Total War: Warhammer is a 2016 video game created by Creative Assembly and released by Sega for Windows through the Steam gaming platform. Feral Interactive made the game available for macOS and Linux. The game uses gameplay from the Total War series but includes factions from the Warhammer Fantasy series by Games Workshop. It is the first Total War game not based on real history and the tenth game in the Total War series. It is the first game in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy.
The game combines two types of gameplay: managing large areas in a turn-based strategy mode, where players control cities and armies, and smaller battles in real-time tactics, where players control individual soldiers and characters during fights. Players can choose from several fantasy factions, such as Dwarfs, Humans, Greenskins, and Vampire Counts at first, with more added later as paid downloadable content.
Total War: Warhammer received positive reviews from critics and sold over half a million copies in its first few days. It was followed by two more games: Total War: Warhammer II (2017) and Total War: Warhammer III (2022).
Gameplay
Total War: Warhammer is a strategy game that includes both turn-based planning and real-time battles between armies. Unlike earlier Total War games, which focus on real history, Warhammer uses a fantasy world and includes characters from the Warhammer universe, such as monsters, warriors, and heroes. These characters are controlled by either the player or the computer.
The game begins with Karl Franz becoming the new Emperor of the Empire after a civil war and conflicts with powerful leaders who oppose his rule. His goal is to unite his broken kingdom, strengthen his power, and then face other powerful groups in the Old World to bring peace. This peace is threatened by the long-standing conflict between the Dwarfs and the Greenskins, as well as the Vampire Counts, who are led by the Von Carsteins in Sylvania and aim to take over the Empire. In the north, the Chaos horde moves forward, seeking to destroy everything in its path and spread corruption.
At launch, the game included four playable factions: the Empire (humans), the Greenskins (orcs and goblins), the Dwarfs, and the Vampire Counts (undead). The Chaos faction, made up of evil humans and monsters, was available for free to those who pre-ordered or bought the game within the first week, and later as downloadable content (DLC). Another human faction, the Bretonnians, became available in February 2017 for the Campaign, Skirmish, and Multiplayer modes. Each faction has its own unique units and a campaign feature, which is new to the Total War series. For example, the Greenskins have units like Trolls and Giants and use the "Waaagh!" system, which encourages constant warfare.
The campaign map is similar to the one in Total War: Attila but includes more changes in terrain and climate as players move across the map. It covers areas from the Chaos wastelands in the north to the Greenskin-infested lands in the south, the Great Ocean in the west, the Dwarven realms in the World's Edge mountains in the east, and other regions in between.
Total War: Warhammer uses the same basic systems as previous Total War games, such as building cities, managing armies, and interacting with other factions. However, it includes many new features. These include agents who can join battles to help your army, more types of animations (30 different skeleton and body types compared to five or six before), flying units like dragons, and corruption caused by Vampire Counts or Chaos armies instead of internal factors. Generals are now called Lords and can be upgraded through skill and equipment trees to improve their strength and that of their army. A new quest mode allows players to complete missions and battles to unlock items and abilities. One major addition is magic, which varies by faction. Some factions, like the Dwarfs, cannot use magic, while others have access to different types of magic called "lores." Magic units can greatly influence battles, as their abilities are much stronger than those in earlier games.
Development
In December 2012, Sega, a game publisher, made a partnership with Games Workshop to create several games for the Warhammer series. Sega asked The Creative Assembly, the company behind the Total War series, to develop these games. The first game in the series was planned to come out after 2013. At the time of the announcement, The Creative Assembly was working on five games, including Total War: Rome II (2013) and Alien: Isolation (2014). On January 13, 2015, artwork for the game was shared in an artbook called The Art of Total War. The game was shown in a video released by The Creative Assembly to celebrate its 15th anniversary. However, the game was officially announced on April 22, 2015, when Sega released a special video trailer. Total War: Warhammer was expected to be the first game in a trilogy, with more games and expansions planned for the future. The game was scheduled to be released for Windows on April 28, 2016. However, on March 3, 2016, The Creative Assembly announced the release would be delayed until May 24, 2016. The Linux version of the game was released by Feral Interactive on November 22, 2016, and the macOS version came out on April 18, 2017.
The first downloadable content (DLC) for Total War: Warhammer, called Chaos Warriors, was available for purchase when the game was first released and included for players who preordered it. This decision received negative feedback from many gamers and Warhammer fans. The developers, The Creative Assembly, said they were "disheartened" by the reaction. On April 29, 2016, it was announced that the Chaos Warriors DLC would be free to play for one week after its release.
In May 2016, The Creative Assembly announced that players could use mods and features from Steam Workshop. The company released several mods with the game, and players could also create their own mods using official tools. On September 26, 2018, an expanded limited-edition version of the game, called Total War: Warhammer: Dark Gods Edition, was announced. This version included Warriors of Chaos, Bretonnia, and Norsca, along with the four main races. On July 30, 2020, another expanded limited-edition version, called Total War: Warhammer: Savage Edition, was announced. This version included Warriors of Chaos again and the Beastmen, but it did not include the DLC related to the Wood Elves race.
Reception
Total War: Warhammer received mostly positive reviews from critics. It has a score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic. IGN gave it a score of 8.6 out of 10, stating: "Total War: Warhammer has many exciting ideas, great characters, and fun units and faction systems." GameSpot awarded it a score of 9.0 out of 10, saying: "It is a great example of real-time strategy design and the best in the Total War series." PC Gamer gave it a score of 86%, noting: "If real history seems boring compared to the fun and imaginative stories from Warhammer, this game is perfect for you." Game Informer awarded it a score of 8.75 out of 10, stating: "The series has never been more fun… Total War: Warhammer is one of the best in the series." The Guardian gave it a score of four out of five stars, saying: "It uses the older Total War engine well and honors the Warhammer universe."
Total War: Warhammer was also the fastest-selling Total War game, selling half a million copies in the first few days after its release. As part of a promotion for the multiplayer online battle arena game Dota 2, a Warhammer-themed community created special character items for the game, which were released in September 2016.
Sequels
Total War: Warhammer was created as a series of three parts, with the first game being the first part of the series.
A second game, titled Total War: Warhammer II, was released on September 28, 2017. This game includes a large campaign map called Mortal Empires, which combines the maps and factions from both the first and second games. Players who own both games can access this campaign.
The third game, Total War: Warhammer III, was released on February 17, 2022. It includes another combined campaign map called Immortal Empires, which is available to all players who own the game, even if they did not own the previous two games. This campaign was added as downloadable content (DLC) after the game launched, and the open beta for the game began in February 2023.