The upcoming, jaw-dropping strategy game from Creative Assembly has already managed to gather a large following not only because the Total War series already being well established in the world of gaming but also because Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles are arguably the best ones yet, thus gaining a lot of love from fans of history as well as the gaming community.
This game will take you back all the way to 190AD China, where the legendary Han dynasty was on its last legs and the rule of Three Kingdoms took over. Each of the three strives to take over the sole rule of China. The course of history is now known, yet the story in the game isn’t – it is all up for you to uncover!
Based on history and romance
The amazing Total War: Three Kingdom historical battles are not a figment of imagination from the developers, in fact, the whole story of the game is based on easily one of the most important and influential pieces of literature in the history of China – Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. If you noticed that some things don’t add up – props for your attentiveness. The book is written more than a thousand years after the actual events took place. However, it is important to note that it is a piece of fictional literature that is very heavily based on the actual history books that were available in the period.
This means that Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles are also somewhat enhanced by the imagination of Luo Guanzhong as well as the creators of the game themselves. With the book being nearly as important to Chinese history as the Three Kingdom era itself, the players of this game actually get the best of both worlds – a reasonably accurate representation of ancient history coupled with one of the most iconic works of literature in the entire world!
Playable Warlords in Total War: Three Kingdom
You will find a total of 12 Warlords that you can control and take part in the epic Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles with. Every single one of them are actual historical figures that lived in the era and their character traits are recreated thanks to the information available in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The 12 Warlords were split into 5 playable classes according to their character traits, each of which have their own unique strengths and weaknesses so make sure to choose the one that suits your own style of play best!
Sentinel – the only starting Sentinel Warlord is Sun Jian – the legendary Tiger of Jiangdong. Sentinels are heavily defense-oriented, therefore, they have a significantly higher defensive skill than any other class. Their epic Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles are won or lost on defense and also how well their lower building costs are taken advantage of.
Strategist – much like with the Sentinel class, there is only one starting Strategist Warlord – Kong Rong, The Master Scholar. The name really says it all – the Strategist aims to win their battles by the power of wit rather than the power of muscle. They are weak in hand-to-hand combat, so a smart move is to stay out of range and engage in long-distance attacks.
Champion – there are two starting Warlords in this class – Zhang Yan and Zheng Jiang, both of which are bandits. Unlike Strategists, Champions win their Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles by their brute strength alone. They are extremely strong when fighting other heroes and nothing can match them in melee combat, so they are most effective when within close proximity of their opponents.
Commander – there are nearly as many starting Commander Warlords as all other Warlords combined. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu are all Commanders. All of them are natural born leaders that raise the satisfaction level in other characters in their army. They are at their most efficient when paired up with melee cavalry.
Vanguard – last, but not least, Vanguards win their Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles by forming powerful groups rather than fighting alone. Ma Teng and Gongsun Zan, the two starting Vanguards may be weak in one-on-one combat, but they are the ones to be feared when you see a whole army coming towards you. They excel against other groups and have the largest recruitment bonus in the game!
Total War: Three Kingdoms game modes
There are two main game modes in this gem developed by Creative Assembly those being the Classic and the Romance modes. The Classic mode is exactly what you’d come to expect from the franchise, as you build a city, gather an army, immerse in Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles and seek to take over the whole map.
The Romance mode is more heavily based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms book, as evident by the name of the mode itself. Much like in the Classic mode, the player seeks to become as powerful as possible and to take over the lands of China. The difference is in the decisions that are made by the player. The big change here is the introduction of Warlord Dilemmas, a new feature in the Total War series as a whole! In a sense, it not only features epic Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles but contains much more of a storyline than the classic mode as well!
A Warlord Dilemma is a decision that you have to make and it’s whether you want to follow the actual story the way that it unraveled nearly two thousand years ago, or do you want to have a “what if” moment and try to change the course of history. The choice is in your hands, just be aware, following the history is likely to eventually lead you to your death, no matter how good you play!
With all of those features combined, the Total War: Three Kingdoms historical battles are not only extremely exciting to take part in, but they are nearly infinitely replayable since you can choose an array of vastly different characters as well as a number of different stories with each and every one of them as well, so you better meet all of your friends and family as often as you can before the 23rd of May, since every day afterward if bound to be eaten up by Total War: Three Kingdoms!
