Total War: Three Kingdoms Review

Total War: Three Kingdoms has come at a time when the franchise was starting to look its age. The series has been the go-to when it comes to strategic warfare for a long time.

Yet, in recent releases the developer, Creative Assembly, has dropped the ball somewhat. The sequels to earlier titles hinted at a series that had become stale. Meanwhile, the experiments with the Warhammer-themed games put off fans who wanted a return to historical settings.

Thanks to these issues, Total War: Three Kingdoms has the unenviable task of satisfying several camps at once: those who enjoyed the fantasy jaunts and those who want pure history, players both old and new.

Creative Assembly chose to do this by setting their 2019 title during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Historical facts as well as legendary elements from the 14th century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms inspired the story, setting, and characters.

Players take on the role of one of the 12 warlords as the Han dynasty begins to collapse. From here, you must form alliances and try to win control of China. The game starts at 190 A.D. just as chaos begins to spread throughout the country and continues to 280 A.D.