Nov 12, 2010 09:53 GMT  ·  By

SEGA, as the publisher, and The Creative Assembly, as the developers, have announced that Shogun 2: Total War is now officially set to be released globally on March 15, 2011, allowing gamers to once again take charge of one Japanese faction and try to unite the home islands via conquest and shrewd diplomatic moves.

Previous to the current announcement the two companies only said that they aimed to deliver the next game in the long running Total War franchise at some point in early 2011, also saying that they plan to give the title as much development time as it needs to get all the game mechanics right.

Players have been somewhat displeased with the state that the last two installment in the series, Empire and Napoleon, launches, with complaints directed mostly at the Artificial Intelligence of the game, which failed to keep up with the human players and sometimes failed to use basic gameplay mechanics, like naval invasions.

Shogun 2 takes the series back to the first battlefields that it explored, those of Medieval Japan, and the developers at The Creative Assembly have emphasized the fact that they plan to devote special attention to the A.I. and hope to create a series of mechanics that put the factions on equal footing and offer a sense of challenge.

One inspiration the creators plan to make full use of is The Art of War tome written by Sun Tzu, adapting its principles to be used by both the player and the computer.

The presentation of the game will also be adapted to the unique art of the Shogun period of Japan and The Creative Assembly is also delivering new gameplay concepts, with new agents available for use on the strategic map and with new hero units ready to wreak havok in the tactical battles.

March 15, 2011 is now a day that strategy lovers need to mark down in their gaming schedules for next year.