Total War: THREE KINGDOMS Review Thread

Kaffeemann · May 16, 2019

Game Information

Game Title: Total War: THREE KINGDOMS

Platforms:

PC (May 23, 2019)

Developer: Creative Assembly

Publisher: Sega

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 85 average - 92% recommended
MetaCritic - 85 average

Critic Reviews

Wccftech - Chris Wray - 10 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms is as close to flawless as you'll find, with a fantastic balance of 4X strategy and character-focused development and emergent storytelling. The battles are frantic, with increased tactical opportunities through duelling. City development is more intuitive and less restrictive, though still requires thought and all of this takes place on a China that looks downright fantastic, where even the UI and menus look great. This is the Total War experience and a new high for the series.

Daily Star - Jamie Nightingale - 5 / 5 stars

Fighting in the middle of fortified cities is a great setting for these battles.

Twinfinite - Khayl Adam - 5 / 5

I can see myself playing for years to come, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next.

GamesBeat - Rowan Kaiser - 97 / 100

Beyond best-in-setting and best-in-franchise, Total War: Three Kingdoms is a game that instantly contends for best of the year, or best in its genre. The setting and franchise here give it high expectations, and Three Kingdoms surpasses those expectations at almost every level.

IGN - T.J. Hafer - 9.3 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms uses excellent pacing and strong character mechanics to create a consistently exciting and challenging historical strategy campaign.

Gamefa - Amirmehdi Namjoo - Persian - 9.2 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms is undoubtedly one of the best Strategy Games you can play. The game features core mechanics of other Total War entries but it also improved many of older features and now we have one of the most complete games in the series. For example, the democracy system changed a lot and is now a lot more reliable. Nearly all parts of the game work in complete harmony with each other to deliver an amazing Ancient China Experience to you. Total War: Three Kingdoms is a game to recommend to every Total War and Strategy Fans.

CGMagazine - Preston Dozsa - 9 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms is another excellent entry in Creative Assembly's fantastic strategy series.

PC Invasion - Jason Rodriguez - 4.5 / 5 stars

Total War: Three Kingdoms captures the spirit and essence of the time period. It's filled to the brim with unique and thematic detail, with aesthetic beauty that's a wonder to behold.

Gamersky - 北方凛 - Chinese - 9 / 10

Creative Assembly successfully combines Three Kingdoms with Total War, and using the brand-new Romance Mode, bringing us to that chaos times. For those who love Three Kingdoms or Total War series, this is no-doubt a must-try game.

Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury - 4.5 / 5 stars

While the basic formula to Total War hasn't changed, Creative Assembly is genuinely impressive in the way that it manages to capture the subtleties of warfare in whatever era its depicting.

Metro GameCentral - 9 / 10

A hugely enjoyable mix of historical realism and exaggerated action that is both surprisingly accessible and filled with an impressive depth of tactical options.

Niche Gamer - Brandon Orselli - 9 / 10

I was worried that Creative Assembly may not be able to do justice on the Three Kingdoms, but I am more than happy to have been proven wrong. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get sleep, but….one more turn.

Game Debate - Jon Sutton - 9 / 10

It's not without its UI issues, but Total War 3 Kingdoms provides a beautiful, rich strategy that is well paced while enjoying a new layer of story depth through diplomacy and intrigue.

Cubed3 - Chris Leebody - 9 / 10

As always, the battles are exciting, and the scope and scale never fails to impress, with the addition of the heroes adding a new dimension to tactics and strategies. This is the game that Romance of the Three Kingdoms fans have been waiting for.

Screen Rant - Mansoor Mithaiwala - 4.5 / 5 stars

Total War: Three Kingdoms is out now on PC.

AusGamers - Kosta Andreadis - 9 / 10

The steep learning curve is well worth the time investment as the enhanced and expanded diplomacy and management side moves the series forward in meaningful ways.

