Total war three kingdoms review upgrade#
Total war three kingdoms review series#

The campaign really comes alive in Romance mode. But some of the fun and character is definitely lost if you’re sticking closer to the history books in Records mode. Both modes put a strong emphasis on the larger-than-life characters driving the action, including quippy banter both before and during battle that helps bring them to life. This turns your generals into demigod-like kung fu action heroes who engage in dramatic duels and can take on hundreds of normal soldiers single-handedly. The campaign really comes alive in Romance mode, which is based on the semi-historical novel about the era, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

That’s not a deal-breaker given how many other things are fresh and exciting on the campaign map, but I was never all that tempted to give it much of my time when the other option is so much cooler. It also led me to feel like I might as well be playing any other historical Total War game, though.

Records mode is closer to classic historical Total War, where generals are mere mortals accompanied into battle by a bodyguard regiment, and real-time engagements play out slowly and less decisively. Three Kingdoms offers you two ways to conquer its sprawling, attractively exaggerated map of 200s CE China.

Total war three kingdoms review series#

A political and tactical landscape that’s almost never boring, filled out with gorgeous, stylized graphics, an excellent character system, and massive performance improvements over previous games in the series leave no doubt who the new emperor is around these parts.

With this foray into ancient China, however, Creative Assembly seems to have finally hit an elusive sweet spot with its campaign tuning. A new benchmark for a venerable series.A turn-based grand strategy game on the scale of Total War: Three Kingdoms often struggles to present a consistent and meaningful challenge across hundreds of turns and dozens of battles. The battles may seem like a downgrade from the Total War: Warhammer series, but almost every other aspect has been improved. Both the campaign map and the fields and cities you’ll do battle over are alive with gorgeous, painterly detail. HighlightĪs complex and involving as the politics are, there’s still nothing quite like charging armoured cavalry through a flaming catapult breach in a city’s walls, underneath the bloodshot haze of a setting sun. If you’ve been a fan of Total War in the past but taken a long break, this is just what you need to rekindle the romance. If you’re new to the series, start with this. There’s far, far more to Three Kingdoms than I’m able to go over here, but it’s an experience that grips from the outset and only gets more enjoyable as you pick up the nuances. If you’re looking to put your rig through the gauntlet, there’s even an ‘ultra’ unit size option, just to make the battles even more spectacular. The series has had its fair share of shonky releases, but the worst I’ve experienced is two or three soft crashes in 40 hours of play, and a handful of frame drops when battles got extremely hectic. Attempting to enact a diplomatic treatise provides a detailed numerical breakdown of affecting factors – everything from how much of a strategic threat you pose to how much backstabbing you’ve done in the past.Īll of this is conveyed through a sleek and readable UI, gorgeous painterly environments, and sound design that jumps from tranquil folk to pounding war drums. Righteous characters may baulk at your underhanded decisions, while warlike generals grow dissatisfied at languishing in extended peacetime. Your own betrayals and honourable acts echo across China, affecting your future relationships. Faction leaders have distinct personalities, influencing their diplomatic decisions. The third element – and the one Three Kingdoms makes the greatest advancements in – is the diplomatic relationships not only between factions, but between the named characters in those factions. Grand matches of elaborate rock-paper-scissors featuring thousands of individual combatants, where cavalry charges, flanking manoeuvres, and morale come together to reward both authentic historical tactics and a healthy serving of the finest cheese.

Total war three kingdoms review upgrade#

On the campaign map, players upgrade their own settlements, conquer their opponents’, and recruit and manoeuvre their armies. The first is a sprawling, geographical campaign map divided into provinces and settlements. For those new to the series, Total War is a game of three elements.