Total War: Warhammer

***Total War: Warhammer*** is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by the Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The game features the gameplay of the *Total War* series with factions of Games Workshop's *Warhammer* series. It is the 10th title in the *Total War* series and is the first title to be released in the *Total War: Warhammer* trilogy.

## Some attributes

### Mode

Single-player, multiplayer, Co-Op

*Total War: Warhammer* is a turn-based strategy game with real-time tactical battles between armies. Unlike its predecessors, which feature historical settings, *Warhammer* introduces a fantasy setting as well as characters from the *Warhammer* universe. These characters, which include monsters, warriors, and heroes, can be controlled by the player. The game also features four playable factions at launch, which are the Empire, the Greenskins, the Dwarfs and the Vampire Counts. The Chaos faction is also available free to those who pre-order or purchase in the first week of release and subsequently available as downloadable content (DLC).

Each faction has access to their own unique units. For instance, the Greenskins faction features units such as Trolls, Giants and Arachnarok spiders. The Empire is a human faction, which features units like Steam Tanks. Each faction has their own unique campaign element. For example, a "Waaagh" system, which pushes the player to be constantly on the warpath, is unique to the Greenskins faction. A new quest mode featuring battles such as the "The Battle of Blackfire Pass" tasks players to complete missions and battles to receive unlockable items and abilities, is one of the new game modes offered in *Warhammer*. Flying creatures, such as dragons, also make appearances in the game. The campaign map is somewhat similar to the one in *Attila* with the exception being the diversity in physical terrain and climate as one moves from a particular point in the map to another. The campaign map spans from the Chaos wastes in the north to the Greenskin-infested badlands in the south and from the Great Ocean in the west to the Dwarven realms in the World's Edge mountains to the east. Magic is also one of the elements introduced in *Warhammer* with most of the factions such as the Empire and Vampire Counts having access to the various lores of magic and certain factions such as the Dwarfs and some non-Playable AI controlled factions having absolutely none or limited access to magic.

Unlike other Total War games, agents are featured in battles as well as the campaign map. Named agents can get injured in battles, while the unnamed ones could be killed and cannot be revived and used again. *Total War: Warhammer* features a wider variety of animations. For example, 30 types of different skeletons and body types are introduced in the game, instead of only five to six types as in its predecessors, as well as flying units. Other gameplay features from the *Total War* series, such as city-building, diplomacy and unit-building, remain unchanged in *Warhammer*.

Corruption is also featured in the game, although somewhat altered as it will be more of an external element caused by the presence of Vampire Count and Chaos armies rather than internal factors.[6]

## Development

In December 6, 2012, publisher Sega announced a partnership with Games Workshop to develop multiple titles for the *Warhammer* series. Sega tasked The Creative Assembly, the creator of the *Total War* series, to develop these titles. The first game in the series was set to be released "beyond 2013". At the time of the announcement, Creative Assembly had five titles in development, which included 2013's *Total War: Rome II* and 2014's *Alien: Isolation*. On January 13, 2015, the game was leaked through an artbook called "The Art of Total War". The game was teased again in a video released by The Creative Assembly to celebrate its 15th anniversary. However, the game was not officially announced until April 22, 2015, in which Sega released a cinematic debut trailer for the game. *Total War: Warhammer* is set to be the first title in a trilogy, with expansions and standalone titles to be released in the future. *Total War: Warhammer* was due to be released for Microsoft Windows on April 28, 2016. However, on March 3, 2016, Creative Assembly announced that the game was delayed to May 24, 2016. OSX and Linux versions have been announced to arrive later.

### Downloadable content

The Chaos Warriors DLC is the first DLC to be released for *Total War: Warhammer* made available to purchase alongside its initial release. This has been received with widespread criticism from the gaming community and from Warhammer fans in particular, with Creative Assembly, the developer of the game, stating they were "disheartened" by the pre-order DLC reaction. On April 29, 2016, it was announced that the Chaos Warriors DLC would be available for free for a week after its release. Additionally a number of post release content has been announced for the game consisting of a wide range of DLCs and campaign packs.

The Call of The Beastmen Campaign Pack as second DLC for *Total War: Warhammer* introduces the Beastmen as a playable race to Total War: WARHAMMER. A feral, Chaos-tainted horde race, they move like a plague across The Old World, fielding half-human aberrations and colossal beasts in battle, many of which feature unique abilities. The Beastmen are playable in the Grand Campaign, custom and multiplayer battles, and in their very own Story Campaign, An Eye For An Eye.

Realm of the Wood Elves Campaign Pack came as the Third DLC for *Total War: Warhammer introduces the Wood Elves as a playable race to Total War: WARHAMMER.* Tall, slender humanoids who live within the ancient forest of Athel Loren, the Wood Elves are a mysterious race who rarely emerge unless coming to its defence*, many of which feature unique abilities. The Wood elves are playable in the Grand Campaign, custom and multiplayer battles, and in their very own Story Campaign, The Season of Revelation.*

In May 2016, Creative Assembly announced that mods and Steam Workshop's features would be supported. Creative Assembly have developed several mods that will be released alongside the game, while players can create their own mods through official mod tools after the game's launch.

## Reception

 GameRankings
 Metacritic
 Publication
 GameSpot
 GamesRadar
 IGN

It has a score of 86% on Metacritic. IGN awarded it a score of 8.6 out of 10, saying "Total War: Warhammer brims with exciting ideas, awesome characters, and delightful units and faction mechanics." GameSpot awarded it a score of 9.0 out of 10, saying "It's a triumph of real-time strategy design, and the best the Total War series has ever been." PC Gamer awarded it a score of 86%, saying "If you find real history a bit bland compared to glorious nonsense made up by strange British people then Warhammer is the Total War for you."

*Total War: Warhammer* is the fastest-selling *Total War* game, selling half a million copies in the first few days on sale.