Three Kingdoms: First Impressions

I’ve clocked 30 hours on Total War: Three Kingdoms and completed my first campaign, so I figured it was time to share my first impressions of the game. As I said in an earlier post, I wasn’t super excited about 3K because it’s not a setting I’m very familiar with and I was also concerned about how the battles would compare to the Warhammer games.

Going from a game like Warhammer 2 where you have lizards riding dinosaurs that shoot laser beams, to a game of spear man, sword man and horse riding man – how can it not feel like a step back? And it’s true, in many ways the battles of 3K do lack the spectacle of Warhammer – there’s no magic, no monsters.

But I do think Creative Assembly have done a great job of making the battles as good as they can be considering the setting and the limited unit variety. The battle maps are great, with unique map types for every minor resource settlement and city maps that expand depending upon the city level.

 

Sieges in 3K are extremely enjoyable to fight or defend, with maps featuring multiple layers of defence. In some ways, the city maps aren’t quite as complex as those in Thrones of Britannia, but unlike Thrones, these maps don’t just look good, they also play good.

This is helped by what is probably the best siege AI in the series, which actually does a pretty decent job attacking and defending settlements. I thought it would be hard going from Warhammer to 3K, but as far as sieges are now concerned, it’s going to be hard going from 3K back to Warhammer.

But even standard land battles in 3K are a lot of fun. I played my campaign in Romance mode, which adds a Warhammer style fantasy twist to the gameplay, as generals operate as single entity units and can engage their rivals in duels. And these duels aren’t just for show – they really do add another tactical layer to the battle, as matching up the right duel at the right time is what can win or lose you the fight. And like the siege AI, land battle AI is also an improvement over previous games in the series. It’s not a massive leap, but it’s another step forward and not quite so easy to abuse.

 

Despite going into 3K with reservations about the battles, I’ve actually been very impressed by how much fun they are to play, and how tactical they become as you progress as new unit types and formations are introduced. The only criticism I have of the battles is the unit vs unit animations, which can look good at times, but at others they become pretty messy and awkward.

I think CA have done a really good job making the battles fun and engaging. I’d actually say I find them as fun as those in Warhammer, although for different reasons. The real star of 3K isn’t the battles though, but the campaign.

The campaign of 3K really does feel like a major step forward for the series. For the first time in a TW game I’m actually spending more time on the campaign map than in battles. Managing your empire, your characters and most notably – your diplomatic relations – is rewarding and enjoyable. The diplomacy of 3K is the best we’ve ever had in TW.

 

It’s not just the range of options that’s impressive, but that the AI actually makes full use of them. That’s not to say the campaign AI is perfect – because the diplomacy is so much more complex, it also opens more opportunities for the player to abuse it – but the AI actually behaves in ways that make sense based on your interactions and the new character ‘relationship’ system.

Because this is a First Impressions post, I don’t want to delve too deeply into all the new systems, not until I’ve got more hours and at least another campaign completed. I’ll save that for the proper review. What I can say now is that I’m having a real blast with the game.

Visually, 3K looks fantastic. I wasn’t sure I’d like the colourful ‘romance’ style, but it really does look gorgeous. The range of gameplay options is great, allowing you to customise your experience with things like alternative unit cards and, of course, the Records mode for those who want a more ‘traditional’ TW experience. The sound in 3K is also great with both English and Chinese VO options, some very pumped up battle chanting and what may be one of, if not the best soundtrack in the series.

I’m also impressed by how engaging my campaign was from beginning to end. There was no point where I felt like the campaign was ‘won’ because I was just snowballing my way across the map. I had to stay on my toes throughout the entire campaign, making full use of my unique faction mechanic (manipulating other factions through diplomacy) to my advantage.

As a result, when victory came it really did feel earned. I’d fought for it and most importantly – I’d needed to be smart about it. It wasn’t just won because I was good at fighting battles, but because I’d very carefully played the diplomatic game from beginning to end, manipulating both my enemies and my friends.

As far as bugs and performance goes, 3K is probably the best TW release yet. It’s very stable, very smooth and actually performs better than Warhammer does, at least on my system. I said at the start of this post about not having much knowledge of the setting, and that’s something to keep in mind.

Before playing 3K I took some time to read up on the period and the people involved, which gave me a good context into which I could understand the campaign. And that’s something I’d recommend doing if you’re going into 3K. It’s certainly more exciting when you fight against or recruit unique characters when you actually know who they are.

Overall, 3K has been excellent so far. It may be that I’ll find more issues and things to be critical of as I progress, but right now, I can’t wait to jump into my second campaign.