Shogun 2: Total War

Shogun 2: Total War is being developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Saga. It is the latest game in the Total War series by Creative assembly. The game itself is a historical war simulation

Plot
The game is a direct sequel to the first game in the Total War series, the game picks up in 16th century Japan during the aftermath of the Onin War as you work to reunite the country under one unified ruler. Shogun 2 is about nine warring fiefdoms, the player then gets takes on the role of one of nine of these warlords, each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths.

Gameplay
Instead of being the impersonal force guiding the destiny of your faction, you'll actually play as a person who has to negotiate the treacheries and loyalties of family politics. One particularly novel development is the introduction of hero units based on mythologized historical figures like the warrior monk Benkei.

The game promises the "ultimate refinement of the original formula," combining a new AI and technical polish with the gameplay that made the first title so popular.

Hero units will make an appearance in the series for the first time, fighting alongside about 40 units that will all be upgradeable. Siege and naval battles will mix up the gameplay and Creative Assembly hints at more features, including a set of agents that "that uses a rock-paper-scissors mechanic,".

Campaign
For the main campaign, it will one turn per season, during this time the landscape will change dramatically from summer through winter to spring. There'll also be a family management mechanic involving your leader's offspring growing up, though specifics are still being ironed out. As for developing your important characters, Creative Assembly is saying you'll have more control over development since you can select which characteristics you'd like to equip.

Castle Invasion
Assaulting castles are more interesting in Shogun since Creative Assembly is making the structures more complicated. Instead of simply busting down an outer wall to infiltrate an area, there'll be a network of passageways inside the outer walls. In all there'll be three different castle types – those on land, on a coast, and near a mountain. There'll be five upgrade levels to each, it is expected to be 15 total castle type configurations to make things varied.

Naval Combat
The naval combat is a little simpler this time, as the early ships in Shogun 2 are controlled by oars and therefore can be moved more precisely. These ships tend to be more floating fortresses filled with archers and soldiers, there will be around 12 different types in the game.

Mulitplayer
the ideas for multiplayer include eight-player battles and personal avatars.

Release
Release dates (TBA) 2011