Year: 2000
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Jeff van Dyck
Number of tracks: 27

★★★★★

Shogood

Back in the day when I started this page, I did so with a highlight in the venerable Total War series, namely the third installment, Rome: Total War. After that, for some unknown reason, I continued with its predecessor, Medieval: Total War, and am now bringing this backward trend to an end with the series founder, Shogun: Total War.

I don't want to say much about the game mechanics, but the title alone will give you a subtle hint as to what the game is about. In a nutshell: Real-time strategy in Japan and since this foundation stone was laid back in 2000, it probably did so in a very unrefined form.

Shogun: Total War (2000)

Medieval: Total War (2002)

Rome: Total War (2004)

Total War: Pharao (2023)

The same can also be said of the music, which, how could it be otherwise, is only available as a gamerip. As is usual for such pieces of work, I must point out that the number and names of the tracks are varying. This means that I cannot claim with certainty to have heard the definitive soundtrack to Shogun . The alternative, of course, would be not to write a review at all, but where would that get us?

Be that as it may, let's briefly get through the facts: the music for the first installment was originally composed by Canadian Jeff van Dyck, who strikes all the bingos for Asian cliché in the 27 short tracks. The MIDI pieces have fairly rudimentary names, which also makes them easy to categorize. While we can hear hints of van Dyck's talent for conjuring up rousing battle scenes in our mind's eye in the Battle-tracks - here, of course, with the appropriate Japanese flair - the songs on the campaign map (Campmap) and battle set-up (Tension) are restrained and minimalistic. This may contribute to the (release of) tension, but for me the whole thing is a little too low key.

What's cool is that the composition already contains a few stylistic flourishes for Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom , which was released two years later, and that a few of the Mobilize-pieces would also reappear in the later Total War: Shogun 2 - but more on that in due course. The highlight of the score for me as a friend of the taiko (Japanese drum) is the rhythmic Mobilize 1, even if the accompanying vocals of a howling Asian are probably a matter of taste. You can find some background information on the creation of the music in this entry in the Total War-wiki.

Short conclusion: Unlike for example Fantastic Creatures, the soundtrack (or gamerip) for Shogun: Total War is merely a western interpretation of the Asian soundscape, which in my opinion comes quite close to it. Personally, I like it, but I understand anyone who might feel portrayed stereotypically here. For fans of drums and flutes, it's certainly not a waste of time, but in my opinion it's much better in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom and later in the highly recommended Shogun 2.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Battle 1	Jeff van Dyck	4
02	Battle 2	Jeff van Dyck	4
03	Battle 3	Jeff van Dyck	4
04	Campmap (Autumn)	Jeff van Dyck	1
05	Campmap (Spring)	Jeff van Dyck	2
06	Campmap (Summer)	Jeff van Dyck	1
07	Campmap (Winter)	Jeff van Dyck	1
08	Frontend	Jeff van Dyck	2
09	Lose 2	Jeff van Dyck	2
10	Mobilize 1	Jeff van Dyck	5
11	Mobilize 2	Jeff van Dyck	4
12	Mobilize 3	Jeff van Dyck	4
13	Mongol Battle 1	Jeff van Dyck	3
14	Mongol Battle 2	Jeff van Dyck	3
15	Mongol Lose	Jeff van Dyck	2
16	Mongol Mobilize 1	Jeff van Dyck	3
17	Mongol Mobilize 2	Jeff van Dyck	3
18	Mongol Strat Map 1	Jeff van Dyck	2
19	Mongol Strat Map 2	Jeff van Dyck	1
20	Mongol Tension 1	Jeff van Dyck	2
21	Mongol Tension 2	Jeff van Dyck	2
22	Mongol Win	Jeff van Dyck	2
23	Tension 1	Jeff van Dyck	1
24	Tension 3	Jeff van Dyck	3
25	Tension 4	Jeff van Dyck	2
26	Tension 5	Jeff van Dyck	2
27	Win 3	Jeff van Dyck	2