Total War: WARHAMMER II

I'm giving this a thumbs up because I cannot deny the addicting gameplay loop even for someone that sucks at total war games. However, be warned, a lot of content necessary for certain races practically requires paid dlc. High elves give you a false sense of security at the start as the recommended starting race, but get 70 turns in and you realise that your armies suddenly suck. Turns out you're stuck at tier 2 archers (out of 5 general tiers) without dlc. Not related to dlc, you are also not warned about the massive difficulty spikes like the cult of pleasure having two 20 stack armies spawn right on your doorstep before you could possibly fund a single army of that size 10 turns in. There are some extremely frustrating parts of this game for me as a casual that hasn't watched tutorials on how to not suck, but ultimately I cannot deny that I keep putting it on in my spare time. It is a VERY good game, and with more time I might give a different review, and I would say it is worth every penny if you like total war games. If the only frustration I had was a skill issue that would be fine, and hardcore players could probably finish the game without thought on the hardest difficulty with no dlc, but casual me hits a wall that cannot be climbed without spending money and that is very frustrating.

Some of the added mechanics from the 1st game just made this game a real chore to slog through.

I bought this on sale so its definitely worth it 75-80% off but I'm reminded of how scummy a company Creative Assembly is the longer I play.

They don't sell you complete games, they sell you some of a game then sell you many of the cool features that synergize with your favorite factions separately through DLC... if your favorite faction isn't a DLC in itself that is. Factions like Wood Elves are locked away behind over priced DLC you can only buy from TWW1 and there's now 3 TWW games, and many, many DLCs with bonus lords, heroes and entire factions locked away within them.

I'm playing a Dark Elf campaign and its a lot of fun to be honest. Being a dick head slaver is cool... what's not cool? Some of my best lords and heroes are locked away behind 2 different DLCs. The 'Master' hero who kicks butt and takes slaves, and the 'Supreme Sorcerer' lord, so you can have a powerful spellcaster instead of a typical warrior/captain Dreadlord. One of both of these are 18.99... that's you want to play the Dark Elf with their complete roster and mechanic. If you want to play with multiple factions in their entirety through the 3 games? God help you, you poor financially milked bastard.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is what happens when the best of Total War meets the wild fantasy of Warhammer—and it works brilliantly. The factions are incredibly unique, each offering different playstyles, from the hyper-aggressive Skaven to the structured defenses of the High Elves.

The campaign is fast-paced and engaging, especially compared to more traditional historical Total War titles. The variety of units, spells, and monstrous creatures makes battles feel epic in a way no other Total War game does.

However, AI behavior can be frustrating, and diplomacy, while improved, still doesn’t feel as important as raw conquest. Also, the DLC model is steep, making it expensive to get the full experience.

✔ Incredibly diverse factions and playstyles
✔ Huge, dynamic campaign with multiple victory conditions
✔ Epic fantasy battles unlike anything in Total War history

✖ AI can be frustrating and unpredictable
✖ DLC pricing is steep

If you love Total War and don’t mind a bit of fantasy, this is easily one of the best games in the series.

If Total War Warhammer 2 had all the same factions as Total War Warhammer 3 then it would be a better game in literally every way

Absolute Monster of a game, Love it all, So many different outcomes so many factions so many mods. cmon Total war Warhammer 40k Gotta happen

The clue is in the name. It's Total war and it's Warhammer. What's not to like.

i like total war games, you trade cool unit diversity and magic for worse sieges. I liked this one, i'm not a critic watch a youtuber if you want more info

(imho) Still the best in the Warhammer series. Though I've played them all, (40k & Sigmar too) I always come back to this one. It should be in everyone's RTS library ! (7 years/3,000+ hrs w/ no game issues) Speaking of... there are a few negative reviews to this game but "most" are NOT a problem with the game. Read them and you'll see it's normal Steam or Mod issues. (dlc boxes coming unchecked, crashing because a mod is out of order, etc.) You can't blame the game for that. :)

As a personal suggestion, you should also take advantage of all the years of Youtube content out there. This community is terrific ! And after you play through a few times hit the Workshop. You could start by subscribing to some of the "Most Subscribed" and test out the awesome add-ons this wonderful community creates. If you can't tell, I love this game !
(I'm subscribed to 949 mods, hehehe)

Have a good one my friend and thank you for reading my review ! ~Mu

great game. good balance of campaign and battles.

