17 Years of Total War

This week we’re celebrating a massive 17 YEAR anniversary of the birth of Total War! Way back in the year 2000, on the 13th of June, Creative Assembly released their breakout title in Shogun: Total War. It was a revolutionary blend of turn based, empire building strategy and real-time, detailed battles with hundreds of men. The game focused on the rich and fascinating period of Japanese feudal history known as the Sengoku period which would later be revisited in Total War: Shogun 2.

In June of 2000, Elliott Chin had this to say for Gamespot-

“Shogun has a great subject, and a perfect melding of strategic and tactical gameplay. The strategy portion is simple but very engrossing, while the tactical battles are very realistic, challenging, and entertaining exercises in military tactics. Shogun is a difficult game even on the default setting – but what’s so great is that the challenge is grounded on the basic, real-world tenets and common wisdom of warfare. Spreading yourself too thin is an invitation for disaster; alliances cannot be trusted for long; feigning weakness is one of the few ways to goad your opponents to overextend themselves; and so on. When you get beaten in battle or outmaneuvered on the strategic map, in hindsight it’ll be clear to you why you lost and thus easier for you to figure out how to do better the next time. Shogun is a very enjoyable game, as it keeps you honest by punishing you for your mistakes and richly rewarding you for your well-thought-out successes.”

Since its first release, Total War has explored interesting periods throughout history, gone through countless hours of work and evolved into something truly amazing. Take a look through the history of Total War in this collection of photos from all of our games!