TOTAL WAR WARHAMMER III
Sean Martin, Guides Writer: With the addition of its trilogy-spanning Immortal Empires campaign, Total War: Warhammer III is now so big it scares me. I’ve spent all year playing this game, but I’ve barely scratched the surface of its characters, campaigns, and roleplay possibilities. In simple terms, Immortal Empires is a stew pot into which Creative Assembly has tipped every morsel of content from the past six years of Total War: Warhammer, cooking up a campaign quite unlike anything ever made.
And the most terrifying part is that this is just the beginning. Now the trilogy has reached its final form, CA effectively has a blank check. They can work at further fleshing out the setting with characters, units, and factions, but also on the campaign itself, as with the new array of thematic endgame events. The best bit? Nothing is wasted. All of it goes towards enriching one of the best Total War campaigns ever made, and one I know I’ll be playing for years to come.
Fraser Brown, Online Editor: Like Sean says, Immortal Empires is the headline attraction here, but Warhammer III had a lot to recommend it even before that update. While the experimental Realm of Chaos campaign proved divisive, I liked how it took me out of my Total War comfort zone and threw me into this stressful race to kill daemon princes. It had diminishing returns, but those first couple of playthroughs were great.
Warhammer III’s factions and legendary lord designs are among some of the best Creative Assembly have ever put together. The Chaos factions are especially impressive, and it’s been a delight to see how the team interpreted them. Thankfully, all the best bits of vanilla Warhammer III made their way into Immortal Empires, a mode I expect to play for many years to come.
Robin Valentine, Print Editor: I remain as quietly baffled by Total War’s intimidating campaign as ever, but this entry’s excellent tutorial at least gave me a fighting chance this year. With a custom story that leads into the events of the main game, and a cleverly constructed mini-sandbox to experiment in, it’s a lovely, engaging way to get to grips with all the ins-and-outs, without having to watch ten hours of YouTube videos.
THE CHAOS FACTIONS ARE ESPECIALLY IMPRESSIVE