Total War: Three Kingdoms

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. As the 12th mainline entry (the 13th entry) in the Total War series, the game was released for Microsoft Windows on May 23, 2019. Feral Interactive released a macOS and Linux version of the game on the same day.[1]

Total War: Three Kingdoms
Developer(s)Creative Assembly
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Janos Gaspar
Producer(s)
  • Alexandra Hill
  • Jonathan Diamond
Designer(s)Attila Mohacsi
Programmer(s)Chris Budd
Artist(s)
  • Pawel Wojs
  • Mauro Bonelli
Writer(s)
  • Pete Stewart
  • Dion Lay
  • Martin Montford
  • Chris Gambold
Composer(s)Richard Beddow
SeriesTotal War
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
ReleaseMay 23, 2019
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy, real-time tactics
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Like its predecessors, Total War: Three Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics game. Set in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), players control one of the game's twelve factions, who must eliminate other factions, unify China and become its ultimate ruler.[2] These factions are led by warlords, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce.[3] In siege battles, players command both infantry and cavalry units. All the units featured in the game are divided into different retinues, with each led by a powerful general. The player can deploy up to three generals into the battlefield at once along with three in reserve, and players will only have access to the units that said generals can recruit.[4]

The player wins a siege battle when all hostile generals are killed or the central point of the city is captured. These generals, which can be commanded separately from their troops, have possession of unique ancillaries, which can be looted once they are killed. For instance, Lü Bu's Red Hare can be captured and used by other generals. Generals can engage in a one-versus-one dueling, which ends when one of them dies or flees. Each general has different classes and specialties, granting their units with both active and passive buffs.[5] The team introduces the concept of "guanxi" to the game, in which each general will form social connections and relationships with other characters. Viewing concepts like "obligations, reciprocity, and trust" as important virtues, these generals have unique personalities and desires that players need to cater to. If their demands are not met, their happiness rating will drop and this may lead to various repercussions for players.[6] Unlike previous Total War games in which characters seldom interact with each other, the generals featured in the game are actively forming relationships with the characters they meet throughout the campaign. This adds a strategic layer to the game in which players need to understand these generals before making any decisions.[6]

The game features two game modes. The first mode, "Romance", is based on the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which generals are gifted with nearly superhuman strength. Another mode, "Records", based on Records of the Three Kingdoms, presents a more historically authentic version. In Records, the generals have their powers removed and they can no longer be commanded separately, in addition to changing certain equipment in-game to be more historically authentic.[7]

Plot

The game begins in 190 AD, in which the once glorious Han dynasty is on the verge of collapse. The new emperor, Emperor Xian, enthroned at the age of eight, was manipulated by the warlord Dong Zhuo, whose oppressive rule leads to chaos. New warlords rise and form alliances to start the campaign against Dong Zhuo. With each warlord having personal ambitions and allegiances constantly shifting, the champions that emerge from the ever lasting wars will shape the future of China.[8]

Development and release


The game was developed by Creative Assembly. Creative Assembly had refined many elements of the game, bringing changes to both the artificial intelligence and the user interface. The team introduced the system of "guanxi" in order to make the characters and generals more important in the game, as Records and Romances, two of the team's most prominent source materials, have a huge focus on characters. The sinologist Rafe de Crespigny, an expert on the period, acted as a consultant for the game.[9]

When the game was still in preproduction in November 2016, Creative Assembly announced that the next historical Total War title would explore a new era instead of being a sequel to any previous game.[10] Three Kingdoms was revealed by publisher Sega on January 11, 2018 with a cinematic trailer.[8] Originally set to be released in the second half of 2018, the game was delayed to early 2019 so that the team had additional development time to complete the game's production.[11] Later on, a new release date of March 7, 2019 was announced, which was then delayed to May 23, 2019.[12][13]

Downloadable content

Several pieces of downloadable content have been released, including the following:

