Grab your swords and get ready to force your foes into a shameful display, because famed strategy title Total War: Shogun 2 can be yours for free this week. Sega is participating in the #StayHomeSaveLives promotion, an informal, hashtag-driven campaign to give people a reason to minimize their time outside. And what better reason than uniting 16th-century Japan? According to the announcement on the official blog, Total War: Shogun 2 will be available to download for free from April 27, 2020 through May 1, 2020. The giveaway will also coincide with a sale on the historical Total War games set for the same period.
Developed by British studio The Creative Assembly, the core Total War franchise is characterized by a fusion of Civilization-style map development and turn-based movement and real-time field battles. Thousands of units can share the same map and screen, clashing in dramatic fashion.
Released in 2011, Total War: Shogun 2 was the first time developer The Creative Assembly had visited the historical Japanese setting since its very first release: 2000’s Shogun: Total War. Like the original, Shogun 2 puts players in control of a 16th-century Japanese clan during the Warring States period, charging them with uniting the country and becoming the titular shogun. With improved graphics, user interface, and design lessons from the previous ten years of Total War, Shogun 2 garnered critical acclaim. The game also received two expansions: Rise of the Samurai and Fall of the Samurai. Rise of the Samurai turned the clock back to the 10th century, during the Genpei Wars between the Minamoto and Taira clans, and an early milestone in the development of samurai warfare. Fall of the Samurai pushed the clock forward to the 19th century, as civil wars broke out over the modernizing reforms of Emperor Meiji. Armies of traditionally armed and armored samurai clashed with rifle-toting regiments mustered in the style of the western powers of the time. The Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai gives a fictionalized account of this period.
Total War: Shogun 2 will be available on PC via Steam from April 27 until May 1, 2020. Players that add the game to their libraries during the period will keep the base game forever.