Great game, very balanced for Total War and tons of content even on the base game.

Warhammer 2 excels in delivering an exhilarating strategy experience. The immersive graphics and rich lore draw you in, while the diverse factions offer unique gameplay and endless replayability. The campaign is engaging, with challenging battles that keep you hooked. Whether you're a veteran or a newcomer, Warhammer 2 is a fantastic game that promises countless hours of enjoyment. Highly recommended!

This game will go down in history as the best Total War game and greatest achievement by Creative Assembly. It is a shining beacon of hope for anyone who questions whether an existing IP can be correctly and lovingly rendered into a video game. Everything about Warhammer II was as close to perfect as anyone could hope for. It improved on virtually every part of the Total War formula, stayed true to the lore and world of Warhammer, and consistently delivered excellent DLC and expansions that were, to 99.9% of fans, always worth every penny. The only downside is that the game set expectations its sequel could not meet, which is less a criticism of Warhammer II and more an indictment of Creative Assembly losing focus and falling out-of-touch with their players.

Awesome game.

It took me several re-installs before i could appreciate this game. The difficulty settings MUST be right for you, otherwise many of the well designed mechanics will seem arbitrary, so experiment with it. The experience also varies widely based on the faction/legendary lord that you choose and their starting location. Many play with Tyrion for their first campaign but this can make the game feel easy because his faction has 50% reduced upkeep on base units, taking pressure off your treasury, and he is surrounded by high elves who can form alliances and trade early. Most factions are not like this.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is a game that stands out in the realm of strategy games. With its rich lore, diverse factions, and intricate gameplay mechanics, it offers an unparalleled experience for both veterans and newcomers to the series.

Gameplay and Mechanics: The game excels in its blend of turn-based strategy and real-time battles. Each faction has its own unique units, abilities, and playstyles, ensuring that no two campaigns feel the same. The addition of the Vortex campaign adds a layer of urgency and excitement, as players race to control the Great Vortex and achieve their faction's ultimate goal.

Campaign: The campaign is where Total War: Warhammer 2 truly shines. The narrative is engaging, with each faction having its own story and objectives. The map is vast and beautifully designed, with a variety of terrains and environments that add depth to the strategic gameplay. The diplomacy system is also well-developed, allowing for complex alliances and rivalries.

Graphics and Sound: Visually, the game is stunning. The attention to detail in the unit designs and environments is impressive, and the battles are a spectacle to behold. The sound design complements the visuals perfectly, with epic music and sound effects that enhance the immersion.

Replayability: One of the game's greatest strengths is its replayability. With multiple factions to choose from, each with its own unique campaign, there is always something new to discover. The modding community also adds to the game's longevity, with a wealth of user-created content that keeps the game fresh and exciting.

Pros:

Diverse and unique factions with distinct playstyles.

Engaging and immersive campaign with rich lore.

Stunning graphics and sound design.

High replayability with multiple factions and modding support.

Cons:

The learning curve can be steep for new players.

Some performance issues on lower-end systems.

The complexity of the game may be overwhelming for casual players.

Conclusion: In conclusion, Total War: Warhammer 2 is a masterpiece of strategy gaming. Its combination of deep strategic gameplay, rich narrative, and stunning visuals makes it a must-play for any fan of the genre. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the series, this game offers an experience that is both challenging and rewarding. Highly recommended!

Game crashes almost every turn. Not at the end of turn, during turn. CA is absolutely mismanaged from top to bottom.

This is the slop that Creative Assembly serves up these days. Easily gobbled up by the modern smooth brained consumer. The very essence of what made Total War games great is gone now, replaced with; flashy animations, DLC that itches that scratch of the modern ADHD riddled audience and gameplay that consists of going woah as you watch a mammoth fight a medieval knight.

The limitations of history are what made it great. Artistic freedom has its merits, but if you give a giraffe a short neck, well it's no longer a giraffe. The beauty was in the real history, someone's dreams will never be more glorious or interesting than that. The strategy that came from the slight differences in the culture of the units and the play style of real historical warfare techniques. Battles that consisted of hammer and anvil strikes, kiting, pincer movements and using routing to drive your enemy off the battle field. The games were difficult in their own way, organically, especially to the average player.

