Total War and Warhammer seemed like a franchise mash-up made in heaven. Of course, things aren’t always what they seem. So, I was really excited to get to check out some gameplay and see just how happy the marriage is between the two. Thus far, it looks like the honeymoon stage.
Despite having only two playable races in the game demo on show, variety and diversity were really important to the team. As such, there are a ton of units, each with a ridiculous amount of detail. They are still ironing out some details, so when I asked about customization (something Warhammer fans would love to do in terms of giving their units a specific look), they weren’t totally sure just how many options would be available to players. They are sticking pretty close to the lore, so much of the look and feel of the models is specifically as prescribed by the lore. That said, there is still a lot to play with.
The demo I saw was a quest battle, The Battle of Black Fire Pass. For those who care about Warhammer lore, this is an important part of the history, a culmination of Sigmar’s Empire. These kinds of quest battles were added to the game to add narrative. However, they are totally optional and players can instead choose to simply take on the battles they like as usual in Total War. That said, if you want to find out about the actual warhammer the whole game is named after, you might want to complete the quest battles.
When I asked the developers about the rule sets and how the game actually worked, they explained that it really does operate as a Total War game. So weird rules and mechanics that you might know from Warhammer might not play into the game, unless it’s a core part of the experience, such as Doom Diver Catapults. That’s right, there are doom diver catapults in the game, and they can be controlled automatically or manually – it was hilarious to watch it on manual and I could easily lose a battle because of being too busying flying my goblin through the air.
The Battle of Black Fire Pass sees the Empire leader, Emperor Karl Franz face off against the Greenskin Warboss, Grimgor Ironhide. With the Empire featuring Celestial Wizard, Warrior Priests and Witch Hunters while the Greenskin units include Orc Shaman and Goblin Shaman, for the first time in the Total War franchise there is magic. This is depicted in an utterly gorgeous style; it’s so pretty that I will want to use it all the time. Another first for the franchise – flying units. With the introduction of all kinds of flying units, aerial combat is a big part of battle, with units fighting from surface to air, air to air and all other combinations.
Thanks to taking place in a fantasy environment, realism is a bit different. Thus there are Dwarven tunnels, lava on the battlefield and maps on an incredible scale. With being limited by the reality of actual battles in locations on Earth, Total War: Warhammer when the different parts of the game are completed, it will have the biggest map of any game in Total War.
What struck me about the game when I saw the demo was just how the sense of scale has been maintained. Huge divisions of units, a massive battlefield and all the usual formations that people are used to from playing Total War are present, just in an entirely new form. The way battles will play out is totally new, but it still feels like a Total War game; it hasn’t lost that core experience. However, when zooming all the way, the detail on each model is staggering. From the Greenskins who only wear paint instead of armor to the stunning textures on the Boar Riders and Demi Griffs, Total War: Warhammer looks poised to be the most visually stunning experience they’ve made thus far.
I didn’t get to go hands on with the title, but based on the portion of this one battle that we were shown, the game is coming together. Plus, assuming that this title does well, it sounds like they might be willing to carry on with the partnership, possibly creating a Warhammer 40 000 game in the future, too.
Last Updated: June 22, 2015
Blood Emperor Trevor
June 22, 2015 at 15:35
That’s the WAAAAAGH! uh-huh uh-huh I like it!
HairyEwok
June 22, 2015 at 15:53
refresh
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 16:18
Zug Zug.
Trevor Matrix
June 22, 2015 at 15:39
Man. I get the feeling I am looking at screenshots for Lord of the Rings… Originality seems dead.
Lord Chaos
June 22, 2015 at 15:49
Reminds me of Warhammer: Dark Omen, back when EA still knew how to make games.
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 15:51
This is a little unfair. Tolkien published LotR in what… the early 1950’s? And he pretty much helped kickstart the modern fantasy era. So naturally people would pull key themes found in Middle-Earth (with a ton of their own variation put in to fulfill whatever flavour they wanted). Tolkien himself heavily relied on the vast and rich European folklore/mythologies for drafting his universe together. So one could argue that his own work wasn’t original either – but is rather an innovation. Other people also have access to all this original European folklore etc, so could easily innovate in slightly different ways to Tolkien and make their own rich fantasy environment. Warhammer does rely somewhat on LotR, but brings in random work from Germanic origin.
Warhammer =/= LotR =/= Midkemia
Trevor Matrix
June 22, 2015 at 15:53
That is all good and well. Still. It does not make up for the fact that visually, I am looking at what is essentially a movie I had seen a few years ago. With a minor change here and there.
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 15:57
Which is essentially exactly what many Medieval armies would have looked like in Europe for countless centuries. Soooooo….
