Games

[icycalm]

https://warhammer3.totalwar.com

The Online forum thread on this game should really be about scheduling and administrative issues on how to set up the game, so I am making this thread for news and discussion, and just to say that I don’t think that 8-player co-op strategy campaigns have ever been done before. Unless you count Paradox games I suppose, but those are from the ‘80s with just maps so they don’t really count in my opinion, since they aren’t modern games.

So we may be looking at Videogame Art here, and 2022 GOTY contender. I sure hope that’s what I’ll discover next weekend.

That said, the term “campaign” is probably misplaced here, because as I understand it there’s no story and cutscenes breaking down the action. It’s just a big map with factions thrown in and war until the end, like Civ, right? That doesn’t count as a campaign.

Don’t miss the Online forum thread on the game, as it has required news and discussion: http://culture.vg/forum/topic?t=7636

[Robomoo]

Mortal Empires is all factions thrown in a map with only vague optional objectives, the "main" campaigns have stories for each faction with quests and cutscenes. The Eye of the Vortex campaign in the previous game was pretty meh and not really worth playing over more factions and a bigger map, though. This game has three story campaigns at launch, but only Realm of Chaos allows eight players.

Here's the description of the Realm of Chaos campaign:

The Winds of Magic roil, stirred into a tempest by the roar of a dying god. Now Daemon and mortal alike must break through the eldritch storm and enter the Realm of Chaos in search of the ultimate prize. Will the Daemonic Lords of Chaos claim victory and find favour with their dark masters? Or shall the denizens of a world scarred by constant war endure the trials and temptations of the Chaos Realms? The choice is yours...

Opening story cutscene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTdEv9NvCI4

Each faction has an end goal which revolves around finding Ursun and freeing/killing him.

[icycalm]

2-player Total War: Warhammer III (Hard Multiplayer Realm of Chaos Campaign) with Robomoo 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imnd-314XTw

4-player Total War: Warhammer III (Legendary Multiplayer Realm of Chaos Campaign) with ChevRage 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3be-ywIoOQ

In the first game, leccosta joined Robo, and in the second game, Robo, ysignal and I joined Chev. We just aren't adding all those extra names to the stream titles because they'd go over the character limit.

P.S. Our voices in both videos cut out intermittently, apparently due to an issue with the game. We still managed though, by just repeating ourselves when needed.

So, normally I would post lengthy impressions, but I have a review coming up asap, and I don't want to spoil it, or repeat myself. You can expect the review this week, and it will be of the entire Total War franchise, with particular focus on the first and last games, meaning Shogun 1 and Warhammer 3.

Until then, I'll say that Warhammer 3 is a 4/5 and probably the best game in the series, on account of the 8-player multiplayer. If you're looking for an entry in the series, this would be the absolute best game to start with, in my opinion.

That said, the series isn't for everyone, and if you're expecting Civ or Age of Empires, you'll be disappointed. More in my detailed essay soon.