Chalgyr's Game Room - Nick Herber - 9 / 10

If you are a fan of Guanzhong's fantastic tale, there is an undeniable charm to Total War: Three Kingdoms that had me smiling from ear to ear on many occasions. First-time encounters with familiar characters, seeing how the developers envisioned a particular location or watching a scene play out differently in the game from the way it went in the book were all fascinating, enjoyable experiences for me that might not resonate the same way with someone who is unfamiliar with the source material.

IGN Italy - Claudio Chianese - Italian - 8.6 / 10

Three Kingdoms is one the best, if not the very best, historical Total War games. The strategic gameplay is especially compelling, and almost Paradox-like in depth. Still, the lack of variety caused by the limited setting widens the gap with the much more spectacular, and overall enjoyable, Warhammer 2.

IGN Spain - Javi Andrés - Spanish - 8.6 / 10

Creative Assembly Studio knows a lot about strategies of war and fun. Total War: Three Kingdoms is a clear and sophisticated evolution. The series will continue on this path and lovers of the genre can be happier than those players who have never been in Total War.

The Games Machine - Daniele Dolce - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms collects the legacy of the previous chapters related to the Warhammer universe, presenting many noteworthy innovations that show how that formula can also be applied in a historical context. There are also some good new mechanichs on the espionage and diplomacy side, too bad that the artificial intelligence hasn't been retouched accordingly, representing once again the weakest part of the entire offer.

GamingTrend - Codi Spence - 85 / 100

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a fantastic addition to the series, taking place in the Three Kingdoms period of China's history. The gameplay requires patience and strategizing, but is satisfying when successful. With plenty of aspects to manage, you won't be wanting for something to do, although it may be too much for some gamers.

SomHráč.sk - Jozef Moravec - Czech - 85 / 100

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a satisfying entry in the series. If you're a Total War fan and you're interested in the Chinese setting, you can't go wrong here.

Game Informer - Daniel Tack - 8.5 / 10

Three Kingdoms is a striking addition to the Total War series with plenty to love, though it takes a slight dip in on-the-field tactical choice

Critical Hit - ChrisHouse - 8.5 / 10

The real power behind Three Kingdoms is its mastery of character building and immersion, putting explosive personalities ahead of bland empire building. Overall, it's a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series and a satisfyingly complex Total War game to boot!

COGconnected - Ricky Knight - 85 / 100

Its presentation is the icing on an already rich cake. If you're a series veteran, you'll find much to appreciate in this new setting, and if you've never tried a Total War game, but always been curious, you'd be hard pressed to find a better starting point than Three Kingdoms.

SECTOR.sk - Branislav Kohút - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

Forget about weak Britannia and online Arena. Three Kingdoms redefines Total War glory in ancient China.

BaziCenter - Sina Golab Zadeh - Persian - 8.5 / 10

After several years, we finally have a true Total War experience in Three Kingdoms. Covering almost everything that a fan of strategy genre craves, Three Kingdoms is one of the most complete entries in the TW series and one of the best strategies in recent years.

Geek Culture - Jake Su - 8.5 / 10

Become a hero for the ages, or succumb to the minutiae of management in one of Total War's more enticing entries.

GameSpot - Ginny Woo - 8 / 10

Three Kingdoms is the most ambitious that Total War has ever been, featuring an impressive variety of experiences thanks to its hefty source material.

Hardcore Gamer - Jason Bohn - 4 / 5

With an ever increasing amount of games getting console releases, the PC gamer can typically only point to having the best version of a title.

Guardian - Edwin Evans-Thirlwell - 4 / 5 stars

The battles are as gripping as ever but it's the character-driven melodrama that truly enlivens this first-rate strategy game

God is a Geek - Chris Hyde - 8 / 10

Cold, hard battle strategy meets the warmth of human interaction and politics to create an engaging and addictive experience.

GameWatcher - Marcello Perricone - 8 / 10

Three Kingdoms is a good game, and it feels like relearning an old game – it sticks to the Total War formula, but changes so many things around that everything feels different.

