Total War: Warhammer 3 review - triumphant strategy trilogy

Total War: WARHAMMER III

The cataclysmic conclusion to the Total War: WARHAMMER trilogy is here. Rally your forces and step into the Realm of Chaos, a dimension of mind-bending horror where the very fate of the world will be decided. Will you conquer your Daemons… or command them?

My Daemon Prince, Egrimm, crosses into the Realm of Chaos, and I'm feeling confident; I'm the first contender in this cosmic game show to enter Tzeentch's fun house. But then, a twist: having arrived several turns after me, Skarbrand walks into a portal that sends him directly to the final round, where a daemon soul awaits in the Impossible Fortress, but only for one claimant. The rest of us will leave with nothing.

The portal was unfixed, its path random, and so his success is blind luck. Having worked to uncover the path the proper way, I'm now a turn behind him, able to catch up but not overtake. My only option is to take him out of the game by force, so I break our non-aggression pact and attack. I get the soul, but Skarbrand - 'roid rage in daemon form - bears a grudge for the rest of the campaign. He becomes a constant menace on the icy northern shores of my empire, until I bribe N'Kari into distracting him for me.

It's not exactly an emergent story, but it's certainly an anecdote. Warhammer fans may get an extra kick out of it as it's lore-authentic: the forces of Chaos working together until pride and jealousy - mine, in this case - intervenes to stop the ascent of a rival. This is what Total War: Warhammer III's new Realm of Chaos campaign delivers - and you can pre-order it here, coincidentally.

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