Paid DLC
Name Release Date Description
Yellow Turban Rebellion May 2019 Adds three playable factions associated with the Yellow Turban Rebellion into the main campaign.
Reign of Blood June 2019 Adds blood and gore effects.
Eight Princes August 2019 Adds a new campaign based on the War of the Eight Princes during the Jin dynasty, set 100 years after the start of the original campaign.[14]
Mandate of Heaven January 2020 Adds a prequel campaign starting in 182 that can continue into the base campaign, depicting the Yellow Turban Rebellion.[15]
A World Betrayed March 2020 Adds a new campaign starting in 194 after the main campaign of the original game.[16]
The Furious Wild September 2020 Expands the campaign map in the southwest and adds Nanman factions.[17]
Free DLC
Name Release Date Description
Tao Qian January 2020 Adds the leader Tao Qian and a new faction mechanic Displaced Population
White Tiger Yan March 2020 Adds the leader Yan Baihu with the unique faction mechanics Shanyue Camps and White Tiger Confederation
Shi Xie September 2020 Adds the leader Shi Xie with the unique faction mechanic Splendor

Reception

Critical reception

Total War: Three Kingdoms received positive reviews from critics, with many specifically praising the character-driven gameplay mechanics and storytelling elements. Chris Wray of wccftech describes the game is "as close to flawless, with a fantastic balance of 4X strategy and character-focused development and emergent storytelling."[28] IGN's TJ Hafer stated that Three Kingdoms should serve as the example for all games of its genre going forward.[22] Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of The Guardian stated the game "...is a wonderfully torrid period epic that understands the greatest stories are written about people, not empires."[25] Jody Macgregor of PC Gamer praised the campaign elements, but found the game still couldn't break off from longstanding problems the series has always faced, claiming Three Kingdoms "is not the best Total War game but not the worst by a long shot."[23]

The Romance mode has also been praised as bringing fascinating additions to the game, with many reviewers comparing it to Total War: Warhammer. Preston Dozsa of CGMagazine stated the game "represents the best of both the historical and fantasy sides of the franchise."[29] Sean Martin from Hooked Gamers stated the game "is the most divergent Total War I’ve seen since Total War: Warhammer... taking what is good in fantasy and using it to complement the historical components of the game."[30] Denis Ryan of Rock, Paper, Shotgun stated the game draws inspiration from many games that Creative Assembly created in the past, and "despite the resemblance there really is no game which has quite the same combination of elements, nor is there any strategy game that looks this good."[26]

Chris Tapsell of Eurogamer also stated the game is "ambitious and sometimes overwhelming."[19] PCGamesN's Phil Iwaniuk states the game brings issues along with innovations, noted that despite the game offers a memorable campaign, the real-time battles portion lacks depth compare to rest of the series.[24]

Sales

According to the developer Creative Assembly, Total War: Three Kingdoms was the most pre-ordered Total War game until its release date.[31] The game also set the record of concurrent players for Total War series, with over 160,000 people playing simultaneously on the day of release and reaching 192,000 by the first weekend, making it the biggest concurrent played strategy game on Steam.[32][33][34] The game became the fastest-selling game in the history of the franchise, selling over one million copies in less than a week since its initial release.[35]

Awards
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2018 Game Critics Awards Best Strategy Game Won [36]
Gamescom Won [37]
2019 2019 Golden Joystick Awards PC Game of the Year Nominated [38]
The Game Awards 2019 Best Strategy Game Nominated [39]
2020 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year Nominated [40]
NAVGTR Awards Art Direction, Period Influence Nominated [41]
Engineering Nominated
Game, Strategy Nominated
Original Dramatic Score, Franchise Nominated
MCV/Develop Awards Audio Innovation of the Year Won [42]
16th British Academy Games Awards British Game Nominated [43]

