Is this the jewel in the crown of Creative Assembly & The Games Workshop? It might just be…
Thorgrim Grudgebearer pulls his axe out of the orc that had threatened to kill him only moments ago. The steel glimmers, as if the weapon itself is pleased with the bloodshed. The High King of the Dwarves pulls off one of his ceremonial gauntlets and touches the orc blood with his index finger. It feels warm, but reeks of the all-familiar orc stench. He walks to his servants, and opens the ancient ‘Book of Grudges’. With his bloody index finger, he scratches out one of the grudges that had been recorded by his forefathers: act out revenge on the orc Warlord Ironhide for pillaging the dwarven outposts. The vile invaders have paid with their blood, and the High King’s forefathers can be proud of today’s accomplishments. Grudgebearer closes the book and walks off to rally his troops. The next task: the annihilation of the Greenskins. But first, a big feast.
When I received the Steam key for this game, I was curious, yet also a bit scared. As a seasoned player of the Total War series, I had been anxious since I had learned of Creative Assembly’s plans to team up with the Games Workshop in order to create a Total War game set in the Warhammer universe. Knowing nothing about Warhammer, I felt the game would perhaps be a bit too chaotic to my taste. After booting up the game and noticing the familiar playstyle, I knew I was in for a treat. Total War: Warhammer might just be the game the veteran TW gamers have been waiting for, as it offers not only a more transparent game, it is also marvellously brutal!
It had been a while since the last timed I had played a Total War game, so I decided to start a campaign with the ‘easy’ faction, the dwarves. I was treated to a beautiful cinematic, describing a world on the brink of war, its races all getting ready to smash each other’s heads in. Subtlety is a trait unknown in Warhammer. Instead, the mission objectives, or should I say grudges and revenge plots, are clearly shown: defeat, maim, and kill as many Greenskins as possible. Take back your lands, and prepare for something far more evil that lurks in the shadows.
As I set off investing in my economical buildings, establishing trade lines with neighbouring dwarven settlements, and selling non-aggression pacts, I noticed that I did not have any difficulty whatsoever figuring out how to play the game. Creative Assembly clearly knows how to cater to the experienced TW players, since the game system itself highly resembles their previous games, and new elements to the mechanics are explained in great detail by your ‘advisor’. Since there is no real ‘tutorial’ in the game, the first couple of turns are rather slow. Every Total War gamer should realise by now that you have to take things slowly in the beginning, and learn from your mistakes. I was too eager for glory, sadly, but more on that later.
The first couple of turns, everything went well. I managed to secure some small victories over my main enemies and quickly captured a couple of extra settlements. I was issued a special ‘story-driven’ mission, to be completed on my own time, but with the promise of a big reward. In these types of missions, the story-telling aspect of the game is brought to attention. Succeeding in these missions often result in your heroes receiving special items, which can be used to further customize them, besides levelling up and choosing their skills. This is a mechanic that was already present in the earlier Total War games, but now it perfectly fits into the overall lore of the Warhammer universe.
The campaign map breathes colourful fantasy, with plenty of eye candy. The ‘normal’ settlements do not resemble each other that much, as there are plenty of different models for them. The ‘unique’ cities can rival the design of Minas Tirith itself! Plenty of time has been spent in creating these race and their buildings, and it all adds up to the general ‘feel’ of the game. The way the characters move, however, led to some frustration at first. Sometimes, it is not really visible where your ‘characters’ can go, and where they can’t, which made me sigh a couple of times when I wanted to set up the perfect ambush in the woods, only to discover that my character would walk around the woodlands altogether, thereby losing the element of surprise. It’s all a matter of paying attention, both on the world map, as during battles.
The battles are very fluent too, given the amount of detail that you get in return. The individual units look bad-ass in their armour, and I would occasionally just press the space bar to pause the game and inspect my soldiers’ armour and weaponry. This game looks amazing, have I mentioned that before? Since the dwarves are focused on big axes and hammers, they are excellent front-line infantry, but they also pack quite the ranged punch with steampunk helicopters, fantasy rocket launchers, and plenty more! Nothing beats blowing up orcs from far away, and seeing them crash into my front lines without any hope of survival. My soldiers always returned home with bloody weaponry and plenty of experienced.
And so I drudge on, expanding my empire, winning battles, until it came collapsing down in only a couple of turns. Hybris had shown its ugly face, and I was staring right into it while my settlements were raised by rage-driven orcs. I should have spent more time consolidating and strengthening my first settlement. How could I forget that the same tunnels under the mountains could be used by the enemy as well? I was reminded by that when a huge thrall not-so-kindly knocked on my iron gates. Uhm, want to talk things through over a cup of ale?
And so my first campaign ended prematurely, with plenty of violence, mayhem, and pools of blood. I am again reminded that the Total War series is all about choosing your battles, investing in a strong economy, and maintaining good relations with your allies. If you add Warhammer to that, you get plenty of opportunities to release your inner berserker, as long as you take a step back once in a while. Total War: Warhammer is perhaps one of the best in the series, with slick gameplay, gorgeous design of soldiers, settlements, and the world, and actual roleplay elements involved. At the moment, I would reward the game with at least an 8,5/10, though I need to test it more to come to a final conclusion. Keep a watchful eye for the weeks to come. Now it’s time for a second attempt with the dwarves, I have some grudges to settle…
Score (for now): 8,5/10
