head to head

Rome: Total War cover artvsShogun: Total War cover art

Rome: Total WarvsShogun: Total War

Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Shogun: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Rome: Total WarShogun: Total War

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 3

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads2 vs 2

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance2 vs 3

Shogun: Total War leans harder on variance: Fog of war and agent rolls hide information

Optimization8 vs 8

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Rome: Total War

full breakdown

Shogun: Total War