Shacknews - Chris Jarrard - 8 / 10

While I'll be the first to admit that I've never been a big fan of the series, I found a lot to like in Three Kingdoms.

GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - 8 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms could have scraped by with minimal new features. Thankfully, it combines the Three Kingdoms universe with a bevy of compelling features and improvements to deliver a worthy follow-up in the series.

MMOGames - Phil DeMerchant - 8 / 10

Despite its reduced scope from Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, Three Kingdoms still remains deep and engaging.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 8 / 10

This could (finally) be the best Total War game in the series and it is about darn time

Spiel Times - Ishan Dey - 8 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms melts me to even hate this brilliant failure of a masterpiece, the mesmerising visuals slash out all its shortcomings like sharp wind against a thin leaf, almost hypnotically, almost magically.

PowerUp! - Nathanael Peacock - 8 / 10

Yes, Total War: Three Kingdoms takes the Total War series out of the fantastical and back into the history books, but I'm so glad they did, because Creative Assembly are great at what they do – bringing history to life.

Daily Mirror - Aodhan Gregory - 4 / 5 stars

Total War: Three Kingdoms excels in many areas and has made some welcome, if not long overdue, changes

Destructoid - Peter Glagowski - 8 / 10

Overall, Total War: Three Kingdoms can be summed up as yet another great entry in the long-running series. While it may not be the absolute pinnacle of what Creative Assembly can achieve, it has become my favorite entry simply because of the setting used. We've reached a point where your personal favorite Total War will be determined more by the property being adapted than any worry about quality or gameplay factors. Since everything is fine in Three Kingdoms, what else do I really need to say?

PC Gamer - Jody Macgregor - 78 / 100

Not the best Total War game but not the worst by a long shot.

Spaziogames - Italian - 7.8 / 10

Total War: Three Kingdoms maybe has the best campaign ever seen in the series, but it misses the point with the tactical phase.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Furkan Sakoğlu - Turkish - 77 / 100

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a definetly a Total War game. It has all the diplomacy, blood and intrigue inside. The game is a hard one if you are just getting into series, but a good step forward for fans.

PCGamesN - Phil Iwaniuk - 7 / 10

Changes on the battlefield don't make for a Total War experience to match historical and Warhammer entrants, but there's still a deeply involving strategic layer in Three Kingdoms that sits well with its licence.Phil Iwaniuk

TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves - 7 / 10

Three Kingdoms is another solid instalment in the Total War franchise, but lacks a certain wow factor. Creative Assembly has made some clever refinements around the edges of that enduringly addictive strategic core, allowing fans to steep themselves in yet another historic saga. However, there's a chance that some won't gel with this new setting or the way Guanzhong's epic has been adapted. It's another fun and rewarding take on the series, though we'd struggle to call it a must-buy.

TrustedReviews - Jake Tucker - 3.5 / 5 stars

For Total War fans, there's lots here to enjoy. It's the best historical Total War game since Shogun 2, and one of the finest this series has seen thus far. However, for those drawn in by the bombast and spectacle of Total War: Warhammer, this game can feel flat by comparison.

Gameblog - Camille Allard - French - 7 / 10

Total War : Three Kingdoms is not the best episode of the saga but the treatment of the historical period of the Three Kingdoms is extremely well handled by The Creative Assembly team. It is unfortunate that the technical part (the graphics engine) is pouring out the content. It's time to change it.

Eurogamer - Chris Tapsell - Recommended

Ambitious and sometimes overwhelming, Three Kingdoms does a great job of capturing the complexity of China's vivid past.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Denis Ryan - Unscored

It's the best Total War game, the best historical strategy game released so far this year, and its stories are so compelling I'm as excited to read about other people's anecdotes as I am to create more of my own.

Unboxholics - Γιάννης Φανίδης - Greek - Worth your time

Total War Three Kingdoms is one of the greatest additions to the franchise and the game that both new and veteran players have been asking for so many years.

