Date Released: 3 September, 2013 Date Reviewed: 1 October, 2013 Players: 2-8 Length: 20 minutes Replayability: None
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Introduction
SEGA’s Total War: ROME II has recently released for the Personal Computer (PC). Developed by The Creative Assembly (CA) in the UK, the game is set to be one of the biggest PC game releases from SEGA. Combing both real-time battles and sieges – both on land and on sea – and turned-based campaign strategy, the game offers the most grand and expansive Total War experience to date. Continue below to see how the game fared.
Date Released: Winter 2012 for most versions Date Reviewed: February 17, 2013 Genre: 3D Party Racer Players: 1-4 players locally (up to 5 on Wii U), 10 online Length: 3-30 minutes per event, 12-25 hours to unlock all content Replayability: High
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Introduction
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to 2010’s crossover party racer Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Not simply a basic sequel, the game focuses around the concept of vehicles that change during the race to traverse over land, water and the sky with a few courses that even head through lava or outer space. Presented as kid-friendly but designed to be enjoyable for all ages, Transformed is a quality racer for fans of SEGA and the genre. Difficult but not unfair, the game succeeds in making a unique and fun game for groups online or off, but somewhat sloppy direction and awkward marketing attempts keep it from becoming a true classic.
SEGA’s developer The Creative Assembly has teamed up with Games Workshop to develop video games based on the popular series Warhammer. The Warhammer series features fantasy settings and themes such as orcs, elves, goblins, and so on in a dark and gritty manner, noted as being similar to The Lord of the Rings mixed with Early Modern Germany. The Creative Assembly is mostly known for its tactical and strategy series Total War, in addition to action games featuring large-scale battles, such as in 2008’s Viking: Battle for Asgard.
An entirely new team within The Creative Assembly has been tasked to create multiple games based on Warhammer, which will not delay the progress of Total War, mobile, or action-console games currently being developed by The Creative Assembly.
SEGA have announced four upcoming novels based on their popular Total War combat simulation franchise. The first book is set for an October 2013 release, which is supposed to be around the time the game Total War: Rome II is released itself. Interestingly, it was revealed that Pan Macmillian and Thomas Dunne Books teamed up to beat out eight other publishers for the book deal.
The author of the upcoming four titles is novelist David Gibbins, whom is best known for his work on archaeological thrillers based on the life of the fictional character Jack Howard, a series which has sold in the multi-millions. Also an archaeologist in his personal life, he will work closely with SEGA and The Creative Assembly in assuring continuity with Total War: Rome II.
It was also revealed that the game itself will inform players of the release of each novel when they are released.
Total War Battles: SHOGUN, Creative Assembly’s real-time strategy that was released for mobile earlier this year, is now available on Steam for PC and Mac. This new release retains the deep and intricate strategy the series is known for while also bringing all of the mechanics and features unique to the mobile version to the PC for the very first time, including the game’s new grid-based control method, skirmish mode, scalable difficulty setting, and its extensive learning tools and tutorial to assist players new to the series or to the world of real-time strategy. This new version boasts improved visuals and performance and also includes additional graphical options including anti-aliasing and increased resolution size. Several exclusive features are also included, such as achievements and an online leaderboard.
It’s worth noting, however, that there is a light difference in price, with this version costing $7.99 compared to the $4.99 price of the iOS and Android versions. Also, purchasing the game on Steam will unlock the Sendai Faction Pack for owners of Total War: Shogun 2 — Fall of the Samurai.
SEGA have announced Total War: Rome II, their next title in the incredibly popular Total War franchise by The Creative Assembly. Taking place during the Third Punic War (149 BC – 146 BC), players take control of humanity’s first superpower and create a strong republic or become Rome’s sole dictator, all whilst the possibility of greed and corruption can skew what occurs in the war. Several new features include the ability to combine land and naval battles into one and also an option to view individual warrior perspectives.
The game will not be the largest scale game in the series, but it will be using the biggest budget that the franchise has ever seen in a singular title. Although it will be the best game in the series graphically, scaling options will be more detailed than ever before, so that even laptops will be able to handle the title. Total War: Rome II will be available at retail and digital download exclusively to PC sometime in 2013.
The latest entry in SEGA’s highly touted real-time strategy series, Total War Battles: SHOGUN, is now available on the Apple Store for all touch-compatible iOS devices.
Developed by the Creative Assembly, well known for their work on the award-winning Total War series, Total War Battles: SHOGUN brings several new and interesting features to the series’ first portable outing, with a new control scheme specifically designed for touchscreen devices, a brand new campaign, and local multiplayer with up to two players. Gameplay in Total War Battles: SHOGUN should be familiar to series veterans, with much of the deep and intricate strategy of its predecessors remaining intact, though special attention has been made to make the game more accessible to newcomers, with a comprehensive tutorial, scalable difficulty setting, and a hint system to help new players along. The Creative Assembly has said that development of the title is ongoing, and players should expect new content and features for the game in the near future. An Android version is also in development and should be expected soon, according to the game’s official website.
You can watch the game’s launch trailer right after the break.
Last week, news from SEGA of America broke that saw numerous members of staff fired, games canceled and a general downsizing of the entire branch of SEGA of America. Initially, rumors ran rampant and confused a large amount of fans across the globe, the worst of which was that the entire United States branch of SEGA had completely shut down, which of course is not the case.
Immediate reconstruction has taken place going into their new fiscal year. They expect a net loss of ¥7.1 billion ($86.4 million) as part of the reform and news of this dropped their entire company’s stock 4%. However, the day after their stock rose 5% and is showing signs of continual growth.
After the break I discuss the potential cancellations, their effects, observe the negatives and positives of the change and attempt to discover if SEGA truly is in trouble or if the downsizing is the start of a brilliant strategy. The rest of the post should be taken as speculation from a dedicated fan of the company and game industry as a whole and not as a financial advisor.
Out of respect of those whom lost their jobs, any subjects around them will not be mentioned at all.
It was announced today parent company SEGA Sammy Holdings that SEGA’s USA and European divisions will undergo immediate reconstruction heading into this fiscal year, with an expected net loss of ¥7.1 billion ($86.4 million) as part of the reform. The reform also entails the cancellation of several as of yet unnamed titles and layoffs across both divisions, though it was noted that strong IPs such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Football Manager, Total War, the licensed Aliens film franchise, and possibly others will not be subject to any major changes or cancellations. These changes come as a result of the company’s desire to “create a smaller company positioned for sustained profitability”, by streamlining it’s current divisions and showing greater focus on digital content going forward.
After the jump, you can read the SEGA’s official statement on the matter.
Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is now available in North American, European and Australian markets on PC for both digital and retail platforms at MSRP 29.99 USD. Digitally it is available on Steam and SEGA’s online store, with the SEGA online version featuring its own unique clan. The Steam version will also being available in a special edition for 34.99 USD, which features a digital sound track and another unique clan. A retail version is available as well, which features yet another unique clan (for a total of three) as well as a two-sided poster.
As SEGA’s latest entry in the Total War series, the game directly proceeds Total War: Shogun 2. It’s theme covers Japan’s violent transition from feudalism to modernity, focusing heavily on interactions between Japan and foreign nations – most notably the military technology they offer. Many new elements are brought to the series, such as harbour sieges.
Although typically labeled as an expansion pack on most websites, the game is considered it’s own unique release that does require the base game of Total War: Shogun 2, similarly to the 2010 release of Napoleon: Total War.
The SEGA Source 