Mount & Blade: Warband vs Shogun: Total War
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).
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.