Now these fantasy games are just about consuming. Appeasing the modern audience member, someone that collects figurines and claps at the end of superhero movies. They are just flashy trash. Magic cool downs, single entity units, blobs of units, essentially no routing (apart from dumb faction specific mechanics), I could go on.

On top of all that, what substance does the game actually have? no naval battles, the sieges are awful and the battles last 5 minutes. The games have went backwards mechanically and became dumber. But, they are now making games for an audience that doesn't complain and has no taste, enjoy your slop!

It's a good game, 65 hours in i've yet to win a campaign [I've only played as Lord Skrolk 99% of the time]
This game actually forces me to use my brain, learning and implementing tactics, trial and error on which way is the fastest method to develop and which armies would counterattack the nearby factions.
Unlike a lot of the total war games i've played, the biggest game changer here is magic.
If you can develop magic, implement it with strategies on how to move your army, position them etc. it will change the tides of a battle.
If i dont stop writing here i might just write a lengthy essay about my experience and the best ways i've found to develop and win battles, so read no more aND JOIN THE VERMINTIDE! SKREEEEEEEEE

What about the game itself? just like TWH1 but with more gimmick races and factions dont play this game like you would with shogun or rome... watch videos or do what i did and torpedo dive straight into the mess... The high elves are awesome! my favourite race in game the lizardmen are cool, dark elves great, the rest are fine i cant stand the pirate trash however. oh and the AI blatantly cheats too! this becomes obvious when dealing the games shit economy you will notice what i mean. (an enemy with a single city or town is managing two armies...)

Moved the game using steam today. Game still starts, but without any of my DLCs. Game claims I need to go online to pick up DLCs. Meanwhile I'm online in steam and doing other stuff in browsers. Definitely online. Next day things are fine, must have been an issue with verification servers. Would have saved me some time and frustration if information like that was available somewhere.

For support there is a totalwar.com support link. This just links on to sega.com, where there is no support option, at all. Which shows how much support we can expect from Sega en CA: none.

I can't recommend games that have their protection mechanisms get in the way of legit players playing the game, while providing no support.

Game has great potential. Compare it to a wonderfully gifted child. He could write symphonies, craft intrinsic baubles or lead a great many people towards a better future.
Now give that child down syndrome and Super-AIDS.

It fries your CPU with degrees rising to 97. It crashes constantly. At the moment I cannot continue, for it does not recognize my bought DLCs. You are required to buy tons of content. Especially blood. 3 Euros to have blood in Warhammer. That's Super-AIDS.

The community is awesome. They help each other.

Instead of billionaires buying useless trinkets such as social media empires or gem mines, please buy this CA company- Cancer Assembly - and build a forever game.

That is all.

Blood for the blood god.

Disclaimer: If you do not understand this review, please do not be alarmed, your brain cells are used for the first time in a long time.

Really enjoying this i wont lie.
But it has massive issues
Terrible lighting against snow (i dont want my retinas to burn out)
Terrible AI just awful creative assembly has had over 20 years of experience and it just seems to get worst as it goes along.
Deleted saves and DLC? I was in a battle but a losing one (small garrison would not stand a chance) i conceded defeat but misclicked quit to desktop so i rebooted the game which took forever and my campaigns and dlc are gone? wont be buying anymore of these games which is a shame.
Some of the race's are not great either Beastmen and Orks are just dull and not big or scary.

unlike the first game, is still worth playing on its own. 3 is still better, but this is cheaper. The vortex campaign, the one that comes with this game is well designed and offers a more developed map of the new world areas, and for Lizardmen especially could arguably considered a better experience than 3, unless they get a rework in that game.

If getting as a dlc for 3, is a bit more debatable than getting the first game as all the races from 2 have dlc that can be got for 3 cheapert than the main game, generally being the most fun factions, namely prophet/warlock and twisted/twilight for skaven

you can make a guy on a horse commit various war crimes like chaseing down enemyes begging for forgivenes
(10/10) peek

Overall a great game.

