While Commandos had players battling Nazis, Shadow Tactics has a far more nuanced storyline. In truth, there’s a lot the two games have in common, both in terms of presentation, and gameplay. In this review you’ll find a lot of comparisons to the Eidos / Pyro Studios title, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines from 1998. Four skilled assassins (led by a samurai) are recruited to crush the rebel warlord, but this is Japan - nothing is ever quite what it seems. Taking place in the Tokugawa (or Edo) era of feudal Japan, the Shogun of the country has stabilized the country, but that peace is now threatened by a shadowy warlord named Kage-sama (I love that the Japanese even refer to their enemies in the formal and respectful nomenclature – sama is reserved for positions of high respect). If I were to describe Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, I’d have to wonder if developer Mimimi Productions was perusing my favorite games list, because it feels like a blend of Commandos and some tactical version of Tenchu. Here I am, days later, having put all of those games aside - I’m hooked on Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. But I’m busy – I don’t have time for things off the beaten path.

After he mentioned it fairly relentlessly, as did several others, I realized that I was completely unfamiliar with the game. Peer pressure is a hell of a drug, and this new addiction is the fault of Brad Galloway, Managing Editor of - he did this to me.

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