By Richard Cobbett on July 27th, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
That’s as in “A Row With Saints”, of course. You won’t see Johnny Gat downing a beer with Musashi in the new Total War: Shogun 2: Saints and Heroes Elite Unit Pack, as much as that would shake things up. Nor are there any latex nuns, unless they’re just hiding.
With this DLC pack, you will however get the likes of Tadakatsu’s Tetsubo Warriors (“As strong as Oni”), Hanzo’s Shadows (“Can climb walls very fast”), Gozen’s Hime Heroines (“Excellent morale”) and The Spears of Shizugatake (“Vulnerable to Yari and Naginata”) fighting for you on the battlefield. There may even be a trailer to show off what this looks like…
Things We Learned: Feudal Japan really liked going widescreen.
Saints and Heroes is out now on Steam for £1.99. I once again sigh deeply and retreat to continue envying people good enough at strategy to actually play these games.
27/07/2012 at 14:07 BobbyDylan says:
Mhe. I’m waiting for Rome II!
27/07/2012 at 14:11 MasterDex says:
As much as I love the Total War series, I can’t help but lament Creative Assembly’s DLC strategy of the last few years. I’m not going to moan and gripe too much. It’s there for people willing to pay. That’s all well and good.
I feel unloved by CA. Here I am with Shogun 2 and its generic units. I’ve enjoyed my time with it immensely. Yet the thing I felt most lacking about the game (the generic nature of the units) is fixed, but only so long as I’m willing to spend as much as I already spent buying the game.
I’m not begrudging CA their decision to release DLC but at the least, they could show some more compassion. Release a bunch of new units or whatever, but how about they also throw a small thank you towards those of us that can’t really afford to throw so much cash at the game every once in a while. If they did that, I might find myself more willing to purchase the DLC they release.
Here’s to hoping we’re not having to build Rome 2 piecemeal. If elephants or flying pigs are only available as paid-for DLC, then I’ll most certainly begrudge CA.
27/07/2012 at 14:25 Brosepholis says:
God forbid that an amoral corporate entity allow you to feel unloved. Do you expect to have a personal relationship with the people who make fairy liquid?
27/07/2012 at 16:27 MasterDex says:
Oh shit! Sorry man, I’ll remember in future to avoid using language creatively the next time I make a comment. Just. For. You. The last thing I want is some random stranger on a blog to think I genuinely want a corporation to love me or that they literally did bend me over backwards.
Again, I cannot express more profusely my deep, deep sorrow for having led you to believe such a thing. I do want to express my gratitude however for pointing out such a glaring flaw in my comment while ignoring its spirit. There is nothing I love more than a scathing remark from someone as thought provoking and opinion changing as your beautiful self.
27/07/2012 at 16:38 Grape says:
God, MasterDex sounds like a dumbass.
27/07/2012 at 16:48 MasterDex says:
Oh you! You’re making me blush! ;)
27/07/2012 at 14:27 ShowMeTheMonkey says:
I’m sure I remember reading that the reason Shogun 2 has generic units is that people complained there were too many crazy units in Medieval 2 and Empire.
As I think CA are awesome and that Total War games are some of the best value money-per hour games I own, I probably will buy to support them.
Also MasterDex there are only two unit packs for Shogun now (Jidai and Saints) and both are £1.99. So unless you paid £3.98 for Shogun 2 then it’s hardly cost the price of the game… I’m not counting the Hattori or Ikko Ikki because they are essentially the same and add very, very little.
27/07/2012 at 16:36 MasterDex says:
Sorry, I should have worded that part of my comment better. I was including all the DLC with the maths I was doing – Rise and Fall of the Samurai, Dragon Pack, Blood Pack, etc. I know they don’t all have new units but since Empire, it seems Creative Assembly has become more aggressive as far as DLC is concerned. I’m just worried that it’ll go even further with successive titles and I’d hate for that to happen because as much as I love the Total War series and Creative Assembly for creating it, I don’t think I’ll love it enough to pay $100+ to feel like I have the complete version.
Don’t get me wrong though, I still like the series and have heaps of respect for Creative Assembly. I’m just not a fan of the piecemeal gaming that seems to be affecting so many beloved games these days.
27/07/2012 at 16:41 gunny1993 says:
I would agree but unit packs don’t really add anything to the game (imo). I havn’t bought a single one and i never feel any kind of disadvantage when playing with my freinds online.
27/07/2012 at 16:51 MasterDex says:
That’s good to hear. I guess it boils down to an issue of perception rather than practice. I guess I’m just becoming old and grumpy. All these damn kids with their DLC’s and DRM’s! Back in my day, lad! I tell ya, back in my day, things were golden!
28/07/2012 at 20:29 Grygus says:
Rise and Fall are entirely new campaigns, though; I’m not sure it’s unprecedented to get what would have amounted to two expansions in pre-DLC times for a combined price of the original game.
27/07/2012 at 14:44 SexualHarassmentPanda says:
I’ve been able to pick up the DLC during the Steam sales for a respectable price. If you’d like to experience that content than that is a decent approach.
27/07/2012 at 16:38 MasterDex says:
True enough. That presents another problem however – having the funds on hand when the sales do arrive. I’ll say this though. If I knew CA would release a complete edition of the game, like they used to do in the past, I’d hold out for those and wouldn’t mind paying that little bit extra for one.
