A fantastic battle system coupled with a mediocre campaign game can still equal a fantastic game.
Gameplay: The battle portions of the game are captivating. The controls really help you get into the action. The strategic game suffers from some minor oversights.
Graphics: The environments are truly remarkable but the sprite-based characters are a little blocky. Nice interface for the campaign map and the throne room.
Sound: The sounds of the battle are impressive with lots of shouting and clanking. The music is also well done and suitably stirring.
Value: It takes a long time to conquer Japan...a very long time. The battle editor is very flexible and lets you create battles of any size.
Tilt: Shogun is a remarkable game and definitely worth getting. So many historical wargames are inaccessible to the casual gamer. They're usually so complex that only hardcore grognards have the patience and understanding to get anything out of them. Shogun is the exception. It proves that a wargame can adhere to standards of realism and fun. It's a great change of pace from the genre's usual offering of Civil War or Second World War games. Hopefully it will convince more developers that you can make an alternative strategy game without having to rely on fantasy or science-fiction type settings.