Total War: Warhammer 2 is the second in a planned real-time strategy game trilogy from developer Creative Assembly. It has once again harnessed what makes Warhammer a great tabletop game franchise, bringing it to the digital world. This iterarion focuses on the continents of Lustria, Ulthuan, Naggaroth and the Southlands — and therefore, High Elves, Lizard men, Dark Elves and Skaven. Each race has two heroes playable at launch, and all play a massive part in campaigns.
The hero that you choose will determine where you start alongside the assets you begin with. The campaign is set out as a map, focusing on the lands of the race you choose. A turn-based style is used in a manner not unlike 2K’s Civilization franchise. Cities and villages are scattered around the map, and once captured, can be upgraded to generate resources. You can spend those on other troops, artillery or even massive monsters. Every unit in your army costs an upkeep, so management becomes just as important as crushing your foes.
After battles, your army generates experience and becomes better at various, specific roles. Your hero also gets better — not just through experience, but also through skills. Progression occurs as a combination of skills and equipping gear you may have of looted or crafted. The best thing about all this? TW:W2‘s campaign can be played in multiplayer.
The meat and potatoes of any Total War game is all about the chaos that occurs when two or more armies are engaged on a battlefield. The intent, obviously, is the obliteration of one another. Although the combat is in real-time, unlike the tabletop the Total War franchise, it’s easy enough to follow all that’s going on.
And ah, what chaos you can cause. I delighted in the micromanagment of units hidden in an ambush, set up all over the map. High ground gives your men an advantage, blocking line-of-sight by by using natural forests. Attacking units from behind will offer bonus damage or a larger hit in your opponent’s moral. Using these tactics will help overcome foes — and coincidentally, are just damn fun. Earning victory in a battle can be obtained by either destroying their army totally or just break their morale, causing them to run.
Outside of the campaign are an assortment of battles. You’re tasked to defeating an opponent where both of your armies are pre-determined based on the race you choose. You’re also tasked to overcome an ambush or defend an objective, just to name a few. Battles are also able to be played in multiplayer — you and a friend are able to build an army of one of the four factions and to a determined resource cost before slugging it out.
Fans of Total War series are sure to love this Warhammer 2. As an added bonus to the people who already own Total War: Warhammer, you’ll have access to a new, global campaign that involves the new lands and races from this title it alongside those from this new iteration. What’s not to love?
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Total War: Warhammer 2 was reviewed using a promotional code on PC, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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