Gernau Morat Gurgeh · May 16, 2019

Rock Paper Shotgun liked it

"Three Kingdoms is the best historical strategy game in a very long series, and certainly the most dramatic and personal."

PeskyToaster · May 16, 2019

I'm in! The Total War series is remarkably consistent. Can't wait to explore this time period. I haven't played Warhammer 2 in a while to get ready psyched up for this. I had a blast with Warhammer 1 and 2 but the historical games will always be my true love.

My GPU is due for an upgrade so I might get one in conjunction with this.

ShadowAUS · May 16, 2019

HForHavoc's Review

PartyElite's Review

I'll post more TW YouTuber's reviews as they come out.

Vulcano's Assistant · May 16, 2019

Wccftech does game reviews? I thought tech leaks was their bread and butter.

Ruruja · May 16, 2019

Solid reviews. Being a big Three Kingdoms fan this will probably be the one that pushes me into the Total War series properly.

Anno · May 16, 2019

Really all I was looking for was performance impressions and those seem pretty solid?

deadfolk · May 16, 2019

Typical. The one I decide to sit out.

Cow Mengde · May 16, 2019

Oooooh, I forgot this was coming out today. Looking forward to playing it soon.

Also, there better be a Jian Wei/Deng Ai scenario.

Jibbajabbawockky · May 16, 2019

Hmmm... I'm a sucker for Total War games so no doubt I'll get this eventually as I do all the TW games. But the setting doesn't immediately draw me in, since I'm fairly ignorant of it and I've just sunk a ton of time into Warhammer 2, so I'm feeling a bit burned out on TW games right now anyway.

ScreamingMadden · May 16, 2019

Good scores. Thinking about either picking this up or Imperator Rome as my next big PC strategy game. Rome Total War is one of my all time favorite games si that's a battle between the setting of RTW and the series RTW comes from.

Jarate · May 16, 2019

Jibbajabbawockky said:
Hmmm... I'm a sucker for Total War games so no doubt I'll get this eventually as I do all the TW games. But the setting doesn't immediately draw me in, since I'm fairly ignorant of it and I've just sunk a ton of time into Warhammer 2, so I'm feeling a bit burned out on TW games right now anyway.

I think the best way to get into the time period outside of the book is the Chinese TV show called Three Kingdoms. There's also Dynasty Warriors, but that removes all of the politics and character drama parts of the books, but it's a decent way to introduce you to characters.

Deleted member 34873 · May 16, 2019

I'm torn. I love the Three Kingdoms era but have never played an actual rts game like this. How much micromanagement is there?

BrutalInsane · May 16, 2019

I want to get this, but I feel like I haven't squeezed everything out of W2 yet, so it's a reluctant pass for now.

casiopao · May 16, 2019

Nice to see the review is good. I am more used to RoTK series here. Seeing the review is so much better makes me wanting to give it a try here.^_^

Jibbajabbawockky · May 16, 2019

cwistofu said:
I'm torn. I love the Three Kingdoms era but have never played an actual rts game like this. How much micromanagement is there?

Total War games are kind of unique in that they're basically split between a turn based strategic map where you manage your cities and characters and build and move your armies (think Civilization, albeit maybe a bit simpler) and then once your armies come into conflict with an enemy city/ army at that strategic level, you go into the real time combat with the army you've already built. So the real time battles don't involve any base building or anything , its all just tactics and maneuvering your units and so on. You can always pause during combat as much as you want, which makes managing them easy.

That's why I love them- they're unique in that you've got the high level strategic, turn based gameplay but the real time combat is super fun too if you want to just focus on battle tactics and so on.

GwyndolinCinder · May 16, 2019

cwistofu said:
I'm torn. I love the Three Kingdoms era but have never played an actual rts game like this. How much micromanagement is there?

