Game Review: ‘Total War Warhammer 3’ Best in Series So Far

Total War Warhammer 3 (TWW3) brings to your computer monitor a manifestation of the battles you imagined as a kid when marshaling your army men, dinosaurs, action figures, and various stuffed animals in titanic duels of the fates. Mortars would thud into the ravaged earth of the living-room carpet as Superman punched Beary the Bear in his fluffy gut. Tank turrets would swivel from behind the couch to lay low the pterodactyls swooping in on your sister’s Barbie — Barbie armed with an Uzi. It was bedlam, an amalgamated battlefield drawn from all childhood worlds in your mind’s eye. This bedlam is what TWW3 offers.

For those unfamiliar with Warhammer, it’s a setting composed of every sort of fantasy race and faction devised since Tolkien. Originally a table-top war game with plastic or pewter models, endless dice rolls, and friendly bickering, owned by Games Workshop, the franchise was recently picked up by Creative Assembly (CA) for a video-game adaption. CA is known for its Total War franchise — a series of historical strategy games combining a world map (think Sid Meier’s Civilization) with cutaways to the battlefield (Age of Empires) where the player controls thousands of soldiers. The results of these battles, good or ill, then translate back to the map where players can conquer neighboring countries or ally with them to take on threats elsewhere.

About the Author

Luther Ray Abel

Luther Ray Abel is an Associate Editor for National Review. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Luther is a proud native of Sheboygan, Wis.

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Total War Warhammer 3 (TWW3) brings to your computer monitor a manifestation of the battles you imagined as a kid when marshaling your army men, dinosaurs, action figures, and various stuffed animals in titanic duels of the fates. Mortars would thud into the ravaged earth of the living-room carpet as Superman punched Beary the Bear in his fluffy gut. Tank turrets would swivel from behind the couch to lay low the pterodactyls swooping in on your sister’s Barbie — Barbie armed with an Uzi. It was bedlam, an amalgamated battlefield drawn from all childhood worlds in your mind’s eye. This bedlam is what TWW3 offers.

For those unfamiliar with Warhammer, it’s a setting composed of every sort of fantasy race and faction devised since Tolkien. Originally a table-top war game with plastic or pewter models, endless dice rolls, and friendly bickering, owned by Games Workshop, the franchise was recently picked up by Creative Assembly (CA) for a video-game adaption. CA is known for its Total War franchise — a series of historical strategy games combining a world map (think Sid Meier’s Civilization) with cutaways to the battlefield (Age of Empires) where the player controls thousands of soldiers. The results of these battles, good or ill, then translate back to the map where players can conquer neighboring countries or ally with them to take on threats elsewhere.