Total War: Warhammer 3 review: a decisive victory for the massive series

In 2016, two exalted British establishments joined forces — Whole Struggle and Warhammer. The U.Okay.’s largest video games firm, Inventive Meeting, teamed up with high-street champion and world-class purveyor of plastic miniatures, Video games Workshop. Like when you will have a fully-stacked military being bolstered by one other stalwart battalion, there was solely ever going to be one consequence right here: a decisive victory.

The final within the sequence and the tip of an epic trilogy (minus quite a few DLCs in fact), Warhammer 3 continues to construct on the sturdy foundations laid six years in the past. Whereas the earlier video games explored the 2 largest landmasses of the Warhammer Fantasy world, this new one units its eyes on the periphery. And it’s typically on the edges the place probably the most thrilling stuff occurs. If the unique video games’ choices had been the large boxed starter units, Warhammer 3 is the obscure, foot-long creature looking at you from contained in the locked glass shelf within the nook. That is what it’s all about — not people versus orcs, however a fantastic bloodthirsty demon driving a dog-shaped Juggernaut.

The brand new marketing campaign takes place within the northern extremities. Though you’re free to leap in anyplace, the sport recommends beginning out with the prologue, because it not solely acts as a tutorial or refresher, however units up the complete narrative framing for the primary “Realm of Chaos” storyline. Right here, we’re launched to a younger Kislev prince heading north on an expedition to discover a misplaced god — an enormous bear known as Ursun, whose silence has brought about the bitterly chilly Kislev motherland … to develop even colder. One thing have to be carried out!

Picture: Inventive Meeting/Sega

The prologue is a linear affair, and it’s excellent for newcomers and returning gamers alike, funneling you thru the northern wastelands and introducing you to Whole Struggle’s many little intricacies — settlements, buildings, know-how, armies, and so forth. By the tip of this mini-campaign, the stakes are in place for the huge, infernal marketing campaign that follows: Ursun is revealed to have been kidnapped by a Large Unhealthy, the younger prince has became a Daemon Prince (and the chief of a playable faction), and the nice god-bear’s determined roars have begun opening up rifts to the Chaos Realm.

Extra narrative framing comes from the sequence’ returning advisor: an outdated, robed wizard with a cursed e book. Eager to interrupt freed from the tome’s prophetic magic, he aligns himself with certainly one of Warhammer 3’s eight major factions, advising them within the early-game and narrating the cutscenes as you progress additional in the direction of your faction’s purpose: to save lots of, or not directly exploit, the dying god-bear. However to achieve Ursun, you’ll first must journey via unstable, intermittent rifts. Utilizing these, your major military can teleport to every of the 4 Chaos Realms, face the trials that await, and safe the daemon souls wanted to achieve Ursun.

These harmful forays maintain the marketing campaign tightly targeted all through. The Chaos Realm’s affect on the map grows over time, with armies and daemonic brokers pouring out to deprave your territory. In addition they carry probably the most highly effective and influential factions into common contact, which is superb, as they will too typically change into locked in their very own respective skirmishes, miles throughout the map from each other. It’s a race to safe all 4 souls, in any case, so it’s helpful to journey to the identical realm as your fiercest opponents with a purpose to deny or in any other case mess with them. Touring to the Realm of Khorne, for instance, places you in a compact little map and duties you with filling up a blood meter by beating down armies. The best resolution is to rapidly batter the scions of Khorne, however the extra ingenious play is to attend on your mainland adversary to make their transfer, earlier than sweeping in to break their day.

Picture: Inventive Meeting/Sega

Solely after successful sufficient battles are you able to journey to “The Brass Citadel” to face off in opposition to Khorne’s champion. These huge “survival” battles — there are 4, with one other within the mazes of Tzeentch, within the ringed pleasure palaces of Slaanesh, and within the plague-ridden Nurgle wastes — are model new to the sequence. The hunt-related battlefields are gorgeous, benefiting from the purple and pink vibrancy of the Daemon factions. Even the sickly yellow-greens of Nurgle supply an appreciated breather from the extra generally dour, apocalyptic hues. The size can be upped significantly in these battles, as they pressure you to push again or defend in opposition to a number of military waves. The stability is readdressed by permitting you to assemble barricades and fortifications, tower defense-style, in addition to herald short-term reinforcements.

This new fortification system can be current in siege battles and small settlement engagements, and it’s in all probability the largest change to the general Whole Struggle method. Capturing factors on the map builds up your sources, which you’ll then spend on fortifying defensible areas. It’s a compelling tactical addition, bringing Whole Struggle nearer to different real-time technique video games the place it’s not nearly wiping out a military, however capturing factors, defending them, and utilizing sources correctly. It does, nonetheless, additionally take away from what Whole Struggle battles all the time appeared to be about: cautious, tactical positioning inside a semi-realistic atmosphere.

