Total War: Warhammer II is a video game that combines turn-based strategy and real-time tactics. It was created by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. The game is part of the Total War series and is the follow-up to Total War: Warhammer, which was released in 2016. It takes place in the Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe created by Games Workshop. The game was first available for Windows-based computers on September 28, 2017. Later, Feral Interactive made it available for macOS and Linux on November 20, 2018. Total War: Warhammer II was followed by Total War: Warhammer III, which came out in February 2022.
Gameplay
Total War: Warhammer II includes turn-based strategy and real-time tactics gameplay, similar to other games in the Total War series.
In the campaign, players move armies across the map and manage settlements using a turn-based system. Players interact with AI-controlled factions through diplomacy or battle. When armies meet, battles occur in real-time. The game also includes a custom battles mode, where players can create their own real-time battles, as well as online multiplayer battles. Players who own races from the first game can use those same races in multiplayer mode in the second game.
The game’s campaign includes the Lizardmen, High Elves, Dark Elves, and Skaven. Later, additional races were added as paid downloadable content, including Tomb Kings, Vampire Coast (a group of undead pirates), The Huntsmarshal’s Expedition (Empire), Chevaliers de Lyonesse (Bretonnia), Broken Axe (Greenskins), Heralds of Ariel (Wood Elves), Slaughterhorn Tribe (Beastmen), and Ironbrow’s Expedition (Dwarfs).
The main campaign is called Eye of the Vortex. It focuses on storytelling, with each playable race having its own story and movie scenes. Players who own both Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II can access a combined campaign called Mortal Empires. This campaign offers a sandbox-style experience and must be downloaded manually from Steam. It is free for players who own both games.
The campaign can also be played online with another player in cooperative or head-to-head modes.
Plot
The Old Ones, powerful godlike beings, created races in the Warhammer world to fight the forces of Chaos. The gates the Old Ones used to enter the world collapsed, causing a flood of Chaos. The Lizardmen stopped this Chaos from spreading. Two High Elf heroes in Ulthuan acted against this threat. Aenarion "the Defender" gathered armies, while Caledor Dragontamer planned to remove magical energy from the world to stop the Chaos invasion. This action became the Great Vortex, created with the help of the Lizardmen leaders, the Slann. The Vortex drained Chaos energy but trapped Caledor and his mages in time, making them cast spells forever to keep the Vortex active.
Many years later, a Skaven rocket disguised as a twin-tailed comet disrupted the Great Vortex. Four main playable factions reacted differently. The High Elves and Lizardmen tried to fix the Vortex, while the Skaven and Dark Elves wanted to use its power to conquer the world. The Skaven launched the rocket to force the four factions to perform rituals. The Skaven hoped to use the ritual energy to summon their god, the Great Horned Rat, to take over the world. When the player completes the fifth ritual, their race fights a "final battle" on the Isle of the Dead to decide the Vortex's fate and the world's future. Winning the "final battle" achieves the race's goals. The High Elves and Lizardmen stabilize the Vortex. The Dark Elves use the Vortex to turn their leader, Malekith, into a god. The Skaven summon the Horned Rat and conquer the world.
Five thousand years ago, the desert kingdom of Nehekhara was the first and greatest human civilization. However, Nehekhara was destroyed by Nagash, the first necromancer. Nagash used his Black Pyramid to cast a spell that would kill all people in Nehekhara and turn them into undead servants. Before the spell finished, Nagash was killed by Alcadizaar the Conqueror, the last king of Nehekhara, with help from the Skaven (who first allied with Nagash but later betrayed him). The dead of Nehekhara returned as the Tomb Kings, but because Nagash's ritual was incomplete, many Tomb Kings kept their free will and intelligence.
Today, a false twin-tailed comet has awakened the Black Pyramid and given it power. It is discovered that five of the nine books of Nagash are needed to control the Black Pyramid. Four Tomb King factions fight to control it: Khemri, led by Settra the Imperishable; the Exiles of Nehek, led by Grand Hierophant Khatep; the Court of Lybaras, led by High Queen Khalida; and the Followers of Nagash, led by Arkhan the Black. Settra, the first and greatest king of Nehekhara, wants the pyramid's power to reclaim his land and conquer the world. Khatep, the oldest Liche Priest, seeks to end his exile by using the pyramid to turn Settra and the Nehekharan nobility into immortal golden beings. Khalida, the champion of the Asp Goddess, wants to use the pyramid's power to defeat her cousin, Neferata, the first vampire, and destroy all vampires. Arkhan, Nagash's second-in-command, wants to use the pyramid to resurrect Nagash. Arkhan already has one book, the Liber Mortis, and needs four more to unlock the Black Pyramid.
Once all five books of Nagash are recovered, the final mission involves the player's chosen faction battling for the Black Pyramid. If the player chooses Settra, Khalida, or Khatep, they will attack Arkhan and join forces with the other two factions. If the player chooses Arkhan, they will defend the Black Pyramid against the other three factions.
