First off, let me say that everyone has a right to their opinion. I am not here to say whether or not this game is right for anyone else as we are all in different life situations. It is, after all, a thing to do in our free time. Something to get our mind off of life for a while. So below is just "my" opinion on how I see this game. Hopefully it helps those who read it (along with any other reviews listed here) to come to their own conclusion. With all that being said, here are my thoughts..

I have been a fan of Games workshop(GW) since the 80's. If you are familiar with the company, then you know they're not cheap. But their commitment to quality models has been stead fast, and my "pile of shame" grows ever larger. This statement shows that I am vested in this hobby and the lore. I don't believe every video game they have released has been great, far from it in fact. BUT Total War: Warhammer I, II, III is truly an amazing game! I have also been a big fan of the total war series since the original Shogun. I bought just about every game in the series and have spent hundreds hours playing them. So when I heard these two companies were coming together, it was a sure thing for me! Below are the hours I have spent on each game and to be honest I'm surprised they are as low as they are.

TWW I - 751 hours*
TWW II - 3016 hours*
TWW III - 1044 hours*

*at time of this posting

This is a MASSIVE game that includes a least 24 races(not counting rogue armies or mods) with hopefully more to come. Within those races there are multiple factions, each with their own unique play style and goals. I'm pretty sure Creative Assembly(CA) & GW plan on reaching 100 faction leaders! This itself creates an incredible amount of replay ability. Now not all of them you may like, but with such variety, there's something in here for everyone's taste and play style. CA has done an epic job bringing all this together in one massive "immortal empires map". They game can be played as a giant sandbox but GW has so much rich lore that there is a story to follow as well. DLCs were also released with certain factions leaders squaring off with each other which helps with the immersion. The environments in this world are rich and ever expanding with the possibility of Ind, Kuresh, & Nippon opening up in the future. And if that wasn't enough, the AMAZING modding community has such mods as "Dynamic World" to enrich it more.

As far as game play, as mentioned above, I was very familiar with Total War game mechanics. So it was very easy to jump right in. For those of you that haven't played any of the series before(whats wrong with you?? jk jk), it may take a little getting use to, but in "my opinion" it is very intuitive on how it works. There are so many reviews on this page that I wont get into everything here but if you are interested I'm sure you can find another review that goes into it in more detail.

Now, to address the elephant in the room: the cost.. By now I have said enough about myself that you can tell price isn't a wall for me if I love the product. I can spend WAY more going out these days for this many hours of entertainment (listed above) then what this game has costed me.

$237.00* / 4811 series hours played = $0.05 per hr

*Price of all available TWW I, II & III content, 10% off (not including Thrones of Decay)

I'm sure my math may be off a little but even if it was 10x that amount its worth every cent. And the more I play, the more value I get from it. My suggestion is to wait for a sale and start small. A large part of the player base plays Empire but do your research to see which race sounds most interesting to you. You will need to buy one of the base games to start with and with "Thrones of Decay"(ToD) release right around the corner, all of the base and DLCs will be on sale (good time to jump in!) I've seen the base game I & II up to 50% off in the past. But don't feel pressured to buy all the content at once. For those of you still on the fence, remember steam has that return window policy if you don't like it within the first few days.

If I have any complaint about the game, its the series has been so good that I have had trouble playing any of the old Total War historic games since due to the lack of variety in the factions/game play. I remember this being a worry from the Total War historic community before its release and now I see why. Yes, there are some bugs in the game but none of them are game breaking. Most of the time I didnt even notice them until I read the hot fixes. We need to remember few games have ever been this massive before and with all the new content these things can take time. You tube content creators, such as Great Book of Grudges, and the player base are always sure the devs are made aware of these so they are fixed. Maybe not as fast as they would like but again I barely notice them.

I will make this part quick.. You may have heard the recent drama over the "Shadows of Change"(SoC) DLC and all the negativity along with it. I will say the player base stood up for what they felt was right, and I "believe" CA finally got the message. The extra content added to SoC DLC and the previews for ToD are looking like a move in the right direction to make the game community supportive again. But only time will tell.

So in conclusion I want to again say this is only "my opinion". I am not saying anyone complaining this game is to expensive for them is wrong. What I am saying is that I am willing to pay developers that will bring high level of entertainment and will continue to support them so it keeps coming out. Yes, we should make sure we are keeping the developers honest and the quality of product they are releasing is held at a high standard. But in a respectful and productive way. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in game! =)

Psy

Remember kids, money spent to GW helps blackrock and vanguard.

Maybe not the "best" Total War title - but the massive amount of variation in factions and starting locations gives it the most replayability, IMO