For a fan of the world created by Games Workshop Warhammer it becomes something more, an entire fantasy universe poured into a world dominated by war, from the law of the strongest, from erudite elves to infesting rats, from the forces of imperial good to the demons of Chaos.
For years, videogame works have seemed a pale imitation of the miniaturistic world, sometimes even offensive to lovers of Fantasy lore.
The launch trailer had already left us drooling, has this title managed to change my mind and keep expectations high? I will try to tell you without revealing all the background. Enjoy the reading!
Total War and Warhammer: a bit of history.
It was 2002, two years ago Shogun: Total War had been released and after school I went to the cuggino to play with it. We had a very slow connection and tried to play in multiplayer mode: a real revolution.
Long gone by now: 17 years have passed since the release of the first Total War and it took a third-party software house to realize the dream of many fans of Warhammer Fantasy.
As a lover of RTS (real time strategy) I saw with my own eyes the evolution of the various Total War, from Rome e Rome 2, da Medieval to the penultimate Attila and honestly it will be difficult not to be biased given the quality of its predecessors. Yes, I also appreciated Rome 2, a title that broke the community in two.
The Creative Assembly e SEGA after just one year of development it brings on the shelves and up Sgroups and teams the second chapter; as I said at the beginning, the skepticism in front of the works that try to represent the world of Warhammer Fantasy is so much, too many bitter disappointments that still burn. The first chapter had already reassured me, the second is the confirmation that we are faced with a real revenge of the many subdued or not worthy of mention works.
Lode a Sigmar.
Lore and Setting
The old Total Wars had accustomed us to huge sandboxes to discover and fill. Here, unlike the previous episodes of the saga and the first chapter, we will find ourselves in front of a game that will develop by giving more depth to the narrative.
The campaigns are set in Ulthuan in the inland sea dominated by High Elves, in the center of the island there is the great vortex, the protagonist who will decide the progress of your strategies. From it will spring the mystical energies of the universe and it will be a greedy target to control.
We will see four "new" races line up: the High Elves, the Dark Elves, the Lizardmen and those cursed rats of the Skaven (too many battles lost not to despise them properly).
On the one hand we have the High Elves who want to strengthen the power of the Maelstorm vortex created millennia ago to repel the hordes of chaos that have come to earth. The masters of the Order of Knowledge will do everything to strengthen the vortex and its waning power. Strong and proud, they defend their territories from the assaults of hostile populations and the abominations of chaos, thanks to their magic and their ballistic power.
In the deep south are the Lizard Men, in the green and immense jungles of Lustria.
Captained by the gigantic and antics Slan, they are beings as ancient as the earth, they are part of the first born and have always resisted changes. Blinded by the aims of conquistadors, they gather hordes of "dinosaurs" (yes I know, let's simplify) ready to invade the neighboring lands like wildfire, angry at the raids suffered by orcs and other creatures.
In the deep south from the bowels of the earth emerge the Skaven, slimy and hideous humanoids with the appearance of topi. These beings devastate and plunder every resource, strong in their number and their inclination and natural propensity to infest all forms of life with terrible diseases and massive epidemics.
Finally the Dark Elves they dominate the icy mountains and cold seas of the North, relentless corsairs ready to conquer and dominate every enemy.
I do not go further and I do not go into detail leaving you only the basics of the story, I have always considered the lore of a video game or a role-playing game to be a treasure chest to be opened with care. Understanding its nuances and the secrets it contains is real fun for me.
Technical realization and gameplay
Starting from the basics, the tutorial is rich and quite complete. Despite this, the game is a bit complicated for those who don't chew them RTS, every part of the game is clickable, every click will open a menu and all those buttons and bars can be daunting but it doesn't take long to juggle and get used to it.
In the first chapter of the saga the invasion of the Chaos led by the leader Archaon. A solution that made me turn up my nose since for some armies it was an all too easy challenge, almost a pain in the ass. In this new chapter we are faced with a sort of "games without borders": the four factions find themselves having to contend for the domination of Maelstorm, aided by diplomacy or the iron law of steel.
We will find ourselves playing four races divided into two subgroups led by two different lords, a bit small but justifiable by the amount of work behind it and by the development of the next chapter which (we hope) will include the rest.
There will be no lack of attention to detail: zooming in on the troops we will be able to see perfectly made animations, dialogues and historical hints on the world of Fantasy faithfully follow the lore e the setting.
The game also comes in two modes, one more managerial and the other more strategic that blend perfectly. In the first we will have to collect resources, make pacts with the other factions using the NPC, in the second we will see plausible simulations of the famous board game, with great attention to strategy and care for positioning on the territory. We will indeed have bonus o malus in real time based on the position of the troops on the scenario or based on climatic conditions. The intervention of armies ready to help or oppose the various invasions, the result of diplomacy and alliances or territorial belligerences, was well cared for.
As we progress through the game we will find ourselves having to follow phases more or less dictated by the mechanics of the game, some choices will exacerbate diplomatic relations with the other factions, others will strengthen them and then end up in a ... And we stop here, we would not take away the taste of the game.
The Creative Assembly has added several improvements such as a more refined interface in the windows and in the controls, the addition of flying units and a greater contribution of magic during battles, a detail that we would prefer to see more in the next chapter. Great care was also taken in the creation of the 3D models, adding a bestiary very respectable.
The game is not without criticism, however. Beyond the limited choice of races due to the massive work in development, we can see how some clashes are all too simple and artificial intelligence flaw of static. For example, we can see long-range missile units firing empty, leaving a discreet sense of dissatisfaction. A little more challenge never hurts.
The last real criticism is the system of diplomacy. It is true that we are in a world dominated by steel and blood, by the bloodthirsty dualisms to which we have been accustomed for decades in the world of WarhammerHowever, the fact remains that many players prefer more subtle and cunning ways to resolve territorial disputes, and the system still has serious shortcomings.
Finally, the modality multiplayer needs more days of rehearsals, I will update you with a new article dedicated to it shortly.
Stay tuned!
Final judgement
We are faced with a new path taken by The Creative Assembly: the detachment from the other chapters of Total War it is increasingly evident, adding panache and innovation to games that left little room for storytelling.
The cutscenes are beautiful and contextualized, longtime gamers of Warhammer Fantasy they cannot miss this piece of the saga. We will hardly see the whole story treated so well and I don't think you will be disappointed.
The title is widely promoted.
The review is also present on OpenCritic
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