The title allows players to tackle seven different scenarios that begin in 1551 and go as far as to the years following Nobunaga’s death in 1582, so there is definitely no shortage of game play. The title also features an officer creation mode to place custom elements into scenarios and a very detailed tutorial mode will shape up newbs into warlords in just a short time, so while on the surface the game is nothing more than continual reading and menu surfing, the game has a lot of content and depth buried underneath it.

If you’ve ever played any Koei simulation title on the Playstation 2, you’ll know what to expect in the game’s presentation. The character stills all come across as majestic and vivid and the menus are full of small details that make the text a little more bearable to surf through for hours on end. Aside from buildings and foundations, though, the battlefields and maps do lack any sort of detail. While understandably, due to the “eye in the sky” view of the camera, the people look like working ants, generic environments for the most part aren’t much of a treat for the eyes. Thankfully, the management and battle situations should be enough to take your mind off of the sights and hook it with the title’s game play.

The sounds could have been pulled from any other Koei simulation title, but they are used when necessary and bring in the essence of battle to your eardrums. The prologues to most of the game play elements feature some nice narrative so it’s sad to see spoken dialogue is for the most part omitted from the main game play. Thankfully, a powerful score moves the game along and provides fitting accompaniment whether the player is managing territory or in the heat of war.

Overall, the controls are exactly what you would expect from a game based on menus and the scope of controls carry over nicely to field navigation, which is easily handled by the analogue sticks. While occasionally it can be tricky to pinpoint exact locations on the battlefield (especially when you’re trying to select a moving army), a go at the tutorials will have players managing the controls second nature.

While the title probably won’t sway the minds of gamers who don’t go out their way to play strategy titles, it hammers out everything a strategy game should be and contains enough scenarios and random elements to keep players glued to it for quite some time. Koei brought in its big guns for Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rise to Power in producer Kou Shibusawa and composer Kosuke Yamashita and it really shows in those elements of the game. With a few minor issues aside, the title should prove an engrossing entry into the strategy field and a welcome addition to Koei’s long line of simulation titles.

Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power is rated T for Teen by the ESRB and contains Alcohol Reference, Mild Language and Mild Violence.