of the Total War series, this is the game to play.