Mount & Blade: Warband vs Total War: Shogun 2
Mount & Blade: Warband
Mount & Blade: Warband is hailed as one of the best installments in the Mount & Blade game franchise. This time around, you play as an aspiring leader who has his sights aimed at the currently vacant throne of Calradia. Assemble your army of battle-hardened warriors and dive into the fray as you battle your way up to what you want! The game brings realism to medieval battlefields with a ton of improvements, ranging from the ability to turn thrown weapons into a make-shift close combat weapon when the enemy gets too close to the ability to pick up projectiles off the ground to be used as extra munitions. There plenty of new features as well. You can now marry a lady for political gain or simply because you like her; grant lands to your companions, turning them into your vassals; as well as its incredible multiplayer battles that support up to 64 players and has varying modes. The game's multiplayer aspect is also very well-balanced, so that players will be able to fight each other on a somewhat equal footing.Mount & Blade: Warband is the epitome of the Mount & Blade series and honestly, if you're a fan or even a newcomer looking to give the series a try, this is definitely the game to get. The game is available on both PC and consoles (PlayStation and Xbox).
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.