Now Playing: Three Kingdoms

The Total War series has always operated on a cycle of ‘revolution’ and ‘evolution’. The original Shogun was a ‘revolution’ game, whereas Medieval was an ‘evolution’ – a refined expansion, building and expanding upon the foundation of its preceding title. It’s a pattern you can see repeated throughout the entire series – Rome 1 (revo) & Medieval 2 (evo), Empire & Napoleon, Shogun 2 & Fall of the Samurai, Rome 2 & Attila and most recently Warhammer 1 & Warhammer 2.

I think it’s the reason why I still enjoy this series so much – because whilst the core concept of Total War remains the same, the surrounding mechanics are regularly reinvented and redefined. And Total War: Three Kingdoms, the first historical ‘revolution’ game since Rome 2, really does redefine the series moving forward.

I said prior to its release that Three Kingdoms would struggle to match the Warhammer games in terms of battles, which is why it was so important for Creative Assembly to overhaul the campaign aspect of the game. And that’s exactly what they’ve done, delivering what is easily the most engaging and enjoyable campaign experience yet.

This is predominately down to the massively expanded diplomatic system. It’s not just the range and variety of options that’s impressive, but that the AI also engages with these new options in ways that feel sensible and appropriate. And these diplomatic exchanges can fundamentally change the direction and focus of your campaign in a single turn.

 

At the time of writing I’ve completed three campaigns, and I’m currently stuck into my fourth with over 120 hours played. Whilst Three Kingdoms may lack the variety of Warhammer in terms of factions and units, it excels at campaign variety. Every campaign has played out very differently and in ways I didn’t expect. More so than any previous Total War, campaigns in Three Kingdoms feel like personal, self-contained stories.

And this feeling is enhanced by the focus on individual characters. Characters are at the heart of everything in Three Kingdoms. You’re not just building armies of units, but armies of characters and their retinues. Characters are members of your family, of your court, they act as your governors, as your spies, as your ruling council issuing missions, and can even be sent on various assignments within your empire.

Every character, even if they lack unique art, is unique in terms of name, class and traits. And by ‘class’ I’m not just talking about ‘Champion’ or ‘Commander’ – I’m talking about the ‘profession’ or ‘sub-class’ such as ‘trader’ or ‘tax collector’, which then provides additional unique character effects. You can equip each character with different weapons, armour, mounts and accessories to further boost their stats or provide unit, army or even faction wide boosts.

And Three Kingdoms really is a game all about stacking stats and boosts, be it on characters or in your economy. There’s no single way to boost replenishment or reduce corruption – instead, it’s all about stacking minor boosts. This also applies to your income. Every region can generate three types of income – peasantry, commerce and industry.

 

The building system of Three Kingdoms is similar in style to that in Thrones of Britannia, but expanded and far more refined. It’s all about maximising the output of every region be it food, trade or industry. Various buildings in various combinations (including ones which provide boosts to adjacent regions) can be constructed to make the most of every resource.

Governors can then be assigned to key regions to further boost particular outputs, as can characters on assignment – everything from reduced building cost, to increased replenishment, to a 50% or more increase in income. If, like me, you really enjoy trying to maximise the output of each and every region, you can easily lose yourself in the Three Kingdoms economy management system.

The campaign map in Three Kingdoms is vast and gorgeous with a fantastic level of detail. There are five turns per year, each with its own seasonal effects. The campaign, depending upon your setting, also transitions slowly from day to night. There are also unique audio effects depending upon which part of the map you’re zoomed into.

Battle maps in Three Kingdoms work more like they did in the original Rome than the more recent Warhammer games. Every land battle map is essentially a zoomed in tile of the campaign map. City maps also reflect the city level and like Rome, buildings constructed on the campaign map are also visually represented on the battle map. The minor resource settlements each have their own unique map type – mine, port or farm, for example – but these can still feel quite different to fight upon depending upon the campaign terrain (which also changes the appearance of the corresponding battle map) or the season, or the weather.

 

And, like the campaign, the battle maps are gorgeous, particularly with the ‘Romance’ graphical option enabled. Three Kingdoms is one of, if not the best looking Total War game in the series. The map lighting, something of a weakness in the Warhammer games, is fantastic here. Terrain quality is great, and the units are all highly detailed.

No, the units in Three Kingdoms aren’t as exciting as lizards riding dinosaurs shooting laser beams, but the quality of the models is still pretty high. My only criticism of the unit models in Three Kingdoms is that some of the main character models don’t appear as polished as others.

Another criticism would be unit animations when engaged in combat. There is a matched ‘kill’ system in place, but overall, it behaves more like the Warhammer system, only not as polished in terms of animation. It’s not uncommon to see men in a unit swiping at the air nowhere near an enemy, or even facing the wrong way. So this is one area where Three Kingdoms could certainly use some polish and improvement.

The good news though is that like Warhammer, the units feel incredibly responsive in battle. Because they’re not constantly trying to sync individual animations, there’s a very nice fluidity to unit vs unit combat. Cavalry in Three Kingdoms is also incredibly satisfying to use. In fact, it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had using cavalry in a Total War game.