Long ago, Captain Jacob Wulfhart, brother of the famous Imperial Huntsmarshall, Markus Wulfhart, hunted the Merwyrm Amanar. Amanar is the oldest and strongest Merwyrm and the guardian of the High Elf city of Lothern. Jacob made a weapon called the Star-Metal Harpoon to kill Amanar. During the battle, Amanar destroyed Jacob's ship, the Vengeance, killing him and his crew, except one survivor. The survivor created a map leading to the Vengeance's resting place and the Star-Metal Harpoon inside it.
Today, the disturbance of the Great Vortex has awakened Amanar, making it angry and causing it to destroy ships and coastal settlements. Four factions of the Vampire Coast want to kill Amanar and turn it into an undead servant to rule the seas: Luthor Harkon, ruler of the Vampire Coast; Count Noctilus, master of the Dreadfleet; Aranessa Saltspite, Pirate-Queen of Sartosa; and Madame-Captain Cylostra Direfin, leader of the Drowned.
Once the Star-Metal Harpoon is found and its power is restored through three sea songs, the player's faction faces Lokhir Fellheart, the Dark Elf Krakenlord of Karond Kar. Fellheart and his army fight the player's faction to take the Harpoon and kill Amanar. After defeating Fellheart, the campaign ends with the player's faction using the Harpoon to kill Amanar and turn it into an undead servant.
The Empire of Man sends colonists to settle along the coast of Lustria. The Lizardmen, upset by the Empire's theft of their gold, attack the settlements, led by Nakai the Wanderer. To stop Nakai, the Empire sends Markus Wulfhart, one of its greatest hunters, to defeat Nakai.
If Nakai wins, the Empire must abandon its colonies because the Lizardmen have taken over. If Markus wins, more Lustrian cities will be attacked, and their wealth will be sent back to the Old World.
Repanse de Lyonesse leads a crusade along the coast of Araby to remove evil from the land. Her final mission involves fighting three Tomb King legendary lords: Settra the Imperishable, High Queen Khalida, and Grand Hierophant Khatep.
Throt the Unclean, driven by his hunger from his mutations, gathers his armies to invade the Witchwood, a magical forest in Naggaroth. He is opposed by Naestra and Arahan, two sisters called the Sisters of Twilight, who also fight to heal other magical forests and awaken Queen Ariel. Ariel performs a ritual to protect the Witchwood from Daemons.
After Ariel is awakened, Throt the Unclean attacks the Witchwood. If Throt wins, he kills Ariel and eats her, unleashing more Daemons. If the Sisters of Twilight win, Ariel's ritual succeeds, and the magical forests are saved from Daemons.
The mighty doombull Taurox, blessed with a nearly unbreakable brass body, is visited by the Lords of Ruin in visions. They promise him a great reward if he finds the Heart of the Dark, where an ancient Herdstone stands, and performs a ritual to unleash Chaos. The Lizardmen send their deadliest assassin, Oxyotl, to stop Taurox.
Eventually, Taurox and Oxyotl fight at the Heart of the Dark. If Oxyotl wins, the Herdstone is destroyed, stopping Chaos for now. If Taurox wins, the ritual succeeds, and Chaos is unleashed into the world.
Development and release
Total War: Warhammer II was created by a video game company called Creative Assembly, which is based in the United Kingdom. The game was introduced during an event in London named EGX Rezzed in March 2017. It is the second game in a series of three planned Total War: Warhammer games. The game was made available for computers that use the Windows operating system on September 28, 2017, and Sega was the publisher.
Downloadable content
Creative Assembly has made available both paid and free downloadable content (DLC) packs for the game, which add new features and content to the game. Mortal Empires, a large campaign that combines elements from both Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II, was released in October 2017.
Reception
Total War: Warhammer II received "mostly positive" reviews when it was released, according to the review website Metacritic.
Destructoid and Eurogamer said the game was one of the best in the Total War series. They highlighted the game's many factions, locations, gameplay, and large campaign maps as its strengths. They noted small problems with the AI in battles, inconsistent diplomacy, and the high amount of computer power needed to run the game. Game Informer praised the variety of races and said the developers improved the game by reducing boredom in the later stages. IGN and PC Gamer praised the Skaven race, faction mechanics, Great Vortex campaign, endgame, and improvements to the user interface. They mentioned small issues with the diplomacy system and high system requirements. GameSpot gave the game a score of 9 out of 10, praising the fantasy combat, fast pacing, new races, new tactical choices, different map types, and visuals. They noted problems with the camera angle and the absence of some multiplayer factions in competitive modes.
Eurogamer ranked the game tenth on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017." It won the "Best Strategy Game" award in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards and was considered for "Game of the Year." It was also considered for "Best PC Game" and "Best Strategy Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.