For the battles? Hard to say, on one hand theres way less crazy units than warhammer, but the maps are more complex now.

greatgeek · May 16, 2019

The CK2 comparisons are exciting. I can't wait to read the AARs from this game. Hopefully the systems requirements sites are right and my laptop won't necessarily explode trying to run it.

Cow Mengde said:
Oooooh, I forgot this was coming out today. Looking forward to playing it soon.

Also, there better be a Jian Wei/Deng Ai scenario.

Next week.

MrBob · May 16, 2019

Looks good to me. Bought a copy from Fanatical since it's on sale.

I'll be playing romance mode first.

The Anonymous Wizard · May 16, 2019

Total War is one of the few series where I would rather listen to game journalists review than fan reviews on youtube. TW fans are super picky, often talk about gut feelings and are influenced by whether the game is based on their personal favourite time periods.

Anyway, super excited about this game... Campaign map gameplay looks incredible!

Hierophant · May 16, 2019

The Anonymous Wizard said:
Total War is one of the few series where I would rather listen to game journalists review than fan reviews on youtube. TW fans are super picky, often talk about gut feelings and are influenced by whether the game is based on their personal favourite time periods.

Anyway, super excited about this game... Campaign map gameplay looks incredible!

I've seen people on the subreddit complain there aren't enough games set in Europe lmao

SofNascimento · May 16, 2019

Solid reviews. Now give me a Rome x China expansion pack!

Blizzcut · May 16, 2019

Awesome! Looks like a lot of solid good experiences all around, Pre Order justified!

greatgeek · May 16, 2019

The Anonymous Wizard said:
Total War is one of the few series where I would rather listen to game journalists review than fan reviews on youtube. TW fans are super picky, often talk about gut feelings and are influenced by whether the game is based on their personal favourite time periods.

Anyway, super excited about this game... Campaign map gameplay looks incredible!

Accurate.

LordGorchnik · May 16, 2019

Can't wait to pick this up. Super excited for it.

TheZynster · May 16, 2019

nice, those reviews look fantastic. My favorite era honestly...........love 3 kingdoms.

So happy to pick this up

ArnoldJRimmer · May 16, 2019

Reviews im saying suggest theyve really stepped up the game in terms of the canpaign. Good diplomacy and lots of fun systems to interact with. And that the ai appears to interact with in a competabt manner as well.

BUT it looks like battles have talen a step back from warhammer, and theres nothing really improved in terms of ai.

Very dissapointing for a total war game.

Tmespe · May 16, 2019

My most anticipated game this year. As a player who like the campaign strategy better than the battles, the improvements made in 3k look amazing.

Also IGN gave it a 9.3. Might want to add it to the OP.

Tmespe · May 16, 2019

ArnoldJRimmer said:
Reviews im saying suggest theyve really stepped up the game in terms of the canpaign. Good diplomacy and lots of fun systems to interact with. And that the ai appears to interact with in a competabt manner as well.

BUT it looks like battles have talen a step back from warhammer, and theres nothing really improved in terms of ai.

Very dissapointing for a total war game.

The battles seem to be on par with Warhammer. What seems like a step back to you? There are obvious things they can't do due to the game being set in a historical era, but for instance siege battles look a lot better than Warhammer, and more on par with previous titles.

elyetis · May 16, 2019

Multiplayer campaign still limited to 2 players max ?

Will probably buy for the theme alone but I keep being disapointed by their multiplayer.

CenturionNami · May 16, 2019

Tmespe said:
The battles seem to be on par with Warhammer. What seems like a step back to you? There are obvious things they can't do due to the game being set in a historical era, but for instance siege battles look a lot better than Warhammer, and more on par with previous titles.

Because the battles have zero polish and zero variety. Warhammer has a hundred times more variety, and Shogun 2 has a hundred times more polish. Three Kingdoms has nothing new when it comes to battles.