Trevor Matrix
June 22, 2015 at 15:58
Nah man. Not the historical stuff. A nazi is a nazi is a nazi and forever will be a nazi. Referring to the fantasy stuff. Take a look at the second shot and tell me that does not look like the eagles and dragons from LoTR almost to the tee…
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 16:01
Well the Eagle you allude to looks nothing like the LotR specimens, especially considering that in LotR they’re actually Eagles. While in Warhammer they’re clearly Griffons (another mythological creature from European folklore). And dragons are.. well.. dragons. They’re depicted all around Europe for as long as time can tell and they’re pretty much always the same. So I don’t know how they can look any different to what they are? Unless you’re making a kids movie like How to Train Your Dragon. Then you can be a little CrAzY. But well.. fantasy is based on the historic stuff. So it’s ALWAYS going to have similarities. Because there is no such thing as originality.
Lord Chaos
June 22, 2015 at 16:05
There’s a difference between Eastern and Western dragons.
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 16:15
Yeah but these differences are largely associated with cultural differences between Europe and the Far East. But when you draw on European folklore for inspiration, there is only one dragon archetype. If you are drawing on the Far East for inspiration (which modern fantasy rarely does) then you’d come up with a very different beast.
Since both Warhammer and LotR draw on Western mythological traditions, one should expect them to look, act, and behave in similar ways to the legendary creatures in Europe.
You could honestly say the same for the Griffon (which was made popular in Greece but is vastly different to the parent archetype from the Levant). Yet the Griffons in Warhammer naturally follow the European mythological traditions, as that is where they draw inspiration from.
Smuroh
June 23, 2015 at 08:28
But they were not dragons they were Fellbeasts in LoTR, the one thing i am worried about is how difficult this game is going to be, Total War has always been a game with a massive learning curve, and is not for everyone.
Daniel Hallinan
June 23, 2015 at 09:47
Oh, there’s definitely a strong resemblance, and for good reason. Warhammer Fantasy is ultimately an amalgamation of the writing of Tolkien and Moorcock, along with the artwork of Frank Frazetta, when it was first created about 30 years ago.
Tolkien source material provided the fantastical races, High Stakes Fantasy, and mythical wordlbuilding he popularized. Micheal Moorcock source material provided the anti-tolkien material – gritty low fantasy, morally grey factions / races, the idea of protagonists that were inherently evil and selfish rather than morally bright, and of course all the utterly batshit insane, completely malicious, and overbearingly all powerful gods that see the “humanoid” races as little more than play things.
So, world building of Tolkien, the visuall style of Frazetta, and the tone of Moorcock. That’s Warhammer 😀
(On a side note, it really is a pity that so few know about Moorcock, especially considering how much influence he’s had n the genre himself with his popularization of the anti-hero).
Lord Chaos
June 22, 2015 at 15:59
I think what he wants is for them to get out of the 700 years of the Dark Ages and have a renaissance…
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 16:02
I think this is the case. 🙂
Klipkop1980
June 22, 2015 at 15:54
What are you even saying man, Tolkien should’ve known that these games are going to all look like his characters in his book.
Blood Emperor Trevor
June 22, 2015 at 15:55
You can’t reason with Chaos. Purge the heretic!
HairyEwok
June 22, 2015 at 16:01
refresh
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 15:43
This is the marriage fans have been waiting for. Total War unfettered from the chains of history (not that there is anything wrong with history – but these guys deserve a little creative freedom). The team will finally be able to try new things without having to worry about cries of realism etc as the lore allows for a lot more innovation. So so so looking forward to this. And flying units! Yes please!
Lord Chaos
June 22, 2015 at 15:47
This might be the one that gets me back into Total War.
Reidroc
June 22, 2015 at 16:39
I enjoy my Total War games. It has just been a while since I had a decent pc. Oh well I cant wait to play this game on my ps4. It is coming out on the ps4 right? Right!? 🙁
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
June 22, 2015 at 16:53
I would not imagine that this would be the case.. O.O
*Edit: Like.. how would you even go about controlling all those units in the real time battles?!
Reidroc
June 22, 2015 at 22:18
Don’t try and use logic. I want Total War on ps4. They can use nanites or some other magic for it to work.
giadrome100
June 22, 2015 at 17:53
there is going to be 4 factions not 2 get it right
Daniel Hallinan
June 23, 2015 at 09:35
Hmmm, noted a mistake there. There are 4 planned factions for release, being the Empire, Dwarves, Orcs, and Vampire Counts – rather than just the two mentioned here. Chaos is… technically a fifth? They’re not playable at launch, but rather an antagonist force within the story.
Beyond that, I’m really excited for this. As stated in the article, the merger of Warhammer Fantasy and Total War has always been a fantasy people have talked about, without really believing it would ever happen. Also really excited and pleasantly surprised that Vampire Counts made it in to the core release, great to see a non standard faction in a release for once 😀
Lardus-Resident Perve
June 30, 2015 at 15:26
Really hyped for this Total War experience! The franchise has lost some of its luster for me but this combines two things I really like!