Review for Total War: Warhammer. PC game, the video game came out on 24/05/2016
Tumultuous times reign in the world of Warhammer with armies ready to march, lords and heroes preparing the way for their men to glory or death. If we think of the strategic genre on PC, Sega's prominent place with the series is undeniable Total War, developed by The Creative Assembly, as well as at the tabletop wargame level, the first thought immediately goes to Games Workshop and its Warhammer brand. For months we have been thinking about the result of a union between these two creative realities and finally this chaotic universe, made up of different races at war with each other, came to life giving us Total War: Warhammer.
The echoes of the war resound
Admittedly, the approach to the Sega title is not the simplest. However, let's not go into the depths of the gameplay, this difficulty is due to the fact that from the first access it will be a difficult task for the player to decide the faction among the four initially available - perhaps a little few for Total War fans, but others will be available with free DLCs - with which to tackle the long and intense campaign set up. In fact, with the four starting factions that can be used, we could easily talk about four different titles with the classic campaign that points to the long or short victory, typical of Total War. Although united by the same continent, we therefore have a clear diversity of units, particular objectives and approaches, which make each game experience different and, in part, new, depending on the chosen faction. Another point in common between all the campaigns concerns a mysterious character who, like any self-respecting classic crazy old prophet, puts himself at the service of the gentleman on duty by announcing the imminent war for the conquest of power. Certainly on a narrative level there are differences between the various factions in the game but there is a dualism between the Empire in search of the unity of the territories against the corruption taking place by the Vampire Counts, with the latter intent on ousting the usurper emperor from his lands, while the bitter and vengeful Dwarves and Greenskins will fight each other for control of mountains and depths. It goes without saying that the roads of the different factions will collide unless diplomacy runs its course, while the emissaries of Chaos will begin to move in the kingdom, along with the magical winds.
The connoisseurs of the Total War series, although they will find themselves in a new context and surrounded by fantastic beings and magic, will not have great difficulty in moving in a proven game system but which hides various interesting aspects, especially in the growth of Lords and Heroes through their special abilities. As for newbies, attracted by a fascinating and well-known brand, dissect all the facets of Total War: Warhammer it will take time and dedication for what is configured as a product with wide margins of longevity. For this reason, neglecting aspects such as diplomacy or the coffers of one's own power could lead to a slow agony or a rapid defeat on various fronts, and therefore it will be important to have patience and learn the mechanics of the title, with the help of the impressive guide inside the game. trying not to neglect any aspect of it. As in any classic strategic title, we will find problems relating to the construction and expansion of the army and we cannot ignore the consequent repercussions on the economy, which is supported by the taxes imposed on our subjects and by commercial exchanges strictly linked to diplomacy. In fact, the diplomatic side will not be limited to war pacts: we will have to make economic agreements, very useful both to pave the way for future alliances, and above all to develop a thriving economy - an essential aspect for the success of our campaign.
Per aspera ad astra
Ruling an empire is not easy and among the aspects not to be overlooked in the world of Warhammer we must consider the discontent of the population that could lead to riots if not kept under control. In short, a happy people means a thriving empire but there is another detail that must be taken into consideration: corruption. For example, considering the human and dwarf front, the emissaries of chaos will invade our lands and we will therefore have to deal with both vampiric and chaos corruption. We will succeed thanks to decrees in our provinces and allocations for our armies led by charismatic Lords who, through their skills or through the construction of suitable buildings, will be able to improve the conditions of life and safety of the people.
As for the armies we will have the classic medieval fantasy units such as infantry, cavalry, archers, war machines and so on while on the non-human side it will not be difficult to find atypical and totally different units from the others that will clearly unbalance the armies with their strength and their cost. Each faction will have both advantages and disadvantages, such as the good mobility of the chaotic Greenskins counterbalanced by the poor discipline of some of their units, and for this it will be useful to develop the skills of the Lord, in order to obtain bonuses to keep the unruly green soldiers in check, or take advantage of the modifiers that come from followers and items to match our commander.
