Like playing chess with your grandpa only with Chinese soldiers slaughtering each other!!!
The 1st thing u do is pick a kingdom from the available 3 Shu,Wei and Wu and the storyline is different for each one with different starting points/generals etc. and from there u set out on a road of conquest and battle!......with some strategy as well.
U start on a shogun total war-ish map where u decide where to place your brigades and diplomats etc. also recruting local talent and other things too!
The map is quite fun with you searching for generals to recruit and racing to get there before your opponend gets there!
The gameplay is basically u make a Brigade of 4-8 generals and u and your enemy start at different sides of the battlefield with u edging closer/casting spells etc. and eventually u lock in mortal combat!
From there u can just attack or maybe perform a strategic maneuvere or whatever takes ur fancy.
The graphics are very slender and smooth with nice art and animation in the FMV sequences which there are many as the story branches to and frow.
The music is your bog-standard uplifting Orchestral score.
Overall a great little strat game that with patience comes rewards in large quantity.