 

So at the zoomed in, animation level, Three Kingdoms can look a little wonky, but when zoomed out and managing the battlefield as a whole, it’s hugely enjoyable and engaging. Like Shogun 2, there’s a heavy emphasis on unit counters with the reworked ‘braced’, ‘range block’ and ‘charge reflect’ mechanics. Archers can demolish unshielded units, but with the right Character skill boost or unit formation, you can negate range damage almost entirely.

And tier 3 cavalry can be destroyed by even tier 1 peasant spear men if they’re properly braced for an incoming charge. Whilst the battles in Three Kingdoms may lack the spectacle of the magic and monsters of Warhammer, I’d say they’re just as much fun to play. Knowing when to charge, when to brace, when to adopt formations or when to drop various character skills can all be key to winning or losing a battle.

And that’s without even taking the new duel system into consideration. Duels add another tactical layer to a battle. Choosing the right duel at the right time can be key. There are times when you may need to enter a duel you know you can’t win, but it might be necessary to lock down a dangerous character and keep them out of the wider battle for as long as you can.

Returning to the campaign, let’s talk about the new spying system. In Three Kingdoms, you can send out your characters to spy on other factions. Initially, your characters will simply scout the enemy territory, revealing it to you. But they can also be hired by that faction and that’s when you can start using spy actions.

 

If you want your spies to be hired then it’s important not to just send out level 1, generic characters, because it’s unlikely the AI will want to recruit them. I’ve had the most luck with the spy system by sending out characters at level 3 or 4 with an accessory or two. Once in the enemy court your spy will feed you useful information such as the faction income, the number of regions they control and how many armies they’re fielding.

In court, your spy can manipulate various things such as the satisfaction of other characters, turning them against their own master and making it far easier to recruit them should you capture them in battle. Spies can also be assigned to an army, unlocking even more options, including the option to stage a military revolt, disbanding the entire army – although this does expose your spy and return them and their retinue to you.

In my most recent campaign this action proved invaluable as one of my armies was cornered by two enemy forces. Fortunately, one of these contained my spy who triggered a revolt. What was previously an unwinnable 2v1 situation, had now shifted in my favour. Spies can also be assigned as the administrator to a city, unlocking even more options such as opening the gates prior to a siege, or even surrendering the city to you without a fight.

And let’s not forget that spies can also be adopted into another faction’s family, unlocking the option of assassinating enemy family members and triggering a civil war. Overall, the new spy system is a great addition to the game, but there aspects to it that could use improvement.

 

Spies can be utilised in very powerful ways – but this also relies heavily on RNG – such as my situation with the 2 enemy armies. It was only luck that sent the army with my spy in to my border. And in my other campaigns, although I’ve used spies in court or in armies, I’ve never managed to get one assigned as a governor or adopted into a family. There is a luck based element to the spy system which can make it feel a little unrewarding, especially if your spy doesn’t even get hired.

It’s also a ‘long game’ type of system. It’s important to get spies out early into the factions you feel may pose the most threat long term – even factions you may be on friendly terms with initially. And whilst this long term planning can really pay off, it does result in a lack of any immediate reward or satisfaction from using it. It takes a lot of time and luck to get your spies into a position where they can really hurt your enemy.

In a previous post talking about unit progression in Three Kingdoms, I highlighted concerns about how units are unlocked and not always utilised during a campaign. With more hours played, I’m pleased to say that my opinion has shifted somewhat, as my third campaign saw far more of the higher tier units on the battlefield. I still think some of the reform units need to be rebalanced, and maybe the way unit experience works – such as retaining all, or at least some, of their experience when ‘retraining’ them to a higher tier.

Campaign and Battle AI in Three Kingdoms is some of the best we’ve seen in a Total War game. And by ‘best’ I mean consistently competent. One improvement I’d like to see though is AI unit formation use, as these can be very useful – such as advancing in turtle formation to block incoming arrows – but, aside from the loose formation, the AI rarely seems to use them. AI army composition could also use some work.

 

Music in Three Kingdoms is great in both battle and campaign. The UI looks lovely and all the unique character art is fantastic – we just need more of it. The range of factions is also really good, although some factions do get more interesting (and useful) mechanics and unique units/buildings than others.

Okay, I think it’s time to wrap this up. Overall, Three Kingdoms is another fantastic entry in the Total War series. Blending elements of the Warhammer fantasy games into a historical setting may not be to everyone’s taste but it’s created a unique and engaging mix that even after 120 hours of play, I’ve still not grown tired of.

That’s not to say the game is perfect – there are lots of little areas that can be improved, expanded, refined or polished. We need more unique characters, art and accessories. We need more competition in the southern regions of the map – perhaps another faction or two. The spy system could use some tweaks, unit balancing could use some tweaks, as could certain aspects of the UI – finding marriage prospects through the diplomacy menu can be a bit of a nightmare as there’s no ‘quick deal’ option for it.

But for all its little flaws, Three Kingdoms is truly a ‘revolution’ title in this long running series and there’s a lot more they can build upon using this existing foundation, not only in terms of DLC but also in future Total War games.

8/10