In addition to the leader and his army, it will also be possible to insert heroes who are configured as one of the most interesting aspects of the title both because the use of magic is often hidden between them and because we can send them to perform certain tasks, such as the sabotage. The use of spells in battle can prove decisive but to be able to exploit them more effectively you will have to observe the trend of the magical winds, basically an expedient to determine the mana in our possession, which we can use to increase our magical capacity and therefore be able to cast more spells. The alternative is to rely on luck before the battle, challenging luck to obtain a greater magical ability or, in case of bad luck, a curtailment of the same. The casting of spells is characterized by a cooldown so it will be essential to have good timing and spirit of observation in the movements of the enemy army controlled by the AI. Certainly adjusting the shot will not be a problem as after placing our units on the battlefield and starting the fight we can then speed up, slow down or stop the action to give different orders more calmly, thus avoiding making mistakes during the maneuvers "in real time".
The battle is raging
The battlefields represent one of the few flaws of Total War: Warhammer as they are sometimes too thin and not very varied despite the presence of atypical scenarios such as those underground in which we will go to guide the Dwarves in certain situations. Another unconvincing aspect concerns the behavior of the AI which sometimes assumes ambiguous attitudes on the game map while in battle it seems to send its lord to the front line, often in trouble. This fact could facilitate our victory in case of elimination of the enemy commander in a short time, with a consequent destabilization of his army. It does not happen often but it is a gimmick that can be used, especially in the first battles, taking into account that going forward in the game turns - which mark the time and actions at our disposal - during the approach to larger and stronger armies it will become almost impossible to adopt. this "blitzkrieg" strategy. While battles will rarely last several minutes, it will not always be necessary to direct the action yourself. We will be able to use the automatic resolution that will directly show us the outcome of the fight. But be careful, often a small army will be able to put much larger opponents in difficulty thanks to a careful and thoughtful use of the Lords, heroes and units suitable to counter the enemy force, therefore rely on AI for the automatic resolution of battles. more desperate is not a good idea at all.
Also in Total War: Warhammer we are faced with a game system in which each unit will have a weakness and a strength, and this will give way to win or defend oneself in the most effective way depending on the pawns that we will deploy or that we will find ourselves in front of. For the conquest of the cities it will be possible to carry out a siege that will lead to victory over the enemy by exhaustion of the same, preceded by probable requests for truce through the payment of a tribute, or with an attack on the opponent by now weakened. Once you have defeated an army or conquered a city, the game system allows us to decide whether to pardon and integrate the units or whether to give a clear signal by exterminating the veteran troops or to occupy or raze a city. Regardless of our choices, it is very likely that the submissive population will not be happy with the invader and we will therefore have to act in order to win his favor.
On the graphic side, the work done is excellent but certainly the hardware requests can rightly scare most people, despite an optimization of the graphics engine to adapt to less performing machines. We are therefore not in front of perfection because to fully enjoy the splendid graphics with the vast battlefields, the impressive number of units and fully appreciate the attention to detail, it will be necessary to have a PC of a certain level. In any case, the animations, the light and particle effects convinced us as well as the game map which proves to be "alive" and partly dynamic. In support of all this good things we find an epic and enveloping soundtrack that will be the background, starting from the game menus up to our epic deeds in battle, and an appreciable dubbing in English will give voice to our Lords and Heroes while non-English speakers will have nothing to worry about thanks to subtitles always present where necessary.
Endless conflict
If we consider the four initial campaigns - but if you bought the title at launch we are five with the free DLC Warriors of Chaos - and the various battle modes, we can only be satisfied on the longevity side with a virtually infinite amount of hours to spend on the war theaters of the world of Warhammer if only for a "quick" game. Also reiterating the diversity that each playable faction will be able to give to the approach of both the campaign mode and the individual battles, we are convinced that Total War: Warhammer will hardly tire the gamer accustomed to the genre. Furthermore, if you are tired of playing against the AI, through the rich multiplayer sector it will be possible to challenge an opponent in single battles or participate in coalitions of armies fighting each other. Not enough, we will also have the opportunity to face a "face to face" or co-op campaign while a ranking will take into account the best players online.
Finding flaws in the work of The Creative Assembly is really difficult also because we are faced with a proven gameplay in which the fantasy additions of the universe created by Games Workshop seem natural extensions of Total War. Are we facing perfection? Almost. Some flaws are not lacking in particular due to a limited number of playable factions initially and as regards an AI that is not always up to the situation. However, considering the longevity and above all an excellent gameplay, thanks to the armies characterized by original aspects and by now tested game mechanics, without neglecting the many modes proposed for Total War: Warhammer we can only promote with full marks a work taken care of in practically everyone. its aspects.
► Total War: Warhammer is an RPG-Tactical game developed by Sega and published by Creative Assembly for PC, the video game was released on 24/05/2016