Starting a campaign as a Skaven:
You recruit more rats,
burn down a elf city. after that a elf pays you 700 gold. In return they burn down one of your villages and head towards your capital,
you make your way towards the capital almost arriving,
the elves decide to attack you.
The game tells you that you will suffer an decisive defeat.
You choose to fight the battle, and use a doom wheel to distract most of the elves.
The elves abandon their leader to attack the wheel.
You send your rats out of the trees and swarm their leader, eventually wounding him. After a while the elves retreat and you win the battle.
After that you're giving the choice on what you want to do with the prisoners. You eat the prisoners. After that you chase down and attack the elves that retreated, while still being near your capital. You use the help of reinforcements to auto-resolve the battle, completely destroying the army of elves. You're then given the choice on what to do with the prisoners. You have no point in eating the prisoners, because you lost barely any troops. You still decide to eat the prisoners.

I always loved the Total War games and TW2: Warhammer, brings together those tremendous games with the Warhammer Old World to great effect. Factions, and even the Lords within factions, play very differently making it a massively varied game with new challenges even after playing for several years.

I think Total War Warhammer 2 is a great game. I think it has nice new factions and 2 nice maps. Definitely worth the price tag.

Love Total War, LOVE Warhammer, absolutely fucking hate having to pay $2.99 just for a DLC pack that adds blood and gore in a FUCKING FANTASY BASED GAME, BASED ON FUCKING LORE THAT HAS SO MUCH GODDAMN BLOOD AND FUCKING GORE

We LOVE a bloated and expensive series of DLCs!!

The first grand strategy game I've actually sat down and played thoroughly for at least one full campaign (maybe Alpha Centauri was the first actually, :shrug:). Verdict? A blast. I played the High Elves and the grand adventure to conquer most of the map got me "one more turn"ing quite a few late nights. I enjoyed the grand strategy aspects, it was approachable and not too complicated on the medium difficulty. The battles themselves, naturally, were a blast. After researching online about recommended troop combinations and battlefield formations/tactics it actually felt like I was a competent strategist (lol) - even able to eke out situations that I wouldn't have imagined were possible. Having only played one faction I haven't even begun to scratch the surface, but this definitely satisfied an itch I've had for diving into the grand strategy genre more deeply.

I love the fact that you can fight battles manually if you feel like some RTS , you can autoresolve every battle (except main quest battles) and have a game much like Sid Meier's Civilization, but in a warhammer old world setting.

I'm not a huge fan of paying a lot of money for DLC in games, but the fact it's tied to Warhammer III as well made me much more comfortable buying DLC when on sale.

TotalWarHammer2 is still better than 3 IMO. Great game and the DLCs are really good to grab when on sale. its nice because this game is very "replayable". Always learning new playstyles and trying different races. WEll worth the money,

As a newb I got kicked around like a football in battle. Custom battle mode is very very difficult. My solution was to get an Ai controlled second faction on my side, with the opponents also having a similar faction to help them. I chose dwarves and just had one Lord with maxed out standard cheap dwarf axe and shield warriors with 2 units of specials, and edited my allied Ai helper army to have ALL special monsters and four dryad units with the remainder spent on their upgrades. They provide the units that can resist the enemies special attacks while my own dwarves provide a wolfpack. It works, and I'm happy to just win.

This is more of an massive DLC bundle for the first game than a complete stand alone title. The basic grand single player campaign is essentially the first game with DLC factions added. The story campaign is well done and worth a play as well. Since I tend to focus on the grand campaign, the sense that this is more of a DLC than new title is stronger.
Some new mechanics breathe life into factions from the first game, for better or worse. While new factions get shiny new mechanics to work with, also for better or worse. For example the Dwarf Book of Grudges adds flavor to that faction, but can also feel like it has too much impact and limits your play style choices. As usual things like Auto-Resolve for battles is unbalanced at best. Now there is a preview of the outcome before choosing auto-resolve but even a battle the AI would hand you a decisive defeat are easily won by fighting the battle manually.
There seems to be more diplomacy options but the AI still creates huge confederacies while you struggle to get trade agreements with friendly factions. AI will still not accept vassalage or confederacy when their only other option is extinction. Long term allies are like needy ex-girlfriends that will randomly break up with you then a few turns later are burning up your phone to talk.
Overall it does what Total War does best, combining a turn based over-world with real time tactical battles. It makes fairly good use of the source material. Zooming in on battles shows great detail, good sound, and quite a bit of dialog. Spells and monsters look fantastic, although it can be hard to take time to stop and smell the blood soaked roses in the heat of battle.
As someone with a massive amount of time playing the first game, this one being more like a DLC bundle or remaster of the first is a net positive. Being that the TW series tend to be expensive and rarely on sale, the value for money is open to argument. Since it's so close to the first game, just play that until you can score this one on sale. It's worth the upgrade from the first game, but not full retail price worth.

great game. Once the dark elves and the dark creatures start attacking you're screwed lol

Game is good. While monetization is probably the worst in gaming history. Only buy it on sales!

