Since 2016, the year of release of the first Total War episode which is dedicated to the Warhammer license, we know that it would be a trilogy. Well 6 years later, the work of The Creative Assembly is finally complete.
The Total War Warhammer Saga is a triptych and its artist is none other than The Creative Assembly. Is the final episode of the trilogy, the aptly named Total War Warhammer III, the perfect episode to conclude this great adventure? Very clearly yes, even if we should not expect a revolution. This Warhammer III will not upset your playing habits and remains in line with the second episode of 2017. The English studio above all wanted to bring more depth, and make the ultimate experience for both Warhammer fans and those of the Total War saga. This is also where the talent of the development team lies, to make the game enjoyable even for those allergic to the fantastic universe.
New location, new factions
If for you Total War can only rhyme with historicity, we advise you to give this episode a chance. In terms of pure content, we note in particular the addition of 8 factions, namely:
- Kislev
- Chaos Daemons
- Ogre Kingdom
- Great Cathay
- Khorne
- Nurgle
- Slaanesh
- Tzeentch
Before going into details, let’s quickly recall what it’s all about with a Total War. Once done, you have the Campaign map at your fingertips. This is where you will evolve your armies, your heroes, run your economy and build your buildings. This phase takes place on a turn-by-turn basis. Once a battle begins, you switch to real time and directly manage your army on the battlefield. The recipe is simple and has remained the same for 22 years.
Walk through China
For the sake of the test, we have chosen to play Grand Cathay in particular, which is a kingdom that is largely inspired by Feudal China. Each faction has its own characteristics, those of Cathay are as follows:
- A system of Harmony between Yin and Yang, once harmony is achieved, you gain powerful bonuses. To reach it you have to build special buildings, recruit certain units or perform certain events.
- The Ivory Road (Silk Road inspired) which gives large financial bonuses to the faction
The faction also has a Great Wall that protects its territory from attacks. In short, the Chinese inspiration is clear and clear. To vary the pleasures a little we also played the Demons of Chaos that players have been waiting for a long time and which presents a completely different way of playing. In particular with its system of Glory of Chaos, allowing to have the blessing of certain gods for big military advantages (but not only). The pleasure of playing the bad guys at its peak. And it doesn’t stop there.
Among the novelties put forward by the developers in this new title: the Demon Prince (playable in the Demons of Chaos campaign). When you control the Demon Prince, each of your actions (quests to complete, fights, political exchanges, etc.) will allow you to serve one or more Chaos Gods and therefore fully customize your prince. In the end, depending on your allegiance, there are thousands of customization possibilities available to you.
Nice improvements
The game is much deeper than its predecessor, in particular with its more advanced diplomatic system which will allow players to achieve victory without necessarily fighting. Total War yes, but not totally. To return to Cathay for example, the kingdom has trade routes that make it easier to gain allies and therefore to reverse a war simply by gleaning resources.
Among the beautiful novelties, the Survival battle mode which is a mixture of conquest of victory points and Tower Defense. The goal is simplistic: conquer capture areas with your army, build fortifications and defense towers, survive waves of AI enemies. Simple yes, but devilishly effective.
On the technical side, there is no revolution, the game still features a magnificent campaign map and some technical innovations for the battle phases. The game is beautiful and fluid but remains far from the graphic slap as it might have been the case at the time when Empire Total War was released.
The crazier we are…
Big novelty and not the least, the multiplayer is playable via the campaign for up to 8 players on a common map. And now there is no more turn-by-turn. This represents a major change in the vision of the developers since it will be possible to conclude a campaign much faster. For battles, each player controls one or more units so there is no downtime. A very welcome novelty which is surely the best thing that can happen to the saga.
Especially since in the long term, it will be possible to play the Mortal Empires Campaign which will bring together all the continents and factions of the two other games in a single campaign. You still need to have all 3 games in your Steam library. Unfortunately, we have not had a response from the studio on the availability of this game mode. We will have to be patient.