Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 298 sampled Steam reviews (282 positive / 16 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Visuals & art5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Multiplayer & servers25% mention it
- Difficulty & balance19% mention it
- Bugs & crashes19% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
90%
20 reviews
5-15h
90%
40 reviews
15-40h
94%
63 reviews
40-100h
95%
58 reviews
100h+
97%
117 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 90 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 90 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 86 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 87 | 27 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 96% | 91 | 88 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 250 reviews sampled · 191 total reviews in window · weighted 193.9 up / 8.1 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (60)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 90
“Shogun 2 is the best installment in the Total War series. Well-known patterns, due to many years of evolution and constant introduction of new elements, have reached their peak in Creative Assembly's new creation. Even though the game isn't perfect, I have to admit, I had enormous fun with it. The newest Total War's force of attraction is astounding.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“It's the ideal example of evolution trumping revolution in creating great video games.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“This is the most fully featured Total War to date, and a great homage to the game that launched the series.”
read full review ↗ - 93
“While it stuck to what Empire: Total War did and didn't come up with a lot of new things, it was still a lot of fun to play. If you have the dough, you should pick this up.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Either playing solo, with friends or against them, Shogun 2 is the pinnacle of the Total War series. This is how you pay homage to a brilliant game that started a franchise, and I wouldn't be upset after seeing what the developer has done here if we saw remakes of Rome or even another Medieval Total War.”
read full review ↗ - 91
“It's the finest Total War game CA has ever made, with a beautifully focused campaign and involving multiplayer too. [Apr 2011, p.94]”
- 91
“With Total War: Shogun 2, Creative Assembly has gone back all the way to its Japanese roots, and as you can see it was not a mistake.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“The series has scaled down from Empire but lost none of the drama or excitement. The smaller scale makes it easier to appreciate all the things the game does right.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Those expecting revelatory improvements in areas like AI may be mildly disappointed by Shogun 2. Those after a sumptious, weekend-whittling strategy epic heaving with flavour and challenge can reach for their uchi-bukuro with confidence. This is a corker. ”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Artistic, formidable, and action packed, this remarkable strategy game is the best Total War yet.”
read full review ↗ - 86
“Shogun 2 is without doubt a worthy part of the Total War game-series, but it has almost all the shortcomings of its predecessor. This is somewhat disappointing, but especially by the improvements in the Multiplayer-part, it's still quite a lot of fun.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“A brilliant reinvention of the series that maintains the epic of scale of battles and yet increases the accessibility and focus.”
read full review ↗
GRYOnline.pl
The A.V. Club
GameWatcher
ZTGD
The Escapist
Eurogamer
GameSpot
Metro GameCentral…and 48 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.