$39.99Total War: THREE KINGDOMS Unite a fractured China
Unite fractured China in 190CE as one of 12 warlords, mixing turn-based empire-building with real-time battles. You recruit heroes, manage politics and economics, forge or break alliances, and lead infantry, cavalry and war machines across deserts, mountains and rivers.
Is Total War: THREE KINGDOMS worth it?
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is worth it if…
- you like turn-based strategy that turns into large real-time battles
- you enjoy managing heroes, alliances, betrayals and court politics
- you want a historical setting with distinct warlords and playstyles
- you like playing solo, or sharing a campaign in co-op and multiplayer
Screenshots
Build an empire one turn at a time
You choose from 12 legendary warlords and set out to found the next great dynasty. On the campaign map you take cities, run provinces, research technology and balance military, political and economic fronts. Treachery is always on the menu, and betraying a brotherly alliance can be more profitable than keeping it, at least until everyone remembers what you did.
Settle it with armies in real time
When diplomacy fails, the game shifts to real-time battles with hundreds of infantry, cavalry and war machine units. You position spearmen against horsemen, place crossbows on high ground, swing cavalry around a flank and break gates with siege engines. Heroes fight in flamboyant Wushu style at the center of it all, and what happens in battle feeds back into the campaign, shaping how those characters feel about you and each other.
Heroes who remember friendships and grudges
Characters are the beating heart of the campaign. You recruit heroes to lead armies, govern provinces and strengthen your faction, each with a distinct personality, likes, dislikes and objectives. The Guanxi system tracks their relationships, so friendships and rivalries form between officers as well as with you. Keep a loyal commander happy and he stays. Let a slight fester, and a trusted general may walk out, take his retinue with him, and show up across the battlefield.
Ancient China, from river to wall
The map stretches across Three Kingdoms China, from lush subtropics to arid deserts and snow-capped mountains. You march along the Yangtze River, approach the Great Wall, and work to restore order to a beautiful but broken land. Chinese-inspired artwork, a clear interface and vivid vistas carry the period look, with a soundtrack built to match the sweep of a campaign that runs from skirmish to dynasty.
What else should you know?
How do the two halves of the game fit together?
You expand turn by turn through conquest, statecraft, diplomacy and development, then fight the resulting wars in real time. Battles are more connected to the campaign than a separate minigame, since actions in a fight affect your heroes and their friendships and rivalries. Win cleanly and alliances hold. Spend heroes carelessly and the politics get harder.
What do heroes actually do?
They command armies, govern provinces and anchor your plans for military, technological, political and economic growth. Each warlord and recruited character brings a different playstyle and objectives, with personality traits that shape cooperation. Recruit well, promote wisely, and watch relationships, because a strong officer is also a future rival if neglected.
What is Guanxi in practical terms?
It is the system of dynamic relationships between characters. Heroes have motivations and opinions about one another, positive and negative, and those ties develop through campaign choices and battles. That network decides who works well together, who quarrels, who stays loyal and who leaves, so reading people matters as much as reading terrain.
How violent is the game?
Fighting is graphic and realistic-looking, with weapons, injury and death shown directly in battle. Sieges break walls and gates, engines throw their weight around, and close combat is blunt about the cost. It suits players comfortable with historical war violence presented straight, without stylized distance.
