Malicious individuals may claim that the third installment of Creative Assembly’s great series is a smash hit, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Some of the fantastic new elements in Total War: Warhammer 3 include new factions, mechanics, and an intriguing system of portals leading to the kingdom of Chaos.
But let us begin at the beginning. Finding your way around the game will be easy for aficionados of the franchise, particularly the historical chapters. When we begin the campaign, we pick which side of the fight we will support and which lord we will command, and then we are flung onto the global map. This is a massive battleground with over a hundred groups fighting at the same time! In a turn-based system, we take over villages and cities, grow them, create new technologies, and conduct diplomacy with other warring parties on the world map. We also develop new armies to employ for conquests and side and plot tasks that will help us succeed. Of all, all of our adversaries are vying for victory at this moment, albeit each nation has distinct objectives.
The third installment offers up to eight additional full-fledged factions. Kislev, who is well-known among fans, employs the mechanics of piety and god summoning. The army, on the other hand, contains hybrid troops that excel at close quarters and ranged battle, as well as those that induce frostbite. Many of the troops are heavily armored. There are plenty of more amazing pieces here that use panthers or bears. Grand Cathay accumulates wealth through trading caravans. This faction’s troops employ Yin and Yang balancing mechanisms. A unit with a Yang balance, for example, earns benefits when an allied unit with a Yin balance is close – and vice versa. However, the Demons of Chaos, which blend parts of four unique demons subject to certain deities, demand the greatest attention. This group makes use of demonic glories and gifts. We get glory points tied to the four gods for our acts, such as conquests, expansion, and task completion. The more we acquire, the more varieties of chaos troops we will be able to unlock. We can focus on acquiring the glory of a certain god as fast as possible in order to unlock the strongest troops from his realm, or we can divide the glory equally, getting access to hundreds of different sorts of hell walkers, mutants, and monsters.
In addition, we receive gifts from the gods themselves, which are likewise tied to glory. These enable us to alter our lord’s physique. We may change the appearance of the limbs, legs, head, torso, and wings, as well as the weapons employed. All of this has an impact on the commander’s look as well as his fighting ability. So we may construct a warrior who can annihilate the enemy’s army on his own or a magician who can rule the battlefield with strong spells. The global map has also been altered in Total War: Warhammer 3. Portals to the dimension of chaos appear every few hundred turns. Monstrous forces enter the map via them to annoy other sides. You can use the same portals to go to the dimensions of one of the chaos deities, such as Khorne, Nurgle, Slaneesh, or Tzeentch. There, you can battle champions and their people for a variety of rewards, such as strong weaponry for army leaders or heroes. There is, however, always a condition that must be satisfied. In Khorne’s dimension, for example, you must first defeat a set amount of enemy troops to fill a particular progress meter before fighting the boss.
Other factions’ armies can also enter the dimensions of chaos, and because awards from a specific deity can only be obtained by one side of the struggle at a time, countless clashes take place there. You must also consider fast about whether it is worth it to sacrifice troops for wealth, give up, return to the normal world, or choose another place. The foundation of the gameplay has not altered and remains highly addicting. However, the game is not without flaws. The most important factor is optimization and overall technological condition. We were unable to sustain a smooth 60 frames per second at high details and 1440p resolution on a machine equipped with an RTX 2080 GPU. It’s a shame, especially because the game’s golden days are long gone, and it looks merely ordinary. The issues exacerbated during the game, with each following turn becoming increasingly slow, and the number of frames per second occasionally dropping below 25. There were also crashes, and the computer had to be totally reset once. We have no complaints to the Polonization, which contains no errors. Similarly, music provides a fantastic mood, especially during fighting.
Some of the game’s best features, like as its massive area and plethora of factions, are also flaws. The game might count one turn for up to several minutes after 60-70 turns. Because campaigns might run hundreds of turns, this can be incredibly annoying. Furthermore, if you wish to install the game on your hard drive, we advise against it since the game becomes unplayable, there is continual stuttering, and fights might take several minutes to load. In comparison to Warhammer 2, the situation on the SSD is already improved, which means that the longest loading times seldom surpass 40-50 seconds.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is a fun and entertaining strategy game. It makes many critical adjustments and diversifies the game, and following factions offer at least several hundred hours of potential entertainment. The only major negatives are the previously noted technological issues, which will most likely be addressed in future updates, as in prior episodes of the series.