The Creative Assembly’s Total War: SHOGUN 2 is now free to keep on Steam. The offer is only valid until May 1st so hurry up and claim it now. All of the DLC has also been discounted by 75 to 76 percent each so if you enjoy the base game, it’s well worth picking them up.

Total War: SHOGUN 2 has been hailed as one of the finest games in the franchise, if not one of the best of all time. You’ll pick from eight different warring factions in 16th century Japan and battle others for supremacy. Alternatively, you can make use of diplomacy and politics to get your way.

If you already own Total War: SHOGUN 2, then don’t worry – numerous other historical Total War games have been heavily discounted until May 4th. This includes Total War: Rome 2, Medieval: Total War, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, Total War: Empire, Total War: Medieval 2 and so on. You won’t find Total War: Three Kingdoms or the Total War: Warhammer games being discounted however.

As discovered last week, The Creative Assembly’s legendary Total War: SHOGUN 2 will be going free next week. The strategy title will be free to keep from April 27th to May 1st on Steam, with the developer hoping to encourage players to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everyone at Creative Assembly is now working from home, and we hope that this will help everyone with that stay home mission,” it stated recently.

But that’s not all. If you enjoy Total War: SHOGUN 2 enough, then you can pick up some other Total War games and their DLC on sale. This applies to historical games but ROME: Total War and Total War: Three Kingdoms with their DLC are not included. The Total War: Warhammer games are also exempt (which makes sense since it had a sale already).

Total War: SHOGUN 2 is arguably one of The Creative Assembly’s finest games yet. Taking place in 16th century Japan following the Onin, it sees numerous different factions and warlords vying for control. With eight different factions to choose, each with their units and specialties, there’s quite a lot to enjoy.

The Creative Assembly and Sega have yet to announce the same but SteamDB has revealed that Total War: Shogun 2 will be free to keep in the coming weeks on Steam. It will be available free from April 27th to May 1st. Though it’s pretty old at this point, Total War: Shogun 2 stands as arguably the best in the series.

Taking place in feudal Japan following the end of the Onin War, Total War: Shogun 2 sees players controlling a faction and vying for supremacy.. There are eight factions to play as, each with their own unique units and traits. Expect the DLC, which also offers some nice additions to the game, to be discounted as well when the game is available for free.

Those interested in something a bit more recent or medieval fantasy-based should keep an eye out on Total War: Warhammer 2. A free weekend for the title is expected to start on April 16th and end on April 19th as per SteamDB. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.

Destiny

For many of us who never really got into MMOs but enjoyed first person shooters, there was Destiny. Launched in a disappointing state but possessing solid gun play and excellent mission design at the highest level (read: raids), the very nature of Destiny pushed us to obsess about it. When is Xur coming, what Exotics will he have, doing the Nightfalls and raids at reset time, a secret quest that’s been discovered – Destiny just scratched that itch to an insane degree.

If the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment sale on Steam isn’t for you, then maybe Creative Assembly’s sale on the Total War franchise is going to perk you up. The entire series has been discounted on Steam, with slashes ranging from 10 percent to 90 percent, and they include some must-have titles.

For example, Total War: SHOGUN 2 has a 75 percent discount for the base game, and for the base game with its collection of DLC (not including the Fall of the Samurai DLC, which is discounted separately). Though released in 2011, the historical strategy title still offers an incredible rendition of 16th century warfare in Feudal Japan. As the Daimyo, players will have to re-unite Japan using diplomacy, Art of War tactics, and much more.

Other titles that have been discounted include Total War: ATTILA, Empire: Total War, and Medieval: Total War – Collection (all discounted by 75 percent), along with Total War: ROME 2 – Emperor Edition (discounted by 66 percent). Sadly, Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2 are not part of this sale. Looks like we’ll have to wait for a site-wide Steam sale in the meantime. Meanwhile, the current Total War sale ends on October 1st, 10 AM PST.

Rather than talking about what’s in store for us in the future, though, let’s instead take a look back and talk about what have been some of the best ninja and samurai related games over the years. In this list, we’re going to take a look at fifteen such games. Given just how vast and popular this genre is, it goes without saying that this list isn’t going to be exhaustive by any means, so if we failed to mention any of your favourites, fire away in the comments section below.

Also note that just for the purpose of this feature, we’re clubbing samurais and ninjas together- we know they’re not one and the same. But you know, convenience and all. Also, this list is in random order and isn’t ranked, so keep that in mind as well.

Without further ado, then, let’s get right into it!

SAMURAI SHODOWN

Back in the days of the insane craze surrounding Street Fighter II, fighters were all the rage. Samurai Shodown came along and put an irresistable, samurai-centric spin on it. It wasn’t a revolutionary game, and it didn’t do anything that could be called unprecedented, but as those who have played it would gladly tell you, it was an absolute blast. With its dedication and focus on samurais, it’s a a game you simply must play if you’re a fan of the subject matter.

However, at one time where they tortured, now they offer their services to players as the Otomo Clan Pack DLC is now available for pre-order on Steam. That’s right: they’re now a fully playable faction, with their own units, buildings, technologies and more. Now players can turn the tables on their foes by employing the use on long-range gunpowder weapons and bestow the benefits of Christianity upon their units.

The Otomo Clan Pack will go live on Steam come November 30th but until then, players can pre-order the pack and avail of a 10% discount on the DLC up until launch day. For those still entranced by Total War Shogun 2, it’s certainly worth a look. Click here for more info.

Sega and The Creative Assembly have released modding tools for Total War: Shogun 2 with integration to the Steam Workshop. The modding kit, or the Assembly Kit, lets people build ground up mods, and even enhance and mod the Battle Map Editor.

Mods can be, not surprisingly, uploaded to Steam Workshop for other players to use and rate.

“Total War has a dedicated mod scene with some truly heroic modders wrestling with a gigantic game and turning out some incredible work,” said Rob Bartholomew, Brand Director. ”Until now though there’s never been a useful set of tools that really opened up the possibilities in the game the way we knew they wanted. However, while we gear up for Rome II’s release next year, I’m happy to say that the team were able pull out all the stops and put together a kit we hope will really inspire them.”

Here are details on the Assembly Kit, as given by the devs:

• TWeak is a software framework that contains two key plugins for Total War modding:
• DaVE, The Database Visual Editor tool, enables modders to edit any database values in the game, including those which dictate campaign map start positions, game logic, unit values and much more.
• The Unit Editor tool enables modders to alter the look and feel of existing units and create new ones, with custom skins, armour, helmets etc.
• BOB is a data-processing tool, which enables modders to process models, animations, textures and many other assets into a game-usable form.
• The Mod Manager enables modders to upload their mods to Steam Workshop.

Sega have announced the launch of the Dragon War Battle Pack for Total War: Shogun 2.

The Dragon War Battle Pack consists of six consecutively-played legendary battles from the Boshin War, depicting the campaign of the Imperial general Saigo Takamori.

Additionally, owners of the Dragon War Battle Pack will save the amount they spent on the Dragon War Battle Pack when they purchase Fall of the Samurai in the future. Check your digital retailer for details.

The Dragon War Battle Pack is available now for download for USD $5.99/GBP £3.99/EUR € 4.50/AUD $5.99/RUB 125р.