References
  1. Interactive, Feral (May 23, 2019). "A new era of conquest — Total War: THREE KINGDOMS out now for macOS and Linux". Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  2. Hafer, T.J. (January 17, 2018). "What to expect from Total War: Three Kingdoms". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  3. Scott-Jones, Richard (June 13, 2018). "There will be 11 playable factions in Total War: Three Kingdoms". PCGamesN. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  4. Scott-Jones, Richard (June 13, 2018). "In Total War: Three Kingdoms, Heroes unlock new units to recruit". PCGamesN. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  5. Tapsell, Chris (June 7, 2018). "Hands on with the romantic battles of Total War: Three Kingdoms". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  6. Scott-Jones, Richard (June 13, 2018). "Here's how Total War: Three Kingdoms mechanises Chinese social philosophy". PCGamesN. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  7. Takahashi, Dean (June 7, 2018). "Total War: Three Kingdoms hands-on — I pursued Lu Bu, and won in single combat". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  8. Pereira, Chris (January 11, 2018). "Total War: Three Kingdoms Is The Franchise's New Historical Game Set In China". GameSpot. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. Gordon, Jonathan (2019-05-20). "History Made Playable – The Accuracy In Total War: Three Kingdoms". All About History. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  10. Bratt, Chris (November 17, 2016). "The next historical Total War is "an era we haven't tackled yet"". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  11. Stevens, Colin (June 6, 2018). "Total War: Three Kingdoms Delayed to Spring 2019". IGN. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  12. "Total War: Three Kingdoms release date deployed". Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. "Total War: Three Kingdoms delayed to May". Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  14. Tarason, Dominic (July 16, 2019). "Total War: Three Kingdoms rides again in August with Eight Princes". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  15. "Total War: THREE KINGDOMS – Mandate of Heaven FAQ". Total War. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  16. "Total War: THREE KINGDOMS – A World Betrayed FAQ". Total War. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  17. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299591/Total_War_THREE_KINGDOMS__The_Furious_Wild/?utm_source=kingsandgenerals&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=furious_wild
  18. "TOTAL WAR: THREE KINGDOMS (PC)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  19. "Total War: Three Kingdoms review - can a game have too many big ideas?". Eurogamers. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  20. "Total War: Three Kingdoms - Elegantly Embellishing An Era". Game Informer. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  21. "Total War: Three Kingdoms Review - A Dynasty Of Warriors". GameSpot. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  22. "Total War: Three Kingdoms review". IGN. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  23. "Total War: Three Kingdoms Review". PCGamer. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  24. "Total War: Three Kingdoms review – love is a battlefield". pcgamesn. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  25. "Total War: Three Kingdoms review – inside the soap opera of an empire". The Guardian. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  26. "Wot I Think - Total War: Three Kingdoms". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  27. "Best Strategy 2019: Total War: Three Kingdoms". PC Gamer. 26 December 2019.
  28. "Total War: Three Kingdoms Review – The Emperor Returns". wccftech. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  29. "Total War: Three Kingdoms Review". CGM. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  30. "Total War: TOTAL WAR: THREE KINGDOMS". Hooked Gamers. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  31. Scott-Jones, Richard (May 23, 2019). "Over 100,000 people are playing Total War: Three Kingdoms right now". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  32. Brow, Fraser (May 23, 2019). "Total War: Three Kingdoms sets a series record for concurrent players". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  33. "Total War: THREE KINGDOMS · AppID: 779340". Steam Database. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  34. Saed, Sherif (May 27, 2019). "Total War: Three Kingdoms sets a series record for concurrent players". VG247. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  35. Brown, Fraser (May 29, 2019). "Total War: Three Kingdoms sold a million copies in a week". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  36. Watts, Steve (July 5, 2018). "Resident Evil 2 Wins Top Honor In E3 Game Critics Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  37. Keane, Sean (August 22, 2018). "Gamescom 2018 award winners include Marvel's Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". CNET. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  38. "Golden Joystick Awards 2019". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  39. Winslow, Jeremy (November 19, 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  40. Chalk, Andy (January 13, 2020). "Control and Death Stranding get 8 nominations each for the 2020 DICE Awards". PC Gamer. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  41. "2019 Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  42. Barton, Seth (March 6, 2020). "Here are your MCV/DEVELOP Awards 2020 winners – with Media Molecule, Nintendo and Rare all winning big – Thanks to everyone who voted!". MCV/Develop. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  43. Stuart, Keith (March 3, 2020). "Death Stranding and Control dominate Bafta games awards nominations". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2020.

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