Yeah its pretty fun. Though you should just get warhammer 3 if you don't already have any of the warhammer games. If you want to play immortal empires you'll need warhammer 1 too. You don't need the previous games to play IE for warhammer 3. I got WH2 a year or so before WH3 released and I still have a lot of lords to try out before 3 so Imma do that while I see WH3 go deeper and deeper on sale. There is a lot of DLC but just wait till its on sale to get what looks cool.

Solid RTS, far more variety in units than a "realistic" RTS due to the inherent differences in a fantasy setting.

Bit of a shame so much of the content is behind dlc even after all this time, but yeah, a great game overall.

Pretty good experience on the steam deck. Even went out of my way to purchase all dlc. Warhammer 3 is too demanding but this feels awesome!

Great game. Lots of factions to play, great graphic, great gameplay. Thousands of hours of content, and can even make it more if you use mods, which there are plenty.

Very fun to play in open campaign mode. No two campaigns ever alike.

excellent fantasy strategy game, the closest we'll ever get to BFME3

It really is sad that half this game is locked behind a purchase of an earlier game in the franchise. Even worse when that game is the only game to never go on sale.

I like turtles... and lizards.. and dinosaurs. Lizardmen are fun to play and the campaign is fun. I am not good at this game, at all, but it is one of the best games I have played since Bannerlord. 5/5

Ok, fine. This is a good game. A good Total War game, and a good Warhammer game.

It's been a minute since I've stepped into the weird world of Warhammer, but there is clearly a lot of love for the world and its inhabitants behind the scenes here as a clear effort was made to recreate the races, their unique qualities and make that uniqueness play out in game, both in battle and on the campaign map. More than other Total War games I feel, the faction you pick will have a big impact on how you will play your campaign.

As a Total War game, it clearly is Total War, but also not quite. This is fantasy, and it shows. Having a 400-strong force routed by a single angry guy takes some getting used to, as does having giants and dragons rampaging through your lines. This is not Rome, this is not Medieval. This is its own thing. And while it works here in its setting, this would not work in the historical versions of Total War. This is its own thing and needs to remain that way I would say, to its own benefit and to the benefit of the Historical games.

Downsides, for a Total War fan there were elements that seemed, dumbed down. Settlement building being an example. Very dumb down with limited slots. You'll find yourself building repeating city types as you'll just pick the best options available to you to raise revenue to pay for your armies. Sieges are honestly crap in this. For one example as to why, I've had numerous now where the battle begins and your entire force, no matter where you put them, are in the range of the settlement defences. You cannot deploy out of range and commit your forces as you need them. I rarely play them now and just auto resolve.

Another downside is the potential money sink this game has. You do not get all the races, there is a lot of DLC you can add, and while they are not needed as there are plenty of options to play with in the standard version, if you have a preference on what race you want to play then you may find yourself unstuck. The saving grace of this, is they do clearly put some effort in with each race. Not just unique battlefield 'miniatures' for each race rather than repainted clone models like we've seen in older games, but how they play and operate in the campaign can be very different. Do yourself a favour and wait for a sale before adding more, they are good and worth having but you could easily sink so much money into this without realising.

So yes, overall a good game. I enjoy it, plotting to take over the Old World and seeing some of the whacky units from this strange world come to life and batter the cr4p out of each other really is fun.

Awesome gameplay with the Skaven really with recommend thank you

combines two amazing franchises!

Games riddled with micro transaction "DLC" factions.
Lizardmen have cringe AF puzzles. "Dial of the Old Ones" Especially.
Modern (and imo not as good) Total War Building System.
It's ok I suppose but I couldn't recommend getting it even on sale. I think I got it in a Humble Bundle or something.

love the game the dwarfs are my favorite to play as the only thing there missing is the GOAT riders and some and some of them twiddly widdly's from the hobbit battle of the five army's