By way of its marketing campaign, Warhammer 3 does a grand job of tying issues collectively, peppering you with narrative nuggets, and supplying you with motivations past conquering the map. Overlook the Chaos Realms, and also you’ll be overrun. Ignore your neighbor’s successes, they usually’ll be granted the boons of Slaanesh and legendary weapons of Khorne while you’re left with nothing.

After all, on prime of ironing out the basics, the largest draw of Warhammer 3 is the brand new playable factions. The 2 human decisions, Kislev and Cathay, had been those I anticipated to love least. However, because it seems, they’re each unbelievable. Kislev inhabits a form of fantasy Siberia. They arrive with thick, fake Russian accents, authoritarian Ice Courts, “Nice Orthodoxy” faith, onion-domed cities, and even a Rasputin look-alike. They’re cartoonishly foolish, but in addition quite a lot of enjoyable to play. After getting a military of Snow Leopards and Bear Sleds, it’s exhausting to discipline the rest.

Picture: Inventive Meeting/Sega

There’s additionally Grand Cathay — one other easy fantasy caricature, this time of Historic China and Chinese language fable. They will deploy every little thing from flying lantern struggle machines to massive terracotta sentinels. In addition they have the Nice Bastion (the Nice Wall) to maintain the hordes of Chaos out, and are all about establishing caravan commerce routes (by way of what the sport calls “The Ivory Street”) in addition to retaining “harmonious” stability. Mechanically stripped of all context, it’s a dynamic addition. For each constructing constructed or know-how researched you achieve an quantity of “Yin” or “Yang”. After they’re in excellent stability, your empire is granted a bonus. Concord even applies to battles, the place you’re rewarded for balancing items and formations. Coming off of Whole Struggle: Three Kingdoms, I’m positive Inventive Meeting has carried out appreciable analysis into Chinese language historical past, however Cathay — and Kislev too — are positively throwbacks. Throwbacks to the early 80s, that’s, when a bunch of white British nerds had been sitting round someplace in Nottingham making an attempt to flesh out their make-believe fantasy land, and one blurted out: “Why don’t we do Russia or China?”.

Whereas each human factions supply distinctive twists and evocative again tales, the 5 Chaos factions really feel like the primary occasion. When is it not enjoyable to play the dangerous man? Every daemonic horde has its personal peculiarities, and Inventive Meeting has carried out a wonderful job at making every of them really feel completely different. The Daemon Prince mixes and matches physique components as an alternative of kit, relying on which Chaos God he chooses to placate. The armies of Khorne, with their cranium piles and bloodletting, are like a fantastic wrecking ball, build up momentum as they wage struggle and raze settlements. Slaanesh, the attractive hedonists of the Warhammer world, are all about seduction, compelling enemy items to swap sides pre-battle and tricking weaker factions into vassalage. Nurgle (the comedic selection owing to the very fact they’re form of cute and humorous regardless of the oozing grotesqueness) unfold plagues throughout the lands whereas rising their buildings like tumors. The ultimate Chaos faction, Tzeentch (which I now know pronounce, thanks Inventive Meeting), are … honestly, I don’t know how they play.

You see, Warhammer 3 is huge. In reality, It’s an enormous monstrosity. It’s the equal of strolling right into a Video games Workshop for the primary time as a toddler and having your eyes roll again into your head from the sheer awe of the place. A thousand bins, 100 armies, dozens and dozens of various little fine details. A complete wall of rulebooks! It’s not probably the most understated of hobbies; and there’s by no means been something delicate a few 12-inch figurine that’ll set you again 80 quid. It’s rampant maximalism, is what it’s, however it’s additionally bloody good enjoyable. And it’s exhausting to think about a greater online game translation of Warhammer Fantasy and all of its large-scale mayhem than this bizarre, sprawling, endlessly fascinating factor they’ve dubbed Whole Struggle: Warhammer 3. And to suppose, sooner or later, Inventive Meeting will launch a model new “Immortal Empires” marketing campaign, which can function all three maps and each faction from all three video games, all twisting and handing over on themselves and curling on the corners of the world. Now that seems like Chaos.

Whole Struggle: Warhammer 3 shall be launched on Feb. 17 on Home windows PC, Mac, Linux, and PC Sport Move. The sport was reviewed on PC utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Sega. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought by way of affiliate hyperlinks. You will discover further details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.