The Anonymous Wizard · May 16, 2019

Hierophant said:
I've seen people on the subreddit complain there aren't enough games set in Europe lmao

Oh Jesus, they're almost all set in Europe, even Warhammer's map is basically Europe.

Tmespe · May 16, 2019

CenturionNami said:
Because the battles have zero polish and zero variety. Warhammer has a hundred times more variety, and Shogun 2 has a hundred times more polish. Three Kingdoms has nothing new when it comes to battles.

Hard to argue with such meticulous and concrete examples...

Seems the picture posted above is quite accurate indeed.

Astandahl · May 16, 2019

Hopefully they will be able to fix some balance issues in a short time. It seems they have done a great job overall.

Kaffeemann · May 16, 2019

Tmespe said:
My most anticipated game this year. As a player who like the campaign strategy better than the battles, the improvements made in 3k look amazing.

Also IGN gave it a 9.3. Might want to add it to the OP.

For some reason the IGN review doesn't show up on Open Critic yet. I will update the OP once it does.

Bitanator · May 16, 2019

Can't wait to get this

eonden · May 16, 2019

Seems like we finally move out of the "Medieval 2" mold that has plagged TW since then (yeah Total Warhammer was a bit diffferent due to magic and flying units but it was still quite similar in the mold).
Thats nice.

Uncle Sensei · May 16, 2019

Gonna be a looooooong week

ArnoldJRimmer · May 16, 2019

Tmespe said:
The battles seem to be on par with Warhammer. What seems like a step back to you? There are obvious things they can't do due to the game being set in a historical era, but for instance siege battles look a lot better than Warhammer, and more on par with previous titles.

Party Elite's review mentions the same issues with AI: Calvary just standing around doing nothing, armies all blobbing up at a single opening in a siege battle. In addition, it looks like battle animations aren't as good as in Warhammer. And the army sizes are also smaller unless you enable extreme unit sizes which apparently don't perform very well.

And yes, it's kind of samey, which is expected given the historical context (Shogun suffered from the same issue), but disappointing none the less.

I'm still picking it up, especially since Imperator Rome turned out half-baked. Even just for the campaign, it seems worthwhile, and hopefully updates... or more realistically, mods will help the battles.

Forerunner · May 16, 2019

MadLaughter · May 16, 2019

Question: There was a previous Total War game that I was able to play a co-op campaign with my friend. (Shogun?) Is that possible here?

Thanks!

Locust Star · May 16, 2019

Pretty amazing scores. I wish I had the time these days to play a Total War game - they're always huge timesinks for me.

Anno · May 16, 2019

MadLaughter said:
Question: There was a previous Total War game that I was able to play a co-op campaign with my friend. (Shogun?) Is that possible here?

Thanks!

Yeah. Two player co-op or competitive has been a thing on all of these titles for awhile now. In this game I think it's just the result of your actions once you start a co-op game.

GazRB · May 16, 2019

So god damn hyped.

Sulik2 · May 16, 2019

Holy crap those reviews. I cannot wait for the Three Moves Ahead on this, Austin Walker better be back.

SofNascimento · May 16, 2019

greatgeek said:
Accurate.

Good to see Rome fans are actually engaged in hand to hand combat... the way any good roman would prefer to decide a battle.

g23 · May 16, 2019

Anyone care to give me a rundown of the key differences between Records Mode and Hero? Mode.

thanks.

TheBaldwin · May 16, 2019

I really want to grab it but i know it will run like turd for my pc. Love anything to do with total war and three kingdoms

Anno · May 16, 2019

g23 said:
Anyone care to give me a rundown of the key differences between Records Mode and Hero? Mode.

thanks.

Records puts your generals with bodyguards instead of being a single-entity super unit, fatigue/morale are more meaningful, battles are longer, your characters die earlier of old age, some decisions have different chances...uh... some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.

DaciaJC · May 16, 2019

Looks pretty good!

Now, uh, how about that Medieval III, eh, CA?

Total War: THREE KINGDOMS Review Thread

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