27/07/2012 at 14:48 thepaleking says:
“but how about they also throw a small thank you towards those of us that can’t really afford to throw so much cash at the game every once in a while. ” So they should thank you for not spending money. That makes sense.
If you enjoy the game so much you can stand to spend the price of a cheeseburger for some extra content, especially with so many getting the base game at incredibly low prices due to the prevalence of sales. I paid $2 for the blood pack and certainly don’t regret it.
27/07/2012 at 16:30 sinister agent says:
If you enjoy this burger so much, why can’t you throw in some extra money for the bap?
27/07/2012 at 16:45 MasterDex says:
I did spend money. I bought their game, the collectors edition of their game. Actually, I’ve bought the collectors edition of most of their games. But no, I don’t expect them to give me something free for all that support over the years. It sure would be nice though, and would certainly engender me more to their DLC strategy – as I believe I’ve said already.
Also, regardless of whether I love the game or not, that’s no measure of how much I can afford to throw at it. I don’t know your current financial situation but I can tell you that right now I don’t even have the cost of a cheeseburger, not even if I was to go to an ATM.
I’d say I’m shocked at the aggressive responses from a couple of people here today but frankly, it doesn’t surprise me at all. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS GAME THAT I LIKE EVEN THOUGH YOU STILL LIKE THE GAME THAT I LIKE?! SCREW YOU! Yup, that’s gamers for ya.
27/07/2012 at 20:20 VeliV says:
Compared to buying the whole game for 100€ upfront in a way that it would contain all DLC (and future DLC), I think this is a more reasonable way to go. DLC is a ripoff, but at least it’s optional.
27/07/2012 at 14:13 D3vilheart says:
I’d prefer a windows 8 patch
27/07/2012 at 14:44 thepaleking says:
Erm, you want to them to make a patch for an OS that isn’t even out?
27/07/2012 at 21:48 Navagon says:
It would take more than a patch to fix Windows 8.
Oh you mean the game? :P
27/07/2012 at 14:24 iniudan says:
I think I better build an Ark, for the Deluge that shall follow the sin of such title.
27/07/2012 at 16:41 Richard Cobbett says:
Wait until eight o’clock…
27/07/2012 at 20:35 iniudan says:
Sorry I don’t understand that expression.
And just in case, I was not trying to be insulting, was just a reference to it possibly opening a flooding of pun with that title, since there was already have a thematic with saint and hero, I just went for the mythological and theological reference.
27/07/2012 at 15:11 Cinnamon says:
The problem with heroes in Shogun 2 is that they cost a lot to field then get shot by very cheap gun units. So this sounds like a classy “pay to lose” set of downloadable content.
27/07/2012 at 16:01 gunny1993 says:
Well that’s proably the whole point behinde the fall of the samuri campaign isn’t it? I mean even the best armour of the period wouldn’t be much use against those types of guns.
Also charging expensive units at gun troops seems a bit silly.
27/07/2012 at 17:19 Cinnamon says:
So I need these units which are too impractical to use because?
27/07/2012 at 17:38 gunny1993 says:
lol they are practicle to use, if you use them correctly. My fave tactic for taking out large numbers of gunmen is to hide good troops behinde cheap troops and charge them in. Always works.
Also are these units only to be used with fall of the samuri? if not then there’s not really a problem.
27/07/2012 at 17:52 Cinnamon says:
Eh, I can beat people who are not that good and use builds that can’t react to predictable strategies as well.
27/07/2012 at 15:19 zaik says:
I like how the first three have a bonus of some sort of another and the last one is all penalties.
Someone really doesn’t like those guys.
27/07/2012 at 17:17 Fanbuoy says:
Are you saying that you have never thought to yourself: “Well, this unit seems very much suited to my needs, but I wish it was a bit more vulnerable to Yari and Naginata”? That happens to me at least once a week.
27/07/2012 at 15:46 MeestaNob says:
I wish they’d hurry up and announce Total War: 40K.
There is only TOTAL WARGHGHGHHGHH!
28/07/2012 at 00:38 Sheps says:
I feel the same was as MasterDex, except I’m not going to mince my words. Shogun 2 was a bore, plain and simple. There was no distinction between nations. Every region had the same boring units.
It wasn’t like Rome or Medieval where you had unique units for every faction. Instead they give you this porridge grey slush and then try to sell you some sugar on top. Empire was slightly better as you had Native Americans + Indians but the Europeans were almost identical.
I don’t want to say I’ve lost my faith in CA, but I’ve lost my faith in CA. Their games have been a bore ever since Sega took over as their publisher. It’s for this reason that I think Rome II isn’t going to live up to expectations, not that it ever could.
28/07/2012 at 02:01 derps says:
They’re all Japanese of course they are going to have the same units.
My only problem with the game is that you need the DLCs to feel like you have a complete game, otherwise you end up with everyone having the same army.
28/07/2012 at 00:56 Riaktion says:
Where were the sexual themes in that trailer? I don’t understand those warnings sometimes
28/07/2012 at 01:18 iniudan says:
The rating is for the game not the trailer, and the sexual theme is for some of the geisha assassination video.