Compact and an adaptable battle mechanism allow us to play Total War with our friends in more ways than ever before. Total War: Warhammer 3 has provided me more causes to play multiplayer than any previous instalment in the series.
It’s the most effort Imaginative Assembly has always put into making its campaign method work for organisations of up to eight friends, and while network issues can still crop up like a Skaven undercity every now and then, it’s actually pretty fun the rest of the time.
The most exciting new features are concurrently twists and the capacity for anyone to choose any side in any fight. And by “simultaneous,” I don’t mean that everybody gets to decide what they would like to do and then it all comes to a head at the same time.
What I mean is when you begin a new turn, you can truly see your friend’s army move. Everything is occurring in real time, and if you want to start taking the same town, whoever clicks quickly or is standing closer will arrive first.
Some aspects of this appeal to me, while others do not. For one thing, you’ll occasionally be stalled while the engine makes a decision what to fix first.
If my buddy is auto-resolving a fight and I am choosing a technology, neither can happen simultaneously. So I might click on the technology and nothing happens for a few seconds, making the UI experience annoyingly unresponsive.
Racing a rival to an objective can be fun as well, but because it’s twitch-based, you may have to prioritise moving one army quickly at the cost of another being defeated to the smash by a third player, which really doesn’t feel very Total War. But it’s a lot better than having to wait for everybody’s turns to be resolved one at a time.
Frenemies
The real fun begins when you reach the combat resolution step. Even if the battle is just between one human player and an AI faction, up to 8 people could theoretically participate.
Everyone is free to choose whether to support one side or another, or simply to observe. They could also choose to command any reinforcing military forces, if any exist.
Once on the battle map, the commander of each military can assign any unit, lord, or hero to any player on there own side. So, even if no one has a stake in either army on the campaign map, it’s probable to provide some truly epic four-vs-four battles that give everyone something to do.
Thankfully, there are two multiplayer-only campaigns that are perfectly paced for a Sunday night of beverage and bloodshed. Something Rotten in Kislev is a three-player co-op game centred on trying to defend Kislev from hordes of creatures, with some inner conflict drawn from the main campaign’s battle between both the Ice Court and the Orthodoxy.
It’s a fun little compstomp that takes only 15 turns to complete, with my only major complaint being that it only includes five of Total War: Warhammer’s dozens of factions. That can become tiresome after a while.
The Dark Ages
Darkness and Disharmony is the other campaign, which supports up to eight participants and is set during a chaotic period in Cathay’s history when daemons and ogres were roaming the land wreaking havoc. There are also some NPC factions, such as the greenskins, everybody from Greasus to N’kari to Miao Ying is able to play, so the types of battles you get to fight are much more varied.
It’s a straightforward race for land, with each held resolution awarding one victory point for every turn. Because the first person to reach 40 points wins, these games rarely last more than 20 turns.
Both mini campaigns have been sped up in terms of technology, construction, and recruitment, and I believe the length is about right. Having said that, I’ve had some noticeable network problems, especially when playing with people in different countries.
Disconnects are fairly common, and they can force you to recharge from a previous turn. And lag can sometimes be so severe that Tsar Boris appears to be galloping to across plains in slow motion.
It’s not a consistent problem, but it occurs frequently sufficiently that we almost abandoned this campaign. Individual battles can, of course, be played in ranked matchmaking.
It’s disappointing that it’s currently restricted to only the Warhammer 3 races, as I’ve been eager to see how my old favourites, such as the Wood Elves, fare against the newcomers. It could be a lot more detailed, but I’m pleased it’s there for those who are more competitive.
The Decision
Total War: Warhammer III immerses players in a cataclysmic conflict among ruinous demonic creatures powers and mortal sentinels. Every decision you make will shape the reality-shattering conflict that awaits you, from the enigmatic Lands of the East to the daemon-infested Realms of Chaos.
Experience strategy gaming on a never-before-seen scale in this epic conclusion to the Total War: Warhammer trilogy. Total War: Warhammer III introduces iconic new races from World of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, such as the video-game debuts of Kislev and Cathay, as well as Chaos factions Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch.
Wage war with the series’ most diverse cast of legendary heroes, monstrous monsters, flying creatures, and magical powers! You’ll be tasked with either saving or trying to exploit the authority of a dying god when you start a new grand campaign. Each race offers a distinct journey through the terrifying Chaos Realm, culminating in a final phase that will decide the fate of the world.
