So, I recently wrote a post about how much I love the Total War series and how I wanted to play the newest installment, Warhammer 3: Total War. But, haven't gotten around to buying it because I can't justify spending 60 Euro on a game right now.
I just floated on with my life, dreaming of the next steam sale, rubbing my hands together as I wondered how low the price could potentially get, as well as thinking about how long it might take for the next sale. 1 month, maybe 2? This would usually be the case with any of the other Total War games that have come out.
Little did I know though that it's been sitting there waiting for me since it was released!
Thank You Gamepass
Because I have Gamepass Ultimate for the Xbox One, it gives me Gamepass for the pc too. The reason I bought Gamepass Ultimate originally, was because it gives me access to the Gamepass library as well as Xbox Live, which works out at only about 3 Euro more than one of the subscriptions, by themselves. It also has an extra perk that gives me access to the Pc library of Games. I rarely use it on the Pc though, as I have a pretty big Steam library. But, when I heard about Warhammer 3 being on it, I got straight on and downloaded it.
I had to delete a lot of other games though, as I only have a 500GB hard drive in my laptop and the game itself is 113GB. Which, I thought, was a bit too big for the base game.
Another downside to being on the laptop, as well, is that I have to have all of the graphics down low to play it. So, I can't say much about them. I do however like the units, the map and can't wait to play it on my Pc in its full glory!
Mortal Empires
One of the things I was looking forward to for this game is the Mortal Empires map. For anyone that doesn't know or hasn't played these games. Mortal Empires is a separate campaign where it is bigger and badder than the base games campaign. I'll add some pictures as examples and you'll be able to see why myself and many other lovers of the Warhammer: Total War series are anticipating this.
Warhammer: Total Wars Map
It was a grand size, plenty of playable factions and it was a lot of fun when it was released I got plenty of enjoyment out of it.
Warhammer 2: Total War Map
They spoiled us in this game, this was the only campaign I played for Warhammer 2, as it added in all of the new factions plus all of the ones from the first game who you could also play as.
One thing they did too, was only made these separate maps and factions available to those who owned both games in their Steam library. Which for them was a good strategy, as it made sure that anyone who came along after the fact had to go back and buy the previous titles to enjoy this.
Warhammer 3: Total War Map
My excitement for the release of the newest Mortal Empires campaign map knows no bounds. Being the final edition to the Warhammer: Total War trilogy, you can see that they are ending these spin-offs big. All of the factions from the previous games are in one place, on a huge scale map.
If there is one thing I know going into the new campaign though, is that, I know I will most likely never complete a game on this one.
This game centers around the Chaos factions of the Warhammer universe, who throughout the other two games would invade the mortal realms and would pose a big threat to any factions near the North East of the map. They wouldn't completely wipe out all of the factions in those regions but, they would do some serious damage to them.
My strategy was to not extend into the North Eastern section of the map too far and I would instead broker some peace deals with the factions up there and use them as a buffer between me and them. Which allowed me to focus on my economy and armies who could wipe out the remnants of the chaos legions after the war had gone on for a while.
First Impressions
I have played the 3rd game for a couple of days now, but, I have only played as one faction so far. The Khorne. "Blood for the Blood God! and skulls for the skull throne!"
They are demon kind of characters and they seem pretty nasty, so far I have carved out an area for myself and have been attacking my neighbors to take their skulls.
They seem to be based around the idea of fighting and warring constantly, in order to acquire skulls, which are used to pay for research and are even used for taking over settlements. So, I have had to fight a lot and decide on what's important research or expanse. I think the skulls even affect your army's morale, but, I'm not sure.
They also seem to corrupt the territory they own as well as adjacent settlements. I haven't really been able to utilize diplomacy as most factions around me, hate me, but, that's okay. I don't mind centering around a military heavy campaign.
So far what has happened near my settlements at the stage I'm at now, is that portals opened letting out Chaos armies who seem to be scouts. They're pretty weak, so every time I saw one emerge I would hunt them down for their skulls, as I can see we're building towards something big happening and I want to be ready for them.
Conclusion
I have been really enjoying my time with Warhammer 3 even though I haven't been able to play it with the high graphic settings. I think that would make a huge difference to the game, but as it is. It looks good.
I'm curious to see how the other factions play but, think I am better off sticking with the Khorne for the time being as I don't like bouncing between multiple saves.
My first choice of a faction to play was the ogre factions, but, sadly they are part of some DLC for the game so I'll hold off for now.
I don't know if Mortal Empires will be playable for me when it releases considering I'm playing it through the Xbox app and the other two games are on my Steam account, time will tell. But, if I can't play it hopefully the game is on sale by them so I can pick it up.