4. Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai (2012)

It’s the end of the Samurai here… But they won’t go down without a fight, though.

This standalone expansion for the wonderful Total War: Shogun 2 featured a clash between ancient and modern warfare. Set during the mid-19th century in Japan, this had you playing as either a faction fighting for the Emperor or one loyal to the Shogun. So this pitted the samurai with their swords and bows versus the rifle-armed troops and heavy-duty artillery of the imperials, in what no doubt is one of the most interesting Total War games made to date.

But despite what you may think things were pretty well-balanced here, as when playing as the samurai you could resort to subterfuge, employing agents like shinobi to assassinate enemy generals. And since this is the most modern Total War yet, railroads and naval bombardments were also the order of the day here, adding to the strategic possibilities and making this is one of the most feature rich and engaging Total War games you can get right now.